Mastering the Art of Spending Less

Mastering the Art of Spending Less

By Michelle Mason Rocks

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright Michelle Mason Rocks 2015

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

My first book, dedicated with much love to my mother

PREFACE

When you look at where your money goes each month, do you find a large part of it is unaccounted for? Would you like to learn how to recognize and control that spending? Would you like to learn how to pay less for all the goods and services you use in your daily life? You are not alone. This eBook will help you.

My mother grew up during the Depression. She was also a single mother from the time I was five years old, raising me and my two older brothers on one paycheck, with no government assistance. I was raised to be frugal, to barter, to reuse, improvise, and in general live as cheaply as possible.

I have raised three children of my own as a single parent, and can tell you firsthand that the lessons my mother taught me are invaluable. We would not have been able to make it without the knowledge she passed on to me. We also would not have had the luxuries that make life nicer, without the hints and tips from her that enabled us to get those luxuries inexpensively.

I have used everything I learned from my mother in my own life, and found many ways to expound upon it. It wasn’t until recently I realized this information could be beneficial to others.

I will share with you how to lower ALL your bills, pay less to travel, lower or eliminate fees, lower or eliminate deposits, negotiate all purchase prices, and in general live the best life possible for the least amount of money.

Michelle Mason Rocks

07/29/2015

All links in this e-book are the actual links represented.

I receive nothing for recommending the products or websites in this e book.

RETURN TO TOC will take you back to the Table of Contents

PREFACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

IDENTIFYING NEEDS VS WANTS

CHANGE THE BOX

NEGOTIATION SKILLS

HOME

UTILITIES

TRANSPORTATION

COUPONS

FOOD

CLOTHES

SCHOOL

BANKS AND CREDIT CARDS

ENTERTAINMENT

TRAVEL

BABIES AND CHILDREN

PETS

SEASONAL

ONE TIME COSTS

CONTESTS

VICES

MISCELLANEOUS

WINDFALLS

HEALTH

CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

Within these pages, you will learn how to spend less money for every purchase in your life, giving you more money at the end of your month, instead of more month than money.

Aren't you tired of feeling so broke all the time? Of saying no too often when you want to say yes, because you can't afford it? Wouldn't you like to be able to relax about your bills, knowing that you've reduced them to an affordable amount?

Here are the tools that will give you freedom from stress over money. Less stress and more money certainly do make life more enjoyable!

You will learn how to reduce every bill you have, how to spend less on every purchase you make. You will have money for other, more pleasurable things in life- and spend less for them as well!

This book contains negotiation skills that will save you hundreds, will teach you how to lower your interest rates, how to get anything fixed cheaply, how to lower all your utility bills, the art of simple couponing, smart shopping to save thousands, how to travel cheap, and so much more.

Everything here is something I personally have used to improve my life. The techniques and tools in this book are ones that I use to live a better life. I have taught them to others; they not only work for me, they work for them. I know they will work for you too.

I know you will find many ways to Master the Art of Spending Less in your life. Please share your story with me! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MichelleMasonRocks

RETURN TO TOC

IDENTIFYING NEEDS VS WANTS

You absolutely need: shelter, food, water, oxygen, and friends. Anything else is a want. If your shelter is not a lean-to or a cave, you are living in someplace you want.

If transportation is a need for you, to enable you to go to work and fulfill your needs, acknowledge that transportation is a need. Your transportation could be provided by bus, subway, train, carpooling, taxi, hitchhiking (not recommended), biking, walking, skateboarding, etc. A car, of any kind, is a want, whether it is a new BMW or a 15 year old Toyota.

Recognizing something as a want is not a bad thing. It will enable you to make wiser decisions with your money. Consider the following scenario, viewing it first as a need, then as a want.

This dress is on sale. It’s my size and taste. I need a new dress for my supervisor’s wedding next weekend. I’ll buy it. What a great deal, this dress coming along on sale just when I needed it. You’ve decided that you need it, reviewed no alternatives, and spent the money. You've even convinced yourself that you made a good deal.

This dress is on sale. It’s my size and taste. I would like to have a new dress for my supervisor’s wedding next weekend; maybe that will improve my chances for a raise. If I buy this dress I want for twenty dollars, I’ll have forty left over, which means I’ll be spending one third of my money. Do I want this dress that much? Do I have time to ask around and borrow a nice dress from my sister/friend/etc.? I could wear an outfit from my closet that is nice and hasn’t been seen by any of my co-workers. Now, even if you do buy the dress, you’ve done so logically, aware of all consequences and having reviewed the alternatives. You’ve made a well-informed decision, which will lead to making more intelligent well-informed decisions. Should you not decide not to buy the dress, you just saved $20, just by thinking it through.

RETURN TO TOC

CHANGE THE BOX

People talk about thinking outside the box. I want you to instead think about changing your box for a new box. This new box is called LESS. When you think about everything you hand over money for, mentally put it inside this box. When you think about new things you want to do with the excess money you’ll have after using the tools in this book, you will be thinking ‘outside the box’ called we have called less, so you’ll be thinking of its opposite, MORE.

You are going to learn how to spend LESS for absolutely everything you currently buy, and everything you ever will buy. You are going to learn how to have MORE of things you used to think were out of your grasp- what things, only you can say, it’s your box.

Inside the box called LESS is every single thing you hand over your cash, check, or credit card in exchange for, be they products or services. Previously, you have been trained by society to expect that you always have to pay the amount listed- this fallacy keeps many people very broke. I will teach you how to put everything you buy into the LESS box.

Every single thing you buy has the same version cheaper, has a coupon, or has something that YOU can do that will lower the price. I will even teach you how to eliminate the cost completely, and get things for free.

From now on, you are going to think, how can I put this in the LESS box? What can I do to pay less for this item?

Think about money and purchases differently. You are probably in the habit of going to the store to buy whatever you need. Start using the new habit of figuring out how to get the item cheaper, or free.

A brief glance at Craigslist and I found FREE: couch, TV, coffeepot, barbeque grill, wood (firewood, scrap, and building), doors, landscaping supplies, recliner, and clothes. Under the BARTER section I found: tattoo for iPhone, boat for a pickup, video games for car stereo, carpentry for makeup lessons, website work for a scooter, a bike for a mp3 player, a camera for Halloween props, jewelry for purses, a wood chipper for kids’ toys.

Here are some ways to pay less you may not have thought of before: