Time to Wake up: Save Money and Get Out of Debt

TIME to WAKE UP:

SAVE MONEY and GET OUT of DEBT

Lawrence Burns

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Lawrence Burns

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

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Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. Therefore, if you wish to apply ideas contained in this book, you are taking full responsibility for your actions. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this publication.

Table of Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1. MANAGING MONEY IS NOT EASY

Managing on a Low Income Is Tough

A Shower for the Soul

Denial Is Not a River in Europe

Set Goals and Stop Putting Money down the Drain

Action Steps

2. BUDGET ISO TRIANGLE

Saving Goals

Outgoings

Master the Family Budget

Action Steps

3. ARE YOU SPENDING MORE THAN YOU CAN AFFORD?

Salespeople are Not Your Friends

Spending Diary

Action Steps

4. TURN THE MONEY MARATHON INTO A WALK IN A PARK

Victory Savings program

4.1. Financial Commitments

Rent/ Mortgage/ Land Tax/ Rates

Loan Repayments and Credit Cards Interests

4.2. Utilities

Electricity/ Gas/ Water

Internet/ Phone/ Mobile Phone/ Paid TV/ Technology

4.3. Home

Insurance (Home, Content)

Home Maintenance and Repair

Household Cleaning

What doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Weaker

Furniture/ Appliances

Clutter Control

4.4. Shopping

Generic Products

Food/ Fruits/ Vegetables

Your Family will Love you for it

Other Products

4.5. Health

Private Health Insurance

Gym/ Sporting Membership

4.6. Transport

The Family Car

Real Ways to Save Fuel

Service

4.7. Education

Child Care

School/ College Fees

Your Upskilling

4.8. Entertainment

Having a Great Time

Gifts

Visitors

Gambling/ Lotto

5. ARE YOU READY TO BEAT MY FINANCIAL VICTORY LIST?

Useful Online resources

Dedication

Preface

This book is written to benefit all people doing it tough for whatever the reason. It doesn’t matter whether you are pensioners trying to eke out your pension or you are a single living alone, a family, or a single parent. You are the only one who can save your money. Improving your financial situation is not rocket science. Just think carefully and stick to the money saving ideas. Success is not only possible; it is guaranteed and is based on your level of determination. I hear you asking, How can you say this? The answer is, I know what I am talking about, I have done it all, and reached all my goals. The content is not just a bunch of words written by an individual who read them somewhere and has never known what to want really is. This book is based on personal real life experiences which have been tried and tested over a very long period of time.

My experiences of the entire spectrum of life are: from being a single and living alone, to a financially challenged family man, a solo parent, an unemployed family man, and finally becoming both a disabled and an age pensioner. The journey has been amazing on so many levels. Now I hope to share with you some of the discoveries that can help you improve your quality of life.

The road has often been painful but gave me a wealth of knowledge. Many mistakes were made; however, you can limit your pain by benefiting from my experiences. At the end of the day, I have my own fully owned home, a nice car and there is very little else in life I want or need apart from good friends and good health but no amount of money will buy either of them. So you see, no matter how tough it is or how dark it seems right now, there is always a silver lining as anything is possible if you apply yourself.

In reading on, do not expect that every element discussed under the following headings will apply to your situation. It won’t, and the reason for that is because this is not an individual plan for you personally based on in depth discussion and an individual analysis of your situation.

The content is written for the larger audience attempting to bring to all readers the maximum amount of helpful hints for saving money from your budget, therefore, allowing you to either save, or to use those monies in other areas.

I am totally unbiased: none of the websites/ software/ books offered in this book were selected in order to be compensated by their authors for promotions of their products.

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Introduction

We live in unusual times, in a society of high technology, of mass communications and of plastic money. We have for the first time ever manufacturing processes which have resulted in some prices falling by around 50% per annum while the