my care2
make a difference

community & fun

shares

share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more

Financial efficiency (or, 100 pennies saved is $1 saved)
Mar 27, 2008
Where does our money go and how fast? What if we streamlined and slowed down the flow? To borrow from Amory lovins concept of the negawatt, lets inject some negadollars into our budgets.

My guess is that almost everyone has areas in their spending patterns where more money than needed is used to obtain the goods and services that make life comfortable and enjoyable.

With the buyout of Bear Stearns by J.P. Morgan in Mar. of 2008 alot of questions arose. The public was a little confused and scared about market stability. In one New York Times article the advise to the average investor was to take stock of your financial situation and don't make any decisions based on emotion.

If only I could do this with my money on a daily basis.

Greg's negadollars formula -->
$ earned - costs of living (needs, wants, emotional purchases) + negadollars = $ leftover

To know how your money is being spent, and to know the options you have for increasing your purchasing power is important. But don't forget to add the second piece of the negadollars formula. We are human and we have needs and desires and if all goes well they will be satisfied. The question is; what will be the cost?

Hold on to your caps this could require thinking on your part. What things have you purchased that serve purposes that could be met cheaper? Yes that 300GB hard drive is cool but was it so long ago that we existed on 80GB? A little selective deleting of a movie here an album there and you're good to go. What services do you subscribe to that have cheaper competitors? Do you really need that new ringtone package for $5 from the TV comercial, when you could piecemeal a few of your favorites for .10 apiece from your provider?

Or look at cutting the fat entirely and sticking with the default ringers or *gasp* a home phone and answering machine.

just a couple examples to show there is money to be found even if you think you are just meeting your needs of a new computer and phone service.

Greg's definition of:
"Financial Effiency" = a ratio between the amount of life lived and the amount of dollars spent.

Just because you spend more money doesn't mean you have to get more out of life.
Consider recreation: buying season football tickets vs buying good shoes and taking a nature hike in a national park on the weekends. At the end of the day which one leaves you more fufilled and by what percent. If there is a great disparity between the ratios of the two activities I would argue that over time making the financially efficient decision will net huge results in happiness and wealth.

I'll end by saying "Find the sweetspot of the financial efficiency curve and live there!"

All the best-
Greg Burnley
(0) | () | | send green star | flag as inappropriate
Visibility: Everyone
Tags: , , ,
Posted: Mar 27, 2008 11:48pm

 
 
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.

Author

Greg B.
male , single
Columbia, MO, USA
Shares by Type:
All (2) | Blog (2)

Showing shares tagged with: sustainability [show all]
ads keep care2 free
SHARES FROM GREG'S NETWORK
Dec
7
by Hans L.
(2 comments  |  discussions )
---------------- Dear Friends, Please support Laura Dohmen. She is nine years old and the new junior Managing Director of GaiaPark Zoo in Kerkrade, The Netherlands. Her most important role is to collect as much as possible fans for the Nature Co...
Nov
22
by Hans L.
(2 comments  |  discussions )
Gunter Filho November 21 at 9:56am Reply Dear Friend, My wife Roberta and I are founding a revolutionary concept of a VEGAN RESTAURANT as a way of self-sustained activism. Now we need all support we can get, including yours, to make this happen. ...
Nov
5
by Hans L.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
In September of 1998, the Drive Against Malaria was launched from British Royal Navy vessel HMS Fearless by the First Sea Lord. This was David Robertson's one man mission to drive through as many countries as he could, creating the “Worlds Longe...
Nov
2
by Hans L.
(3 comments  |  discussions )
Can you picture 7,000 young buffaloes being rounded up and killed by a thousand drunk men carrying large knives? A festival where 200,000 animals are killed to please a goddess? This is exactly what -if nothing is done- will happen from November 24, ...
Oct
21
by Hans L.
(1 comments  |  discussions )
Will you help me fight FGM? Female genital mutilation is not an “exotic issue”: Today, FGM is one of the most systematic and widespread mistreatment and violation of childrens’ rights worldwide. Every year, more than three millio...
Oct
17
by Hans L.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
use this as your profile picture on oct 17 worldpovertyday
by Hans L.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
On World Poverty Day we are attempting to blackout Facebook by posting black profile pics - just a Facebook event no excuse not to attend!http://www.faceboo k.com/event.php?eid=12426 039964Today is October 17 World Poverty Day - we will attempt our next...
Oct
8
by Hans L.
(1 comments  |  discussions )
What you can do Until now, PLAN International, World Vision, Kindernothilfe (Germany) and ChildFund Germany have not felt prompted to protect the sponsored girls from FGM. One reason for their ignorant attitude is the fact that donors mostly do not...
Oct
7
by Hans L.
(8 comments  |  discussions )
Campaign: Protection of sponsored girl-children from Female Genital Mutilation We are glad to welcome you on our campaign website! We would like to offer you the opportunity to support the abandonment of violence and harm against children - withou...
Oct
1
by Hans L.
(0 comments  |  0 discussions )
Cause Announcement from STOP the Whale Hunt! A GREENPEACE CAUSE TO SAVE THE WHALES??? WTF? Activist training with GREENPEACE posted in SAVE THE WHALES? This is SICK! This is how Greenpeace is working....they keep on fooling the people and keep on...

Copyright © 2009 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved