Behaviors Archives - Page 6 of 7

What are my values?

When I decided to write about my values and what they mean to me, I had to think for a second because of all the other white noise in my head. But for a few seconds as I stared into space, I drew a blank then reconfigured my priorities based on what are my values. My values are the important aspects of my life that I will not change or give up for any reasons, and yes my values have changed over time with age.

One of the definitions for value is- The worth, importance, or usefulness of something to somebody This is why I value what I am doing for the blog, because it I am keeping a journal for what’s going on in my head, plus I am inspiring others with valuable financial information all at the same time. I wish to assist my readers with self improvement behavior tactics primarily based around money management. I have always wanted to teach others as much as possible about personal finance, and I am achieving it every day through this blog. OK enough tooting my own horn; let’s discuss what are my values?

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How Candy Crush makes you Poor

Hey Friends, did you know that Candy Crush is Taking over people’s minds every day by the minute? That little app has blown up to the tune of millions and millions of users, happily plugging in hours a week playing a useless game. I will show you in the post below how Candy Crush makes you poor in various ways. This game can not only drain you fiscally, but can damage you to the point you feel poorish in other areas of your life.

Granted this game craze is not a new phenomenon, do you remember the Tetris and Bejeweled addiction? Well Candy Crush is along the same line and premise behind those two games. Here is the difference that all of you will be stunned to know, Candy Crush executives are raking in 690,000 thousand dollars a day from its users. Say What! Tetris and Bejeweled never made that kind of money; boy technology has benefitted the app developers hasn’t it. It boggles me to wonder how much time is being wasted in the millions of households playing this game.

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The Behaviors of Finance

One of the basic foundations behind getting your personal finances in order, which many people need to look at a bit differently, is behaviors. The basic misunderstanding that many who are struggling with money issues, is that they focus on the money as the problem, but in reality it is the behaviors. When we have routines that complement positive actions around how we handle money it sparks a change within us that correlates back towards money. Whether you struggle with keeping expenses down or a habit of saving a specific amount every month, it all boils down to what you do every day.

By realizing your actions and faults you have taken the first step towards accepting the bad behaviors ruining your life. The next step in this process is to begin with 1 positive money behavior and consistently perform it for at least 45 days. It could take a lot of effort, but without effort you will never see gains with personal finance. Money management is only tricky when you are in denial of your abilities behind controlling the old mighty reflection in the mirror. Granted it might not seem all that difficult to say no to yourself, but after 5 days attempting to change a bad behavior people tend to break down and revert back to bad habits. Money101 is based on a class that teaches you that choices in the right direction will always be the beneficial way to live a stress free money life.

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The Door to Opportunities

I work in an office building that has a medical office by the front entrance. I have noticed on many occasions that the first time customers of this medical office for some reason walk right by the nice light wood colored door with a stand right in front of it stating MRI lab. Why do these people miss the door completely and continue towards the back of the building, as if they are expecting another entrance. Do the doctors have to place neon lights for these folks so that they can recognize the door? I don’t know, but I will say this, many people miss opportunities every day because they fail to see the door.

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Top 7 Reasons Why you Should Turn Down

I hear this phrase lately on the daily, “Turn Down for What”. By people who claim they are having a blast living life in a constant state of euphoric bliss aka a 24 hour party. Before the phrase, “turn down for what”, popped up all over the media, the opposite phrase (Turn Up) that means the same thing, and it was also mentioned by everyone who likes to party hard. I will give you and explain the Top 7 Reasons Why you Should Turn Down.

One thing that makes me laugh is that the people who made the phrase, “turn down for what” famous are the stars in TV / Radio personalities / Club DJ’s. They are brainwashing you to get you to promote this phrase for their benefit. Their motives for yelling this phrase and the last 5 phrases including YOLO, is to get the regular Joe to spend more money. This supposedly leads to a happier life for average Joe. I get it you want to live life to the fullest without any regrets, but believe me you will pay in the end if you keep yelling, “Turn Down for what”, while opening your wallet to live above your means. Going clubbing every weekend might seem like a great time, but believe me that is not the right place to meet the future husband or bride to be. Night clubs have the reputation as the place where singles go to meet other singles, but the basic flaw is that the likelihood for anybody finding a soul mate in night clubs is very low.

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Is Money killing you?

Hey friends I will introduce to you a new post based on how we treat the money we have and use. The title can be a bit deceiving as money can’t actually kill you, but how you use it can put you six feet under. I apologize for being so morbid, but I feel this has to be said, I will warn you this post is judgmental towards those who fall for any of the misuses of money below that can be slowly taking your life. See below for the 5 reasons money is killing you:

Reason 1 – Smoking

Every day as I drive to work for about 30-40 minutes I see people looking happy-go-lucky giving $$ to the big tobacco companies to smoke in their cars. I think wow do those people like to throw money away by lighting up the cigs, in addition to this they eventually are killing their lungs. This is the first on the, is money killing you list because it is a double whammy. Abusing money to feed an addiction that is killing you is not the ideal way to help anybody prosper with money. In the short-term you are losing available funds to help you retire and in the long-term you are guaranteeing a ton of future hospital fees for a slew of smoking related medical reasons. (Average smoking habit costs $200 dollars a month)

Reason 2 – Liquor

This is a tricky one because drinking on occasion is ok and actually a fun thing to do. But what I am trying to bring to light for all of you is those people who cannot control themselves. Let’s be honest here if you have a friend that drinks 6 beers a weekday and 20 cans on the weekends, then that is abuse in my book. Then you have the people who pay nightclubs 4 times the amount of a bottle to have the luxury to drink fancy in the club. Hey take a few pics of these bottles every weekend, they say.(Doesn’t that get old ?) They are throwing in the towel of retirement, before it can even have a chance to fight for you. Liquor abuse will grow your gut, destroy you liver, and waste all of your discretionary income. (Average costs of abusing liquor = $150+ week)

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Money Habits I am Doing Right

Life is a balancing act.

Many times I think back and I re-read some of my past blog posts and think to myself I might have used some harsh words to incite change upon myself and my readers. But my intentions were not to scold down or to say you are doing very badly at money management skills. I get caught up at times with my own short comings that I am my own worst critic, and I admit I use it to fuel the fire for this blog with great content. This time I am trying something different, and it is a post that probably has been around the block more often than not. But I am still going to share with all of you, what things I have been doing right financially speaking. I will answer for you all the money habits I am doing right.

When I do things right I am actually happier, because these things are in my happy go lucky financial rule book. No not really a book, but just good ideas I have in my mind at all times. Did all of you know that finance and money management is 80% behavior and 20% math? If you can maintain this balance in life you will always win with money. Given this I am going to share with you all the behavior rules I use in my life to stay in my personal finance lane.

Money Habits I am Doing Right:

1. I write this blog which keeps me accountable for my actions. (I can’t Believe it’s 1 Year already)

2. I am saving a good portion of my income. (About 15% soon to be about 20%)

3. I am on top of my investments and assets. (Mostly monthly and sometimes daily.)

4. I am thinking in a long term perspective for my money. (Not what can I buy with my next paycheck mindset)

5. I take the advice of other PF blogger’s / financial guru’s if it benefits me or awakens a need to an improvement change.

6. I look at time in a productivity mindset and look to maximize my efforts. (Always finding a balance between family and work)

7. I hate debt and am working on eliminating my school loans while not going into any other future debt.

8. I am always looking for a new book to read on finance as I still find it intriguing to expand my personal finance horizons.

9. I am excited to help others improve while helping myself become a better communicator. ( Face to Face and written)

10. I see options and opportunities that investing gives me now and can give me in the future. (Passive Income)

These are some of the things I am currently doing to better myself every day and improve my finances. I hope I can lead by example with these steps and help any willing person with a desire to improve their personal finance picture in these uncertain economic times. Will these steps increase your income? No, but with time and effort it can help anyone improve financially and with goal setting. Behavior modification is not very easy, including how to manage finances. That can be one of the most important things you can do to help yourself achieve life’s basic money goals. Goals were made to be accomplished and surpassed.

In an uncertain world we have to do our best to help us be better prepared if another recession, depression or emergency were to occur in our lives. A layoff or a reduction in income can pop up at any time for anybody working for somebody else. Can you live on less than you make if it were to happen to you today? If you can just get over living the paycheck to paycheck syndrome you have succeeded in a personal goal that many people find too daunting. I will do another post in the near future and list all the bad things I am doing because nobody is 100% perfect in this life. But remember to keep striving to achieve a better more balanced you in this life.

What are some of the things you are doing right with money behavior that you would like to share?

Rich Uncle EL

Pic is credited to the movie called Man on Wire.

Spending is not the root of Happiness

spending money is not the root of happiness — Hey you if you spend more than you made today, it doesn’t make you any Happier.

I have come across a few people who like to live for the Now in life. They are always going out and doing everything in their power to be present at numerous events while negating their future security. I ask myself when I see this happening, what kind of void are those individuals trying to fill? Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good party from time to time when it’s important to me, but all that spending those people are doing strikes me as a red flag. Twenty years later those people are going to be wondering and most likely regretting why didn’t I prepare for my future.

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