You Can Laugh At Money Worries If You Follow This Simple Plan

In order to have a much tighter control over our spending habits AND save money, here are the two major changes we made.

1. Created a monthly budget for each of the following – food, pets, home improvement and misc.

2. Put this monthly budget money in separate jars and use that cash for shopping.

We actually got the idea from the show Till Debt Do Us Part. (love that show)

I also just subscribed to the blog of Gail who hosts the show and I’m 100% sure I’ll love it.

It’s odd that we have never fully committed to budgeting money. Now I feel more in control and a huge stress relief.

What can you do today to get your finances under control?

Can The Internet Bring You More Fame And Money? Yes!

I’ve been approached to speak at a conference last week in front of industry leaders and executives. People come from all over North America for these conferences on Supply Chain and IT. How did this happen? A webpage I developed 4 + years ago was noticed and that has led to this speaking opportunity. Here is the web page.

http://www.squidoo.com/erp_supplychainoptimization

Pretty cool huh?

I’ve written before about the power of the internet. Just think of it, your audience is the world!   Creating a business or getting your name out there on the World Wide Web is getting much easier and cheaper every day.  You can buy a domain name from Go Daddy for 10 dollars a year and set up a website with Word Press FOR FREE in 30 minutes.

If you are looking to start a business, share your expertise or just write on the web for fun, it’s that easy.

The Internet is a beautiful tool to and share your view of the world or business knowledge. And this can lead to a wonderful life change.

What are you waiting for?

I’m Laughing At Money Worries As I Follow My Plan

The whole point of overhauling my finances was to stop worrying about them and make sure I’m set for life. I’ve paid off my small annoying debts and set up a recurring bi-weekly payment on the line of credit.

I’ll let you know from time to time how my good to great life is progressing. I’ll also keep you updated on the weight lose program.

Making life changes isn’t about losing some weight or paying off a debt. It’s about incorporating a new lifestyle. It’s about making changes that make you feel great about your life ….forever. It’s about making new behaviours. It’s about creating new habits.  Life long habits. Is there any other way?

This is why I’m taking a stand on my life and going for the gold right now. I’ve taken what I feel are the two most important areas of my life and focused on them. The rest will be cake. Believe me.

I’m also using the My Life Changes tracker to chart my progress.  Love it.

Let me ask you again. What specific area of your life do you want to change? Is it related to your core personal values?

And finally … why aren’t you doing something about it?

Why My Brain Loves My Visa Card

As you know I’m making a huge effort to save more money and lose weight. Here is what I’m learning about saving money.

Don’t buy stuff. Don’t even go to stores. Stores are wonderfully set up to affect the emotional part of your mind.

I’ve written a few times about the emotional mind fighting the rational mind. And my solution is to shape the world around you (avoid shopping). That way your emotional mind is completely taken out of the equation.

The problem is that the emotional mind wins more often than it should. Let’s look at how Costco stores are set up. Whenever I walk into a Costco store there are beautiful flat screen televisions when you first walk in.

My first thought is “It would be great to have a second plasma TV in the bedroom. And it would only be a small one, so only $899!”

As I round the second corner there is always a display case of beautiful watches and jewellery.  I love to look at the luxury watches at great prices. Good thing I’ve learnt not to buy watches.

But the flat screen TV thought I have, comes up every time I step into a Costco.

If I bought the TV It would be a purely emotional purchase.  My rational mind (don’t need a second TV and I don’t have the cash) would severely lose out.

The good thing is that I don’t make these Costco purchases. But…

But I did buy a beautiful Hugo Boss lamb skin jacket the other month. It was marked down from $1500 to $1000 to $262. Did I need this jacket? Noooo. Was it purely an emotional purchase? Of course it was. My prefrontal cortex lost all rational reasoning. AND I used my Visa card. AND I bought a couple of lovely polo shirts. Total bill for one jacket and two polo shirts was around $400.

Whenever we consider buying anything (even cereal) it is a tug of war in between the emotional and rational sides.  That cereal is very expensive but I love it AND it’s healthy.

So the lesson here is to be very aware of what triggers you to purchase something. And be especially conscious of your financial situation. And also be aware that using a Visa card is much, much less painful than having to go out and withdraw $400 cash AND hand it over for a jacket and two summer tops.

Using a Visa card is much more abstract to the brain then using cash.

This is how my brain works. I much more aware now.   What do I do with my Visa card?

Start Planning Your Retirement Right Now!

With the markets tanking and an economical collapse on the horizon it’s crucial to do some serious financial planning today!  I’ve just done mine and it’s a wakeup call. In my case it all centers on what is the vision of my life for the future? Do you have a vision of your future?

What kind of lifestyle do you want?

Do you wish to retire to a warmer climate?

In my case the goal is to retire to a warmer climate near the ocean during the winter months.

It’s very easy to avoid taking an honest look at your financial situation. Sometimes we are afraid of what we might find.  You really need to be realistic right now.

Here what you have to do.

Decide your retirement date. Is it 55? 56?  40?

Begin tracking your monthly expenses immediately. Don’t cheat on what you spend your money on. Don’t forget to include, dry cleaning, entertainment, gas and any other “miscellaneous” expenditures.

Subtract your expenses from your earnings and figure out how much “free” money you have.

Make sure you are very aware of the date your mortgage or any large debt will be paid off.

Maximize your 401k OR RRSP payments

You should never have any debts at your retirement date.

If you have some large debts to pay off MAKE SURE you rigorously pay them off each month.  You will HAVE TO create an emergency find at the same time so you DO NOT EVER grow any more large debts again.

It all comes down to what your vision is for your future and making sure you have the finances to live that lifestyle.

Now is the time.

They Laughed At Me When I Promised To Reduce Debt And Weight

Yea. I’ve lost 2 pounds magically. Go Me! Down to 208

Ok, let’s get serious.

As you know I’m on a journey to lose 20 pounds and reduce a few nagging debts. I’ll give you all my secrets in the next post.

Last night I was looking into buying gold bullion! So how will this reduce my debt? It won’t! But it sure was incredibly fun to think about owning little gold 1 ounce bricks and lovingly placing them in my very own safety deposit box.  Every time I would feel a little depressed I’d scamper over to the bank and pet my gold.

That would be awesome!

So where was I? Oh yes ..reduce debt.  The point of this post was to show you how easy it was to get derailed from my goal of reducing my debt. Buying gold will not reduce it.

Focus!

How are you doing on your life changes?  Making any?  Hmmmmm??

Advise To People That Don’t Lose Weight Or Never Get Wealthy

Aright! In my last post I wrote I about losing weight and get rid of some small debts.

I would love for you to follow me on this journey. I promise to inspire and motivate you.

I now weigh 210 pounds (mind you I carry this weight really well) and would like to go down to 190.

I have about 4600 dollars in silly debt which I will eliminate ASAP, but I will also create an emergency fund AND I would like to buy a second house in Florida. Woot!

Not too difficult right?

As someone who writes regularly about making life changes should be a piece of cake.   Right?

Let’ see how it goes.

I’ll give you a glimpse of what’s working and what isn’t.

So come along for the ride. I’ll be using the tracker and all the My Life Changes tools available to help me.

And if all else fails it will be time to make THE PLEDGE!!

THE PLEDGE is all tested and ready to go.

DO you need a pledge? Think about it.

Admit it ….you do.

The 3 Biggest Lies About Money

Having money makes you a bad person. Having money doesn’t make you a bad person. It’s what you decide to do with it that counts. I sponsor a boy in Africa. I have helped a store owner in Afghanistan. In a way, the money I make with My Life Changes goes towards helping someone else in the world.

You have to work hard and long hours to make money. Nothing is further from the truth. It’s about working right. Get organized. Do the tough tasks early. Don’t check your emails every second. Take a break every 90 minutes. Focus on one thing at a time and see it to completion!

You must change yourself to make money. You don’t have to change yourself. You have to change the environment around you. Turn off the TV. Surround yourself with friends that are focused and successful. Surround yourself with smart people. You can’t do it alone. Find out who is holding you back and get rid of them!  If the fish in aquarium are sick, clean the water!

Quite Simply, The 5 Most Important Money Rules

1. Have you ever tracked your spending habits? Are you terrified to find out what you REALLY spend your money on?  I once tracked my money habits down to the last penny for two years. I found out I was spending most of my money on miscellaneous items. Itunes, Amazon books, nice clothes, car repairs, dinners out…etc.   It’s incredibly easy to spend money on fun or emergency items. Until you actually see the facts, you have no fucking clue! Facts will help you! Stop being scared and face reality. Track your spending.

2. Hide your money and hide it well. I have repeated this a million times. Out of sight out of mind. Have part of your pay check deposited into a 401k. Make it as difficult as possible for you to extract money from your bank account. Whenever I see my bank accounts with a little extra I say, “Hey, I deserve to spend that little extra”. Justifying spending that little extra is way too easy! You will never build up a nest egg thinking this way. Hide it!

3. Live within your means. The number one rule in money is to STOP spending more than you earn. Stop using easy credit. Stop buying houses you can’t afford. Stop keeping up with your friends, family or neighbours toys.  Your ego is your biggest enemy. Live simple, live free, and live happy!

4. Find out what money means to you. Is it just there to pay your bills every pay check? Is it a way to impress your friends? Or is it a convenient way to pay for items? Are you buying stuff or are you buying experiences. Experiences can last a lifetime while stuff never does. Find out what money means to you. Control it before it controls you!

5. Hang out with your friends and appreciate nature. Turn off the TV.  Avoid advertising. Money is only paper to pay for items in your life. Life is about living each and every day with joy, meaning and happiness. You don’t need money for this. Surprised? Don’t be. Go out and meet your friends and have a great time. Did that cost a lot? No. It’s a fact that your connection with your friends brings you the most happiness in life. Paper money doesn’t even come close. Love nature and love your friends.  They will love you back. Money doesn’t.

How My Moms Death Is Changing My Life

My Mom died three days before Christmas in December. It’s been difficult to write articles for the site these last few months but I managed a few here and there. She was 87 years old. She passed away in a nursing home due to complications related to a build up of fluid in her lungs.  In the past year her health declined gradually due to Alzheimer’s , dementia and a back problem which kept her confined to a wheel chair.

I will always cherish the gift of life and go for my dreams.

When a loved one dies before your very eyes, you put your life on hold. My weekends were spent arranging my schedule so I could spend time with my Mom and family. There was a continuous dark cloud over my head since I never knew when her last day would come. Now that she is gone it’s like I’ve come off auto pilot and am now living life again. Little chores that were sitting for months get done, I’m able to write, but most of all, the sun shines a bit brighter and my heart finds time to soar. Here is the thing. Don’t put off your dreams for one more day. There is no reason why you can’t take the first steps to live your dream life. Go out there and start today! You never know when life throws you a curve ball and takes the wind out of your sails. When the coast is clear, sail for the stars! Seriously, what’s stopping you?

I will save my money and always avoid stupid debts.

My Mom left an impressive estate. It isn’t millions but although she did not work, she still managed to save a good chunk of change. My parents lived a nice middle class existence. They had everything they could want, a nice home, good food, wonderful friends and a few pets here and there. The amazing thing is that while our society is spiralling into staggering debt my parents were doing the exact opposite. Instead of carrying any kind of needless debt they saved their money. Instead of paying interest on a foolish loan or Visa card they saved that money. This is such a simple yet essential financial concept. Don’t pay interest on your dumb debts, instead learn to save that money. The freedom from no stupid debts and saving that money will change your life forever.

Your parents care, it’s when they don’t care that trouble starts.

My parents were strict when I grew up. My mom is Russian and went through WWII, learned a lot of harsh lessons and saw horrible things so she had no patience for stupidity. But she was strict because she cared.  And this is the most important part of being a parent. You need to care. If you think that not caring for your kid and ignoring them will “teach them a lesson” you are on the path to losing your kid. Showing that you care and setting boundaries isn’t fun sometimes, but that is life. Kids need boundaries. Without them they become lost lambs and easy prey for others. So always show that you care. Always.

Visit your friends or have them over.

It’s proven that we are happiest when we are with our friends. Invite them over for drinks and supper. Do it on a regular basis. Life is way too short. Be happy. Be happy with yourself and with your friends. These are the moments that make life memorable.

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