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December Calendar- Sales Update

Yes the holiday season is in full swing and most of us will end up paying more than expected during Christmas and New Year’s. So I will guide you to December’s list of products that are available for a good price. Every month I will send this list out so that we all can be financially smart shoppers in this media overloaded society. Some of the products will be repeated from last month and my assumption is that those products are based on seasonal buying patterns.

December Product List:

· Bikes

· Camcorders

· Gas Grills

· GPS Navigators

· Home Appliances-Large/Small

· Small Consumer Electronics

· Toys

· TV’s

There you have it, do as you please with the list. I think the toys and the small consumer electronics will take 1^st and 2^nd place as the most heavily purchased categories. For me the only products I would consider buying this month on the list is a good road bicycle for the summer and a 47” TV so that I could watch the super bowl in style. Of course I would only pay for both these things in cash, as I hate to have debt. I believe I got the hating debt thing from my father.

OK now it’s your turn to comment back and let me know if you need or want anything on this list or something not on the list.

PS: Don’t forget to download GEOQpons App on your smart phone and check if they have any coupons before purchasing your products. This would qualify as another smart way to watch your money!

Best Financial Move Ever Part I

This is a quick post and I want to guage how many people respond, thus we can all be informed on a good question that most people are reserved to talk about.

What is the best financial decision you have ever made in your life?

That is the question and I will be adding to this post my response after all of you have answered and commented back. Let’s discuss and I will be doing a second part to this post in the future.

Thanks,

Spend Money to Make Money

We all must learn at a point in our lives that for anyone to make money the first step you must take is to spend money. I’m sure you have heard of the quote: Without risk their is no reward.

When you find the right money equation, your income must always be greater than your expenses. The key lesson here is how to spend the left over funds; Invest it immediately. Whether you purchase a stock, bond, or a business. Asset purchases is the real proven definitive route that the rich make to increase their cash flow and net worth. Have you heard of anybody getting rich by not taking risks. Even if you do not invest right away, at least start paying yourself by transferring your left over money to savings. Implementing this last advice singlehandly will open up so many opportunities for you.

In my discussions with random people I keep hearing the same excuses: I am not ready to invest, It’s too risky to invest, or I do not know how to invest. The first step before any decision you make, is to take time and get informed by asking questions or reading how to guides/books/my blog. Ha Ha Ha. We’re all rookies at some point in the investing world, but the deciding factor between those that do and those that do not makes all the difference.

1-Income > Expenses = Surplus of Money
2-Surplus Money Invested=Assets + Time =More Assets

Money management’s foundation is based on one premise: live below your means & watch your money. As Dave Ramsey suggests in his excellent book, The Total Money Makeover; as being the most important emotional financial decision we all should make to get us out of the dangerous cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.

Get Informed. Read finance blogs. Invest or Save.Watch your Money!

RichUncle EL

Money Vs. Desired Things

Happy Thanksgiving:

This is not a post on investing or budgeting, but its a different twist on how we view money. The theme of this post is: What do you need in your life that is more important than money? For example at a point in my life I collected comic books like a mad man. If I had a dollar in my pocket I already was thinking of my next comic book purchase. Thinking back I believe I did it for two reasons,

1- I enjoyed reading those stories about heroes.

2- I thought that I could collect something that could increase in value.

I was in eight grade when I first got into this hobby of collecting comic books. I would hear folk stories of people making money holding on to baseball cards, comics, and other collectibles. Now as an adult I find myself in a similar situation with buying and holding watches. So back to the original theme of this post, what do you find is way more important than saving money. Comment back to share what is that thing you can’t live without. Would you rather buy this important thing or would you rather save the money? I’ll go first and I hope to hear from some of you out there.

RichUncle El loves – Watches and Footwear

Fast forward to the present, if I have surplus money I tend to save it 90% of the time, but once in a while the other 10% of me is looking online, trying to find sweet deals on a cool watch. I guess it might be good for me once in a while as long as I don’t go overboard. Once in a while it’s recommended to spulge on yourself about 10% of your income on anything you desire. So in conclusion make it a habit to not fall prey to those desired things and get them only after you haved successfully saved for them.

PS: Watch Your Money!

Financial Calculators

Hello,

I have a few money tips I would like to share with you. First and foremost these calculations are for your benefit. Please attempt to do them and you will have an actual number in mind for retirement. Since all of you are following my money watch blog, you are now fully aware how much your current net worth is. The calculations below are all based on current income, future income, and your Net worth. Do your best to estimate what your expenses are and what they will be in the future. If they happen to stay the same or even if they are expected to rise, it’s a rough estimate. Keep that in mind as things may change in the future.

Figures are examples: Enter your numbers to get actual figures for your scenario.

Step 1 -Income to Net Worth %- 50,000 / 60,000= .083 or 83% (The lower the percentage the better)

Step 2 -Savings to Income % – 300 / 1500 = 20% (The higher the better)

40,000 / .04= 1,000,000

Step 3 -Retirement Expenses/Income Estimate- 50,000 / .04= 1,250,000 (This is the figure you have to accumulate to have 50K a year in income to live off of)

60,000 / .04= 1,500,000 (For every increase or decrease in 10,000 dollars a year you will need 250 thousand of assets in retirement)

After completing all the calculations in every step you will understand what you must improve on based on the financial figures. If you’re net worth calculation in step one is over 1 that just means your income is greater than your net worth. Thus you have to work on getting the percentage below one. This will get you one step closer to reaching the retirement number in step three. I found these cool calculations by reading various financial articles/blogs and I have benefited from these calculations as I hope you will too. Every six months to a year run these again to see if you have improved.

By knowing where we are, we all can definitely see what is needed to accomplish our financial dreams!

As always do not forget to watch your money!

RichUncle El

Black Friday-November Calendar Update

To all my financially smart shoppers:

Black Friday is around the corner!

There’s nothing better than to end the month and start the December holiday season with a few deals. I received inspiration for this post by finding on the internet a cool calendar that lists the best products to buy for every month. This list is a product of hundreds of hours of retail research done by financially smart shoppers. Every month I will post the categories that are supposedly on sale and it’s your responsibility to shop around for the best prices. There are numerous reasons why these items are on sale, but I would assume that they are based on seasonal, cyclical, and historical purchasing patterns. By all means you have the green light to spend your money on any item you desire, but these products listed below are most likely going to be cheaper in November than in May based on the research done. So if you’re in the market to buy a cool new Schwinn bike or a 42” Samsung Led TV now is the time.

November List:

· Baby products

· Bikes

· Camcorders

· Gas Grills

· GPS navigators

· Toys

· TV’s

Use this valuable information to make good buying decisions if you have the means to do so, and avoid buying on credit. If you do not have the means to purchase something in cash then it’s probably not worth the stress. Emotional shifts in how we perceive our needs and wants is how we can avoid getting into debt. By shopping financially smart you will save money. Look in early December for my next calendar update.

Always remember to watch your money!

RichUncle EL

How Many Assets Have you Purchased YTD?

I know, I know! If you really know me by now you will already understand my obsession with amassing assets. If you don’t know me and are new to this Blog then you will get to know the real financial maniac I may be at times. I came up with this cool post by calculating year to date how many assets I have purchased. This goes hand in hand with the overall concept of this blog, tracking your money. If you want to share with the world what assets you have purchased this year, leave a comment. Now since it’s my big idea I will share with you what I have added to my treasure chest this year:

-100 Shares of a Utility Stock-
-50 Shares of a Risky Telecom Stock-
-50 Shares of various 401k Funds on a Monthly Basis-
-48 Shares of Various Mutual Fund Dividend Reinvestment’s in Roth IRA funds Quarterly-

Well this is my list and I hope to grow it in the new year. 2012, Here I come!

RichUncle EL