Piggy Bank, I Love You

Do you love your piggy bank, or is it starving in the face of neglect? Like a child's Tamagotchi virtual pet if you don't feed it it will die; or maybe just collect a lot of useless dust. The point is the piggy must be fed and to help you feed it I have compiled three lessons to get you on your way to financial freedom. The basic concept in each is based off the principal rule " A penny saved is a penny earned." (Benjamin Franklin).

How many people pick up change off the street? Now, I can hear some mum saying, "You don't know where that nickel's been Billy" but, I think its time for the fallen change to find a home.

Lesson One: Pick Up Change

In One week I was able to find 26 cents without really trying. It isn't a lot, and even less in the current economical climate, but it was found money. The only work I had to do for it was bend down and pick it up.

Change does add up. I hardly think about the change I have laying in my purse, but when I clean it out I always add it to my Piggy Jar, which recently yielded $20.00 that I later donated (with change left in the jar). Hello tax credit.

My sister-in-law once saved up extra change, including dollars, and paid for a trip to Disney with her husband and daughter. That's plane tickets, hotel at DisneyWorld, all parks pass for 3 days, and spending money. It took about a year, but with the kids also putting everything into the piggy bank they were able to go on their change.

Everyone in the household should have a piggy bank, or atleast a collective savings jar. More importantly children should have a savings jar so they can learn the fundamentals like: counting, addition, financial responsibility and monetary value of things they want to buy. Instead of the child begging for a new toy every time you're in a store they can save up for it. Once they discover how much time it takes to save up for it they may re-consider.

Did you know that the novel Little Dorrit by, Charles Dickens is about a man who is put into a debtor's prison because he couldn't pay his debt. It may be perceived that this is an extreme measure for those who can't pay debt when our own country can't pay theirs. We'd all be guilty if that were the case, because this is a country of the people (right?).

The truth is many are in a debtors prison; one without walls. The cycle of credit card debt, when only the minimum payment (despite the recent increase of credit card minimum) is paid, puts the user of the credit card years, if not a lifetime from ever seeing the end of it.

Lesson Two: Pay down Debt

It is important to always pay more than required on your credit card bills. Even if that means using the amount you save each month in your piggy bank, because it is the only way out of this debt prison.

There are extreme cases when this maybe impossible to do, especially if other necessary bills are unable to be paid. For this I would suggest debt counseling, or calling your creditors and working out something with them. Please note that the advice given here does not take into consideration every financial situation and only bases itself on general principle.

Paying down credit card debt is especially helpful. My husband and I have been virtually debt free for years. What I mean by debt free is that we have a mortgage and a car payment. We do not continue to carry credit card debt over month to month. We avoid credit card interest as much as possible. However, we did go from a collective of $8,000 credit to zero. We worked diligently at it and paid whatever extra we could for a year until finally being debt free.

What we did was we structered our spending habits and made decisions that focused on paying down debt. We even created a budget that allowed us to put money into savings at the same time. Savings helped especially pay for unaccounted purchases so we didn't have to add more to our credit card debt.

The point is, whatever and however (always within reason) you can do to try and pay down your debt will be worth it in the end. Debt free is the way to be. Don't get discouraged because, every little bit helps.

Last but not least, financial freedom.

Lesson Three: Free at last.

Financial freedom is more than your savings and more than paying off your debt, it is the sum of those things and more, it is your time. Your time is valuable. What you are working for is a better life for your family. The money you make allows you to have more time with them; at least, that's the idea, right?

It really does seem that the more money you have the more you get. The saying 'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.' Unfortunately, there may be some truth to that, but it doesn't have to be. The thing is when you are financially unburdened by mounting debt you begin to have more options available to you. Better credit means lower interest rate. Sometimes lower credit scores are a result of having to much debt, even if you pay everything on time. Debt free, as mentioned above, could help with that part of financial freedom.

The part that many do not often talk about is how financial freedom is also the freedom live economically. For example, you are free to walk with your significant other, child or pet for an evening stroll which doesn't cost a thing. Most parks are free to visit and enjoy. You are free to spend your time and choose how to use it.

Even choosing where you work is a choice. Most people do better in interviews if they are not under the pressure to take the next job offered to them. Better interview, better job, better offer.

Be free not to buy something, make it instead and then sell it. Start a garden and make your seeds and money work for you. Eat at home because you can. Enjoy the life you have without buying it. It's wonderful just as it is without embellishments.