- DOWNLOAD THIS BUDGET – I created this budget to give people the tools needed to budget effectively. Budgeting is very important and I have received many emails about how it has helped people with the process. Give it a try and see what you think!
- FOLLOW THESE 7 EASY STEPS TO BUDGETING – Proven methods to help you beat the budgeting blues. So many people, including myself, have started a budget and before the month ends the budget is busted. It kills your motivation and desire to budget, and before you know it you are right back to your old ways. This post will keep that from happening to you.
- LEARN TO SAVE – This is too important to ignore!! I know what keeps you from saving money but do you?
- UNLOCK YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL – In my opinion there is nothing that keeps someone from prosperity as much as not taking responsibility for their own life and problems. You must take action if you want to change your situation. Waiting for someone else to prime the engine will keep you right where you are.
- INVEST FEARLESSLY – Fear is our worst enemy, even worse than debt! When you are scared you make decisions on the fly and panic causes you to rush those decisions. If you have planned well for your future then you are probably enjoying the low prices. If you have not planned then you better get ready for the next BIG SALE!
- TEACH YOUR CHILDREN SOUND FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES – Don’t rely on our misguided school system to teach your kids about money because they WON’T. Step up to the plate and prepare your children for the life they will be pushed into once they become an adult. If they are not aware of what is smart and what is not, they will be enslaved by credit card companies camped out at their college campus.
- DON’T BE AFRAID TO RENT – So many people buy a house before they can truly afford it. We did it too so don’t take this personal, that’s why we had to use “creative financing” to purchase both of our homes. Just because you can afford the payment doesn’t mean you can afford the house. When life happens it doesn’t care if you have savings, can pay your mortgage, or got an unwanted pay cut.
- RECESSION PROOF YOUR LIFE – It’s really pretty simple. If you plan for the future then a recession doesn’t really have much of an impact. The key is using your greatest wealth building tool.
- GIVE YOURSELF A RAISE – Do you barely make it through each month by the skin of your teeth? Wonder where you can get that raise you have been looking for? I bet I can find you that raise!!
- ADJUST YOUR PRIORITIES – You are where you are today because of the decisions you made yesterday. Your priorities can be found by following where your money is spent. Is there something that you feel you deserve? (Like Health Care?) If your priorities were different could you afford that something?
- GIVE YOUR TEENAGERS AN ADVANTAGE – Teenagers and young adults are often pressured into something they don’t want to do simply because society, and probably their parents, tell them that they should. They pick a job based on the salary instead of their strengths. To top it off they go into debt to get that diploma and spend most of their adult life paying off the master for something they don’t even enjoy doing. (Intended for teenagers but helpful for most adults)
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Yes! “Don’t be afraid to rent” – there ain’t no shame in it my friend, esp if you’re a master of investing your money 🙂 sadly, i am not there yet.
J. Money´s last blog post..Personal Finance Mags = The New Black.
Absolutely J! Renting is awesome and the only strings that come with it is paying your bill on time. When you have a home and debt on top of debt, when life drops by to mess everything up, essentially most people go into MORE debt to get through the situation! A house is ONLY a great investment when you can afford it, but the sad part is that most people think if they can afford the house “at the time” it will never be a problem. You should have 3/6 months of expenses in the bank before you even begin to save for a down payment. These days people are saying, “what’s a down payment?” LOL We got creative financing too because of a very little down payment, but this was before we started our Total Money Makeover!
As far as being a master of investing, the great news is that you don’t have to be. From what I have read millionaires use the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle when investing. They do not try to look sophisticated while they invest. From what I have seen on your site you are doing GREAT man! You have savings and you have a plan! That is two more things than most people have. haha I noticed you are a believer in Roth IRA’s and that is good. If I were you I would learn everything you can about good Growth Stock Mutual Funds. You can’t get any more simple than that. Dave Ramsey ONLY invests in Mutual Funds and even has some with long term track records with up to 18% averages. He was a millionaire when he was 26, went broke because of debt, filed bankruptcy, and has paid back his bankruptcy debt, become a multi millionaire with no debt and simple investments. Compound interest baby!!
Keep doing your thing bro, I know you are going to become a millionaire too!!
It all starts with number 10. Unless you adjust your priorities none of the other steps will
amount to anything. You can have a budget, know
you should save, but unless you have the mind set
that this is important to your life all the tools
are useless. You have to hit the sick and tired of
being sick and tired wall with your money world.
Then you will seek out changes.
You are exactly right Chuck! I definitely should have put that first, but unfortunately I didn’t put these in order. I wish that I would have though. When I wrote this I was thinking along the lines of all of them (originally 9) being just as important and then I remembered the posts I wrote about priorities and teenagers. I had to add them.
If the priorities are backwards none of these will really help at all. Good point Chuck! 🙂