I believe the key to increasing wealth stems from the need to save money, as often as possible, and as much as possible. Saving money can be done through various ways, which more often than not, are over-looked by most people. Here, I present to you a few tips that can aid you in saving some money, and propel you to increasing your wealth.



1. Utilize Your Coins

Look into your wallet now. Notice a whole lot of coins staring back at you?

In my opinion, coins are the most neglected form of currency. By human nature, we always tend to take out our dollar notes to pay for our purchases of any sort, be it for a purchase for a $0.90 can of Coke, or for the $0.70 newspaper. Observe yourself the next time you make a purchase of this sort, more often than not, I believe you would be reaching out for you $2 note instead of rummaging the coin compartment of your wallet for the exact change. Reason? Probably to save time from searching your pile of coins, that's it.

Over time, as this phenomenon is repeated, your pile of coins build up from the accumulation of loose change. Ever wondered what happens after that? Your probably drop it into a piggy bank of some sort, waiting for it to be full before depositing the whole lot into your bank. That's fine, but please note that there is a fee imposed by banks when you want to deposit your load of coins into your account. Check with your bank for the necessary charges.

The most practical, but overlooked way to deal with your coins is to USE THEM! Sounds like common sense? Many people don't follow it though. Be it for a purchase of $0.75 of $2.10, dig deep into your coins to see if you can find adequate coins to pay for your purchase before utilizing your dollar notes! This way, you don't have to worry about vendors short-changing you, and you don't have to pay a fee for depositing your coins. Also, as your dollar bills will be left untouched if you make your minor purchases through coins, you will have a satisfied feeling of having retained wealth (psychological only, but feels good nonetheless!)

2. Bring Your Own Water

Building on the entry about packing your own lunch to work or school, I suggest bringing your own water bottle wherever you go. By bringing your own water, I expect your wealth to increase by around $500 per year, this figure being a conservative estimate. How so?

There are around 250 working days per year, excluding weekends. During these 250 days, we all need to go for work or to school. Let's say you take lunch and probably tea break in school or at your office, and each time you take such breaks, you purchase a drink to go with your meal or snack. Let us assume once again that every drink you buy costs you $1 (once again a conservative estimate, as most vendors sell at a higher price). That works out to be 250 days x $1 x 2 times per day = $500 per year, just on drinks alone!

However, if you bring your bottle along wherever you go, this expenditure is completely eliminated. In fact, water is free! Water coolers are found in practically every office pantry and school campus, providing cold (depending on cooler maintenance) water at an absolute ZERO COST. Then, there is the health benefit you enjoy by not consuming artificially sweetened carbonated drinks (to Coke fans, I understand it takes time to quit).

The benefits of bringing your own bottled water are two-fold: HEALTH and WEALTH.

3.Quit Smoking

Smoking - One of the few situations whereby quitters always win, health-wise and financial-wise. With so many health organizations advocating quit smoking campaigns based on health benefits (less risk of lung cancer, mouth cancer, and what have you), perhaps another often over-looked reason for quitting smoking is to do so to INCREASE YOUR WEALTH.

Let us assume a scenario where we have an average smoker who earns a salary $2000 per month. Mr. Smoker has a 2-pack per day habit, a common quantity for heavy smokers. Here in Singapore, the prices of cigarettes are a whopping $11.20 per packet. With simple calculations, the cost of Mr. Smoker's habit is:

$11.20 x 2 = $22.40 per day!

$11.20 x 2 x 7 = $156.80 per week!!

$11.20 x 2 x 7 x 4 = $627.20 per month!!!

With is $2000 per month salary, he is now spending $627.20, or 31.36% of his salary on cigarettes alone. That alone, is enough to pay for a brand new handphone with 3G capabilities (without subscription plan even). To further elaborate my point:

$11.20 x 2 x 7 x 4 x 12 = $7526.40 per year!!!!

(apologies for the excessive '!', they were necessary in portraying the magnitude of this amount)

Could this sum of money be put to better use instead of spending on cigarettes which have no benefit of any sort? Definitely! For example, $7526.40 could have purchased 2 40" flat screen plasma TV, a Europe holiday for 2, a year of university school fees.. I could go on forever. The bottomline is: THE MONEY SPENT ON CIGARETTES CAN DEFINITELY BE SPENT IN OTHER WAYS THAT BRING ABOUT BENEFITS!

Even though quitting smoking is a tough process, persevere while you think of the financial benefits. Even if you start of by cutting down gradually, you will find that your wealth actually increases, slowly but surely.

Don't give up, and feel your wallet grow.