Finances Archives - Page 3 of 4

Financial Responsibility toward the Future

Do you know that you have a financial responsibility towards the future? In the present you might want to spend every last penny from each pay check, but this is not good for several reasons. See Below:

This trend will lead you to never improve financially. (Bad Habits take time to break)
If you do not have readily available money, no opportunities. (Businesses need startup funds)
The future will look bleak. (Retirement will be below average)
If you have kids you will pass on those horrible habits on to them. (Johnny will not learn the right way to manage money)
Giving back or leaving a windfall for loved ones will be a joke if you do not take things seriously. (What did Dad or Mom leave me? – Headaches with no money)

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7 Steps to Eliminate Credit Card Debt

I wanted to share with you a story of how a young financially smart person got into and out of about 14 thousand in credit card debt. I thought I was doing good with my money by saving a lot during my young days, while accumulating debt on the flip side of the coin. The year is 2007 and I had just been laid off from a great paying job, subprime mortgages. Now I can’t even recall how I got into so much debt, but I believe it had to do with unhappiness in a previous life situation plus the fact that America was in a credit card spending frenzy.

I was spending without any concern between years 2002 through 2007 just to get rewarded for credit card points. I am hoping that all of you can take this advice to heart and realize that those credit card points are not worth it. One of my overall goals with this site is to attempt to help others avoid the same mistakes I made. Why you ask? Because the younger you are, the greater the chance you will do well financially with some guidance. See Below for the tips.

7 Steps to Eliminate Credit Card Debt:
1. Never use debt to accumulate points for useless exorbitantly high rewards
2. Do not charge daily living expenses on credit cards
3. Do not save up money until after you have paid off you’re debt
4. Use all savings to help pay down debt faster (keep only 1-2K in savings for emergencies)
5. If your interest rate is high, do a balance transfer to a lower rate
6. Avoid cards with annual card fees
7. Do not pay only the minimum

This is what I did to eliminate the 14 thousand dollar debt monster. What did I charge through out the years to accumulate all that debt. Honestly I can not recall, but I would assume the bulk of it was spent on watches, sneakers, car accessories, gifts and every day life expenses. I had the mentality that the more I charged the faster I would be rewarded with those powerful credit card points. Which in turn rewarded me with useless products from their rewards shopping catalog. Always remember that credit card companies use all the tactics possible to bait you to spend more. They want you to eventually live life cash strapped by paying the minimum for life and extending the interest you pay them. If you fall for their game you will lose and possibly be in a paycheck to paycheck scenario for a long while.

Sometimes we get carried away in getting things that we do not see the damage that is being done on a daily basis. Keeping careful track of budget categories expenses will solve that problem. Another thing that really helped me improve on my spending habits, is to simply avoid the malls and superstores. By 2010 I was done with paying it all off and a big monkey was lifted off my back.

So please do your best to take the advice above and delay gratification with immediate wants. Credit card companies want you to fail at life. Being in debt for me is failing at life.

Comment if you have slashed debt from your life?

Rich Uncle EL

Why you should not take Money for Granted

I see it all the time, people taking money for granted. No I’m not talking about a person walking by a penny and not picking it up. I am referring to the thousands of dollars every year being funneled out of bank accounts and into the hands of the already filthy rich companies. Banks everywhere are making out with your money. Credit Card companies are buying businesses with your interest payments. Auto Sales men are funding their pockets with every signature you sign on the dotted line. Higher Education is laughing to the banks because of the 1 trillion dollars in student loans debt.

What happen to thinking about good old numbero 1 from time to time? What happen to making You, Inc. more profitable and self-sustaining by stashing your cash? If you keep throwing money in the wrong direction, it will eventually make you feel like taking two steps back and no step forward. I am ready for a challenge to take You, Inc. into the next level of success with money management. How do you ask with a blank stare are you going to do this? Well it is simple by not taking money for granted. By sending it express mail in the right direction, thus having the little green dollars work hard for you. It’s real easy send it to your online bank account and build it every month for emergencies. Once a real emergency occurs, then take out your free online money. By now the money you have been saving is making you free money by compounding.

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The Cycle of Expenses

2011 Oxygen Sensor and Water Pump for Camry

2011 Tires for the Old Camry

2012 New Laptop

2012 New Mattress

2012 Brakes for Mini-Van

2013 Cell Phones for a new Provider

2013 Tires for the Mini Van

2013 What will the next thing be?

The expenses cycle never ends as many things need replacing and others are needed to save some dollars. The list above is a small breakdown of the things I needed to replace in the past 2 years that I can remember. Whenever I feel positive about saving some extra dough something almost always comes up. What is wrong with this picture? What can be done to eliminate the dreaded cycle with expenses affecting our lives? Maybe it helps to have a plan in place to cover the future needs and wants. As soon as I buy the tires for the minivan, should I begin to save for the next set of new tires in 2 years or is that considered going overboard. I will take the new purchase price of about $400 and divide that by 24 months, which gives me a monthly amount of about 17 dollars.

Should I have a replacement fund for everything in my life or is that going overboard as well? What if there isn’t enough money to cover all the replacement funds, on top of retirement funds, emergency funds, and college funds. What would somebody do then? Increase your income is my only answer.

It may seem like a lot of whining but there is something to ponder behind the madness going on in my head. If I eliminated a car and found a job where I can walk to work I will eliminate a lot of unnecessary expenses. I will also save on gas and insurance costs, but my time will take a major hit as commuting by foot takes added time. Maybe I can invest in a cool road bike to slash my walking commute by a third. Let me not get ahead of myself as I first I need to find a job in my town. Ha Ha

Sacrifice now for a better tomorrow is a way of life that needs to be taken seriously by people. A little here and there will not do much to improve your situation, but if you consistently apply this mentality you will win big later. Keep pouring on the focus to better all situations and you will be a part of the secret society, the one I just made up in my mind. LoL

How do you sacrifice to win big later? How do you handle the cycle of expenses?

I like to think optimistically in this life for the most part, but when things like the list above happen to strike unexpectedly I tend to say what in the F— is going on, out loud from time to time.

Comment if you have a good luck or bad luck in recent times with random unexpected expenses.

Rich Uncle EL

The Doom and Gloom behind News Media

Everyday does not go without the doom and gloom behind news media centralized on our nations financial conditions. I cannot tell you how many times I heard the term fiscal cliff in a span of 4 months and still counting, I am running out of fingers and toes. I ask myself why does all this doom and gloom crappy news sell or for that matter why do people want to hear it? I even got a random email from a coworker who could care less about his finances or being responsible with money, asking me what I thought of the fiscal cliff. I gave my explanation to him that it’s all hoopla based primarily on the elections. But that still doesn’t even begin to answer the question; why is there so much doom and gloom coming from all the media outlets and why do people care to hear it.

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Bad Money Habits

As you remember from a few months ago I wrote a post about all the great things I am doing right with my money and how this will lead me to prosper in the world of personal finance. Well this is the follow-up to that post as I will divulge all the bad money habits I am currently dealing with and will attempt to fix and or correct in the near future. As I mentioned before and you have heard a thousand times in your life, nobody is 100% perfect. But maybe you can join my club and be in the 98% perfect organization.

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Spend Money to Make Money II

Hey guys I hope by now you are more informed of what tools you need to defeat personal finance issues you may be having. Simple fixes now can pay off tremendously later, for example starting early with investing, paying yourself first, and having a sizeable emergency fund. All of these things should be a natural component of our personal finance world, but an important factor some of us forget to do on the journey is to spend the money in the right places. For example imagine you could spend money to make money, would you do it? Of course you would.

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Debt Free Living

I like giving my readers the tools they need to live life debt free. I feel that you can really put to use some of the tips I mentioned below as a way to get ahead with your financial goals. It all comes down to the choices you make in life. Would you be willing to pass on your goals because you just had to upgrade your PC to the new Mac Book laptop. Granted that new Mac book might only cost you $60 dollars a month with interest free financing.

But that $60 dollars could have gottten you one step closer to realizing a financial goal you keep postponing month after month and year after year. Why is that we always need or want something? Why is it that those things have to be purchased on credit? Well if you keep reading you will enjoy another great post on how you can avoid debt.

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