Chapter 9. Sweating the Big Stuff
"Count the dollars, not the pennies.â
While itâs important to save money on everyday stuff (see Chapter 5), itâs even more important to save on big purchases. By making smart choices on big-ticket items, you can save thousands of dollars in one blow.
In the next few chapters, youâll learn how to save on big stuff like insurance, housing, and transportation. This chapter gets you started by looking at money-saving tactics for buying a new or used car and booking vacations.
Counting the Dollars
In Chapter 1, you learned that to be happy, you should focus on the most important things in your life before you worry about the little stuff (see the box on Living a Rich Life). Turns out the same is true of your finances.
In All Your Worth, Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi write, âSavvy money managers donât spend a lot of time looking for ways to save a few pennies. They charge right ahead to the big-ticket items, looking to make high-impact changes in the shortest period of time. They donât sweat the small stuff.â
As I mentioned in Chapter 5, by making a few small changes to my daily habits, I reduced my spendingâand boosted my cash flowâby almost $200 a month. But as powerful as frugality can be, itâs saving on the big stuff thatâll really improve your cash flow.
You want to make sure you donât negate your daily scrimping and saving by making silly choices on big things thatâll burden you for years. Itâs ...
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