Top 4 Decisions that Will Change your Financial Life

First, creating a budget for yourself every month will keep you from spending money on frivolous items.

Budgets tend to create a sort of Parkinson's law for themselves – they will expand to fill the expenses of the household. If you limit these expenses by creating a documented budget that you stick to, you will notice an immediate change in the amount of spare change that you have at your disposal. All of those nickels and dimes that you are spending on salty snacks and other things that you don't even remember will suddenly become money for investments. Remember it's crucial that you have a strong strategy in place.




Second, make it a priority to pay off debt and stay out of debt for the rest of your life.
If you have debt currently, you can make use of the Snowball Plan in order to get rid of it quickly. This plan means that you pay off the smallest debt as quickly as possible in order to gain momentum. Once this debt is paid off, you immediately take those funds and begin to pay off the next smallest debt. In order to stay out of debt, you should also build a cash reserve for yourself as you pay off your creditors. Always have at least US $1000 on hand for emergencies so that you do not have to go into debt again if something unexpected happens.

Third, make staple purchases in bulk.
Staple food items and staple clothing can be purchased in bulk at warehouses for far less money than retail. This will free up your budget for more savings and investing. Items such as rice, beans, T-shirts, bread, underwear and socks should be bought in bulk. You can do this by setting aside money for staples every month in the budget that you set for yourself in tip one.

Fourth and finally, neither a borrower nor a lender be.
The longevity of this age-old maxim speaks to its wisdom. If you are constantly looking to others for financial stability or destroying your own financial stability by spreading yourself too thin, then you will never be able to create the stability for your family that you want. Make it a point to only invest in things after you have assessed the risk and see profit in your future. Make it a point never to borrow money from another individual or financial institution without a clear profit motive in mind for that money.

Jeff Ramson believes that having a plan in place is key to your financial success. Remember, measure twice - cut once.