In our “instant gratification” society, it can be hard to save money, yet cutting expenses while increasing income is a significant part of the prosperity formula. It’s also hard to think about saving money when your neighbors and friends all seem to be spending money left, right and center. We live in “buy now and worry later” society. But, if you really get into the spirit of savings, it can be a whole lot of fun and really increase your physical prosperity. The key to this formula is not just to save money, because saving money while hating the process won’t get you any closer to prosperity. The key is to save money and love doing it!
So how can you have fun while saving money? There are hundreds of different ways! For instance, in the small town where we live, many of us use woodstoves to heat our homes, so wood becomes an important resource during the winter months. We used to buy about 4 cords of wood during the winter at a cost of about $80-$100 a cord. We don’t anymore.
We found out about two things: a saw mill that regularly discards the “ends” off the logs it processes and a cabinet door maker that regularly discards hardwood scraps. What did we do? To get the hardwood scraps, all we had to do is call and get on a list – the scraps, cut just right to fit the fireplace, are delivered to us two or three times during the fall for free. Then, we make about 6 trips to the sawmill to pick up the free log ends, which can also be burned in the fireplace. Now we buy one cord of wood during the winter as starter material for the fire, and get the rest at these two places. Going to the sawmill not only saves us money, but heaving chunks of wood around is great exercise and especially invigorating during the winter!
More importantly, when we think about the money we’ve saved by getting this free wood, we feel great. Burning our free wood reminds us everyday that we’re getting closer to our financial goals and it spurs us on to be ever more creative and resourceful.
What can you do to love saving money? First, figure out what you use or need in your life. Next, look in the paper, the phone book or other places to find out where you can get what you need for free or cheap. Trading services with other people (bartering), thrift stores, yard sales, pawn shops, ebay and using the discards from businesses are great places to start. Just keep thinking about it. If you put your attention on something for long enough, pretty soon you become a genius at it. Most of all, though, have fun. Having fun is the key not just to prosperity, but to life itself!
