Jenny Alston, MBA

Brown bag or restaurant? Where is this question going?

With the current economic turmoil, we are trying to find ways to increase income, reduce expenses, and if possible, save money. What if nothing is working? What if sales is so slow, and we can't bring more income?

If we can't add more income, then why not analyze our expenses by categorizing the needs and the wants, then reduce or eliminate the wants? One of the expenses that we can watch, is the amount of money we spend for eating out. This is one of the major area where we can probably make some adjustments.

It may not be applicable to some people because eating in restaurants, is one of their ways to meet new clients. How about analyzing if which restaurant is bringing us the best ROI (Return on investment)? Maybe we can find more strategic ways to use our meals and entertainment budget, efficiently. It is probably not a bad idea to bring a brown bag few times a week. I bet we can save at least $30 to $50 a week ($1560 to $2500 savings per year).

Savings may not be a huge amount to some people but can be significant to others. Everybody knows that we need to save money yet it is not easy to remember the need. In most cases, it is the least of our priorities. We can save money towards our reserve fund, vacation fund, or maybe our retirement fund. Our current strategies in managing our money, is creating the lifestyle that we will have in the future. When we retire, it is no longer the time to accumulate money but the time to spend the accumulated money that we saved.

Brown bag or Restaurant question? What do you think? If it is working to bring more business to you, why would you stop eating in restaurants? Enjoy and have fun!

Do we need to pay full price whenever we shop for clothes? The answer is up to you. What is our perspective? We all know that we need to look professional in front of our clients. Everything is being counted as how we carry ourselves, how we talk, how we dress, etc... We need decent clothes, right? but do we need to spend most of our hard earned money on clothes or should we be prudent. Should we go to Discount stores or should we buy it when it is on sale? The answer is in your hand. The power of money depends on us. Could you imagine how much mark-up the retail industry has on clothings if they can give extra 15% off on a 75% off item? You can start the computation now. Imagine the savings that we can all have if we are not paying full price for our clothes. We can add it to our retirement money or start a Cash reserve if we don't have one. So, next time we are in Department store shopping for your outfits, ask yourself, should I pay full price, or not?