How to save money without anyone knowing

The ramifications of the economy downturn are hitting all of us hard. It’s like a bitch slap in the face. Even the most prudent of us are running dry on money. We are curbing our expenses and selling our Prada on eBay. You’re even contemplating selling your used underwear to satisfy the pervasions of other man or woman. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures right?

Before you start scraping for morsel sized chicken nugget samples at the grocery store, relax. And breathe. The world is not ending. You still need to do your part to rev the economy. We still need spending power. You don’t need to reduce yourself to being a hobo.

In the past, the act of spending frivolously has been associated with swagger. Not us. We don’t think it’s very success-like to be begging people for loans when you need to pay off your debts. Or being evicted from your house. Or having to file for bankruptcy.

Here’s Swagger Essentials’ tips on how you can still save while spending!

1) Two words, three syllabuses, one grand design.

Office Claims. And so you cash your check and your bank account is looking up again. You have the urge to splurge and you’re resisting it hard. Here enters the grand design of working into the picture. Your boss asks you to run some errands and you end up spending a few hundred on office supplies.

The thought of spending on something that is not yours to begin with is nauseating. But think of it this way. It is a GREAT savings plan. The more you have to fork out, the less you have remaining. In turn, you have less to spend on your own white elephants. Not to mention it is always a pleasant sight to see that amount of claims added to your next pay check. It’s like getting a pay raise. Cheap thrills.

Best of all, you can cash that credit card while making the payment. You receive all the complimentary reward points for spending zero dollars. Earn enough and you can even exchange your points for a new stereo system.

Now, that’s smart saving.

2) Make your own lunch, not pack it.

We all know the dangers of lunches. You order a meal, and then a drink to go with it and dessert comes thereafter. Someone wants to share a snack with you, and you agree, thinking it’s great way to save! Next thing you know, you have spent $15 on a meal.

Yet we all know of the colleague who packs his lunch in a nice little meal box. At a scheduled time of the day, he heats it up using the office’s microwave. This goes on every day, without fail. Sometimes he just eats it as it is. We don’t know whether to applaud his efforts or to feel sorry.

How do we put it delicately? Packed lunch? Not swagger. On the scale of desperation, it is packed lunch, and then selling your underwear on eBay. At least you’re not airing your dirty laundry at lunch time.

Instead, make your own lunch. You don’t need to be a certified gourmet chef; we are not our worst critics when it comes to food we prepared ourselves. So bring your own ham, tomato and bread to work!

And don’t worry. Your colleagues’ prying eyes are not a concern. They will probably quip about your healthy lifestyle. They might even follow suit. If not, jokingly offer to make them a sandwich – and at a price.

Who knows, they might even pay you!

3) Sign up with a savings plan, PRONTO!

Take the money out even before you see it! We know how it feels; being bereft of the right to spend. You curse us for persuading you into signing a savings plan.

But savings plan are almost fool-proof. You need not worry about the bearish market. You earn a lump sum of money just by sitting on your money! It is like having a vasectomy. All the benefits with NO fuss! Take it out and you’ll be thankful later.

4) Don’t be fooled by installments!

Marketers have a way of sucking us in. They use seemingly low prices to entice us into making a transaction. Been eyeing that sofa couch for ages? Just pay $120 per month and it’s yours. At first look, it’s a great deal. Just paying that $120 means you can afford to buy more with your budget per month.

Go find that calculator and key in these figures. $120, the multiply sign, 48. You end up paying up to three times the cost price of the couch. It is just not worth the money! Besides, do you really want to keep paying for something you would throw out in the next 2 years?