Making Ends Meet

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Making Ends Meet

This idiomatic expression “making ends meet” may mean different when we talk about it literally however the whole expression means to have just enough money to pay for the things that you need. So the big question is really how does one make his or her own ends meet? How can we not just let the ends meet but stretch the rope to a longer range where we can have loose ends.
Many people’s excuse for not setting up a written budget is that they don’t have enough money to budget, or they think it would be too complicated. What they don’t realize is that they do have a budget — they have income and spend it on expenses — they just don’t have a written plan. They don’t control their money; their money controls them. The great thing about having a budget is that you decide where your money goes. This book presents the basics of budgeting in an easy-to-understand format that uses a one-page budget form. It explains the real purpose of money, how to use a checking account, and how to deal with things that can wreck a budget — like credit cards.
First we take a look at debts. If you’re knee-deep in debt, getting back in the black can be a long, arduous road. Unless you’ve won the lottery, it seems there’s never enough money to pay off all your debts as quickly as you’d like, and if you’re running really short on cash, just staying afloat can be a Herculean task. If you can’t do everything, you’ve got to prioritize. Prioritizing your debts can help you pay them off as quickly as possible, and it can provide the security you need to get back on your feet even in lean times. Best of all, you can prioritize your debts on your own, and doing so may help you avoid the need for potentially costly credit counseling or debt management programs.
There’s only one thing that stands between the average person and the discipline needed to save on a regular basis: human nature. When it comes to money, “we tend to spend as much as we have,” says Susan Kaplan, a financial planner in Newton, Mass.
So take self-discipline out of the equation by enrolling in automatic investing plans through your employer and financial services providers; you tell them how much to deduct from your paycheck or checking account, and the money will be shifted every month into investments of your choice without further ado from you. In effect, you make the discipline of saving your money someone else’s job.
Set targets for how much you should be saving for various goals through these automatic investing plans, then slowly work your way up to the goal.
The important thing, though, is just to get started with a different way of thinking about money: From this day forward, you will treat saving like a bill and make it the first one you pay each month. And you will no doubt find yourself automatically adjusting your spending downward as a result.
Kaplan notes, “If you never have the money at hand, you can’t spend it.”
Some cutbacks, of course, will be necessary to accommodate your now lofty savings goals. Most people trying to break the paycheck-to-paycheck habit focus, as the Schuetts have, on the “latte factor” – the little luxuries (like a daily dose of java at Starbucks) that add up over time.
Don’t fool yourself. Small economies are just that: small. If you’re really serious about getting a handle on spending, you need to identify the big-ticket drains on your cash flow – and there are always one or two – and do what you must to plug those holes.
If you’re honest with yourself, you probably already know what you’re spending a small fortune on. After you’ve reined in spending to shore up your bottom line, it’s worth thinking about how to fatten the top one. Can you make a reasonable case – either to your current employer or to a prospective poacher – that you’re due for a raise? What about taking on some freelance work to make extra money? Why not join or invest in a reliable networking company such as the Empower Network? The company can help people earn with the training they provide and it is just a simple online home-business work.

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To Your Success,
Robert Kivett rob@robertkivett.com

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