MINIMIZING EXPENSES

Wisdom is not something that you can earn a diploma in. Wisdom is on the application side of the equation. It is better to be wise than to be foolish and yet, most people apply foolishness rather than wisdom to their financial situations. Wisdom is a spiritual quality that cannot be purchased with money. Wisdom gives insight into every facet of life. Wisdom understands that actions have consequences and it is wise to plan ahead.

Saving money is easy to understand. To save money, you must spend less than you earn. This is the only way that saving money is possible. It is a true and tried method that works wherever and whenever it is put into practice. This is the only sure way of building up a savings and yet most people do not understand it. This is because most people have no idea what they spend their money on. They do not keep detail records. They do not keep their receipts. They do not prepare monthly income statements. In other words, they do not have a clue on how to manage money. Money manages them.

A recent example of how to minimize expenses was shown to me. I was impressed by the preplanning. My wife’s nephew was getting married. As we all know, weddings can be very expensive affairs. However, with preplanning expenses can be minimized thereby reducing the wedding’s expense. Receptions can be a time where alcoholic beverages are served. I noticed some unopened gin and vodka bottles in my brother in law's garage.

I made mention of where the wet gin was since the gin said it was dry to my brother in law. He then explained to me the arrangement that he made to minimize the alcohol expenses for the reception. His son (the groom) and he had made up a contract with a spreadsheet that was signed by his son and the bartender. They would be responsible for providing so much of the alcohol and any unopened bottles would be returned to the package store for a refund.

This was a way of minimizing expenses by preplanning. It is easy in these situations to

overestimate how much you need and therefore to overspend. Some people would just keep the unopened bottles and not hassle with taking them back for a refund. This increases the amount that they end up spending for the wedding. My brother in law is frugal. He does not spend more than he has too. It is important to minimize expenses no matter the occasion.