TNT Financial Corner is written by Maureen Babin of Amarack Financial.

People don't plan to fail.
They fail to plan.

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees
But it Does Grow

Ever heard that old saying “money doesn’t grow on trees”?  When I growing up it was said way too often.  One way to make sure you have money is to follow this simple rule.  The Golden Rule of personal finances. Pay Yourself First, 10% of all you earn is yours to keep.

As soon as you have a job, allowance or any other source of income, the key to growing that money tree is to pay yourself first.  Everything needs a strong foundation in order to grow including money.   Here are a few tips to start branching out and make that money tree grow.   Start with your next pay cheque, or other source of income.

Take the money and blow it!     That’s right, blow it.     You need to have a little fun too.

Okay, now that’s out of your system, let’s get a plan working for you, so here we go.

With each pay cheque, take 10% and put it in four different places;  

1. First 10%         Pay yourself first.  This is your long term plan, like retirement.
2. Second 10%     Save for short term goals.  You may have bills you want to pay.
3. Third 10%        Save for something you really want.  Maybe a car or a trip.
4. Fourth 10%      Give it away.  To a favorite charity, church or another good cause.

So that takes care of 40% of your pay cheque, what about the other 60%?  The rest is what you live on.  This way you’re teaching yourself how to live on 60% of your income rather than the 110% most of us do.  All of a sudden you realize you have a spending plan (sometimes called a budget) and well on your way to making that money tree grow!

If you have financial questions which need answering, kindly send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it attention Maureen and she’ll answer your questions!