by Siew Cheng Hoe

Created on: June 23, 2009

Everyone knows how to spend money, but not many people know how to spend money wisely. When you learn to spend wisely, you are learning the art of saving money as well.

Spend money wisely does not mean buying cheap goods. Between a pair of shoes that cost more than two hundred dollars, and a pair of shoes that cost ten dollars, the pair of shoes that cost more is probably a better buy.

How do you know which pair of shoes is better?

For one thing, you can consider how long the shoes are going to last. If the pair of expensive shoes can last for ten years, the average cost of the shoes per year is just twenty dollars. The pair of shoes that cost more than two hundred dollars will be more comfortable than the cheaper shoes.

The pair of cheaper shoes may last only a few months, and causes your legs to suffer from blisters. Why should you spend money to buy pain and suffering? When you spend money to bring suffering and pain to yourself, you are spending money foolishly.

However, some shoes that last very long time, and very comfortable, are very cheap. If you can find this kind of cheap shoes, you are getting very good value for your money.

When you spend money on junk food, you are using your money to buy sickness and premature death. No matter how much the cost of the meal is, spending money on junk food is foolish spending. You need to waste more money on medical cost later on in life. You are in fact buying suffering and pain, and a slow death.

Spending money on nutritious food is an investment. It is an investment on your health. Investing on your health means you can save money on medical costs. Many people, who live beyond a hundred years old, have good health. They do not suffer from hypertension and high cholesterol related problems. They do not need to spend money to hire people to cut open their bodies, and take out the diseased organs.

They are the ones who invest in their health. They live happily, in the pink of health, and save money on medical and hospitalization cost.

When you can classify any spending as investment that means you are spending wisely. The investment will produce returns to you. The investment will save you more money in future.

Whenever you need to buy something, please ask the question, is this an investment or spending. Even when you are buying a pair of shoes, you should ask, Is spending money on this pair of shoes counted as an investment or foolish spending. You can probably count a good pair of running shoes as an investment. However, if you spend money on five pairs of running shoes, you cannot consider all of them as investment. After all, you can only wear a pair at a time. Excessive purchase is foolish spending, a waste of money.

Spending money is easy, while spending money wisely is an art. When you spend money, you have to make sure that you spend every single dollar wisely. Every dollar spends wisely is going to save you much more money in future.

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