It’s The Little Things That Can Lead to Big Savings
Friday, August 10, 2018After being burned more than a few times by instant gratification purchases that don’t gratify, you’ve probably learned to avoid the big, high-priced commitments that trap you in a wasteful lifestyle and drain potential savings. Things like long-term, luxury car leases, expensive club memberships and especially the misstep of buying too much house just because you were mortgage-approved for way more home than you actually needed. Our consumerist culture is designed to breed anxiety and the cure for those anxious feelings is to buy something – that always makes you feel better, right? But of course it seldom, if ever, does. So, you gain experience and get better at avoiding these big, obvious money traps, but watch out. You also might start skipping over the little ways you used to save cash. And these little savings can often lead to much bigger savings, or sometimes even avoid bigger expenses, down the road.
YOUR TEETH ARE ONE OF YOUR
MOST IMPORTANT ASSETS
For example, when was the
last time you saw a dentist? Maybe your teeth haven’t been bothering you, and you are absolutely
diligent about
brushing thoroughly at least twice a day;
working your electric toothbrush for at least two minutes per session. So
you skip a couple of trips to the dentist and save
some dentist payments. But are you
really saving? As Dr. Sam Carroll,
an Arizona Dentist at
Yuma Smiles explains, often the best and most basic way to keep your oral health
costs down are those simple, little, bi-annual teeth cleanings: "One of
the essential services we provide is teeth and gum cleanings. Regular
check-ups and cleanings are the most effective way of stopping dental problems
before they start! You should have a professional cleaning at least once
every six months, and most insurance companies cover two cleanings per
year."
An appointment with your
dentist for a normal teeth cleaning probably costs around $65.00 these days,
but a complicated procedure, say like a root canal and crown, usually resulting
from inattention and oral neglect, can run in the thousands. You do the
math.
YOUR TIRES CAN SAVE YOU
MONEY
All of us want to make our
cars last as long as possible. One of life’s biggest expenses is driving a
new car off a dealer’s lot. You’re talking a loss of up to 40% in the
first year of ownership for a new car. But buying a new car, and then
driving the wheels off of it, is still the best way to stretch your auto
owning dollar. So it’s important to take care of that automobile once
you’ve finally made the plunge.
Now, the most obvious
places to concentrate your car maintenance dollars are on the engine,
transmission and running gear. And meeting the manufacturer’s maintenance
schedule on those parts of your car are important for prolonging its
endurance. But a simple thing like
checking and maintaining your car’s proper tire pressure can, in the long run,
be one of the best ways to save money on car expenses. Why? Because proper tire pressure means your car’s
rolling resistance is optimal, meaning you’ll use less fuel and, at the same
time, diminish tire wear, thus making your
tires last longer. Properly inflated tires will also make your
suspension bushings & alignment last longer. It’s a win-win-win situation and all it takes
is buying a tire pressure gauge, an inexpensive air pump and watching this video. Tire pressure is simple; anyone can do it.
SAVE YOUR BAGS
Do you buy a bag every time
you go to the store? Hey, it’s only 10-cents, who needs to carry bags
around with you all the time? But these tiny, little costs really add up
over the 68. Buy some sturdy, plastic
shopping bags and hang them on a hook next to the front door. That way,
you can remember them every time you go out and stop paying for one or two use
paper bags.
AVOID THE ADVERTISING
One of the founders and
dominant thinkers of our modern-day advertising industry was a man named David
Olgilvy. He started a small, exclusive ad agency, Ogilvy &
Mather, in New York City in the 1950s, which was known for turning down as many
clients as it conceded to represent. Despite his fastidiousness, today’s
Ogilvy Communications is a giant with 132
offices in 83 countries. Ogilvy liked to
advise his new, young employees at orientation with words that he claimed he
once overheard a very old, and very
wealthy, husband intone to his very young, and very attractive, wife: “My dear,
nothing in this world – is worth
buying.”
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