More Habits of Financially Peaceful People
In my Yahoo!Finance column that posts on July 31, I outline some of the successful habits of financially peaceful people. Here are a few more:
They avoid pricey diversions.
When Nicholas Fidduccia was working in California, one of his bosses took him sailing. “He once said to me that if I ever wanted to know what it was like to own a boat, to put on a raincoat, step into a cold shower, and tear up dollar bills and flush them down the drain,” says Fiduccia, who retired this year at age 50. “I never got into any expensive hobbies that may have drained me financially.”
He is an avid photographer, however, but offsets his equipment purchases by selling some of his work. He also maintains a ballroom dancing habit that started in college. “I tend to be pretty lazy so anything to get me up on the dance floor doing aerobic activity is good – and socially it’s great too.”
They become experts in low-cost living.
Mary Lena Anderegg, 65, has been married 33 years and she and her spouse have lived on 30 to 40 percent of their combined salaries. They paid off their mortgage in just seven years. She has saved over the years by buying and maintaining used cars; raising vegetables in her garden; insulating her home to save on utilities; and hosting kids’ clothing swaps with friends.”We bought new underwear and new shoes, and for everything else did a clothing swap,” she says. To this day, she swaps books and even flower arrangements with friends. (She buys two new books a year and gets the rest from the library.)
“Keep your eye on the goal,” she says, “because until you are debt free you are not free. We really do not need things all the advertisers tell us we do.”
They keep recreation simple.
Danny Kofke, a 32-year-old teacher who is married with two young girls, keeps leisure pursuits simple. “We go camping, we go to the park a lot, my mom works at library so we go once a week for story time – things that don’t cost all that much money,” he says.
They bought a 12-foot above ground pool for $100 at Target and swim daily in the summer. Rather than go to movies they subscribe to Tivo for $7 a month, so they can watch their favorite programs after the kids are asleep and zip through the commercials.
They give back.
Kofke’s school district recently implemented a new 403(b) retirement savings plan. “One teacher asked me to help her make a decision,” he recalls. “I spent about an hour in the media center and helped 10 of my colleagues with their choices. They told me how helpful I was. It made me feel so good. Empowering others is priceless.”For the last six years, Anderegg and her spouse have served as disaster relief volunteers for the Salvation Army and worked five hurricanes. They’ve made nine trips to Mississippi since 2006 to rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina. “We’ve really been blessed,” she says.
Have you found financial peace? Comment here or email me at laurarowley123@aol.com.
Related Posts
