Monday, May 21, 2007

Work Hard-Save Hard

Few people understand the power of hard work plus saving. They do not understand the potential anyone has to achieve financial success and independence from the compounding power of hard work plus maximizing your savings. By incorporating both into your financial plans, you magically compound your ability to achieve financial success!

Many people think hard work, or having a good paying job will make you successful. It does not! It will only make you sore and disgruntled if you never save a portion of your earnings. It will only make your boos wealthier, not yourself, unless you pay yourself out of every paycheck, setting aside little dollar employees, which will work for you, earning you more dollars employees, which will earn you more, which will earn you more and so on until you a substantial net worth and cash flow of your own.

Money earned from work must be saved, and not spent foolishly. If it is spent, than the extra work did not move you closer to success. If the extra money earned from extra work is spent frivolously, then nothing was really accomplished. By saving income, you will be advancing towards financial success. Work is the key to making money, but saving is the key to success.

Working hard will earn you money. Working harder will earn you more money, but it does not matter how hard you work and how much you earn, unless you save at least a portion of it. You may be able to afford new clothes, or get a newer car, or eat at classy restaurants, but you are not getting ahead in relationship to success. "Hard work is the best investment a man can make," Charles M. Schwab, an American steel manufacturer, stated inspirationally in 1931, who lived on borrowed money the last five years of his life and died broke. Why? Maybe because he didn't save any of that hard earned money. Hard work needs to be a part of your plan of achieving success. Working hard helps you get ahead; it is a very wise investment of your time, but you need to save hard also. You need to be working hard and saving hard to reach financial success.

In order to save money you need to earn money. The harder you work, the more money you can earn, the more you can save and the more imminent success becomes. It works in that sequence. Scramble it out of order and it leaves you with nothing. Work in itself will not make you a success, but working harder to earn more money, to save more money will. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Working in itself can not possibly make you more successful; it will only earn you money. Working harder and smarter, being frugal with your money, maximizing your savings and investing wisely will generate success, financial stability and contentment.

Saving and work must be brought together for success. Work harder and smarter to earn more money. After more money is earned you will be able to save more money. With more money saved, you will be able to reap the benefits of success through saving much sooner. Invest in yourself to use your time and effort to increase the knowledge you have of your career. Work wholeheartedly and ingeniously to prove to your boss you go the extra mile and deserve the raise. Or foster the idea of creating your own business, or even a side-business to generate an additional income stream. But then continue to save or even increase your savings amount of what you earn! By saving and working smarter and harder, you will be able to reach success!

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Friday, April 13, 2007

5 Key Personal Finance Problems - Which One Do You Want to Overcome?

You can take control of your personal finances by applying the lessons listed below.

Problem #1. Spending Without Knowing Your Limits

As in business, you will not last long financially if you spend without regard to your income. Knowing your spending limits is not hard to do. Just find the answers to these 4 easy questions:

Question #1. What is my take-home income per pay? (that is your total income less taxes)

Question #2. What do I need to spend to live?

Question #3. What is the difference after taking spending from income?

Question #4. Can I save enough for my future from the answer in Question #3?

There are many tools to help you gain answers to these questions. You can find many on the Internet. Helpful Hint: Find one that helps you set your savings targets, checks your ability to meet the targets and then shows your progress towards your goals.

Problem #2. Spending Without Setting Savings Targets

It's OK to spend to the limits of your income but that does not provide you with any buffer for urgent purchases, or protect you from a financial emergency. Urgent purchases could be renewing a broken fridge or stove, calling a plumber to fix a broken pipe or having to spend for major car repairs. Financial emergencies could be temporary loss of income or hospitalization of a family member. How would you survive financially in any of these situations?

You can begin to save today, it's easy. What if you went without your bought lunch each day at work? That saves you $1,000 per year on $5/day. What if you reduced your Starbuck's coffee by 1 each working day? That's another $1,000 per year on $5/day. Just those two amounts alone can mean a holiday for you, the beginnings of a savings plan, or an emergency buffer.

If you set a target of 10% of your take-home pay each payday that would be a good start. If you think creatively, you are sure to come up with ways to achieve this. Think of the peace of mind that would bring.

Problem #3. Spending Without Knowing How to Save

There are many easy ways for you to save money that allow you the freedom to spend when you see something you really want. Some of these are:

1. Don't buy on impulse. Ask yourself 2 or 3 times "Do I really NEED this?" before you buy. If you cannot answer with a resounding "YES " let it go.

2. Don't buy things JUST because they are on sale. Only buy things you need. If you do need them wait a few weeks the price may fall even further.

3. Don't buy the latest fashion items at the height of the season. Just wait a while. The prices usually reduce.

4. Don't compare yourself with others and what they have. They may have purchased making the same finance mistakes as you.

5. Set yourself a savings target. Put this money aside each payday BEFORE spending any of your pay.

Problem #4. Spending Without Feeling Satisfied

Spending can leave you feeling pretty shallow and unrewarded when you purchase on a whim or fancy when you really know you cannot afford the item. What's more you may not even use it. What a waste!

To really FEEL GOOD ABOUT SHOPPING and spending you need to know these 4 things:

1. My budget allows me the freedom to purchase this item

2. I have the cash put away already for this purchase (even though I will use my credit card for the transaction).

3. This purchase is something that I really want and will use.

4. I have purchased this item at the best possible price, saving as much as I can.

Problem #5. Spending Without Caring About Your Future

Unless you are planning for your future and financial security, you cannot be really happy. There are always worries lurking in your mind about how you would survive in a financial emergency if you have no savings. It can be very rewarding to see how quickly your savings multiply over time with only a small investment each payday.

Did you know that by saving just $5 every day this would grow into $1,867 in 12 months at 5% interest and then it grows into a whopping $10,343 in 5 years? Isn't your future worth investing in?

Why not start to overcome your personal finance problems today? Looking back you'll be so glad you did!

If you click on the links below you will be taken to a great budget solution. It helps you set your savings targets, checks your ability to meet the targets and then shows your progress towards your goals.

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