Beat The Inflation. Protect Your Money.

People, not the affluent ones, but those who are in the middle income bracket, are terrified over losing their money. Unfortunately and perhaps due to Pavlovian conditioning, the often unacclaimed and regularly ignored middle income group people have been made to believe that they have no control over inflation. This may be because day in and day out, they feel the heat of the rising prices. Governments all over the world project a completely  different picture that is nothing but distortion of the real facts and figures and that too, their own versions meticulously bastardized by adding unrelated or semi-related inputs.

Government authorities seem to believe in the concept of reverse psychology. That is the reason they push their narrative by repeatedly proclaiming from roof-tops that prices of commodities and services are under control. Regardless of whether governments speak the truth or try to hide their failures by repeated assertions, the fact is that soaring prices are scaring people. In this context, a few tips that can help folks beat inflation can be useful. Here they are: You need not be a prodigy or not have an IQ of genius level to follow the tips.

1. Plan out your expenses.

Never forget the fact that your income is limited but your expenses can go up or down. Of course, you can increase your income by looking for a second-income stream but you may have to spend extra hours to earn that income. This may result in work-life imbalance. You may earn the wrath of your spouse and children. 

On the contrary, you can plan your expenses. You can classify your expenses under four categories. A few come under "immediate and important," some of them belong to the category "immediate but not-so-important," yet a few other expenses find a place under "important but not urgent," and the last category is "not at all urgent and not at all important." 

You should then apply the dictum "saving is nothing but postponing spending." This means you should try to postpone spending on all those items the expenditure on which can possibly be postponed. By adopting this strategy, you can certainly have some buffer money with you at the end of every month. Judicious investment of this buffer money can get you some extra income month after month.

2. Don't have the tendency to take on the buying habits of others.

You should have the right environment to stick to the habit of protecting your money. So, choosing the right friends is not at all a hokey idea. If your friends are impulsive in their spending habits, those habits will rub on you as well. So, be choosy while hanging out with friends or relatives.

3. Just turn down the obligations that are of low priority.

Never, never succumb to temptations to spend on low-priority items. You may sometimes find yourself being flooded by low-priority obligations. There may be offers that may allure you as well. Just turn them down. Only then, you can protect your money. 

4. Limiting your wants is the only way to protect your money despite inflation.

Charlie Munger, business partner of Warren Buffett, gives the following advice: “One of the great defenses to being worried about inflation is not having a lot of silly needs in your life," He adds, "if you haven’t created a lot of artificial demand to drown in consumer goods, why, you have a considerable defense against the vicissitudes of life.” You should follow this advice meticulously in order to protect your money.

The above tips are easily adaptable. But you must have the determination to follow them in order to beat inflation and protect your money.