Great! Inspiring Quotes and Lessons (click here)
3/1/20266 min read
Part 2 of the 3 part series on Investing, Saving, and Spending
This is part 2 of my 3 parts series on Investing, Saving, and Spending. I hope you enjoyed Part 1, Investing. You can review my archived articles by navigating via the upper right menu on this website.
These are Lessons and Learnings and many I wished I had learned earlier. Still, I am grateful to better understand them today and hopefully pass on some helpful Lessons and Learnings to others.
It has been very enjoyable and rewarding to write and share my website with others. Since publishing my website in January 2026, several of my friends have provided me some of their Lessons and Learnings too. Thank you! Likely, my friends are basically saying “I learned this and I wish I would have learned it earlier.” Thank you for your contributions to my website!
In Part 1 of my 3 part series on Investing, Saving, and Spending, I said that my Grandma Betty would often use the quote “A penny saved is a penny earned”. – Benjamin Franklin
You can get really detailed on Saving with some unique and tedious methods. I believe Saving can get you deep into things like coupon clipping and you might miss some of the bigger lessons or you lose some opportunities as you “trip over a dollar, to pick up a dime.” At the extreme, saving can take over your life and start to make life more miserable than enjoyable. It should not be that way. Don’t take this the wrong way either, I advocate using coupons to save money, but taking things to an extreme, normally loses efficiency at some point, the saving gains become less incremental. More on Coupons, later.
To live a good life, I believe some focus and sacrifices are needed. Please consider reading The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. On the other hand, if you live a life of such depravation it feels like a jail and that is not good!
Like most things that I published so far, I would say “just start”, “those little things can make a big difference.”
Some Good Quotes and Take Aways:
“The easily shamed, will never learn.” – African Proverb
There is no shame in making some sacrifices now, for a bigger pay-off later. Don’t be too worried about “keeping up with the Jone’s.”
Choose your friends wisely, do they make you better or do they make you feel envious? Be around friends who make you better and you rejoice in their successes too.
“To climb the ladder, it’s one step at a time and if you miss a step you can fall quickly.” – unknown to me
I have seen people save and then all of a sudden, they get the feeling that they are owed something for their earlier sacrifices and they go “all in” on unneeded purchases.
Don’t go all in, reward yourself for achieving saving goals, without missing a step and falling off the ladder. It’s o.k. to treat yourself with something that does not trip up your savings goals.
You cannot live in perpetual harvest mode, you must make your deposits to the bank and save, then enjoy a little harvest versus all of it.
“Often times, the best way, is the hard way.” – Jerry Seinfeld and Bikram Choudhury
Stay on track with your saving plan.
“You may have come from privilege, you might not have created it.” – unknown
Be sure you live within your means and not someone else’s.
If your family happens to be “well off” and you benefited from it, great!. However, it’s not your money, it’s theirs. As easy as you get it, it can be taken away just as easy, so live within your own means.
Those who feel that they can afford something because they always have, does not mean it always applies.
Remember what got you here might not get you there. Was it your money you were spending or someone else’s? Invest, save and spend your own earned money.
Part 2: Saving
#1 Insurance
Purchase the right insurance for your needs, so a catastrophic health issue, death, major property damage, identity theft, or a personal liability event does not ruin your finances. Spending money in return for some security is very important, so these are some key insurances to have.
Health
Term Life: not whole life
Auto
Homeowners/Renters
Long-term disability
Identity theft
Long-term care insurance – it’s expensive, so do your research. However, consider getting it at the right time.
Still, find ways to save on insurance.
First, shop around every year. Yes – it’s a hassle. However, it’s well worth the time.
Ask for discounts like:
Safe driver discounts because you have not had an accident.
Maintain good credit scores and this can help you get insurance discounts too.
For students, ask for a good grade discount.
Consider bundling policies and dropping policies that are not needed
As example, drop or reduce coverage on that old car no one drives. Better yet, consider selling it.
Lower deductibles
If you have your emergency funds saved and can afford some out-of-pocket expenses, having higher insurance deductibles can really help save you money. I have heard several friends and colleagues over time say things like “well, we have a $500 insurance deductible, but I won’t turn in my $2000 claim because it will increase my insurance rates over time, so it’s not worth it to make a claim”. Therefore, likely, a smart move is raise your deductibles!
As example, if you can raise insurance deductible and save $1500 per year. Save $1500 per year on insurance over 30 years at 10% interest compounded annually = $246,741in savings
Or if you don’t have things like identity theft insurance, use your car and home insurance savings to purchase identity theft insurance.
Sometimes, what you save in one place can be a good investment in others, like having identity theft insurance.
Another example, if you are fortunate to work for a company that offers a term-life insurance policy, many times these are less expensive than what you can purchase on your own and easy to get.
Purchase Term-life and not whole-life. Ideally, for a period of time you will eventually be out of debt or essentially self-insured if you die. This means your fluid assets/cash will pay off all your debts.
#2 Interest Rates
First, cash is your friend. Don’t borrow money unless really necessary. Define, really necessary very well.
If you must borrow money, 0% and/or at least lower interest rates are your friend.
The lowest interest rates over time, adds up a lot in savings.
Take the hassle to switch credit cards as many times as needed to continue to roll debt to 0% financing. However, don’t forget to switch and ideally pay-off the credit card immediately before the introductory rate of 0% skyrockets to over 20%!
On home and private loans, always shop around for the best interest rate possible.
If buying a home to stay in for a longer period of time, consider buying down interest rate points.
Example: $400,000 desired loan, 15 years, 6% interest. For $4,000 the interest rate reduces to 5.75% and your monthly mortgage payment reduces from $3,375 to $3,322. Saving $52 per month and break-even at 6.3 years. Mortgage Points Calculator | Rate Buy Down Calculator - NerdWallet
Always shop around for lower interest rates.
#3 Large Purchases
First, if you can, wait until you can pay cash.
Research the best time to purchase, as example:
Homes in the Winter, if you can
Cars at the end of the year or end of the quarter like March, June, September, and especially December.
Refrigerators in May
Washer/Dryers in September
Consider end-of-year clearance and ask for big discounts on the floor models
As example, settling for a little blemish in the paint on the side of a washer or dryer can save you hundreds of dollars.
Shop and ask for a better deal. Learn to walk a way and also ask “is this the best you can do?”
#4 Small Purchases add up, so consider saving the money.
Some powerful examples – Saving, using 10% interest rate compounded quarterly:
$15/day – lunch out vs packing your own lunch. Over 30 years this can add to over $1Million dollars!
$27/day – dinner out vs eating in. Over 30 years this can add up to nearly $2Million dollars.
$500/month – reduce a few nice dinners, lunches, and eliminating a few unneeded monthly subscriptions. Over 30 years this can add up to over $1Million dollars.
#5 Coupons and Points
First, don’t purchase things you don’t need. When you shop, have a list and don’t deviate from it.
Believe it or not, just ask for a coupon at the counter.
Example, Kohls is known to give the coupon/discount at the check-out, just ask if there are any coupons/discounts on your purchases.
Use digital coupons
Example, some stores have an app that you can use to shop and you can clip the coupons digitally on the app. Then, when you pay at the store, the coupon/discount is applied. My wife does this at our grocery store “King Soopers”
#6 Pick your friends wisely
Are they making you better or worse?
Do you feel the need to try to keep up with them? Is it starting to feel like a competition on who has the biggest, newest, best thing, longest vacation, extravagant watches, new clothes…?
Be around people who make you a better person.
We all should have some pleasure in our lives. Are you working to live or living to work? Therefore, in my next article I will talk about Spending wisely!