I’ve noticed, all the advertisements on the TV and shows are about savings. Saving a little here and there by switching car insurance, supermarkets, saving pennies and pounds to add up so you can go on that holiday.

Advertisement from banks about interest free credit cards for your debt and debt transfer and both are easy to understand and do. I realised nothing ever tells you about investment.

On Twitter people tweet about Stocks, Crypto and Forex (the hyped up gambling scheme) but the average person doesn’t really know how they operate, what you have to do to invest and you have to do a lot of research to understand them. It’s not laid out as plainly as MoneySupermarket.com which allows you to do comparisons on electricity from a number of suppliers on one page to save money.

How much are we really saving per week/month/year? Is it really worth it in real monetary terms that makes an actual difference to our spending? It’s not a lot and do we really want to keep living our lives where we’re always having to live within means and  comparing prices on insurance and supermarkets to save a few pounds here and there?

What if we want to go on holiday and have the money and are able to spend it where ever we want to go without having to worry about money. What if we want to spend that extra money and buy luxury food and goods without going to a comparison.com?

Investing in Yourself

Investments mean time and money two very important attributes in everybody’s life. I read something on Twitter ‘Your 9-5 is to pay your bills and your 5-9 is to pay for your dreams’. We still have to work for a roof over our heads, eat and pay bills but what are we doing outside of that?

I think we all have dreams for ourselves, a nice house, car, family, holidays, work related achievements. I didn’t have dreams in writing til a few years ago or maybe I did but they lay dormant for a while. I remember I used to write out poems and put them up in my bedroom when I was younger. I read Alicia Keys writing and I got into song writing (long story). But to make it come true I have to plan,work and invest.

So what does this mean? It means investing time in the evening into writing, reading, researching and making time to better my craft. It means investing financially and spending money to make money. For us it’s been investing money into decent equipment like technology which is expensive so we can work and create.

It means sacrificing, taking your money believing in yourself and investing it back into yourself and your dream. You have to do this for long-term success. You have to sacrifice short-term pleasures like eating out, entertainment, the clothes and shoes that you want and maybe even need.

It means taking time out from my family watching a movie, coming upstairs even though I’m not feeling motivated, I don’t feel like writing but sitting down on the laptop and writing something down. Nobody has got me on a schedule, nobody is going to make me do it but me.

The Three

With debt, saving and especially investment there’s no hard and fast rules to what you HAVE to do and everyone has a different perspective on money. Some say clear your debt first but I say – do all three simultaneously.

If you have debt which a lot of people do, consolidate your debt into interest free because interest just increases it monthly and you end up going round in a debt circle. Make sure you pay at least the minimum each month and if you can more than that to reduce it as soon as you can. Try not spending on credit cards to incur further debts and live within your means.

Each month try to put away  money for savings, for something you may want, need or rainy day money. It can be a little but do it consistently each month and see it add up by the end of the year.

And investing, taking earned money and putting it back into yourself, a business idea, a dream, equipment to create more revenue streams outside of the 9-5. You could lose the job but having other forms of income to fall back is more security for you and financial freedom if you’re willing to take entrepreneurial risks outside of the conventinal….Are You?

Til next time on $ilky’s Money Report.

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