Little Black Book

As if we haven’t emphasized it enough, nothing is more important than strategically planning your savings. But many of us see this as time consuming, tedious, or just not worth it. But we here at Dollar Investment Club are telling you that IT IS. And luckily for you, we have a simple but effective way to improve your ability to save, even if it’s just a dollar at a time.

The secret? A Little Black Book. No, not the type of “little black book” you’re thinking of, but a journal you can carry around day to day and keep track of every purchase you make. This will make you much more conscious of every purchase you make, because you need to make the effort to pull out your journal and write down how much you spent. Next thing you know, you skip buying that candy bar at the gas station, or you realize how much your spending on Starbuck’s coffee. If you can stick to this and consistently and accurately make notes, you’ll slowly but surely find yourself saving more money than you ever expected.

This idea is explored in detail by Darren Hardy, the publisher of SUCCESS magazine and author of The Compound Effect. He has applied this to many of his mentees and used this practice himself, even outside of finance! Taking notes on any of your actions can help you achieve your goals, whether it’s losing weight, getting ahead at work, or even writing a song. With the help of your little black book, you’ll begin to see small yet significant changes in your daily routine. Maybe you’ll skip the chips and replace them with vegetables, or you spend less time watching mindless TV and go for a run or read. These small changes aren’t going to show immediate results, but that’s the beauty of compounding, because over time you’ll see the biggest and best changes of your life.

But the Dollar Investment Club is focused on one thing: helping you save money! So when you start keeping track of your purchases and cutting out all the impulse and unnecessary spending, you’ll soon realize you’re saving enough money to start saving up with us. As you’ve probably already seen, just by saving $100 a month and earning 8% per year, you’ll have $59,000 in 20 years. So what are you waiting for? Get your little black book, set your goals, and start making changes!