Your Tax Free Income

As we approach a time in our nation when many of us may go through some tight financial times, I thought I’d share a portion of an e-mail (with a few edits and additions) to a friend who had asked me about some online money-making ideas:

One thing to consider about ways to make money, is to also think of saving money as a way of making money. If you think of your saving money as your income, that income is tax free earnings. In other words, if you do things that save $2,000 for the year, then you have $2,000 extra, that you would not have otherwise had. If you had actually earned $2,000 additional income, you would have to pay income tax for a good portion of that. So, if you can knock off $15 a week from your grocery budget, it’s like making an extra $60+ a month. Not much, you may think, but it does add up to over $750 a year. Do that in several areas, however, and you will really note a huge difference–yes, even thousands.

When we went through out time of very small income for over 6 months (and no income for a few of those weeks), we discovered more and more areas where we could cut back–areas where we thought we were doing the bare minimum before. It was amazing, and I really enjoyed learning and trying to see how much we could save. Making it into a game really helped me not to get discouraged about our situation. It also helped us realize how little we really needed, and has helped us become more organized and less cluttered. (Of course, we’ve done many things for free and have gotten many “free things’ that we don’t really need, too.) And we could still cut back our spending even more if absolutely necessary.

So, if you have a limited amount of time, and are wanting to divide it between doing online surveys, etc… and learning to save, focus the majority of your time and efforts on learning to save money. It is a discipline and skill that you can become quite proficient in. Once saving has become easy and efficient, devote more time to money-making ideas. If you never learn to save, you will always think your problem is lack of income. Learn to save first (which include simply not spending), and you’ll be able to maximize your income more than you would have ever thought possible.

Obviously, income is essential to being able to save money, but sometimes viewing the importance of saving money can be foundational to having the motivation to live frugally. Of course, if you make $30/hr., and it takes you 2 hours just to wait in line for a free meal during your lunch break, you would obviously be better off to work and buy a lunch pack a lunch. :). In the end, it is still important to remember that saving money isn’t everything; sometimes, time with family, other responsibilities, and time for God are just more important, and an extra dollar here and there is worth it. The best way to save? Simply not to spend at all! But then, we all need to eat. :) But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.