To Save Or Not To Save

Are we spending money on things we don’t really want, at the expense of the things we really need?

There are many things that we can save money on.

But these are the 7 things we should never save money on.

Education

Education is the most powerful weapon that which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela

The best foundation is the right education. And it starts all the way from young. We do not compromise on our future. An investment on ourselves is always worth the money. And every parent will want their children to get a college education.

And it does not stop there.

Many people think that education stops after graduating from university, getting Masters and postgraduate certificates. However, there are still much more things to learn. We should not stop learning and upgrading ourselves in whichever company and industry we are in.

Never stops learning. Because life never stops teaching.

Healthcare

We always hear ‘Health is wealth’.

‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?’

The irony of life is that a man works hard to earn money all his life and at the end spend all the money he has at the hospital bed.

Prevention is better than cure. Keep fit, exercise, go for health screening and dental checkup. Take a step forward towards healthy living. And in the unfortunate event of accident or sickness, would we rather go for the new intern or the experienced specialist? And would we wait for hours in the government hospital or beat the queue in the private clinics?

If we have the opportunity to shorten our waiting time for diagnostics and early intervention, we could reduce the chance that our condition will worsen. If we have the opportunity for a thorough treatment by an experienced specialist, we could have the chance for survival. If we have the opportunity to seek second opinion, we could minimize the risk of having wrong diagnosis of our condition.

I believe our lives are worth much more. And the price to pay to lengthen our lives is worth spending money on.

Travel

Live with no excuses

Travel with no regrets

Travel opens the mind, allows us to recoup and get new ideas for our business or personal life. Spending money on travel is never a waste due to the number of good things we will get back. We will get back tons of experiences. Studies have shown that people are happier when they spend on experiences rather than physical objects.

Remember we only live once. We are only young once. Our children are only young once. We want to make memories that will last. The memories we make are priceless.

Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed.

Products that earn us more money

Purchases that help us advance in our work is a good investment. All the things that allow us to do better in our work are worth the spurge.

Investing in a new laptop is a worthwhile investment if it helps us in our career.

Shopping for a professional outfit for our work to create lasting impression with our customers to earn the sales is justifiable.

Buying a reliable car is of importance if the car can earn us a higher value.

Besides these, there are savings and investment products that will gain more interest than what the banks are offering and earn us more money that we should look into.

It is an oxymoron when we hear people wanting to find the cheapest savings and investment plans or putting in the minimum requirement to save and invest. Isn’t the more we can save and invest, the more we can get in the future?

A penny saved is a penny earned.

However, a penny saved in the bank that is not generating higher interest is losing its value due to inflation. It is better off putting in products that will earn us more money.

Services that save us time

Time is money. So paying for things that give us more of it are worth the investment. Time is the one thing we cannot get it back.

Delivery services, outsourcing ad-hoc jobs, hiring a part time cleaner, etc. All these can make our lives much easier.

If we could spend that time at work and earn more than we spend of those services, we come out ahead.

Money is all about giving us the life that we want, and that usually means spending time in the ways that makes us happy. The best thing we can do with our money is to use it to free up time.

Nowadays with lots of Do-It-Yourself schemes out there in the market, there are 2 questions we can ask ourselves.

- Are we the best in that area?

- Do we prefer to spend more time with our loved ones or doing things we like or would we rather ‘do it ourselves’?

The choice is ours.

Make the right choice that will save us time and money.

Essential items we use every day

These are some of the essential items that we use every day that we should never save money on.

- Good mattress and pillow

Because sleep is awesome. And good sleep is even better.

Sleep is essential to good health. And we spend 5 – 8 hours a night on our bed. Getting a good night’s rest affects every other part of our lives. If we do not get a good night’s rest, we will not be productive at work, may not get the promotion, and may just feel like crap.

A good mattress and pillow is good for our health and will pay for itself in the long run.

- Comfortable shoes

Would you rather have 40 pairs of shoes and each pair can only use once or twice or do you prefer to have 10 pairs that fit well and are of high quality?

We wear shoes every day. We can spend a lot of time on our feet so we want to be comfortable.

I would rather spend more on a pair of good shoes that last years than less on a bunch of shoes that do not last and are not as comfortable.

- Fitting clothes

It is less expensive to buy fewer outfits that we will actually wear and that we feel great in than to buy dozens of items from discount racks that we end up hating and that make us feel frumpy.

When the clothes fit well, we feel good. When we feel good, we are more confident. And when we are more confident, we are even better able to meet our goals.

- Quality gadgets

Nowadays we cannot survive without our hand phones or tablets and computers. We can use them for hours every single day. So just buy the best and stop messing around after that. The key to keeping it as long as we can is buying the best.

Insurance

Last but definitely not the least we should never save money on insurance.

Insurance is the number one product that gives the best return, in the event of an unfortunate incident.

Insurance is the only plan that will guarantee a known sum in an unknown time.

No one can guarantee our lives. A person can be struck with an accident or a sickness anytime and anywhere. Death comes to everyone someday, and someday to us. Are we ready when it comes?

Insurance may not keep people from dying. But it will keep their plans from dying with them.

In our financial journey, the avenues where we invest and grow our resources are as pivotal as the paths we tread in our spending. Our decisions can determine not just our present comfort but our future prosperity. While it's essential to know where to spend wisely, understanding where to place your hard-earned money to watch it grow is just as crucial.

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This article was first published in LinkedIn. And is updated to reflect the latest promotion.