The PDQ™ Factor

By Cindy Morus
Posted Tuesday, November 9, 2004

It’s the beginning of a brand new year: a time to set goals, make plans, and start afresh; a time to dream of making more money, having a more beautiful body, and experiencing more love. I can’t help you with your body or your love life but I can show you some tools for making more money this year.

Have you ever heard of the PDQ Factor ™? Probably not, but you probably have heard of the acronym PDQ, which means “pretty darn quick” and that can be expensive: think fast food, fast cars, and fast women. This PDQ, The PDQ Factor™ will save you money. In fact, it can even make you wealthy over time.

To illustrate…take an empty glass and set it under the water faucet. Now turn the faucet to a single drip, or a slow trickle if you’re really impatient, and watch the glass fill up. It takes a while but it does get full. If you were thirsty, it wouldn’t have been nearly as fast as turning the faucet to full force but it was just as effective. The PDQ Factor ™ is the slow trickle equivalent in the world of money. It stands for Pennies, Dimes and Quarters. Nickels count too, they just messed up the snappy title so we left them out; but don’t you leave them out of your investment toolbox.

Here’s an easy plan to make an extra $1000 this year. It won’t take much time or energy—really none at all. By investing just $2.74 a day—the cost of a designer coffee drink; a bad drive-thru meal; or 8 quarters, 5 dimes, 4 nickels, and 4 pennies, in just 365 days you will have an additional $1000 in the bank. Did you know that accumulating wealth is this effortless? Make a plan, stick to it and watch success sneak up on you in teen-tiny increments.

With no pain and all gain you’ve just set a financial goal; a goal that can be effortlessly reached by making a very minor tweak or two in how you live your daily life.

Break down your goal and see how many PDQ's it takes! And don't forget to start today!

Check out the following websites to save even more pennies: (www.getpennytalk.com) (www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/minpayments.asp) (www.refundlebundle.com)

And recycle your cans and bottles to capture those nickels.

Happy and prosperous New Year!

About the Author
Cindy found herself facing divorce partly caused by “marital money” problems. Now she teaches families how to achieve financial well-being and peace of mind. She can be reached at cmorus@phelps-creek.com or (www.phelps-creek.com).