A generation ago, it wasn’t uncommon to hear about people saving up for higher ticket items. Forty years ago, a ball glove was a high ticket item for me. I threw a lot of newspapers and cut a lot of grass to over many weeks to buy it. But it was mine, and I appreciated it.

Nowadays, it’s more common practice to swipe a credit card — the buy now, pay forever mentality. So what are some other things to do with money, besides send it all to the bank in the form of credit card payments?

1. Giving

The Bible directs us to give a tenth of our first fruits. This is a tough thing to actually do. In the beginning, all I could think about was all the things I could do with that money. But I’ve learned that by building giving into my budget, I am doing good things with God’s blessings. It’s all His, we are just trusted stewards.

If you’re not religious, there are many charitable contributions that can give you an awesome “pay-it-forward” feeling. We started small and try to build more into our budget each year. Salvation Army, Shriner’s Hospital, St. Jude’s, Wounded Warriors, Folds of Honor, and Wreaths Across America are a few of our favorites. And charitable contributions are tax deductions if you itemize.

Actually, most of our giving occurs during the course of our daily lives. I just checked out at CVS. Would you like to donate to American Heart Association? Sure! The same questions present giving opportunities at most retail establishments. Lowe’s collects for MDA. The grocery store collects for hunger. We always contribute.

2. Saving

Purchases

My lead story was about saving up to pay cash for something. If you’re a Gen-Xer, this is probably what your parents and grandparents did. They saved up for everything. For a car. For a down payment on their house. For trips.

Let me tell you, there’s no better feeling than saving up to pay cash for vacations. Not having to pay for our vacation for the next year on a credit card is freeing. Besides when you finance a trips with credit cards, you may end up paying $10,000 for a $5000 trip!

Stop making the banks rich. Save up, and pay cash.

Retirement

Everyone needs to save for retirement. Many of my students think that retirement is a day on the calendar. When you turn 65, you just quit working, right?

Telling them that they have to work until they can afford to retire is sobering. And “Social Insecurity” likely won’t be enough to maintain most retirees’ lifestyles, if it’s even there at all! The government is exactly known for managing taxpayer money well.

Sinking Funds

This is a method to ensure you have money when you need it for larger less frequently occurring expenses. My wife and I self-escrow for annual property taxes, and home/auto insurances by putting aside a small amount each pay period. A side benefit is that paying annual lump sums, we pay less than if we had spread the payments out.

Your bank’s Christmas Club is another example of a sinking fund. Small periodic payments to avoid Visa/Mastercard payments (with interest) for a year after Christmas only to rack them up again.

3. Spending

In The Richest Man in Babylon, the main character Archon explains that living on less than you earn is the key to building wealth. His parable recommends living on 70% of your net income, saving 20%, and directing the 10% to debt elimination.

The pattern for about 80% of Americans is to spend first, then invest what’s leftover. The problem is there may be no leftover. That’s called living paycheck to paycheck. To build wealth requires intentionality — not kinda, sorta, maybe, if emotions don’t get the best of us.

Pay yourself first is the mantra of the wealthy. This habit prevents overspending. And if a credit card is needed to make ends meet — been there, done that, got the T-shirt — consider creating a budget with a financial coach whose been down the road that you’re on. Someone like me!

And don’t forget to watch my first Facebook Live! at noon this Saturday where I’ll be talking about this very topic Wish me luck!