My Two Dollars

Three Easy Steps To Ruin Your Finances.

The following article is a guest post by David of Your Finances 101. David has been a frequent commenter here on My Two Dollars and has just published his first book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life which is available at Amazon.

I would like to provide for you right here and now the simplest and easiest way to ruin your finances. Yes, all right here broken down into plain and simple language, the best way for you to NOT manage your money.

Here we go:

First, Do not pay attention to anything:

When you bills come in the mail, I would not look at anything other than the due date and how much the bill is. Whether it is a water bill for forty dollars or your credit card statement of $1000, by no means should you check anything on these statements. Don’t check your utility bills for mistakes (i.e. a significant increase in any usages over the previous month) because these utility companies never make mistakes! With your credit cards, definitely do not look for any charges that don’t look familiar to you or anything else of that nature.

Second, Don’t sweat the little stuff.

Yes, I would not worry about any of the so-called “little” stuff. Your trips to the grocery store are only for food, so there is pretty much no way to save money there. Looking into something like changing cable companies just to save 10 or so dollars on your monthly bill is simply not worth doing. Coupons? Forget about it. A complete waste of time. Even if there are coupons out there that can save you money every single week on the items you buy most, why bother? You’ve got better things to do.

Third, Adopt the attitude of “It’s Only Money”.

You see, I realize that you probably work hard for your money, but after we get past that little insignificant fact, when it comes down to it, it is only money right? There is no point whatsoever in trying to do little things like research your larger purchases to make sure your getting the best price, or to even try to alter your lifestyle to lessen the load on your wallet. Better to go through life just carelessly letting money stream out of your wallet like there is no tomorrow. Because there really isn’t, is there? You certainly don’t need to plan for retirement, nor do you need to try to provide for your children’s future. And by no means would you ever want to get to the point to where you have extra savings in your life that you could actually get to start generating additional income for you. No, none of this is worth your time, even though you do work hard for your money.

Finally, I am being a little facetious here. It certainly takes more than these three easy steps to completely ruin your personal economy. But, if you implement these three things into your daily life, you would be off to a very good start.

For those of you interested in actually improving your personal economy, check out my recently published book. You’ll find the link below. It is based strictly on personal experiences and I really think that it can add value to your life.

About The Author: David Bakke is the creator and author of the personal finance blog Your Finances 101. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida. After many years in corporate restaurant management, David currently serves as a department manager in the retail industry. David resides with his wife and son outside Atlanta, GA. His book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life is available at Amazon.