We have been hearing the sage advice from countless writers and economists for (it seems) forever. That advice? Save, save, and save some more, because the time is coming when you might starve and your house will be taken away. Most people have been listening. Recent facts have revealed a trend toward saving money, reducing debt, and getting rid of useless spending. Of course, not everyone is doing these things, but enough of us are taking good advice to heart to indicate that common sense might not be dead, yet. Just when you might think that there isn’t anyone in this society that is worth anything, people seem to "pop up" out of no where to surprise you. It’s a good feeling!

Around the country many people (it’s always the silent majority) are heeding the call to stop useless spending on trivial junk. Of course, there is no time that useless spending makes sense, even if you have excess money, but that is what ignorant people have always done in the past. We are seeing less of this behavior in recent months. People are starting to understand that credit is a pool of quicksand that can quickly suck you in and ruin you. Not only the individual, but the whole society suffers when even one careless person is stupid enough to declare bankruptcy, or otherwise default on a debt. People like this are a blight on the community and their attitude is a prime reason that we have so much financial trouble. You see, when a company cannot get the money that they are owed, they simply pass the debt on to those of us who still pay our bills. Hopefully, this trend is losing momentum. Maybe more people are realizing that, when you take on a debt – make a promise to pay for what you have purchased – that you must honor that promise. To do otherwise compromises any integrity that a person may have had.

People are saving money these days any way that they can. They are trying out tried and true methods, like taking ten percent of their paycheck for a savings account, paying themselves first, giving up expensive hobbies in favor of less expensive pursuits – and saving the difference, having garage sales, and eating at home instead of wasting money on expensive restaurants. Saving money is relatively easy. All one has to do is make believe that you don’t have it. For example, let’s say that you make a hundred dollars a week in your paycheck (hopefully more than that, but this is just for illustration). Your savings strategy might be to make believe that you only make ninety dollars. You then will budget your spending so that you have everything covered with ninety dollars. You can then save the remaining ten dollars. For this strategy to work you must be able to budget wisely. Pencil and paper work well for this exercise. Write down all expenses for the week (or month) on one side of the paper. Next, write down the amount of money needed for each expense next to the item. Add up all the numbers for a total expenditure for the time period. Compare this number of dollars with the take home pay from your paycheck. If the paycheck number is higher than the expenditure number, then you have the difference to put into a savings vehicle (mutual fund, CD, IRA, etc.). On the other hand, if the expenditures are higher than the paycheck, you must revisit the items upon which you spend money. Start to question some of those items to see if you can eliminate them. Maybe you can shop more wisely at the grocery store to save a few bucks. Carpooling can cut some of the automobile expenses. Maybe your clothes don’t need to be replaced so often. There are always items that we can do without (or less of them) when we get serious about fitting a budget to our paycheck.

Debt reduction is one of those monstrous endeavors that we dare not ignore. If you have incurred a debt, like a mortgage, car loan, or school loan, then you must pay this amount back to the lender. There really is no choice if you have any integrity. When a job loss occurs and your income plummets significantly, the debt still remains – but now it seems bigger because it dwarfs your income. Regardless of these circumstances, you have the obligation to repay. Fitting a large debt into a budget can be daunting, but it just requires more careful figuring. One important factor is that you want to pay down the principal (along with interest, etc.) with each payment. It does no good to just pay the interest on a loan. You will never get the debt paid, and you will have a constant leak in your money supply. Always pay something, even if it is only fifty dollars per month, on the principal of any loan. Eventually, you will pay off the loan and hopefully you will never again take on a big loan that you cannot afford.

Overall, people seem to be responding to good advice and they are making some head way. Get rid of (repay) those credit debts as soon as possible, restrict spending to necessary items only, and put effort into saving as much as possible. We are not out of the financial woods yet – there are more horrific times coming. The good news is that there are strategies that work and that there are people who are getting ahead – or at least they are not losing ground anymore. Spread the idea that saving money is possible to all the people with whom you are acquainted. Grass roots communication has always been the best way to get a message out to everyone. Tell them that we still live in the greatest country on Earth and that, when people start caring about their lives, and the lives of their neighbors again, we will all benefit. Let’s bring back the "good old days"!