Getting Your Money's Worth: Making Smart Financial Choices
CRABTREE Publishing Company
Contents Chapter 1 Spend Today or Save for Tomorrow 4 Chapter 2 A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned 10 Chapter 3 Retail Therapy 24 Chapter 4 Reality Checks 36 Glossary 44 Further Information 46 Index 47 About the Author 48
CHAPTER ONE SPEND TODAY OR SAVE FOR TOMORROW Is your money burning a hole in your pocket Do you want to spend it but feel as though you should save it too Knowing when to spend and how to save is an important part of having money Money is a necessary part of life We use it to pay for almost everything we need and want from what we wear to where we live Most people do not have an endless supply of money That’s why being money wise is essential 4 How do you manage your cash Keeping it in one place until you need to spend it may be one way of managing money As you get older however you will have more money and more things to do with it Opening a bank account is one of the first things you can do to keep track of exactly how much you are saving and how much you have on hand to spend
In The Red and In The Black There’s an old bookkeeping term for not having enough money to pay for things It’s called being in the red It comes from the practice of recording debt in red ink in accounting books Black ink was used to record when more money came in than was spent In terms of your personal spending being in the black is something that requires some knowledge and planning Learning the value of money Thousands of years ago before money existed people traded or bartered for the things they wanted A farmer might trade cattle for cloth If you have ever swapped something you own for something a friend owns you understand bartering It is a great system except for when the value of what one person has to barter does not match the value of what another has to trade That’s where money comes in handy Money is a symbol of value It is something we exchange to buy things The expression and title of this book getting your money’s worth refers to getting good value for something you paid for How do you know what is good value or that you have used your money wisely Knowing how money works can help you understand how to spend it and save it in smart ways As you grow older you’ll have household expenses to manage big purchases to make such as a new home and of course you’ll want to take well-deserved vacations from time to time You will quickly learn that money can be difficult to juggle With careful planning however it’s possible to have a positive relationship with money and reduce the stress of managing your finances 5
