MyLife101 Archives - Page 3 of 6

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

Life is a Beach

What do you think of this mantra, Life is a beach. I grew up seeing this phrase on hundreds of T-shirts as a kid. I sort of got the message, but now that I am an adult I get it with complete conviction. It is a modern version of the phrase that goes like this, Life is what you make it.

But what some people cannot see is that we control, if our life becomes a beach or if life becomes a desert. Imagine trucking along life in the Sahara desert trying to reach the imaginary pool of drinkable water? Well that is what happens when you do not take money management coupled with a dedication towards investments seriously. The destined plan for you will be a life of always playing catch up while working for the benefit of others. Who are the mysterious others you are giving your paycheck too? Well it’s really simple to answer, just open up the random bills sitting on your desk. The companies who hold all of your debt are your new bosses, on top of bosses you already have at your day job. I personally do not want to be told what to do by anybody, and that message goes directly to Chase and MasterCard. Every time you consume junk on debt, you are adding new bosses that then get to take your extra dollars every month.

When you think of things in this new light then you will realize that it is just not worth it. Buying a product on credit card debt that you could not afford is the end of freedom. Hey buddy do you know you just signed up for a new boss to tell you where to send you’re hard earned cash. This is the sad reality that we are facing in this society. I will do anything in my power to cut ties with all these fake bosses who control my wallet. Now the million dollar question is will you do the same given the opportunity. Can you really say good-bye forever to American Express and Capital One. This year alone I cut up two credit cards I have not used in over a year. Why did you do that you think to yourself, because maybe you can use the credit card for a rainy day emergency? The final answer to the question is because having it is an added level of temptation I do not want or need in my life. I live on cash baby and so should you.

I think when you reach a certain point in life, that all those added risky money moves should be abolished forever. The habits you choose here and now will make or break you. By having an emergency fund in place and 2 debit cards to cover you in case you ever need emergency money, these are the proper steps needed to live life stress free. No debt is the equivalent of life is a beach instead of life is a bitch. Get it good; now get things in check my friends.

To put it in prospective see below for an example:

Weekly Restaurant Bill of $50 dollars X 52= $2600 X 10 years = 26,000.

Plus costs of putting it on a Credit Card with interest

Plus costs of losing out $$ in opportunity cost with investable gains on money

Comment if you believe that your life is a beach or if life is a bitch?

Rich Uncle EL

Rich Uncle EL Random Facts II

What’s up! I think it’s time to give you a refresher on my random facts. I did one way back in February (Link – Here) of this year and I want to do this at least 2 – 3 times a year. I want to break up the seriousness of money management with all the trials and tribulations about that topic. What better way to switch it up than to get a little personal with you guys, sort of like an online journal I am keeping for myself. One day I can go back and read how awesome I was to make a record of all the random facts I am sharing with all of you today. We as humans tend to forget almost everything, so why not reminisce a little from time to time. Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Continue reading Rich Uncle EL Random Facts II

When Life gives you Lemons – Plant a Tree

This is a way of life for me as I take all my life lessons and use them to propel me to achieve success by the experiences of life. I record things as a reminder of what I was feeling at the time and how those things affected me during specific time frames. The title above states the obvious with what you can do to make a bad situation into a good one when it comes to life, money, or career issues. We all tend to learn from our mistakes, even if some were caused by us or if it was something that occurred out of our control.

The issue many people face is that they tend to block mistakes from memory to avoid repeating them, they forget the mistakes and eventually it is sadly repeated. When life gives you lemons, plant a tree I say. What I really mean to express is to make the best of all situations. You got whole life insurance and paid 3 years of expensive premiums for nothing in return. Learn from that situation and get term life insurance going forward.

Many will get the message that I am trying to convey here in this post, but the real underlining question is how many will act on it. I am destined to see a time when we make a mistake or take a step back, that people will do something to remember that situation. Why because you will be a better person when you remember your mistakes. Also you will most likely not fall for the same mistake again. This can be applied to any area of life; I tend to focus mine on financial mistakes and successes. Why you may be thinking? Because I want to be a personal financial expert.

This mantra is best utilized by recognizing the problem and not repeating it, but using it toward a specific advantage for the future. Did you get burned by a bad stock that went bankrupt? Well keep a better eye on your investments going forward. Also set up a stock price reminder, that if stock prices drop below what you paid for it, the broker can send you an emergency email. Thinking of ways to financially strategize can make you feel more at ease with taking risks. The best thing you can do is to plant yourself a money tree (aka investment account) it will pay you compound interest year after year.

Comment if when life gives you lemons – plant a tree life strategy?

Rich Uncle EL

Who are you really?

This question was asked in a Oprah interview I saw on TV over the weekend. Who are you really? I know what your thinking, but keep those crazy thoughts to yourself. Oprah asked this question to a famous celebrity, because they live life partly open and mostly secretive. So I get why she asked this question because this person has millions of fans and you guessed it fans are curious. Furthermore I still think it is very important for everybody to answer this question so here it goes.

I feel it is my obligation to share a little bit of myself from time to time to let you in to my world. I am doing this blogging thing and started it without disclosing everything 100%. I do not feel comfortable sharing my income and my net worth yet because a lot of family and friends read this blog.

Because of this I can still share with you some of my goals and what I want out of this life in greater detail. Hopefully you can read it as a way to help me along the way if you enjoy the website and care to give some support or maybe you don’t give a rats @ss and will never read my blog again. Either way I respect your decision, but I do feel I add some value to my readers lives.

Who are you really? : A Family man who wishes to provide for his family all the things necessary in life with a few luxuries from time to time in order to enjoy life. I want to do these things year after year while decreasing my currently restricted time given towards work and increasing my free time to spend on the things I want to do. (Family time, hobbies, volunteering, and personal goals) I want recognition for the things I do,(PF Blogger and Financial Professional), but I do not want or expect full-blown fame at this point in my life. Kind of daunting to fathom blowing up from one day to the next, like MJ. I want success but in the financial aspect of it. Meaning I want my efforts to pay me more than my bills and lifestyle while allowing me to save for a secure future. I want to get the things that I need first and foremost, then my wants, without having to worry if the income will be their next month or if a layoff is around the corner. Meaning I want to take matters everyday more into my hands and work for myself and less for somebody else.

Goals prompted by asking myself: Who are you really?:

– Increase twitter followers to 500, Facebook to 200, and email readers to 100.

– Increase income by 25% by getting a better paying career, side income, or business income.

– Become Certified in financial planning and also become certified in personal training.

– Double Family Net Worth in two years and every two years after that.

– Eliminate school loan debt in two / three years.

– Travel to new places and learn different cultures with the family.

Article on finding yourself: Link

Comment if you agree or disagree that knowing who you are really will help you achieve goals?

Rich Uncle EL

The Money Mojo

What is the money mojo you ask? Well it is the point in your life when money is flowing like an open faucet. When you experience a day, a month, or maybe a year in this stage you will feel tempted to increase spending and ball out. If you are smart you could make your money work harder for you while in this stage. How do you ask? By continuing to live life as if you did not have a money mojo going on at the moment. Lifestyle inflation is something that creeps up on most people and spending takes over their lives. Many strategies can be utilized to assist you and will prevent wasting your money mojo and the future earning power of that mojo.

Continue reading The Money Mojo

How many times have you failed?

Failure is a tough subject to speak about, but did you know that we all must go though some type of failure in order to reach success. Only the extremely lucky or the extremely gifted persons try something, see it through and succeed on the first attempt. For the most part people have to do something over and over again in order to really succeed and be recognized with what you are doing. For example a singer who has a good voice may sound good because they have practiced a particular type of song, but as soon as the singer is thrown into another genre or style of song they may choke. Practice takes a lot of effort and it really helps to get the help you need from the right people. A singing coach or a blogging mentor or a tennis instructor might get you from novice to expert with time, patience, and dedication. I ask you now; How many times have you failed?

Continue reading How many times have you failed?

How I started Blogging

Would you like to know how I started blogging? OK I think this story should be told by all the bloggers out there in the blogosphere. It establishes how each of us got started in the crazy journey to reading an insane amount of posts and then eventually writing another thousand posts. The time frame was 2007 and I had some debt I wanted to get rid of, I read the Dave Ramsey book called,The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness and this gave me a better direction for my money goals. But my thirst for more didn’t end here, in early 2008 I searched in Google for money and debt articles, I believe the site directed me to Get Rich Slowly. Talk about having good SEO. I started to see that this blog was the real deal, not only do they have 100 thousand followers on RSS, the site gets a ton of comments.

Continue reading How I started Blogging