Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.
-- Warren Buffett

How much money have you already spent today? How much money do you expect you’ll spend before you leave work today?

Let’s see. You stopped to fill up the gas tank. Geez, $48! You scraped together some change, $1.19 and $.75, for a cup of java and the morning paper, respectively. Mid-morning, you expect to visit the vending machine to deposit $1.25 for peanut butter crackers and a Dr. Pepper to tie you over until you go to lunch with your co-workers. There you’ll pop down about $10.00 for a salad, sandwich, cookie, and another Dr. Pepper. Around 3:00, you expect you’ll visit the vending machine again to get a third Dr. Pepper and popcorn, and maybe a candy bar for the chocolate high; all that’ll total $1.95.

Subtracting the gas – that will probably carry you through to Sunday, you’ve spent about $15.00 today. Multiply that by 5 days at work each week. That’s roughly $75.00! Multiply that by 52 weeks less 4 weeks of vacation. That’s $3,600!! Had you made your coffee at home, taken your own snacks and lunch, and subscribed to the paper or read the recycled one in the break room at the office, you might have been able to follow the rule to never lose money. And please, let’s not talk about the weight you would have kept off!

How much more money are you losing? Do you drive to the other side of town to shop at the grocery store that presumably carries fresher fruit and meats, cutting into your gas that’s supposed to last longer than 3 days? Why not challenge the grocery store down the street from you to carry foods just as fresh? Are you sure to pick up your favorite magazine from the newsstand each month, spending almost $50 each year instead of subscribing to the magazine and spending only $1.60 or so per issue? And paying the surcharges and other fees that are included when you pay your utilities online each month equates to a whole other bill! Why not just send the electric and water companies a check?

And every day, you put down $1.00 to play Lucky 7’s for a chance to win $7,000. But not once in the 3 years that you’ve played have you even recovered the $365 you put down each year. But, here’s to the next time, right?

You find yourself treating money as though it grew on trees. Perhaps for some it does, but they own the whole grove. For others of us, money is precious, hard to come by, and a fleeting thing. So why are we losing it so easily? Why aren’t we more thoughtful in the care of our money?

Think of all the places you could conserve your money. Keep a jar – or Crown Royal® bag – for the spare change. Roll it and deposit it into an interest-bearing savings account. At the end of the year you will have amassed a very pretty penny that you’ll be more than eager never to lose again.

Sadiqqa © 2007