Sam has spent a lifetime mentoring others to financial independence and success. Here is the second half of the list of his favorite principles:
15. Ask, ask, ask for what you want—and be clear. You never know how someone will respond. A manager may give you a discount. Your spouse/significant other may fulfill your desires. Make your needs known, and you may be happily surprised.
16. Comparison-shop first. Check out the competition. Get what you really want at the best value.
17. Buy wholesale whenever possible. Make the slightly longer trip to a wholesale district or a discount store. Depending on what the item is, the savings can be significant.
18. Do not buy labels; buy value. What you want is quality and value, not status labels. Most people will not know if you are wearing a designer item, because they will not see the designer label inside your garment. An item does not increase in value just because a famous name is attached to it. This holds true for other things, such as jewelry, furniture, tableware, linens and cars.
19. Buy pre-owned whenever appropriate. A car depreciates by thousands of dollars the moment it is taken out of the showroom. Few people notice whether an item is pre-owned or not. In addition, you can often get better quality at a much lower price at garage sales and auctions.
20. Keep price tags, receipts, and packaging. Keep original packaging, receipts, and price tags on your purchases until you are sure you really want the item. Maybe a pushy sales person or a so-called friend convinced you to buy it. Perhaps the item is defective, does not fit your need, or costs more than you can really afford. You may even find the same item the next day for substantially less or a better item for less (see #16). Keep your options open.
21. Keep your funds invested and working for you, but cautiously. Money that is not earning money is losing its value every day because of inflation. Money has to keep working to maintain its purchasing power. Money properly invested, even conservatively, grows over time because of the power of compound interest.
22. Income $1.00; spend 99¢ = happiness; spend $1.01 = misery. If you spend less than you earn you will be happier. If you spend more than you earn you will become anxious. Overspending puts you into debt. Before you know it, you are working in the future to pay for things that you enjoyed in the past.
23. Buy what pays you; do not buy things that decrease in value or cost to own. What pay you back are financial investments and investments in yourself, such as the necessary education, training, wardrobe, tools, and equipment to advance your career. Do not invest in things that do not increase in value, advance your career, or pay you back.
24. Immediately set aside for taxes. Do not forget taxes when you get a bonus. When you make a profit or commission, immediately set aside the amount that will be required to pay the tax.
25. Personal purchases cost you 60% more because they are after tax. This is the 60% rule: You are actually paying 60% more than the stated price because you are buying with your after-tax income.
26. It's not how much you make—IT'S HOW MUCH YOU KEEP. We all know people who make a lot of money but do not have anything. People who have modest incomes can become very wealthy by hanging onto their money.
(Written by Samuel K. Freshman and Heidi Clingen, authors of TheSmartestWay™ to Succeed Series and TheSmartestWay™ to Save—Why You Can’t Hang on to Money and What to Do About It.)
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