Saving Buzz

There’s always a scam going on somewhere. Every day thousands of folks get sucked into the next big "deal" of the century. Can’t really blame people for wanting to make more money. The trouble is in finding a safe, honest way to make that extra money. We look so desperately for easy ways to get rich that we are in danger of falling in the traps set by scam artists. The most famous of these criminals was Carlo Ponzi. He was a master at convincing people that, if they just invest an amount of money with him, that he would pay them back many times over. Sounds great, invest a hundred and get several thousands back in a short time. Who wouldn’t want to get in on a great deal like that? Behind the scenes, however, it was a different story. Most people, especially the last ones to get in on the scheme, lost money – including their initial investment.

A Ponzi scheme works because people see big returns for a small investment. Basically, one person starts by putting in the initial amount, say one hundred dollars. Then that person gets five other persons to put in their hundred dollars, and then those five get five each to invest, and so on. This is what is called a "pyramid scheme". So long as people keep joining the plan, the first people (at the top of the pyramid) will get paid handsomely, as promised. However, as people start to lag in their recruitment of others, the money trail starts to falter and soon the whole pyramid collapses. At that point, if you are a new recruit, you will lose all of your money. Since the time of Ponzi pyramid schemes have taken on product lines to legitimatize themselves. All sorts of products, from soap, to currency, to water filters, have been attached to pyramid types of marketing. Ultimately, they all fail because the people are usually looking for easy money without having to work. The thinking is that, if I get others to do the work, then I can just sit back and collect checks. Nothing works unless you work.

If you have a hundred dollars, and you want to make it grow into many hundreds, then think about how to work. Forget trying to multiply your money like the rich capitalists. We are simple folk who know how to work to make a living. We need to do what we do best. If you have a shop that makes and sells donuts, then try to open a second shop so that you can make twice the money. Though it doesn’t work that way, you will at least make more than you have now. If you work for a factory and make a paycheck each week, try to move up in the company to make extra money. If you have the time, try to get a part time job so you can get two pay checks. The key to making money, even for the super rich, is to do more work, give more service, or both. 

There’s always a way to find money to save. Most of us would argue the point, citing the many bills and expenses that we have that are overpowering the money in our paychecks. Still, we must live from day to day, month to month on what we bring home. With a bit of common sense, and a pencil and paper, we can certainly save something for emergencies that we hope and pray never come.

Smart shoppers can take a dollar and go a lot further with it than most of us. Some people are just talented when it comes to money and spending. There are tricks to using money wisely, and we can learn the important tactics that smart people use when putting together the monthly budget.

After looking at what we spent on food during a typical month, we decided to try to cut the grocery bills. When you really “sharpen your pencil” you will find (as did we) that you can reduce the food bills by a subtantial amount. We really don’t need a lot of what we buy each week. We are lazy, and we are creatures of habit – bad habit. With just a few common sense strategies, we will cut the food bills in half (we hope!).

Every day we all try to think of ways to save more money on gasoline for our cars. It is time to get more serious as the gas gets more expensive. We need to look deeper into the maintenance of the cars as well as paying more attention to the improvement of our driving habits and strategies.