Personal Finance Archives - Page 3 of 21

Why is Time Important

Time is of the essence since the day we are born. But many people do not understand this because when we are young, time feels limitless and abundant. Summers felt like a year and a school year felt like two years. The math quiz felt like 4 hours when in reality it was only 20 minutes. Time in the old days just took its sweet time. Is it a mix of young innocence and more patience, or was it really a slower paced life in the old days. No one really knows and you shouldn’t care, because the past is the past. Why is time important today, because we all need to grab time and use it wisely.

I lost my mom last week and it has been hard on me. I wish I would’ve spent more time with her and talked more. That feeling when you know you will never speak to a loved one again is tougher than I ever imagined. This is why time is important. The opportunity to not waste time is evident every day of our lives. It is right in our face, but what do we do, we just don’t realize that it could be slipping away minute by minute.

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Giving Money is Gratitude Multiplied by Happiness

Did you know that giving away money leaves you feeling great? It means that you can securely give without feeling a sense of fear or lacking in your money life. The one secret that many people don’t understand is that giving unselfishly only comes when you can build a financial foundation for yourself. Granted anyone can give at any moment in time or even if you’re not fully prepared to give, but it makes sense to give when you have your life in order. Having an emergency fund, consistently investing towards the future, not living paycheck to paycheck all of these things will allow you to give generously when the time is right. If you can support a good charity or organization it will leave you feeling a sense of contentment. The truth is giving money is gratitude multiplied by happiness in my opinion. It is how I feel when I give and how you should feel too.

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What is Debt?

This is the piece I wrote on debt and I wanted to share a different aspect in describing debt to all of you today. Debt is really bad as all of you already know, and possibly you’ve read some debt articles in countless past publications. But what people don’t share on the vast web portals and pages, is that debt doesn’t define you in any way. The personal finance community has a fair share of indebted folks, and they are all truly supportive in helping anyone who really wants to be free of debt, find ways to eliminate the debt monster. What is Debt? Well it is an obligation to pay for something in the future you purchased in the past.

One thing that I continuously hear is can people actually live life debt free. I believe you can, and I am 1 step closer to it every day. The freeing feeling you will realize is the prize, and the gift you give yourself by tackling the immense debt freedom journey until you reach a new financial platform. Many people take the journey for granted but it is that journey that will lay the foundation to help you avoid getting back into debt in the future. I will now do my best to define debt in another financial poem below. Have fun with it and let me know your thoughts.

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Don’t Keep Coins in a Piggy Bank for Long

What is the basic fundamental thing we all want for our money? For it to grow I suppose is the primary reason why we invest it, right. Recently I used to keep my coins in a wooden jar aka old dude piggy bank, and cash them in once a year. But now something changed, as my current bank got rid of the free coin exchange machine. I’m assuming they want to avoid operational fees or are attempting to bypass legal issues of some sort. I was always a bit skeptical at the coin counting abilities of said machines, and the likelihood of it not doing that job accurately. Even though I had my doubts I would still exchange coins and make a huge deposit of around $50-100 dollars in coins every year. But because now my banking institution decided to take away another perk (Way to go Banks), now I don’t keep coins in a piggy bank for long.

I woke up the next day after hearing this news and decided to make a financial habit change. I will now take a small amount of coins to the bank with every deposit I need to make. (Yes I still walk into a branch- I’m Old School) I will do this to save time, and to compound my money at a faster pace. This habit change will keep the coins in my home at a minimum, and put them in hustle mode. Because If I take the coins from the piggy bank and invest it into a financial account, it will elevate the compounding effect. Now those quarters will not collect dust at home. Why wouldn’t you want to put the loose currency to work in the markets as early as possible?

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What is Your Personal Savings Rate?

Did you know the recent savings rate was released by the government agency in charge of tracking this vital information, and I bet you already knew it is pretty low. How low do you ask, my financial smart friends? It is a pleasantly never reaching retirement figure of 5 percent. What is your personal savings rate?

What can you do with 5% in the future? It might cover the cost of gas, cable, and food but then that’s it. Who or what will help you pay for shelter, entertainment and any other fabulous budget categories we all cannot live without? If you say Social Security, I say bite your tongue right now.

Did you know that the earlier you start saving the sooner you will be done, and the sooner it will grow, and the less you will ultimately need? But you already knew this right?

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Over Consuming Usually Leads to Financial Failure

Let’s discuss a major problem that is taking residence everywhere in the US. Over consuming in general is a problem for millions of people and these people actually think that no real issue exists with the behavor. When you take money, primarily income and you use all of it by spending it on consumables, you fail to use it towards imperative financial goals.Thus you might be headed down the wrong path because over consuming usually leads to Financial Failure.

The little squirrel in the picture is actually showing you an example of what happens in today’s modern day spendthrift society, we earn, we spend, and then we spend some more. If all your income is headed towards, living expenses, food, transportation, stuff, services, utilities, gifts, and more things something is fundamentally off. As you are a very astute person to see, that several important categories are missing to complete the big picture in a simple budget, and they are Saving, investing, and Donating. The trick is never ever remove saving or investing from an efficiently established personal finance budget.

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What is your Personal Finance Attitude?

Many times I sit and think about how attitude can be a deciding factor in how life turns out. If your attitude is steered towards a particular view point, it can either be a winning or losing battle for you. So knowing what is the right attitude to have towards money can once again be the answer your looking for. What is your Personal Finance Attitude? If you ask this of yourself from time to time it will trigger something within you to find where you stand.

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Why I’m not Buying Sneakers In 2016

As many of you know I am a sneaker fanatic. But I am coming to a realization that I need to reign in my expenses and I already have sufficient kicks to last me a decade. So in this new year I will not buy sneakers for 12 months. All year long I will not buy any sneakers for personal use. If I can find a good deal that I can later sell for a profit then I might buy something to resell. But I will only consider any sneaker purchase if and only if it makes business sense. (To buy and flip only) Why I’m not buying sneakers in 2016? Keep reading to find out why.

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