Money Lessons Learned in 2010

This year I have endured many financial challenges. It seemed like the more I worked I could never seem to catch up on my bills. I learned many lessons when it came to money in 2010. The lessons that I learned enabled me to overcome financial hardships successfully making it toward the end of this year.

Like anybody else I want to have nice things such as cars, jewelry, and clothes. The important thing to that I had to realize is that I must live within my financial means. It makes no sense for me to purchase things that I know I cannot afford. The recession has affected all of us in some kind of way. This year when it comes to money I learned several things. First, it is important to save at least one hundred dollars out of every paycheck. It was hard but I was able to do it. By doing this I was prepared for miscellaneous expenses that always seem to come up when my funds were low. Secondly, credit cards are privileged negotiable instruments. In other words they should not be abused. I only use mine in emergency situations. For example, when I go out to purchase an item that costs $40 I don't use my credit card for the purchase especially if I have the cash on hand. Lastly, I highly recommend always paying more than the minimum amount that is due on your credit cards. I was guilty of paying just the minimum amount due on my credit cards. I became overwhelmed by the ridiculously high finance charges. I eventually was offered settlements by the credit card companies which I gladly took. This enabled me to eliminate some of my credit card debt. Lastly, there is nothing wrong with reducing leisure spending. Instead of going to the movies every other weekend, if you already have paid television take advantage of the programming that is offered. It is only right to do so considering the fact the many of us are paying lots of money for this service anyway. I started have movie nights with the family at least twice a month. By doing this I was able to save an extra $100 a month. It is very expensive to for a family of four to go out to the movies. This year I learned not only to be frugal with my money but I also learned to refrain from making unecessary purchases.