This is tip #10 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog.
In Tip #9, we discussed the need for creating a budget. Now, in Tip #10, I am going to discuss a budget in more detail. Thanks, and enjoy Tip #10…
Tip #10 – I am going to cover the best budget I have ever seen, heard of, or used, and to give credit where credit is due, much of this comes from T. Harv Eker and his 3-day ‘Millionaire Mind Intensive’ (which, with tickets from his book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, is FREE!!! FYI, I personally found ‘MMI’ to be awesome.
First, you have heard 1,000 times, you need to keep track of any and all expenses for at least 1-2 months, and the longer the better. If you don’t know where your money is going now, how can you budget it? Managing your money requires that you know where your money is going.
Now, for the budget itself… T. Harv Eker suggests a system of jars, with a percentage of your income designated for each jar. This can be tweaked to meet your needs, but here are some suggested guidelines:
Necessity Jar – 50%
Education Jar – 10%
Long Term Savings Jar – 10%
Give Jar – 10%
FFA (Financial Freedom Account) Jar – 10%
Play Jar – 10%
Now, on to the main objection most of you will have immediately… “I can’t live on 50% of my income”. Noted. So here is what you do. First, you determine what amount of money you can spare for the jars, and you use that money to do your jars. If you can only spare $10/month to do your jars, spend $5 of it on necessities, and $1 on each of the other five jars. What matters here is not the amount, but creating the habit of managing your money properly. “It’s not the amount; it’s the habit!”
Also, how serious are you about creating all of the wealth you want in your life? If you are real serious, then go a little further. First, put 10% into your FFA jar. Next, consistently throw all of your spare change into your FFA Jar every day. Also, when you come into a windfall of any kind, put that in your FFA Jar. What you will find is, when you start to effectively manage your money, and you focus on it, all kinds of wonderful things will start to happen. You will get a bonus that you don’t need for necessities, and you can put it in your FFA Jar. You will get a raise, and you won’t need the extra money for necessities, so you can increase what you are putting in your FFA Jar. You will find unnecessary expenses you can eliminate, or ways to make some extra money you weren’t making before, and you will be able to add that to your FFA Jar. No matter how small it starts, if you manage your money effectively, over time what you are able to put away for your Financial Freedom Account will grow and increase in ways and amounts that you can not currently fathom! It will turn into a giant snowball, that continues to gather size and speed as it rolls down the hill!
Now, on to some details about the jars, what they are for, and the purpose they serve.
The Necessity Jar (50%) is fairly obvious. This is living expenses that you must pay on a regular basis. Rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, phone, food, car payment, gas, etc.
The Education Jar (10%) is money spent to make you better, like taking courses and seminars in your field. Stay on top of your game. The learners inherit the earth, while the learned are wonderfully prepared for a world that no longer exists (or something like that).
The Long Term Savings Jar (10%) is saving for occasional large expenses. This might be a down payment on a house, a child’s college tuition, or, depending on your preferences, maybe even for Christmas (if you have a hard time covering Christmas out of your Necessities Jar).
The Give Jar (10%) is for charitable giving, and it serves at least three purposes. First, giving is Biblical. God instructs that we give the first 10% of our income. Further, we are told that if we give, it will come back to us magnified many times. Second, helping out others when you don’t “have to” feels great. You are making a contribution to society. Third, without even realizing it, many people sabotage themselves when it comes to building wealth because they don’t feel worthy. Let me use a personal example here. I grew up poor, and I learned that rich people were greedy and selfish. Well, that mentality wasn’t exactly conducive to creating great wealth. When I started trying to improve my finances, family and friends would give me the standard guilt trips, both Biblical and otherwise, and, unsure how to respond, I would feel guilty and dejected. When I started consistently tithing, and the guilt trips came my way, I was happy to respond. “Well, I am doing win-win-win business, without ever taking advantage of any one. I am providing jobs and income for my help and/or contractors. ‘I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other peoples lives.’ Also, I am tithing my church, and giving to some other causes as well, which I was never able to do when I was poor. Can you point out to me the flaws in what I am doing?” Wow, did that change things!!! No more guilt. No more feeling dejected. No more wondering why I was working so hard to get ahead in life. Now I felt great, and it reflected in my business and other areas of my life! FYI, when I started giving, jumping up to 10% all at once hurt too much, so here is what I did… I started giving a smaller amount, and I pledged that every time I had a windfall or a blessing to count, I would increase my giving. I quickly got up over 10%, and it was not painful at all. I only share that because it may be a good option for others who find 10% giving immediately to be unpalatable.
The FFA Jar (10%) is your Financial Freedom Account. This is your “save and invest the difference” money. This is where your money starts to work for you, instead of you working for your money. Your FFA money can never, ever, be spent! Ever! It is the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs, and you must never kill the goose!
The Play Jar (10%) is money that is for just that – play. Many people, especially those of us who grew up poor, are not very good at receiving (goes back to the feelings of guilt already mentioned). The Play Jar serves to strengthen our receiving muscles. This is not for average, every day stuff… The Play Jar is for the kinds of fantastic things that we can not normally afford, but now we can because we have money set aside just for that purpose. This is the kind of stuff we would love to do ‘when we have more money’. This is not just dinner out, but a fancy dinner with dessert, candlelight and ‘the best wine on the list’! This is not just a visit to the spa, but getting the massage with the hot rocks and the cucumbers! The play jar is where you get to experience a slice of the good life, and, used properly, it will serve to motivate you because you want more!
Now, I just shared with you the best budget I have ever seen or used, and it works (if you work)!!!
Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #7
This is tip #7 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog…
Tip #7 – Choose who you spend your time with carefully… Learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do.
Studies have shown that your income is the average of your peer group. Think about the five people or groups of people that you spend the most time with, and odds are your income is about the average of that group. If your peer group is pulling you down, or keeping you down, then you need to fix that, or decide that you are content to stay put.
Personally, I had a big issue with this, because my group of family and friends were poor, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t change my family or close friends of many years. Still, a couple of points that can help you… First, find a mentor who is already at where you want to be, and find a way to get them to help you. Keep in mind, it wouldn’t be fair to just expect someone who is very successful to help you out of the kindness of their heart (though sometimes they may); offer them as much or more value in return for their mentoring you, and don’t give up until you find the mentor you need.
Also, I increased the average income of my peer group in part through books, CDs, web sites, etc. Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Ron LeGrand, Brian Tracy, Robyn Thompson, CREonline… I spent/spend time with these big thinkers every day!
Let me share a little story with you… Fishermen of old sometimes used crabs for bait. What they found was, if they had one crab in a container that was several inches high, the crab would climb out and get away every time. However, if they put a bunch of crabs in a container together, they could use a container that was only one inch high, and the crabs would never get out of the container. What happened was, every time a crab tried to climb out of the container, the other crabs grabbed him and pulled him back into the ‘safety’ of the group. They didn’t want to let one crab get out, because who knows what dangers may lurk beyond the walls of the container!
Are you seeing this safety net in your life, and among your peer group? Every time you talk about new ideas, or getting rich, or trying something you have never done before, are there people in your life shooting it full of holes and trying to talk you out of it? If so, is it time to find some ways to increase your exposure to peers who will pull you up instead of down? We all need more positive associations in our lives!
Before I close this tip, more on making sure that you learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do. If I am having problems in my marriage, should I talk to a parent that has been divorced four times and is struggling in their current marriage? If I want more money and success in my life, should I talk to a family member or friend who hates their job and lives paycheck to paycheck with no idea of how to ever change that? A great rule for getting anything you want in your life – find someone who already has what you want, and steal if from them… (hopefully you know I am kidding). Study them. Read their books. Ask them to mentor you. Learn how they did it, and then you do it too. If you think what wealthy people think, and you do what wealthy people do, eventually you will have… what wealthy people have!!! It is simple, but it isn’t easy!
If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
Tip #7 – Choose who you spend your time with carefully… Learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do.
Studies have shown that your income is the average of your peer group. Think about the five people or groups of people that you spend the most time with, and odds are your income is about the average of that group. If your peer group is pulling you down, or keeping you down, then you need to fix that, or decide that you are content to stay put.
Personally, I had a big issue with this, because my group of family and friends were poor, but I couldn’t or wouldn’t change my family or close friends of many years. Still, a couple of points that can help you… First, find a mentor who is already at where you want to be, and find a way to get them to help you. Keep in mind, it wouldn’t be fair to just expect someone who is very successful to help you out of the kindness of their heart (though sometimes they may); offer them as much or more value in return for their mentoring you, and don’t give up until you find the mentor you need.
Also, I increased the average income of my peer group in part through books, CDs, web sites, etc. Robert Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, Mark Victor Hansen, Jack Canfield, Ron LeGrand, Brian Tracy, Robyn Thompson, CREonline… I spent/spend time with these big thinkers every day!
Let me share a little story with you… Fishermen of old sometimes used crabs for bait. What they found was, if they had one crab in a container that was several inches high, the crab would climb out and get away every time. However, if they put a bunch of crabs in a container together, they could use a container that was only one inch high, and the crabs would never get out of the container. What happened was, every time a crab tried to climb out of the container, the other crabs grabbed him and pulled him back into the ‘safety’ of the group. They didn’t want to let one crab get out, because who knows what dangers may lurk beyond the walls of the container!
Are you seeing this safety net in your life, and among your peer group? Every time you talk about new ideas, or getting rich, or trying something you have never done before, are there people in your life shooting it full of holes and trying to talk you out of it? If so, is it time to find some ways to increase your exposure to peers who will pull you up instead of down? We all need more positive associations in our lives!
Before I close this tip, more on making sure that you learn from people who have already successfully done what you want to do. If I am having problems in my marriage, should I talk to a parent that has been divorced four times and is struggling in their current marriage? If I want more money and success in my life, should I talk to a family member or friend who hates their job and lives paycheck to paycheck with no idea of how to ever change that? A great rule for getting anything you want in your life – find someone who already has what you want, and steal if from them… (hopefully you know I am kidding). Study them. Read their books. Ask them to mentor you. Learn how they did it, and then you do it too. If you think what wealthy people think, and you do what wealthy people do, eventually you will have… what wealthy people have!!! It is simple, but it isn’t easy!
If you enjoy my tips, please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #5
Tip #5 – “Develop a Millionaire Mind”.
In tip #4 we discussed being willing to pay the price of success, and how you have to really want it badly. We ended talking about wanting to be better (improve yourself), and now we are going to transition further into the mental side of the equation. Zig Ziglar is well known for his quote, “You can get anything you want in life if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Personally, I include in my daily declarations (a list of things that I declare over my life, out loud, on a daily basis) these statements that I got from T. Harv Eker’s 3-day “Millionaire Mind Intensive” (a boot camp, if you will)… “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people’s lives.” What a change in thought pattern when, instead of thinking “I want to be rich, I want to be rich, How can I be rich?”, you start thinking, “How can I add so much value to other people or to the company I work for or to the world that money will flow back to me for my efforts?” Do you see the paradigm shift starting to occur here?
What does this mean? To me, it means you earn according to the value that you add. If you create a huge amount of value for a few people, you will collect a few huge paydays. If you add a very small amount of value, but add it to huge numbers of people, then you will collect a large stream of small paydays. Hopefully at some point you find/do work you can do once, but you keep getting paid over and over again (called residual income), like with successful books, or maybe selling a patent and getting an ongoing percentage of sales, or investments that earn you money even while you sleep. If you don’t add much value, you won’t get paid much. Let’s break this down a little. If you have a JOB, it pays you according to the value that someone believes that you, in your position, create. A secretary is generally not considered to create a ton of value, so the pay is not great. A CEO that successfully runs a billion dollar company is generally considered to create a lot of value, so he gets paid a lot more. Bill Gates created a lot of value with his vision for computers and how they can make lives easier. Sam Walton created a lot of value when he came up with a store, Wal-Mart, which gave people great prices and a ton of selection all together in one location – which was unheard of before he thought of it and decided to pay the price to make it happen.
So day in and day out, task by task, how much value do you add to the world? That is one of the great determining factors of success. Someone who doesn’t know and understand this is going to have a hard time ever being extremely wealthy or successful. I am getting a little side-tracked here, but once you have made a decision that you want more out of life, there are a lot of things you can learn and do that will help you. Until you have made the decision, though, there is very little that can help you! Until there is a paradigm shift in the way you think about money, it is nearly impossible for someone who is poor or middle class to become wealthy. They have to be willing to pay the price, but they also have to develop their own millionaire mind.
Here is an example of a millionaire mind in action… A poor person or middle class person decides they want to buy a boat. They go to the bank, beg for a loan, and get approved. They buy their boat, and incur monthly payments. Next they spend money on a bunch of toys and gadgets that every boat owner wants, plus don’t forget fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc. Owning a boat keeps them poor or middle class, or maybe even broke. Next, we put on our millionaire mind, and see how a wealthy person buys a boat. First, they set an accomplishment goal, and decide that, once they make a successful investment, they will reward themselves with a boat. They go out and buy a bargain priced duplex, that has positive cash flow after paying the mortgage and all other expenses. The excess positive cash flow from the duplex pays for their boat and boating expenses. Now they have their boat, but no money is coming out of their pocket. In fact, the duplex they own, in the long run, appreciates in value. The underlying mortgage they got to buy the duplex gets paid down a little every month, growing their wealth without them working for it, plus they get tax benefits for investing in real estate. Without going into too much detail, you can see how, by developing a millionaire mind, we can have our cake and eat it too?!!!
This is tip #5 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Hopefully you are getting a lot out of my tips, and can’t wait for the next one. If so, please refer a friend to my blog so they can benefit from it as well… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
In tip #4 we discussed being willing to pay the price of success, and how you have to really want it badly. We ended talking about wanting to be better (improve yourself), and now we are going to transition further into the mental side of the equation. Zig Ziglar is well known for his quote, “You can get anything you want in life if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Personally, I include in my daily declarations (a list of things that I declare over my life, out loud, on a daily basis) these statements that I got from T. Harv Eker’s 3-day “Millionaire Mind Intensive” (a boot camp, if you will)… “I get rich doing what I love. I deserve to be rich because I add value to other people’s lives.” What a change in thought pattern when, instead of thinking “I want to be rich, I want to be rich, How can I be rich?”, you start thinking, “How can I add so much value to other people or to the company I work for or to the world that money will flow back to me for my efforts?” Do you see the paradigm shift starting to occur here?
What does this mean? To me, it means you earn according to the value that you add. If you create a huge amount of value for a few people, you will collect a few huge paydays. If you add a very small amount of value, but add it to huge numbers of people, then you will collect a large stream of small paydays. Hopefully at some point you find/do work you can do once, but you keep getting paid over and over again (called residual income), like with successful books, or maybe selling a patent and getting an ongoing percentage of sales, or investments that earn you money even while you sleep. If you don’t add much value, you won’t get paid much. Let’s break this down a little. If you have a JOB, it pays you according to the value that someone believes that you, in your position, create. A secretary is generally not considered to create a ton of value, so the pay is not great. A CEO that successfully runs a billion dollar company is generally considered to create a lot of value, so he gets paid a lot more. Bill Gates created a lot of value with his vision for computers and how they can make lives easier. Sam Walton created a lot of value when he came up with a store, Wal-Mart, which gave people great prices and a ton of selection all together in one location – which was unheard of before he thought of it and decided to pay the price to make it happen.
So day in and day out, task by task, how much value do you add to the world? That is one of the great determining factors of success. Someone who doesn’t know and understand this is going to have a hard time ever being extremely wealthy or successful. I am getting a little side-tracked here, but once you have made a decision that you want more out of life, there are a lot of things you can learn and do that will help you. Until you have made the decision, though, there is very little that can help you! Until there is a paradigm shift in the way you think about money, it is nearly impossible for someone who is poor or middle class to become wealthy. They have to be willing to pay the price, but they also have to develop their own millionaire mind.
Here is an example of a millionaire mind in action… A poor person or middle class person decides they want to buy a boat. They go to the bank, beg for a loan, and get approved. They buy their boat, and incur monthly payments. Next they spend money on a bunch of toys and gadgets that every boat owner wants, plus don’t forget fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc. Owning a boat keeps them poor or middle class, or maybe even broke. Next, we put on our millionaire mind, and see how a wealthy person buys a boat. First, they set an accomplishment goal, and decide that, once they make a successful investment, they will reward themselves with a boat. They go out and buy a bargain priced duplex, that has positive cash flow after paying the mortgage and all other expenses. The excess positive cash flow from the duplex pays for their boat and boating expenses. Now they have their boat, but no money is coming out of their pocket. In fact, the duplex they own, in the long run, appreciates in value. The underlying mortgage they got to buy the duplex gets paid down a little every month, growing their wealth without them working for it, plus they get tax benefits for investing in real estate. Without going into too much detail, you can see how, by developing a millionaire mind, we can have our cake and eat it too?!!!
This is tip #5 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Hopefully you are getting a lot out of my tips, and can’t wait for the next one. If so, please refer a friend to my blog so they can benefit from it as well… Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
How to Create All of the Wealth and Success You Want In Your Life – Tip #4
This is tip #4 of at least 10 in the series. I will try to publish most of them as e-zine articles, but if any are missing, they will all be available on my blog. Enjoy Tip #4…
Tip #4 – Dreams don’t fail for lack of desire; dreams come apart from not being willing to pay the price to achieve them… That says a lot.
Here is a recipe for success in any area of your life: figure out what is required to achieve your goal or dream, and then determine in advance that you are willing to pay the price. My friend, Tim Harris, is fond of the time-honored quote (as am I), “it is simple, but it isn’t easy”. The formula for success is not complex – it is simple. The doing, however, is often the furthest thing from easy.
I talk with a lot of people about real estate investing, wealth, and success, and I have noticed a recurring pattern… People want to be successful and wealthy and happy, but they don’t want to pay the price. This generation is full of people who think the world owes them a living, but they have that formula backwards. So many people want to win the lottery… Rather than working hard and doing what it takes to earn a fortune.
When I started on the road to wealth, I wanted to know “The Secret”, but I didn’t want to work my tail off. For a while, nothing happened. Eventually, when I wanted it bad enough to give 110% at my full time job, and then added in a second full time job investing in real estate and the study of wealth, things improved. When I started getting up earlier, and working harder, and going to bed later, and sacrificing some weekends, working on making me the best me I could be, things improved. You see, The Secret was good, but to really get the ball rolling, I also had to be willing to pay the price!
In my former life, as an employee, I knew a lot of people that had a job, worked every day, and hated it. They hated Mondays and lived for Fridays at quittin’ time. They bickered and complained constantly, and worked just hard enough to keep from being fired. Then, they had the gall to complain that they didn’t get paid enough, never got big raises or the promotion they deserved, and weren’t treated fairly by the boss or the company. Here is what they were missing. They thought they should get paid more just because, and they never figured out that the best way to get paid more is to become more valuable. If they improved their attitude, worked harder, offered to take on more workload, and thought of ideas to help the company be more successful, sooner or later they would have got paid more, or got promoted, or probably both.
How do you fix this ‘the world owes me a living mentality’? First, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” That may or may not be from Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn does expound that you will become wealthy when you spend more time working on yourself than you spend working on your job.
I will leave off here on tip #4, and we will transition into tip #5 – Develop your millionaire mind.
Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… and I will see you soon in tip #5. Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
Tip #4 – Dreams don’t fail for lack of desire; dreams come apart from not being willing to pay the price to achieve them… That says a lot.
Here is a recipe for success in any area of your life: figure out what is required to achieve your goal or dream, and then determine in advance that you are willing to pay the price. My friend, Tim Harris, is fond of the time-honored quote (as am I), “it is simple, but it isn’t easy”. The formula for success is not complex – it is simple. The doing, however, is often the furthest thing from easy.
I talk with a lot of people about real estate investing, wealth, and success, and I have noticed a recurring pattern… People want to be successful and wealthy and happy, but they don’t want to pay the price. This generation is full of people who think the world owes them a living, but they have that formula backwards. So many people want to win the lottery… Rather than working hard and doing what it takes to earn a fortune.
When I started on the road to wealth, I wanted to know “The Secret”, but I didn’t want to work my tail off. For a while, nothing happened. Eventually, when I wanted it bad enough to give 110% at my full time job, and then added in a second full time job investing in real estate and the study of wealth, things improved. When I started getting up earlier, and working harder, and going to bed later, and sacrificing some weekends, working on making me the best me I could be, things improved. You see, The Secret was good, but to really get the ball rolling, I also had to be willing to pay the price!
In my former life, as an employee, I knew a lot of people that had a job, worked every day, and hated it. They hated Mondays and lived for Fridays at quittin’ time. They bickered and complained constantly, and worked just hard enough to keep from being fired. Then, they had the gall to complain that they didn’t get paid enough, never got big raises or the promotion they deserved, and weren’t treated fairly by the boss or the company. Here is what they were missing. They thought they should get paid more just because, and they never figured out that the best way to get paid more is to become more valuable. If they improved their attitude, worked harder, offered to take on more workload, and thought of ideas to help the company be more successful, sooner or later they would have got paid more, or got promoted, or probably both.
How do you fix this ‘the world owes me a living mentality’? First, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” That may or may not be from Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn does expound that you will become wealthy when you spend more time working on yourself than you spend working on your job.
I will leave off here on tip #4, and we will transition into tip #5 – Develop your millionaire mind.
Please pass this on to anyone you know who may benefit from it… and I will see you soon in tip #5. Together, let’s get inspired, let’s get motivated, let’s create some buzzzz, and let’s help some people (family, friends, and ourselves) create all of the wealth and success they want in life!!!
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