• Make a budget.  You knew this one was coming.  This is the best way to really manage your expenses.  Start with how much money you have coming in every month, then list your expenses.  Include all of your bills, of course, but don’t forget to account for your morning latte, monthly magazine, and Friday dinner with friends every week.
• Avoid spending money on things you don’t really need.  When you make your budget, you’ll see where you can, or should, cut back.  Stick to it.
• Avoid being charged pointless fees.  Try not to use ATMs if possible.  Make sure your bank or credit card company isn’t charging you unnecessary fees.  If they are, insist that they be removed.
• Set up a savings account with direct deposit.  This will help you easily set aside some extra money.  It’s important to pay yourself first, even if it’s only a few dollars.  And if it never passes through your fingers, you’ll never miss it—you’ll just instinctively budget around it.  Whether you use the savings as an emergency fund or an entertainment fund is up to you and your personal priorities.
• Use coupons and look for deals.  Shop generic when possible.  Do some “research” before leaving the house to go grocery or clothes shopping to figure out who has the cheapest price and/or is offering the best deal.
• Pack your own lunch and bring your own snacks to work.  It’s not only that $8 a day you’ve been spending on eating out that adds up, it’s also those 2 trips to the vending machine every day that cost you $0.75 at a crack.
• Patronize your local library.  You can check out books, movies (yes, current ones), and even your favorite magazine that you gave up to save money, all for free.
• Find new uses for old or broken items.  Use that old t-shirt for a rag, turn an old bucket into a planter, etc.  Or, invest in repairing items instead of buying new ones.
• Rotate your tires and get your oil changes on a regular basis.  Preventative maintenance is important—it prevents future, major maintenance!  Your tires and your engine will last longer.

I believe that budget is the most important and most effective way to start making your money last longer.  Do remember that all the little ways of saving will add up, though.  And promise yourself to maintain your good money habits even when the recession has officially ended.

• How to make a budget and stick to it. We were all forced to reevaluate our spending habits.  Even worse, we had to actually sit down and compare income vs. spending, one of the scariest processes in the known world.  But we learned that that was the most difficult part, and everything that came after was easier than expected.  Once you figure out how to spend within your limits, it almost becomes second nature.
• The difference between wants and needs.  That little budget plan caused us to look not only at the amount we were spending every month, but what we were spending it on.  Maybe you realized that you were spending $60 a month on designer coffee when you could brew it at home instead for $6 a month.  Or that family movie night was better spent at home with a movie from Netflix and some homemade popcorn.  Maybe you chose to repair some of your household items and possessions rather than buy new.
• How to pay off debt successfully. Unless you suffered a severe blow to your finances that was most likely out of your control, there’s a good chance you surprised yourself by climbing your way OUT of debt during the recession—never saw that one coming, did you?  You probably found some extra money you never knew you had through your budget and controlled spending, and you probably put that toward your debt.
• How to save money. Perhaps you put some of that extra money into a savings.  Did you open up your first savings account in the recession?  How about an IRA?  Did you finally see the advantages of a 401(k)?  We all learned the importance of having an emergency fund ready.  Even a measly $10 a week into a regular savings account can add up by time you need to dip into it.  One big trick to successfully saving that extra money is to stash it away immediately—don’t let yourself cut back in one place only to spend that money somewhere else instead.
• How to negotiate. We needed to cut back to save money, and nothing was safe.  You might have learned that you were paying way too much for your cell phone bill or internet service, so you either insisted on a new deal or found a new provider.  You learned to scrutinize all of your bills and statements to make sure that you weren’t overcharged, double-charged, or charged for any unnecessary or ludicrous fees.
• If you’re in the right profession. Maybe you came to a more profound realization.  If you lost your job or experienced severe cutbacks at work due to the recession, you were forced to reevaluate your priorities and your life situation as well.  Perhaps you took the opportunity to learn a new skill, sneak in some night classes, or search for a new job entirely.  The job market has been tough, but you went after a positive change anyway, and hopefully you were successful.

The next trick is to remember the lessons learned from this recession and keep them in place.  Once we’re completely on the other side, you can relax a little, but don’t use it as an excuse to go back to old habits.  There’s no telling what the future can bring—there can always be another recession.  Continue your positive money-management skills and you’ll be prepared!

Give Them an Allowance

A good place to start is with the usual allowance, but don’t give your kids the money “just because.”  Let them earn their money.  Give them simple chores like keeping their room clean, taking the garbage out, helping with the dishes, etc.  It can be very helpful to teach them early that money is earned.  It doesn’t simply appear in Mommy and Daddy’s wallets—you want to adjust that way of thinking before they’re teenagers!

Open a Kids’ Savings Account

The next step after the allowance is to teach them how to save.  They’ll quickly learn that if they spend their full allowance every week, they’re limited on the toys and goodies that they can purchase by themselves.  Try to give them their money in small denominations and help them determine how much to set aside every week.  You can have them keep it in a traditional piggy bank or even open a kids’ savings account to start getting them accustomed to using a bank and seeing their savings grow.

Set Goals

What’s the new hot toy right now?  Whatever it is, your kids probably want it, and it’s probably expensive.  Here’s an opportunity to teach them how to set goals.  Have them use the goal to determine how much they must save every week in order to purchase their new toy as soon as possible.  Perhaps you could offer them a special bonus on their allowance if they add another small chore or two to their list, as well.  Here, your kid will learn restraint.

Teach the Difference Between Needs and Wants

Maybe that new toy is just too far out of range for your kid to purchase alone; by time they saved enough, there would be a new hot toy.  Or perhaps it’s time for back-to-school shopping and it sounds like a good idea to have them purchase some of their own supplies.  Now is when you can differentiate between needs and wants.  They’ll learn that sometimes they have to hold off on the fun purchase and only buy what they need or can really afford.

Bargain Shopping

Take your kids with you on your own shopping trips, whether it’s to the grocery store or the mall.  You can show them how you look for bargains and compare prices.  It’s no longer taboo to look on the clearance racks, and buying the store brand can usually be a good idea; show your kids that saving money on purchases is a good thing.  (Be sure to also show them when you should avoid paying the lowest price, when it means sacrificing quality!)

As they get older, you can open a checking account with them and teach them a little more about interest and the real world of finance.  They’ll be pressured more and more as they grow up to have the newest fashions and the hottest electronic gadgets.  If you’ve taught them at a young age to manage their money wisely, they’ll be more inclined to choose when to indulge and the right time to save—and how not to expect Mom and Dad to pay for their indulgences!

No Financial Investment?

You’re probably curious about the “none at all” part, so let’s start there.  Depending on the size of the business you intend to start and how many other people are involved in the process, you may be contributing something other than money.  Someone else might be providing the financial investment while you might be offering your skills or labor, maybe the business’s location or actual tools needed the run the business.  True, you probably had to pay somewhere along the line to learn your skills or purchase the location initially, but you’re not providing actual cash at the point of the start-up.

Minimal Financial Investment

If you are the financial investor, your business may not require a significant amount of money to get going.  While entering into an existing franchise may call for thousands of dollars upfront, you might only need a few hundred or less to start your own t-shirt business.  The time and effort you have to put into it will be one of the biggest determining factors for the size of your profit.  The same goes for becoming an independent consultant for companies like Partylite, Beachbody, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, etc.  They require a very minimal investment, usually under $100 to get you off and running.

Advertising and Marketing

With technology and social media on the rise today, you may not even have to invest much into advertising and marketing to grow your business to a respectable size.  Social media especially is a great way to use word-of-mouth advertising.  Many people will post furiously about a new product that they love and can end up convincing their friends to try it, and the word spreads from there—and you didn’t have to pay a dime.

Get Up and Go!

What’s more important than money?  Taking action.  You can have millions of dollars and the most well-thought-out business plan, but if you don’t get moving, you’ll never reach your money-making potential.  Someone with less money and maybe even less talent than you might snatch your idea and turn it into an empire just because they took action and you didn’t.  So the question is, are you going to let that happen?

It doesn’t matter the path you choose to reach this goal.  Maybe you’re aiming for a nice retirement, or maybe you’re starting a business and you’d like to live comfortably within the next few years.  Maybe you want to be an actual millionaire, or maybe you’d like the flexibility to quit your job and pursue a hobby full-time.  You have to start by believing that it’s possible.  Redirect your thinking, change your perspective, etc.  If you begin by expecting failure, guess what?  You’re probably going to fail.  A positive attitude has a much bigger effect than you might think.

Avoid negativity as much as possible.  Ignore and stay away from people who are determined to convince you that failure is inevitable.  Some people simply carry those thoughts with them and would rather not see other people succeed and move on to better things.  You can’t let anyone or anything convince you that it’s not possible to reach your goals.

You’re going to have to invest time and energy, and lots of it.  Not that you need to spend every waking moment stressing out over how to reach your goal, but you’re going to have to devote a significant amount of your time into the process.  And you will run into bumps and small failures.  Learn from it and continue.  Perhaps the incident will spark an idea for a better and easier way to reach your goal.  If you view even the negative moments as opportunities rather than obstacles, it will be easier to stay on the path.

Change your thinking to long-term.  Unless you win the lottery tomorrow, it’s going to take time to build up your wealth.  Don’t set unattainable short-term goals; you’ll only set yourself up for disappointment.  Set your goals far enough away that you’ll have time to take all the necessary steps to get there.  If short-term goals make it easier for you to stay on track, be sure to keep them reasonable.  Stick to your deadline, but don’t be discouraged if you find it’s going to take a little longer to fulfill once you get to that day.

Finally, make sure you’ve chosen the path to wealth that you’re passionate about.  If you’re really not interested in being a business owner, then that’s not the way for you to become a millionaire.  Maybe a high-interest savings account would be the way to go.  Find a way that works for you and that can help you reach your goals by the time you’d like to.  If you follow your passion, the path will be easier to stick to.