Be A Financial Freedom Fighter

Conquer the shackles of debt and constant worry about money, by becoming a Financial Freedom Fighter.

Every day we are inundated with distractions to our ultimate goal of freeing ourselves from financial burdens. Credit Card ads, new car commercials, and offers of low rate mortgages make tempting promises, but the only bank account that will benefit from their offers is their own. 

Take charge of the battle and assemble your army:

Everyone you meet is either part of your army or they are part of the opposition. While you are transitioning from a spender to a saver, make sure that you don't mingle with the enemy and surround yourself with your army. Anyone who uses phrases such as: "You can afford it!" "Just use your credit card." "You only live once." is not part of your army. 

Use Cash.

Using cash for your purchases does two things, it makes you think about each purchase because you will have a certain amount of cash left, and your other bills will still be paid. 

Negotiate Your Fixed Expenses

You make think that your fixed expenses are just something that you need to deal with and you are stuck with the amount that is charged. First step should be to make sure that all of your expenses are truly necessary (see Disconnect Your Cable). After that, you should call each of your vendors at least once a year, preferably quarterly and ask them what you can do to reduce your monthly bill. (see How I Found $9000 For My Retirement) 

Thift Shopping

We all know the line from Macklemore's song.

"I'm going to pop some tags, only got $20 in my pocket..." 

Nordstrom    just topped the ripped jeans craze with, "fake mud jeans", 

which cost, 

drumroll please, get this...

$425!!!

"Yo, that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt." Limited edition, let's do some simple addition 

No doubt, many knock offs will follow, unless Nordstroms files some type of trademark protection against the idea. 

Now that would be fascinating.

If you absolutely must wear these jeans (or the more generalized ripped variety), and can't find $425 or you'd rather put $425 in your savings account, head to your local thrift shop.

"One man's trash, that's another man's come-up" 

Some tips for thrift shopper novices:

• Find a thrift shop in a town close (and convenient) to an affluent town. Affluent shopaholics won't bother listing their hand-me-downs on ebay, they donate to thrift shops. 
• Bring your patience, and leave your impatient kids at home. It takes time and patience to find deals at thrift shops, there are no helpful salespeople to find something for you in another size or color. 
• Bring a bag of clothes to donate every time you shop. Decluttering your home will make all the difference in your life, and you'll save money by finding things you didn't realize you had and prevent you from buying duplicates. 

How I Found $9000 For My Retirement

Have you called your service providers in 2017?

If you haven't talked to your service providers this year, it is time to look up their websites, figure out what your account number is and call them up, or even better chat with a representative. If you can chat with support, you can get other things done (like tweak your budget) while you negotiate with them. 

What do I mean by service providers?

I mean everyone you pay monthly and thought you couldn't get a better price on. Especially those (like cell phones) that have the flashy commercials trying to recruit new customers. Just because you have done your research and found the best deal when you signed with them, doesn't mean they are looking out for your best interest now. 

Do Your Research

Check out the deals the other providers give, if you find a better deal elsewhere, then by all means switch. But if you want to stay with your current provider, make sure you have ammunition to work with. This will also give you a purpose and goal of what to expect. Remember, you want anything less than what you pay now. 

OK, Ready, Go. 

If you can chat, it is better because you can get other things done while you wait when they "check with their supervisor". If you need to call them, use a headset, headphones with a microphone or be somewhere where you can talk on speakerphone, this way you'll be hands free to do on the spot research.

My Story

My mobile phone company which shall remain nameless, has ads that feature a little girl at a lemonade stand who tells her customer that her $1 lemonade will actually cost more because of taxes and fees. So I decided to ask why I was still paying for taxes and fees even though I am a long time customer. The conversation started rather slowly with lots of "nos" and praise about how my grandfathered account had features for a price unheard of in the newer accounts. Then we got to the discussion about taxes and fees to which the representative (after talking to his supervisor), asked me if I wanted to "switch" to take advantage of the no taxes and no fees option. Yes, please I said. Wow, $12 a month!! Just for asking.

$12 A Month Isn't A Lot of Money 

Let's do the math. Scott Alan Turner has an investment calculator on his site - https://scottalanturner.com/tools/investing-calculator/ If I invest $12 a month for the next 20 year without touching it, it will be worth over $9,000! Every penny counts, as you will see when you use Acorns or Digit. 

Don't Stop There

After I reduced my bill by $12 a month, I was motivated to do more. So I asked them about my employee discount. Huh? What employee discount? So I told them about the 15% and the 19% discount plans my company had with the other mobile service providers. "It would be a real shame to leave this company", I told them, "but I really need to watch my finances". His response was, "We value you being a customer for over 10 years, let me put you in touch with our "Loyalty Department". Bingo, I'll update this post if the Loyalty Department gets back to me with good news. 

If you try to recreate my success, please post in the comments and let me know. Also make sure you ask for the "Loyalty Department" and if they don't have one, tell them that other companies do, and you may need to join them. :-) 

Quick Start Guide to Financial Freedom

Why Financial Freedom?

Financial Freedom sounds like a contradiction. Until you have achieved it, the term "finances" makes give you instant anxiety. It may seem that the only way to be free from your finances is not to think about it. But take a step back for a minute, when was the last time that not thinking about your dirty dishes resulted in them cleaning themselves? The only way to have clean dishes is to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher after every use and not letting them pile up. Dishes are much easier to clean one by one right after the food was on them, than trying to catch up after there is a pile and the food has dried and stuck to them. The same is true with finances.

Let's Get Started by Setting a Goal

The first way to start any project is to set a goal. At this point in your life, you've probably already hit that moment where you realize that anxiety over finances is taking over your life. You need to do something, and you need to set goals. Individual goals are personal, but they all start with Financial Freedom, freedom from the anxiety that your finances are causing you. Reaching Financial Freedom is a long and sometimes difficult process, but in the end it will be worth it. Once your financial house is in order, when your debts are paid, your bills are current, and you know exactly how much you have left over to splurge as a reward for a job well done. It may take a while to get to that point, but is such a rewarding feeling to look forward to.

Step One - The Hard Part 

A proven way to get over any fear is to confront it head on. You need to take a look at your finances, how you have actually spent your money in the last three months. Pull your bank statements, put them into a excel spreadsheet or use a highlighter, and start categorizing each individual transaction. At this point, you may start to get overwhelmed, so take it slowly but keep going. Realizing that you have spent money without really thinking about it sometimes results in having no memory of having spent it. Buying things you don't truly need, and bank fees that were unnecessary and add up to amounts that could have been better spent elsewhere. We will be using the information in this exercise to create a budget which I will be blogging about in a separate post.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel 

Now that you have looked at your finances, you may be wondering why you work and work and still worry about money. Setting a budget and sticking to it, is a great way to have money left over at the end of each month and creating an emergency fund to give you peace of mind. After paying off your debts and ridding yourself of those pesky interest rates that are making the banks so rich, you'll be able to reassign that budget line item to something more fun, and save so that you can be your own bank and make yourself rich. Financial Freedom is the light at the end of the tunnel, and the first step is always the hardest.