Clark Howard's Strategies for Saving More, Spending Less
Nationally syndicated radio host and consumer expert Clark Howard is known for his practical, no-nonsense advice on how to "save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off."
On his show, Howard answers questions from consumers about getting out of debt, dealing with creditors, planning a budget-friendly vacation and more. He's authored nine books including "Clark Howard's Living Large in Lean Times" and "Clark's Big Book of Bargains."
His latest book, "Clark Howard's Living Large for the Long Haul: Consumer-Tested Ways to Overhaul Your Finances, Increase Your Savings, and Get Your Life Back on Track," is due out this week and includes 50 profiles of individuals and families that serve as inspiration, or in some cases, cautionary tales.
"I profile a 73-year-old truck driver who's still working because, by his own telling, he made bad decisions in his life, didn't save money and has to work to live," Howard says. "He wanted people to know, 'Don't do what I did. This is what will happen to you. Change it now while you can.'"
As Howard explains, the stories offer ideas and paths to financial success that could help others. U.S. News talked to Howard about monetary strategies that make a lasting impact. His responses have been edited.
How have consumers' money attitudes and behaviors shifted with the recession?
There's a seriousness that wasn't there before. Before 2007, a lot of people thought I was that nice, kooky uncle that they let out of the closet every day for a few hours to talk on the radio, because the way I am about doing things, it just sounds so basic: not spending what you don't have and not borrowing yourself into oblivion. Suddenly it became quite practical, and I think that people have changed attitudes.
[Read: For Consumers, Recession's Effects Still Linger.]
I call it the Depression Light Effect. After the Great Depression, there were people who never treated money the same way and never felt secure with what they had. This is nothing as traumatic in these last six years as the Great Depression, but the Great Recession has had effects on people, from very intense to subtle.
Your new book is about making changes for the long haul. Those big changes to the way you spend money can be overwhelming for some people. Where should they start?
Start with something easy. Try to figure out what it is that makes you feel out of control, and you attack those things first. I get a lot of people who call me who are talking about how they have no idea where all their money goes.
To try to get that sense of control, I recommend something low-tech. Take a little spiral notebook that a woman can put in her purse or a man can put in his pocket, and every time you spend any money over the course of either a paycheck cycle or a whole month, write down everything you spend money on. The debit card has become the enemy of the person who doesn't know where their money goes. Without thinking about it, they slide it here, they slide it there, and before you know it, the dollars add up to be meaningful money over the course of a month.
[See: 12 Money Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes.]
Then there are the people who just flat out have over-committed with the two largest chunks of their lives, houses and cars, and that's when it's more radical surgery. I put cars in the lifestyle category, because if you look at a car just as transportation, we'd all be driving Model T's. But we look at cars as something completely different and don't realize how expensive they are. If you really want to take on big chunks, you look at your automobile first and see what you can do to make that a more affordable part of your life.
What about people who want to make changes in their lives, but they may have spouses or friends who have different ideas. Isn't it hard to be surrounded by people who spend differently than you do?
It's extremely hard -- just like a smoker who hangs out with smokers and wants to be a non-smoker. It requires extreme discipline on your part, and I think the way you get that discipline is by goal-setting.
The whole idea of reducing expenses is for what purpose? If it's just, "Well, I know I should do better," that's not going to get it done. It has to be for a greater purpose. Why is it that you want to reduce spending? What is it going to do for you? What change will it make in your life if you do this? What is the goal you're trying to ultimately achieve? And if you don't have the goal, you can't create the discipline in your life.
What is the biggest takeaway that you hope readers get from your new book?
Regardless of where they are today, if they have goals, I don't want them to regret the missed opportunities of the past. I want them to be motivated to achieve those goals now -- whether it's to have your own business, whether it's to create some financial security today, to get on the path to save money for retirement, whatever it is that you feel frustrated that you're not getting done, that you have answers about how to get it done.
[See: Books for Every Stage of Your Financial Life.]
Anything else you'd like to add?
One of the things that I think is important for people to realize is that we went through a lot of bad stuff all at once in this country. People think, "Well, that's how it's been," or "That's how it's going to be." I just want people to know that's not true. Life goes through a cycle, and just because we've had a brutal time in America in the last six years, in no way is that our country's future. It's not your own, either.
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