Connect with us

Money

Discretionary Income Choices

Published

on

Among the crumpled pieces of paper lies a sticker sheet with the inscription | Discretionary Income Choices | featured

Making the most of your discretionary income. Discretionary income is what you have leftover after paying your fixed costs. It is yours to spend on whatever you choose.

RELATED: New Income Calculator Allows Americans to Determine If They Are in the Middle Class

But…

How you spend this money can make a difference to your financial situation, but before this we have to ascertain what is discretionary income.

Discretionary Income Choices

  • Rent/rates
  • Car running expenses
  • Power
  • Debt
  • Groceries etc.

People who have an addiction of some kind will prioritize their spending so that the addiction is included in their fixed expenses.

Everyone as an adult has freedom of choice unless they have debts which means their freedom is being eroded away in relation to their level of debt.

The old Proverb, “The borrower is a slave to the lender,” sums it up.

We all have some control over most of our fixed expenses such as groceries and power; we can cut down on these but with items such as rates/rent are fixed but even then we can choose to live in a more modest apartment or downsize. The excess to your expenses is called discretionary income.

Another way of increasing your disposable (discretionary) income is to increase your income by getting a part-time job, getting a higher paying job, or selling stuff online.

Saving your discretionary spending for some greater purpose instead of frittering it away gives your life some meaning. Instead of just letting things happen you are making things happen. Many people in 10-20 years' time wondered what happened.

There is a major difference between saving your money and investing it. Astute investors use their discretion to increase their wealth by investing in higher-risk stocks and shares, gold, and cryptocurrency.

There are enough online platforms where you are able to drip-feed money into these things if you are still climbing up the investment ladder.

But then you may prefer to save for a holiday and tick off one or two items on your bucket list. The border closures will restrict your choice of places but here in New Zealand, there are so many fantastic places to visit it is an opportunity to discover your own backyard.

Among the more popular activities in New Zealand are landing on the Franz and Fox Glaciers, going for a dip in the Hanmer Springs hot pools, visiting the wine region of Marlborough, or attending one of the sports meetings around the country.

One thing I have to mention here is the Tranz Alpine Express train journey between Christchurch and Greymouth. It is rated one of the finest train journeys in the world and having experienced it I do not disagree. It has to be on everyone's bucket list.

Setting financial goals are personal to you gives your life a sense of purpose and deciding how to spend your disposable income can help you achieve your financial goals. My blog http://www.robertastewart.com has lots of articles related to finance.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Alan_Stewart/2287449

You Might Also Like:

Keep up to date with the breaking news by following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2022 Breaking News Alerts. This copyrighted material may not be republished without express permission. The information presented here is for general educational purposes only. MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that this website has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the persons or businesses mentioned in or linked to from this page and may receive commissions from purchases you make on subsequent web sites. You should not rely solely on information contained in this email to evaluate the product or service being endorsed. Always exercise due diligence before purchasing any product or service. This website contains advertisements.