August 22, 2008
Retire in 8 years or less! That has been my slogan, one that is on my business cards and tee-shirts. For those that haven't heard my 'speech', the basis for this is based on a simple program of saving $1.50/day, and investing it wisely. That's about $45/month. I call it my spare change retirement account. Just last week I deposited $39.00 in spare change. Note the key word: deposited, and not spent or cashed-in.
Every month I find ways to save at least this amount and today's tip is rebates. I needed insulation for my garage project, and when the local hardware store put it on sale, I was there. Then I learned that the manufacturer was offering a 25% rebate, so today I'm mailing that in for a nice $16.50 rebate. Yeah, I had to cut off the upc codes and fill out a form and spent 47 cents on a stamp, but so what. I would do that for a $1.00 rebate. Where else to you get a 100% return on your investment in a just a few weeks!
Designing your weekly meals around the grocery sale items, can also save you many dollars and freezing those sale items also works. Finding a good IPA for $6.00 versus $8.00 has saved me thousands. lol When TP went on sale for $4.00, I backed the truck up and saved hundreds. (extra tip: it doesn't work to freeze it) It doesn't take long to save $45/month, is my point. Now where you invest it is also very important. If you're getting 5%/year from your savings account, it will take you 47 years to amass $100,000 and then what, can you live on $5000/year? But if you were to make 5%/month, then it would only take you about 8 years to reach the $100,000 mark, and could you live on $5000/month?
I shall leave you with that thought for now.