Wow, You're a Life-Saver! Part I

Be a Life-Saver!
Talks of an imminent recession, massive layoffs, surges in the prices of wheat, housing and mortgage slumps, and an increasingly impotent dollar are causing widespread concern for the financial future of the average American. Now, is as good a time any to discuss the importance of being a saver for life or "lifesaver." In the next two columns, we will explore revolutionary, yet seemingly trivial tools and ways of thinking that keep lifesavers more adept at absorbing the impact of external threats to their financial peace of mind and purchasing power.
Below are five basic tools that lifesavers use to defend themselves against corporate agenda, piracy,and peddling.

Life-Savers Carry Calculators
Keeping a calculator handy, whether the one on your cellphone, in your purse, or in between your ears, saves you from succumbing to alluring discount offers and seductive sales pitches. Once you realize that 20% off of $200 is actually $60 more than the $100 that you wanted to initially spend, you'll be more discerning and wary of department store bargains and holiday sales.

Using a calculator while shopping also helps you to discern when there in fact is a bargain, even though it is not so apparent. For example, last week I went to a buy hair conditioner. The four-ounce bottle cost $10, while the eight-ounce bottle cost $15. My initial thought was to buy the four-ounce bottle, but a quick calculation made me see that it would be in my best interest to buy the larger bottle now and save myself $5, in addition to transportation or other non-related costs that would accompany the purchase of another four-ounce bottle at a later date.


Life-Savers Carry Pen and Notepad
The necessity of pen and notepad as tools of proactive saving often go overlooked. Not only should you use these tools to create lists of items and estimated prices before you leave the house, you should also use this list to guage the completion of a task. More importantly, carrying pen and notepad allows you to jot down better prices, patterns in your spending, lucrative opportunities, and financial tips in one place.

Keeping all of this data in one location proves key. Over a period of time, these financial journals illuminate financial priorities (or lack thereof), business ideas, and serve as reference for invaluable human and capital resources.

Life-Savers Carry Business Cards
Those that commit to a life-saving lifestyle are prepared to absorb the financial shock of life's unexpected events because of their long-term money mindset. Equally important, they prepare for financial opportunity in the present. That is, their proclivity for planning and practicality also allows them to take advantage of opportunities to network and embark on money-saving or money-making ventures when least expected. To this end, they keep updated business cards on their person at all times. This facilitates the broadening of their social base and projects to those with whom they encounter a level of business savvy and creative maturity.

Life-Savers Carry Big Bills
The largest denomination of money in this country are $50 and $100 bills. Generally speaking, consumers usually reserve them for large purchases such as electronics, furniture, and or appliances. Conversely, consumers reluctantly use big bills to buy packs of gum, magazines, or quick bites to eat when they have no change. Life-savers understand that carrying big bills, like $50, make them less prone to frittering way their money on small purchases. With big bills, they are more easily able to monitor when bills are broken and when change is made. (Think: It's easier to keep track and more painful to spend four $50 bills than ten $20 bills or twenty $10 bills.)

Life-Savers Carry Chips on Their Shoulders
Most people go shopping with an aim to spend money. That is, they do not need much persuasion to spend money because in fact, they want to spend. They consider malls, salespersons, and outlets inviting, nonthreating, and without motive. On the other hand, a life-savers money mindset is the exact opposite. They enter commercial areas playing financial defense. They understand stores, shops, and others of commerce to be deliberate, purposeful, and predatory to their future financial security. As a result, they need proof, reason, and rationale as to why they should spend their money because their principal financial aim is to keep it.