Spending with a view to saving

When you go out food shopping, you are sure to come across offers that purport to save you money. You will see adverts like, “buy one get one free,” or “buy one get one half price.” You may also notice that some items are badged as costing less when you buy them in bulk. But if you take up any of these offers will you be saving money?

You must be careful. Tempting though such offers may be, they often lure people into buying more of something, then not using it and ending up throwing it away. What kind of saving is that?

Similarly, people will often simply consume more, just because they bought a larger quantity due to the fact that it was on offer. Again, this is really false economy. Eating more just because you’ve bought more not only lessens the amount of money you have left, but it can also lead to weight gain with all of its associated health risks, not to mention you wont have as much money left.

Spending like this, just for the sake of it, is folly. You are merely being lured by clever advertising, and instead of spending to save, you are just spending more.

Advertising can cause harm

Advertising, unless it is closely monitored can be damaging in other ways. Take alcohol for example. A recent piece on News24 about how booze adverts can tempt kids into bad ways at an early age. The clever way the adverts are couched utilises catchy slogans, celebrities, and images of camaraderie and party life to convince watchers that drinking alcohol is the trendy thing to do.

The result is that far more young people than ever are getting into the alcohol habit and under-age drinking is now a serious problem, not only in South Africa but all over the world. Alcoholism can also result in overspending, leading people into debt and poverty.

Spending your money wisely

Spending money wisely can, however, lead to savings in the long term, and making savings is a great philosophy that can lead you to financial security and wellness. We recommend checking out these 40 money saving tips from Wonga to help you develop some terrific habits to develop forever saving strategies.

What, you may ask is a forever saving?

A forever saving is spending money on something that will lead to savings once youve recovered the initial cost of the outlay, for many years to come. A good example would be buying solar panels.

Investing in solar panels makes sense on several levels. Not only will it eventually mean that your electricity will essentially be free, but you will be contributing to the eco-war. Your heating source will be sustainable, and you will be one less person draining the planet’s natural reserves. It doesn’t end there either.

A saving concept that pays you back

If you produce more electricity that you use, you can sell any excess to a power company to get fed back into the national grid. You can actually earn money as well as saving it. So, if you have enough money in the first place, and your living environment is suitable in terms of being able to install solar panels, this is a great way of spending to eventually save.

If you spend your money carefully on lifes essentials, and whatever is left over goes on investing in things like solar panels, and bricks and mortar, you will achieve personal, financial security.