Best Advice - Part II
Recently I asked you to share the best financial advice you've ever received. Here's a second installment of some of that advice. A reader named Bob said that during a pre-marriage class he and his then fiance attended, the teacher suggested using pay raises to build an initial savings account. In Bob's words, "I can remember how taken aback I was when I did the math and realized what a significant savings base we could establish in just three years. All it would take was establishing and maintaining a reasonable budget, committing to staying within it for three years, and banking 3 years of modest raises." Bob says following that advice helped his wife and him develop the habits of living beneath their means and saving money. They have raised five children on one income (he's a teacher) and have never had debt for anything except a mortgage.
Matt's View
Bob said the savings advice stemmed from a simple question the teacher asked: "What do you do with your raises?" Without some forethought, expenses usually increase to absorb all new income.
This article filed in: Saving
Managing Money by The Book
- "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
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