Part 2 "Control Thy Expenditures"

The second step we are learning in The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason is to control your expenditures.

"That what each of us calls our necessary expenses will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary"

Isn't this true? I have seen it in my own life and the lives of friends and family. We learn to live on very little. When our budget increases, we buy more things and find ourselves as poor and savingsless as we were on a smaller income. A vital step to a budget is to realize that there are more desires to be fullfilled than money to fulfill them, whether you are rich or poor. We can learn to live on 9/10ths of our income and save the 1/10th.

How to do this?
Here are 3 steps our book taught us:
First-Make a list of desires.
Second- Pick which desires you can afford within the 9/10ths of your income
Third-Forget the others

This may seam simple- cause it is. But the principle is true. We often think we NEED something, when it is really a want and something that can wait. I do have a fourth step to add to these though.

Fourth- Get more for your money by Using Coupons!

Many of the items that are now a regular part of my monthly budget; medicine, snacks, cereal- were things that I had determined to be too expensive before I began using coupons. Now I spend less money on groceries- food, medicine, office supplies, personal care products- and I get more. Learning ways to make your dollar last longer is one way to fulfill more desires and still save money without increasing your income.