RSM - Shop To Save. $$$

              The table below is guide for 1 years savings following the relevant calendar.                    

You'll notice the table has a wide range amount for shopping money spent. This is keeping in mind singles,

 couples and families. Their needs vary a great deal when it comes to the shopping bill. You will work out your exact savings for a year when you are ready to start and know what calendar you are using.

The benefits are far more than just the amount of money you gain. It really is what you do with it that counts. If you were to save $200 say once a month but spent it on going to the pub, or gambling, fast food or clothes you don't really need... I think you're getting my point. You still have bills you haven't managed to pay: you're struggling to find the next mortgage payment, school fees are still owing, little Johnny is still wearing shoes with holes in the soles. Then all you've achieved would have been for nothing.

 You have to have some sort of a plan of how this extra money is going to used. You need to know what your going to do with the money before you start. I don't say we should all use the money the same way. It is going to be different for each individual families specific needs.

Only you know your greatest needs or wants. That's right I did say wants.

The truth is even if your not in a desperate position, we would still all prefer not just to eat money we don't need to. If your OK monetary wise you might put the money aside for a holiday or new furniture. You may decide to go out for a fancy family dinner that you wouldn't normally have done. Perhaps you might  put the money aside for a couple of years and buy a TV; the biggest, fanciest you can find you don't really need it, but your all going to love it. I say go for it. Whatever the choice you make for your new found wealth, please I urge you to make it the best choice you can.

On the matter of choices I would like to give my opinion on some you might like to consider.

If you are in a struggling position, especially if you are one of the thousands of people with credit card debt,  clear it. Don't just pay the minimum payment, pay some extra off the debt when you can. A great way to use the extra few hundred RSM Quicksave, money every 4th week, wouldn't you agree?

That would certainly be a great way to clear the debt. You will hear me talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul in my link to do with budgeting. I will let you know now although I say sometimes there is a need to do this, ultimately you need to be aiming towards not following this practice. Your RSM money in the long term can help you to achieve this result.

Personally my view of being financially stable is NOT owning two rental properties, having thousands of dollars in shares, having a holiday house or taking an overseas holiday every other year.

My view of being financially stable is whenever a bill comes in, you have the money in the bank to cover it. If the car unexpectedly breaks down you have the money to cover it. In fact I think if a family has a few thousand dollars in the bank then they ARE financially stable. I know a few people reading this would say well if I had a few thousand dollars in the bank I would not need to bother with RSM. But would you then be able to keep the money there? Did you notice I didn't say a SPARE few thousand dollars sitting in the bank, because I don't necessarily think it should be spare money. It should be in their for a budgeted reason. If you have a few thousand SPARE then I say that's great I would then consider you to be

financially SECURE. If you are lucky enough to have some of those other things as I stated before, rental properties etc. then I would consider you to be financially WELL off, and to those people I say well done.

I know it would not have come easily. For the rest of us it will come if we persist. We all have the potential to be financially well off. It's just a choice thing as to how much we want to work at it. For me I am happy to be secure and enjoy life. Enough of my opinion because in the end it really is your opinion and goals for you and your family that counts.

Your choices of what you do with the saved money doesn't always need to stay the same. Quite a few years ago I got a friend into doing RSM, it didn't even have a name back then. The first year she used the money $1900 that she saved doing RSM to go on a family holiday. The next year she bought things for the house they hadn't been able to save for in the past. They got a new dinning suite, a new TV stand and to be honest I can't remember what else as it was a long time ago. Each year they would plan the next savings and what to do with it. This is how it should be. In their case always the bills were paid on time, they had a budget, they just never seemed to save that little extra for the luxuries, like family holidays.

I know these days that family does have two rental properties and I'm sure that doing RSM certainly has helped them to get their and I don't say that was the only reason. They made all those choices with many other aspects of their lives coming into play. Mum got a full time job once the three children were all at school. They got there with hard work and careful financial planning and most importantly good choices. 

Now lets move along to the tables of what you can save. Firstly let me explain it will only be a guide. I will pick the lowest amounts saved according to all the calendars Australia wide for both RSM and Quicksave. I know about now you would be wondering why the calendars are different. The reason they vary is because how you set the calendar depends on Monday public holidays. You can't have a No Save week and then follow on with a Monday public holiday as it just can't work. This is one of the rules you must follow to succeed.