The Discipline To Save

[aclwalker]

Good article.

I think, both in personal and business terms, people don't save because often they feel they have nothing to save FOR.

However, their finely balanced income and expenditure can suddenly become unbalanced due to unforeseen circumstances. The solution is then to take temporary credit, which of course, requires to be serviced. Suddenly you're in debt and that then becomes the norm. This can spral out of control, because now, instead of simply not saving, they might decided to just not pay off the debt, but simply service it. And so on.

Those that save, for no specific purpose, have a cushion from which they can draw on if needs be. And they EARN interest. With good fortune they don't need to dip into this at all and before they know it they have capital.

Capital can then be spent on business improvement.

How many people have heard "What are you actually saving for?"? They don't seem to understand the answer "I don't know yet." or "Nothing in particular." and you're then seen as a weirdo for not spending your money and enjoying it now.

[sanddancer]

I think, both in personal and business terms, people don't save because often they feel they have nothing to save FOR.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is compounded by the further threat of interest rate cuts, which makes you feel that the government has something against you!

[DonnieDarker]

How many people have heard "What are you actually saving for?"?  They don't seem to understand the answer "I don't know yet." or "Nothing in particular." and you're then seen as a weirdo for not spending your money and enjoying it now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hm.

It is a good article but I think a balance between saving and enjoying life should be struck. This is something I am guilty of doing very badly at the moment.

Saving has become too much of an obsession for me - I cant be the only one here who feels this - and am in need of balancing my life out some more.

ThinkI need a holiday!

[Starcrossed]

Reasons I save:

1. To ensure that I have really gained something from the 45-50 hours of hard work I put in a week. Nothing worse than sitting back and thinking - 'where did it all go?'

2. So that I am not reliant on the 'system' and don't owe my life to banks and other organisations that do not have my best interest at heart. In debt I would merely be a slave.

3. Because I don't like asking anybody for anything and feel vaguely that debt is 'wrong'. It is spending money I have not got and reflects poor self-discipline.

4. It is a habit and a challenge.

*Edit - yes, DonnieDarker I agree it can become obsessive, that's something to watch. But at least the obsession is on the right side of the balance sheet!*

Edited September 20, 2005 by Starcrossed

[Guest growl]

I have had the good fortune to have met and worked with many very

successful businessmen and women over the years.  I am often asked,

"Is there one single habit or routine that they all exhibit?"  The answer is

simple; they have all learned the DISCIPLINE TO SAVE!

...

The Discipline to Save BEGINS BEFORE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL

SUCCESS is achieved.  All to often people wrongfully defer saving to

some distant time in the future when they hope to achieve riches and

success.

... My experience is that those that

manage to achieve success have become committed savers FIRST.

People living in today's world are more indebted than any other time in

living history.  Just fifty years ago "saving" was normal and prudent, but in

today's Western World savings have fallen to zero.  What has changed

and why?

https://www.anglofareast.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for that. I was beginning to wonder yesterday if I had somehow woke up on a different planet.

Why? Because I was in my bank and after withdrawing some money to pay for a washing mahine that I had saved up for. The bank clerk asked me why I had so many savings accounts?

I looked around to check that I was in a bank. Sure enough I was. 'oh she said,' smiling reasuringly, 'You don't have to tell me, I was just curious.'

'Well,' said I ,'I save up for things, and I like to have little pots for the different things I save up for, it gives you control and...'

She got bored by that point, and handed my receipt to me and smiled asking if there was anything else. When I said no and was about to turn and leave I noticed a look on her face as if I was some really accentric person.

But then I suppose thes days, I am

[aclwalker]

Hm.

It is a good article but I think a balance between saving and enjoying life should be struck. This is something I am guilty of doing very badly at the moment.

Saving has become too much of an obsession for me - I cant be the only one here who feels this - and am in need of balancing my life out some more.

ThinkI need a holiday!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Indeed. I am not suggesting that people should live on bread and water and wear threadbare clothes while building up huge savings.

I spend more than I would like on going out, but I don't smoke, I don't have loans other than my mortgage and I do lots of things for myself, e.g. car repairs, which gives me more money to save.

I do not live the lifestyle of a monk, but equally I don't live the lifestyle of Beckham either.

[aclwalker]

Reasons I save:

...

2. So that I am not reliant on the 'system' and don't owe my life to banks and other organisations that do not have my best interest at heart. In debt I would merely be a slave.

Exactly my thoughts. So many people have given in to the debt culture that they are now enslaved by it.

What's worse is that this has also had downwards pressure on pay, because many people have been able to survive on lower pay by supplementing it with debt. It has become 'the norm' now to have debt and so if you're short of money you "just get a loan!". This has, IMO, exacerbated much of the problems of low pay in certain sectors of the economy.

3. Because I don't like asking anybody for anything and feel vaguely that debt is 'wrong'. It is spending money I have not got and reflects poor self-discipline.

I also feel that debt is wrong and get a feeling of independence by not 'owing anyone anything' (except the mortgage which I want rid of ASAP!).

[aclwalker]

Thanks for that.   I was beginning to wonder yesterday if I had somehow woke up on a different planet.

Why? Because I was in my bank and after withdrawing some money to pay for a washing mahine that I had saved up for. The bank clerk asked me why I had so many savings accounts?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A funny, but perhaps not very sensible answer might have been "So that it's easier to launder the proceeds of my giant crime empire.".

It really says it all now, when the banks themselves think it's strange to actually save money. Banks have gone from being trusted keepers for your hard-won savings to simply being outlets for debt. It's sad really.

[CrashedOutAndBurned]

Reasons I save:

1. To buy house.

2. Cos now I ain't on total poverty pay, I have some left over!

3. Buying stuff as a hobby in itself is utterly boring to me.

4. It's fun watching it grow. Kinda like getting a highscore in a video game.

[Wuluf]

A lot of it is to do with competition.. U have to behave as other market participants or lose out.. If others don’t save then you will too have to chance your hand by assuming credit or get left behind - both for essentials and perceived cultural essentials.. Some examples of essential debt in the UK include house purchase, higher/further education.. Other items then are essential non-essential buit

It's analogous to the situation where countries that have a significant social net try to compete with ones that do not.. e.g. Germany/France vs. USA.. Germany's prudence means that it will be slower to exploit opportunities than the US.. The US can then use the profits generated to purchase German assets.

[oracle]

the government really don't want us to save!!!

that's the only conclusion I can come up with!!!.

WHY NOT????.......i think I know,but then I am a cynic!!!

do you?

[dogbox]

I just got this newsletter.  I'll post the others in this thread as they come, if anyone is interested:

THE DAILY DIG

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tuesday 20th September 2005 AD

THE DISCIPLINE TO SAVE ~ Part 1

Recently we have been looking at the keys to success. Rather than one

single "most important" key, we have said there are many, many important

factors that all play a vital role in business and personal success.

Recently for example, on an AFE Teleconference, Dr. Neal Alan Scott

reminded us of the importance of perseverance and commitment to the

long-haul, as well as the need to surround ourselves with like-minded

people.

I have had the good fortune to have met and worked with many very

successful businessmen and women over the years.  I am often asked,

"Is there one single habit or routine that they all exhibit?"  The answer is

simple; they have all learned the DISCIPLINE TO SAVE!

When I started noticing this trend some years back I began asking

questions, and, overtime arrived at some important conclusions, and

today we take a look at the first of several :

The Discipline to Save BEGINS BEFORE BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL

SUCCESS is achieved.  All to often people wrongfully defer saving to

some distant time in the future when they hope to achieve riches and

success.

Most successful business men and women tell the story of their own epic

struggle over virtually insurmountable odds to eventually reach a level of

accomplishment in their enterprise.  My experience is that those that

manage to achieve success have become committed savers FIRST.

Many tell the story of how they committed to a regular savings plan right at

the time when they were struggling the hardest and their challenges

seemed the biggest.  After a difficult chain of events that ended in messy

court proceedings, one friend told me "After what we had just been

through, we literally didn't have a spare dime."  Having nowhere to turn

and not wanting to slide further into debt, my friend went on to explain

how they decided to commit to a small amount from the company turnover

to a separate saving account, "from that day forward everything started to

change."  In the next few years our friend's fledging company would

become worth millions.

People living in today's world are more indebted than any other time in

living history.  Just fifty years ago "saving" was normal and prudent, but in

today's Western World savings have fallen to zero.  What has changed

and why?

"The Discipline to Save Begins BEFORE Business and Financial

Success" is a basic but important principle, and is the first in our seven

"Discipline to Save" principles.  In the next few days we take a look at

the other six.

Best Regards  - Philip Judge

https://www.anglofareast.com

I beleive the saving habit is the key to virtually guaranteeing you will have a comfortable and secure life. As a result you wrestle a degree of control over your existence that others will never enjoy.

My business can have a bad patch (not uncommon) yet any anxiety is soon becalmed in the knowledge that I can survive a long time without earning another penny and that my savings are always increasing thus providing psychological armour for unknown times ahead as well as a rosy retirement.

Ive known many a small businessman worn - down through financial worry and if you analyise it you always find an absence of saving is at the core of thier problems. Sure they might stumble upon hard times, fall ill etc, but thats why they should have saved instead of always spending every penny they ever earned.

Such guys always seem to me very unhappy in the long - term, often with relationships straining at the seems. If only they had simply realised you can force yourself to save a given percentage no matter what.

I wasnt born with the savings habit. Indeed, I didnt get it until I was in my twenties.

[Guest Charlie The Tramp]

Most successful business men and women tell the story of their own epic

struggle over virtually insurmountable odds to eventually reach a level of

accomplishment in their enterprise. My experience is that those that

manage to achieve success have become committed savers FIRST.

Spot on, exactly how I was successful in my business.

Difference now, retired and spending it.

Good Evening Dogbox.

[Guest growl]

the government really don't want us to save!!!

that's the only conclusion I can come up with!!!.

WHY NOT????.......i think I know,but then I am a cynic!!!

do you?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They don't want you to save, and neither do the banks because it means that they can never own you. In other words they don't want you to become independent, because, why then would you need them?

What would be their purpose?

There would be smaller government and less beurocracy and less highly paid hangers on.

As for banks there is less profit in just holding and using someones money, than lending and profiting and using that money.

Think. If you own your own land and your own property, and you have the means to provide your own food and clothing, and you live in a low crime area and you can provide your own transport. You can even provide your own income.

In other words if you are as self sufficient as you can possibly be, then you are as independent as possible.

Then you have to ask the question...what are my taxes for?

[lowrentyieldmakessense(honest!)]

Thanks for that.   I was beginning to wonder yesterday if I had somehow woke up on a different planet.

Why? Because I was in my bank and after withdrawing some money to pay for a washing mahine that I had saved up for. The bank clerk asked me why I had so many savings accounts?

I looked around to check that I was in a bank. Sure enough I was. 'oh she said,' smiling reasuringly, 'You don't have to tell me, I was just curious.'

'Well,' said I ,'I save up for things, and I like to have little pots for the different things I save up for, it gives you control and...'

She got bored by that point, and handed my receipt to me and smiled asking if there was anything else. When I said no and was about to turn and leave I noticed a look on her face as if I was some really accentric person. 

But then I suppose thes days, I am

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and this person will be a specialist business adviser next month.

[purplemonkey]

I got asked by my bank manager why I had so many accounts? it does beg certain questions about there reason for being, shouldn't they be helping us with things like this.

I've also fallen into the savings trap, once I got out of debt at about 28! It seemed so easy to save, anything left at the end of the month, bank it! and watch it grow, I signed up to work share saves, and you really dont' want to stop those at any point, cause you can see your loss straight away. I do find now though, that I can't bring myself to spend my savings money, I actually use a credit card to pay for things I can't afford, and pay it off, it seems easier that way then to dent my savings. I always aim my savings for a round number, that way I can be mean as hell to myself for a couple of weeks, so as not to ruin my good looking number, or save like a b*stard to get to the next 0! My problem is I've been burned my shares and houses, so now I sit on 'safe' Bank interest and its not very productive for my money. Damn it all to hell!

[maxed out]

Purplemonkey. I do the opposite, as soon as the salery goes into the bank, the savings come straight out, and into another account, after acouple of months you don't really miss it. I got the idea from an Oprah show years ago (of all places!). But the bloke quoting it said something like "pay youself first, you earnt it".

He also mentioned that he'd paid cash for his house

[Guest growl]

and this person will be a specialist business adviser next month.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeh, but what really got me was that she was in her thirties. This wasn't some college leaver who doesn't think about saving. This was a woman who was married(I noticed the band) and probably had kids in school.

One of the first things I was tought as a child was to save. When I was sent to the shop for milk and or bread(or even cigarettes...in those days). I was allowed to keep the change. But instead of spending it on sweets. I was encouraged to save it and I did.

I had staches all over the house of little piles of five pences and two pences and if I was really lucky fifty pences(there weren't twenties then).

In fact the habit has never left me, and I have a habit of doing it with pound coins now. Only I tell myelf its for parking and store trollies. Only I'll open the car ash tray hoping I've got parking and find eleven quid in pound coins.

The thing is, there is a whole generation that has never saved. They don't understand the concept. They don't even get the pleasure that comes from it. Maxed out gets a buzz out of turning the next nought. I get a buzz out of forgetting about it then when I check there is a nice surprise.

Then there is the real security. I know people who get a sense of security when they get a letter through the door telling them their credit limit has been increased. To me that is the slaver tightening the noose.

My security comes from knowing that if there is an unforseen emergency or hike in bills, that I have the means to see me through. There's nothing so good as knowing that you don't have to worry about how you are going to deal with an unexpected financial situation.

When its happens(my old washing machine giving up the ghost), I was able to tell the finance guy in Curries to stick it up his ass. Well I was more polite.

Same with the car dealer when I handed him a cheque last year and refused the monthly installments.

They look at you like you are rich or nuts. I'm neither, I just like saving up my little pots, in all my little savings accounts, and I like saving my little staches of pound coins.

[Odakyu-sen]

Having savings means I can go back to university in mid age and finish off that BCom degree I started 22 years ago.

If I had a mortage around my neck, I would believe myself to be stuck on the treadmill and unable to retrain (re-skill).

Having savings gives you a cushion to protect yourself while you engage in risky activities, such as changing careers, retraining, taking time to plan or start a business, etc.

Some friends have only about 2 months of savings to live on should they lose their jobs. (And I don't know what level of debt they carry.)

[Starcrossed]

In fact the habit has never left me, and I have a habit of doing it with pound coins now. Only I tell myelf its for parking and store trollies. Only I'll open the car ash tray hoping I've got parking and find eleven quid in pound coins. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I manage to save about £250 a year in loose change and blow it on my one weakness - Marvel Comics. So for all my frugality I know how to have a good time.

[Guest growl]

Having savings means I can go back to university in mid age and finish off that BCom degree I started 22 years ago.

If I had a mortage around my neck, I would believe myself to be stuck on the treadmill and unable to retrain (re-skill).

Having savings gives you a cushion to protect yourself while you engage in risky activities, such as changing careers, retraining, taking time to plan or start a business, etc.

Some friends have only about 2 months of savings to live on should they lose their jobs. (And I don't know what level of debt they carry.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do it mate. Get that degree. My savings meant I could give up my library job and finish mine in an unrelated subject. My savings also meant I could set myself up in business.

Now I'm still at the beginning of my business, and sometimes I make mistakes. But my savings mean I can afford to. most people who set up in business are in nothing but debt the first few years. I'm not. Most people who graduate have years of debt around their necks. I don't.

I'm not bragging and I don't normally mention my good fortune in this, when I'm in company. It causes resentment among folk who don't know you well. But if someone, a good freind asks me how I have acheived this and how I never seem stressed or worried. I'll tell them how it is.

Save, avoid debt and educate yourself. Then try to be as independant as possible. Be your own master in all things, and the only way to do this is by observing the former.

So get that degree, and change careers and live your dream. Because you might be in middle age. But when you are in old age and your are not surviving on state benefits to prop up a measily pension and you are not concerned about the heating for winter. You'll be able to look back and say, I wasn't part of the crowd, I owned my own destiny.

[Odakyu-sen]

Save, avoid debt and educate yourself. Then try to be as independant as possible. Be your own master in all things, and the only way to do this is by observing the former.

So get that degree, and change careers and live your dream. Because you might be in middle age. But when you are in old age and your are not surviving on state benefits to prop up a measily pension and you are not concerned about the heating for winter. You'll be able to look back and say, I wasn't part of the crowd, I owned my own destiny.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I fear the uncertainty, but the knowledge that if I do nothing I will ultimately hate myself for my cowadice gives me the incentive to retrain and prepare to launch myself into business.

[ThePiltdownMan]

Savings are good but don't expect to reap any of the benefits from your tax contributions should you need to. For example Jobseeker's allowance is not payable for people with 8K savings and reduced for people with 3K upwards.

On the other hand people who never saved and previously squandered their income will be entitled.

ie, the government rewards people for not saving.

[theChuz]

Reasons I save:

1. To buy house.

2. Cos now I ain't on total poverty pay, I have some left over!

3. Buying stuff as a hobby in itself is utterly boring to me.

4. It's fun watching it grow. Kinda like getting a highscore in a video game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats the one that done it for me, every now and again i kinda like to check all my accounts and see what scrore ive got.

[van hoogstraten]

According to current climate of economic opinion, it seems saving money is only marginally behind Al Qaeda & Rising Oil Prices as threats to global economic stability.

It seems the lunatics have taken over the asylum