Do you worry about your bills?

Do you worry about your debt and financial obligations? Do you wish that you had financial freedom?

I’ve seen it time and time again where people become trapped by their finances. The wild thing is that I’ve seen it at all levels of income. I’ve seen people with very little money live financially free lives. And I’ve seen very wealthy people trapped by their finances.

This is a hard subject for people to talk about. People are embarrassed if their finances are in poor shape. But you shouldn’t be. The reality is that many of us haven’t been taught how to manage our finances well. I was lucky to have parents who taught me these principals at a very young age. If I didn’t have that, I think I wouldn’t be in good financial shape today.

I’ve personally always wanted my personal expenses to be as low as possible. The reason is that when they are low you are in control. There is virtually no financial stress because you are saving money. If your income drops, your expenses are low enough to handle the drop in income. I value financial freedom much more than “things”. In fact, I’ve even made it a game to try and reduce my expenses as much as I can.

Even if you want to maintain your standard of living, there are still many ways to reduce your expenses. Many companies play games to try and get you to pay more money even though they are selling their services for a lower price to others. Airlines are a good example of this. They separate their customers into different classes based upon their willingness to pay. If they estimate you have a higher willingness to pay, then you will be charged more. They do this by putting barriers between the different price classes. For example, book your flight early and you’ll pay a lower price. People who book last minute tend to be business passengers who have a higher willingness to pay. So, they charge those customers more.

There are other tricks that companies use. For example, many companies, like internet providers, will offer you a low introductory rate. Then after a period, the price rises. Customers with a higher willingness to pay won’t push to switch after the promotion ends. After the promotion ends, always ask to get it renewed. If they won’t, then tell them you would like to cancel. Once you are serious, they almost always offer you the lower rate.

Be careful with debt. Companies will offer terms that look great. Pay a reduced monthly price for an expensive product. The problem is that you will often pay very high interest rates. Companies make a lot of money on these deals. Avoid them unless you’ve taken the time to understand the true cost of the deal.

I’m only touching the surface. There is a lot you can do to improve your financial situation. But don’t let it overwhelm you. There are some simple steps you can take to reach financial freedom. Here is one resource that I like: https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu They do a good job of teaching you the principals I wish we were all taught in school. In particular, I really like the debt snowball principal.

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