Life is full of unexpected surprises; car breaks down, furnace fails, we lose our job, etc.. To prevent these occasional events from derailing your financial plans, you need funds just for emergencies. This will help you avoid borrowing or dipping into your seed money.

Every paycheck, take a percentage or a fixed amount of money and put it into your contingency fund. As money in this fund grows, you will have peace of mind that comes from being better prepared for life's little surprises. For life's big surprises, buy insurance.

Become an informed investor

In this day and age, there are endless opportunities for investments that can make or lose you money. In order to make money and not lose money, you'll need to start educating yourself.

As a start, here are some concepts it will be good for you to know. RETURN is how much profit you're likely to make on a given investment, usually expressed as a percentage or a range of percentages. RISK is possibility of something bad happening, like losing money. A SCAM is a false investment opportunity presented by lying thieves trying to steal your money. DIVERSIFICATION is strategy of not having all your eggs in one basket to spread and minimize risk. An INVESTMENT STRATEGY is a long term approach to making money. Visit www.financesoftware.net for more investment ideas and related software.

Give

Begin to give away some of your money. "For whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap." If you are religious, give to your religion. If you are not, then give to poor, or to "save earth", or whatever noble cause appeals to you.

Not only does giving help free you from mental and emotional grip of money, God Himself will generously respond to more than repay what you have freely and joyfully given away.

Conclusion

You can make it happen. Establish your strategy and stick to it. Implement all these steps in your life and your financial freedom will soon come:

• Pay yourself first
• Control your spending
• Get free of debt
• Build a contingency fund
• Become an informed investor
• Give

Now, you're on your way.

Copyright © 2005 Richard Pullman

You have permission to publish this article either electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as author bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Please email to richard@financesoftware.net (Word Count 821)

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