Saving Money

 Saving Money

The benefits of getting out of debt will allow you to free up your money resources. Instead of paying interest you can use your money more efficiently and allow you to invest in products or services to improve your life. You can even use this extra money to help others or build up your assets. Before you go out and spend the extra cash flow you have worked hard to attain through making wiser and smarter decisions, be careful not to spending the money on luxury items or some useless gizmos because it will only lead you back to poor financial habits and status.

Since life is full of unexpected events and we are not able to predict the events that will take place, it is a smart idea to save money for a rainy day. Just because you have a routine or schedule set, does not mean you can control your day all the time. There are things that could happen such as a flat tire that could alter your day. Having some extra money tucked away in your emergency fund will help you deal with unexpected expenses that happen. Instead of borrowing money and charging your credit card, you can avoid having a credit card balance and needing to use it to handle the issue and bouncing back will be a smoother transition.

Even if you plan on using extra cash flow to start a business or invest your money elsewhere. You should allocate to savings in case you need money for emergencies, you wouldn’t have to break your piggy bank to make it through unexpected expenses. It would be a wise idea to have multiple piggy banks or accounts for the things that matter most to you in life.

1)Save for the future, Emergency Fund(3 months, 6 months, 1 year)

Having a separate fund or account for the things you want to add into your life is a smart way to limit your desires and control your money. Instead of having one general savings account you can have multiple accounts for emergencies or vacations, a new car, or house, gym, or fitness, education. having your money in one account can put very thin lines between your funds and you might divert funds you intend on spending on one and using it for another. Think of your vacation fund as a seed you were planting and depending on how much you nourish it will determine how much it grows. It will allow you to determine how long it will take to become matured and ready for you to use, three months or one year for you to use the fund for its intended purpose. Do this for all the things that are important to you in life and have about 1 to 5 accounts starting off and after you see that it is working for you and you were successful at it you may have more of it if it is within your means.

I recommend people to work on building the emergency fund first because this is just one account and it will help you build discipline and build your savings habits. Also with only one fund to put money in you will build it up faster and it will help you determine how many funds you should have at one time. Every single person is different so each individuals spending habits are different so what works for one might not work for another, so it is up to you to assess and figure out what is in your means and your capabilities and what works for you. There is nothing wrong with wanting the best but being realistic and figuring out if it is viable or if using the money elsewhere would be better. Your emergency fund should have enough money to pay your expenses and liabilities for the next three months to one year. This will build your savings muscles and open opportunities for you. Whenever you feel deterred to save and feel like indulging think of what ever fund you could use the money for and picture it as realty so you are more inclined to save rather than spend.

2)Savings Account for Investments,Vacations, College Funds for Kids and Education

Once you have your emergency fund in order, try to figure out what it is you truly want in your life to improve the quality for yourself or ways to better yourself. What is it that you want in your life, what will bring you happiness and satisfaction? For example if you are saving for education, picture yourself getting this education and getting the promotion at work or the new license you need, or the certification in the field you want to work in. Whether it is for you or your kids, if thats what they want to do and need your help.

Picture and imagine going on a vacation to the destination you always wanted to or enjoyed going to. Reward yourself for your hard work in an efficient and thought out responsible way. With the proper funds in place if you decide to go on a one-month vacation you don’t have to worry about your bills because you can cover them.

The same goes for when you decide to start a business or invest your money. Most businesses don’t turn a profit in the first year of operations. Usually small businesses fail within three years because of poor planning and inability to handle changes and not having enough savings or money to survive the expenses. Having this one year of emergency fund or investment fund will help you focus on your business and investment without having to worry about running into money problems. You can focus on contributing to your business by being able to use your time to build a good foundation for your investment plan or business ventures.You can ask for time off your regular job because you have the funds to pay the bills and cover some extra expenses when they pop up.

1. Insurance for Yourself, Loved ones and Personal Items

   
   

Having the proper insurance will also help cover the unexpected expenses in your life. Life is full of unexpected things so although we do not want them to happen, accidents happen and could leave you medically, financially damaged and it could even be worse. If you are the provider for your family and you take care of all the bills, leaving your family with no protection or insurance can make the situation even worse. So investing your money in a life insurance plan would be a wise choice. There are even life insurance plans that have a built-in savings account so they help put some money aside for a rainy day, it’s not the most return on investment from your money but having the plan will give you a peace of mind for your family and future.

Insurance for your car and home are mandatory in most states, however although it is an extra expense call your broker and find the best package for bundling your services together. Find coverage that will fit your needs and your budget. Look for a plan that will give you the best possible use of your money and if your current company does not work out look for a better company. There are numerous national and local insurance providers and they offer bundled services so comparing your options would be a wise decision.

You can also ensure products or appliances you buy around the house. Especially if you have kids or pets, you want to cover big ticket items such as your TV, and appliances at home. Sometimes retailers offer warranty and insurance plans that cover you for 3 to 5 years, so when things break or malfunction you will have peace of mind and save on the expense.

2. Retirement Plan for your future

Many employees and companies offer pension funds and 401(k) retirement plans. Some employers even match 401(k) contributions, which is like extra money and a built-in raise. Contact your employer and inquire about the benefits available to you.

If your employer does not offer anything, that does not mean you don’t need it. You will just have to find an alternative way to do it on your own. Investing for retirement does not necessarily have to be a plan or a financial plan offered by a company. A retirement plan could be a savings account or CD, bond with your long-term interest-bearing investments. Which are usually low risk. You also have a high risk, high rewards category which is stocks and mutual funds. You could even buy gold bars or other Jewels in the anticipation that they will be worth more in the future.

I recommend talking to companies that offer retirement plans services and ask them exactly how much interest you can make on your money and doing some research and seeing if you could do better on your own.

I have many friends that are buying and selling products/assets and reinvest their profits to do more bigger deals. These individuals resell cars, furniture, and even sneakers which surprisingly turn a high return on investment, and many more items. I have a friend who buys items listed online that are not well presented, cleans them up and takes better pictures and relist them online for a profit. My personal favorite is real estate, everyone needs a place to live and with the prices of homes steadily increasing, there’s a lot of money in buying and selling housing.

Opening Doors with an Open Mind

    The attitude of open-mindedness is another state of mind you have to apply in your life daily or whenever the opportunity presents itself. Being open minded consists of keeping your mind clear and open allowing you to be willing to try new things or look at situations from a different perspective, so that you are able to try new things in your life. When you keep your mind open you may gain a new perspective or form a new viewpoint for events that take place. Practicing this attitude will allow you to learn new ways to get tasks done for yourself. There is more than one way to complete tasks or to do things and being able to keep your mind clear and focused, to listen and try suggestions from others can help you learn new and possibly more productive ways to deal with the situations, get things done, or alter your thinking so you can correct your bad negative habits and have new outcomes.

    Open-mindedness also consists of being receptive to the viewpoints and thoughts, observations, and feedback others have for you. Being able to listen to others and accept feedback about yourself helps you learn how others view you. Others feedback might help you learn about the behaviors that you are exhibiting but may not be aware, leading you down a negative path that you might not have expected. Others might have been in the same situation and listening to the feedback could help you gain the knowledge that you did not know of or think of that, it could be very useful for you. Being able to listen to others feedback about you might help you uncover a blind spot that you were not aware about yourself.

    The only way someone will ever feel comfortable telling you your flaws is if you are willing to listen to them, even when you disagree. So do not make fun of or dismiss viewpoints and feedback others may have for you. This will not only hinder and ruin your relationship with the other person, it will also ruin your resource of having a honest and caring individual who cares about you enough to tell you where you are wrong or could have done better. I can guarantee if you are able to listen and tolerate the feedback and suggestions from others it would be a productive, constructive experience.

    One of my biggest struggles was being able to accept the feedback and suggestions my family and loved ones had for me. Instead of taking it in, keeping my mouth shut and listening without coming up with excuses and justifications for my behaviors, I did not listen and accept their message and did not let their suggestions and feedback marinate in my mind.

    The reason I was not able to listen to them was because I took their suggestions and help they had for me as an attack on my character. I found there suggestions belittling, I was very easily offended making it difficult to find the positive in the message. I was not open to constructive criticism because my thoughts about it were negative. Instead of listening to the messaging, taking what I could from it and correcting myself, my sense of pride and ego took it as an attack on my intelligence. I did not like to be told what to do, did not like to be corrected because I was not wrong. According to my mind, I knew everything and had all the answers so “you can’t tell me nothing... all right”.

    I know now that being able to listen to the message without attacking the messenger can help me better my thinking. Being receptive to my family members and people that care might help me learn something new. Also it does not mean I have to accept the whole message if there was things said that I do not agree with or are not helpful for me, I have the choice to ignore it and only take what's important.

    I find it strange that when my family, friends and other people offered me genuine help, suggestions my perception of the situation was that they are putting me down and attacking my pride and ego. I ignore the suggestions and react in a destructive manner to our relationship. However when a stranger says something not true about me, something I should brush off because it’s not true and they don’t know me and their opinion doesn't matter because they are strangers, I accept their message and putdowns so easily just because it is an attack on my pride and ego.

    I have come to learn that it all has to do with my thinking, putting my family and friends first is my choice and accepting their positive feedback is up to me. And the same goes for being able to reject the negative feedback that strangers or people with bad intentions have for me.

    I hope that after reading this article you will apply the attitude of open mindedness so that you can have more positive and constructive thinking and relationships. Being able to listen to others without formulating responses while they are speaking will help you be open and clear to the message they have. It will also help you correct your negative thinking and negative behaviors and habits that you might be unaware about.

    Practicing the attitude of open mindedness can help you receive the constructive criticism you may need to improve the negative habits or blind-spots others see in you. It will lead to your success and will teach you new ways to get the things you do in your daily routines completed, possibly learning a better and more efficient or faster way to get those tasks completed. You will be able to learn the multiple different viewpoints to a certain topic or event. When people see that you listen to them, they will feel more comfortable sharing more knowledge and information with you and it will improve the relationship you have with other people.

    Listening to and accepting feedback from your loved ones and close friends allows you to learn about the issues they may be going through and you might be able to help them with suggestions and advice if you are able to communicate openly with them. Even if you can't solve their issues, they will still appreciate you being able to listen to them vent about their issues at work or around the house and let them get it out of their mind instead of bottling up the negativity. I know firsthand that bottling up of negative emotions leads to negative consequences such as regret, anger, resentment. Practicing open-mindedness will help you combat those awful emotions.

    Criticism is key for us to get the feedback, to make the necessary changes and improvements to our relationship with people we love and spend time including at home, your business partners, with your clients and team at your profession. Being able to receive this feedback without formulating justifications and excuses so that you can be receptive to others in order to connect with them better, help them find solutions to problems or even fix your bad habits. People will feel more comfortable approaching you when they know you will listen.

Getting Out of Debt

    Here are a few tips and advice you can use to make an efficient and successful plan to reduce your debt, especially the 24% interest rates that are slapped on everyone's credit card. You might have a goal of paying down your mortgage or your car so that you can pursue other endeavors, such as traveling the country or even the world with less burden or stress of having to pay bills. Being able to reduce your debts will help you become financially free and have the option to do whatever you want with your life. Instead of working and making money to pay your debts. This is possible and achievable if you can learn to use your resources more efficiently.

    Credit card companies are predators and they prey on people who are vulnerable. They go to college campuses and are at every retailer to make sure that every transaction goes through. They give college students credit cards to buy books and pay for things they need during their educational year, maybe even offer 0% financing for the first year, encouraging individuals to spend now and pay later. They do the same at popular retail stores so that you can buy that expensive dress or maybe the new jewelry you just saw.

    A month later you will get a credit card bill and it will include your outstanding balance and a minimum payment amount. Many people get into the negative habit of paying only the minimum payment to get the companies off their back for a little while longer and to prevent incurring a late payment. Most justify paying only the minimum payment by telling themselves they will pay it off completely the next month. That is the perfect scenario the credit card companies are looking for because now they can slap on an extra hefty interest on your outstanding balance and make a profit. The credit card companies are able to find people that are willing to pay the minimum payment for months and months after that. Now your credit limit might only be $1,000 or $10,000, the fines and interest you incur don’t have a limit and you could end up owing more than the credit limit extended you. This is how the companies trap young adults or uneducated individuals into the interest trap and this is how they do business and make a profit.

    If you are a person who is trapped in this never ending cycle, you have options and you need to create a plan to take care of this issue because it will not fix itself. There are organizations and services available to help you negotiate and work out a payment plan. Credit consolidation is an option, however it is almost as bad as bankruptcy because it will affect your credit score and stay on your history long-term. You can hire professional help, or you can always contact credit card companies and deal with them directly. If you believe you have done the research and know what to expect from them, maybe you have a friend or a trusted individual willing to help you and might be able to find a solution this way. Whichever option you choose be careful and mindful to whom and where you give out your personal information, only give it out to trusted individuals trust and reputable companies.

1. Order Your Credit Report

    Once a year every year you can receive your credit report for free. If you need it more than once you can do so by paying a fee. With the annualcreditreport.com you can logon and verify a few personal questions about your past loans, employment along with your personal information, you can view print and download your credit report from all three credit bureaus to store somewhere safe.

    Make sure to check the contents of your report for accuracy. Double check that there are no errors, mistakes or unfamiliar loan balances in the credit card accounts. If there are some errors make sure to contact the companies issuing the credits or loans to figure out what is going on. Take down the names of the people you speak to along with the times and dates of the conversation. They can give you information on the loan or credit account. Make sure if you have an account on there that doesn’t belong to you to report that to the proper companies as this could be fraud and sometimes someone is trying to use your name and information to commit fraud.

    If there are any other discrepancies such as false late payments you can contact the credit bureau agencies and file paperwork to get this information corrected, get the false information removed. Most of these forms can be found online if you are willing to do this yourself, or you can use the help of a credit repair service to get the issue taken care of. Depending on your budget and amount of free time you have, you can save money by doing it yourself and not burden yourself with extra expenses. It really depends on if you can save money by doing it yourself or delegating the task to a professional and stay focused at work.

    Even if you decide to hire a credit repair company or use the services of an agency to help you consolidate your debt. You should order your credit report yourself first to assess the issue and figure out a plan to pay down your debts. Once you get your credit report you will see all your open accounts and past closed accounts. Your credit report will indicate the amount you still owe on these accounts and show your payment history, showing the amount you paid and if you were late or on time with the payments.

    Once you figure out how many accounts you have and how much money you owe on each you can begin to implement a payment plan that will help you pay down your debts. In order to pay off your debts faster you want to focus on paying down the ones with higher interest or higher balances, whichever account is incurring more fees you should prioritize paying that one first. It may even help to contact the credit card company and let them know you were having trouble paying your bills and ask if they would work out a payment plan in order to make sure you pay all the borrowed money back. They might not be willing to help because why would they not want to make money off of you.

    Ordering your credit report will help you develop a game plan and visualize the issue and put your plan into action. You will be able to figure out how much you need to put aside in order to get out of debt. Depending on how much you can pay it will allow you to determine when you would be able to reach your goal of getting out of debt.

2. Organizing your Financials: Net Worth Assets &Liabilities 

    It is very important to be self-aware and take inventory in our lives about what we have, want, need, use and consume. It may seem like a tedious and annoying process but setting up a budget and making graphs and charts are great tools for us to visualize our life and habits from a different perspective. Instead of just looking at papers with a number or percent, a graph visually showing that you spend 50% of your income on something might make you decide to just change your spending habits for the better. There are numerous apps and software you can connect with your bank account and credit card accounts, car loans and mortgages automatically importing your information into them. They will do all the number crunching and math for you. Software will take the information and organize it into charts and graphs showing your assets and liabilities, most applications will also calculate your net worth, gross income and even organize your expenses into categories. I will share with you how to calculate what your net income is so you can calculate how much of your money is left after you are done paying expenses.

Assets 

    Your assets include your house, which could appreciate overtime or your car which would depreciate in value as you use it, unless you have a collectible car which would appreciate. Some people decide to hold their wealth as jewelry, a yacht and many other forms of valuable items. People also hold money in savings accounts, CDs, stock market, mutual funds and these are all forms of assets. An asset will increase your net worth and having more assets is an indicator of wealth. Some assets also produce passive income while you own them such as a rental home or a yacht you rent out in order to make a profit.

Liabilities 

    Liabilities are also apart of your net worth, however they are expenses that bring your net worth down. Some liabilities are inevitable to avoid such as taxes or insurance when you own a rental property, although it is an extra expense it is necessary to have if you want to continue getting the rental income from owning the property or asset. There is a saying that "You need to spend money to make money" and that spending is considered a liability.

Gross Income

    Your gross income is all of the income you earned by working and the profits you made from a business, side-gig or part-time job. Your gross income is all the money you make including the passive income from your assets.

Expenses

    Your expenses are very important to pay attention to because excessive spending will hinder your financial growth, it will keep you stuck in the same place if you don’t change your habits for the better. Some expenses are bad habits and they are unnecessary, so it’s better for our financial health if the habit is changed modified or eliminated. These habits can include eating out or buying luxury products that are not doing us anything for us, besides keeping us in debt. They are not producing any income and are generating a credit card bill or invoice.

Net Income

    Your net income is the result of gross income minus the expense. If you want to increase your net income you would have to either increase your gross income or reduce your expenses. With a higher net income you can begin to divert more of your funds to pay off your debts and achieve the financial freedom you seek from lenders or creditors.

Net Worth

    Your net worth is calculated by first figuring out your assets the positives and liabilities the negatives. Hopefully you have a positive net worth, but if you are paying off a big house or investment properties you might have a big liability because you have taken loans to pay for the mortgages. Remember that these properties are making you money and giving you income and hopefully these investment are paying for themselves and leaving a profit for you to use.

    Organizing these charts and graphs give you a clearer picture of what’s going on in your life. It will take the uncertainty and feeling of helplessness about getting control of your finances and the worry of not being able to get out of debt. Some of the changes you need to make might take some effort and time and it’s not as simple as I’m not going to eat out today. Don’t get discouraged and stay committed to your goals of change and growth.

    In order to be successful you have to have a positive mindset. Instead of saying things like I won’t or can’t get out of debt, you have to reprogram your mind and say I will and can get out of debt and I am trying to get out of debt. Don’t let inconvenience and doubts cloud your mind and tempt you to give up. Now that you have organized your finances you should have a picture in your mind of where you want to be and what is achievable if you alter your net worth or your net income.

    With this organized information and data about your life you can make the appropriate changes and the small steps will help you achieve your goal of getting out of debt. You can begin to map out your plans and set short term goals in order to achieve your long-term goals. It may seem annoying and tedious to do and if you don’t want to do the calculation with a paper and pen, you could use a software service that was calculate everything out for you.

3)Living Within or Below Your Means

    I know the last thing you want to hear from me is that you need to spend less money. If you want to get out of debt and grow your income that is exactly what you need to do. Some of you might be thinking that if I want to grow my income I got to get more money or a higher paying job. While it is definitely great to raise your income sometimes people tend to spend more money. Leading you to be in the same boat if you end up spending more money and even though you’ve gotten a higher paying job the bottom line is still the same.

    That is why decreasing your expenses will help you save and preserve your money reservoirs in order to pay off your debts. Getting rid of instant gratification purchases such as the new gizmo they just showed on TV. Cutting down on the amount of days in a month you eat out or go out to the movies. Instead you can invite your friends or family over and spend quality time at home where you can cook together or watch a movie and conversate in the privacy of your home.

    Some people are so dependent on spending and acquiring materialistic items to feel good about themselves. These people are emotionally dependent on external products to feel like they are living up to the standards of society. These people are dependent on having a nice clothing and a brand new car to show people they are doing real well and have lots of money. However if you were to see their financials all you see is liabilities and expenses. Some of these people don’t know any better, they are stuck and feel comfortable living their life in this way.

    However if you want to better your financial health you need to limit your spending by only spending money where you need to. You need to figure out the things in your life you need such as shelter a safe place to live, food to eat and clothing for yourself and your family. Anything extra is unnecessary and depending on how much debt you are in you will need to follow this principle closely until you pay off all your bills and free up some of your resources/money.

    In order to maximize your dollars and get the most out of every dollar, you have to be frugal. This means trying to find the cheapest yet reliable source for our needs. If you are going shopping for food make sure to cut out coupons for the things you intend on buying, you will be surprised how much you can save. Also while you are shopping look at the price tags and pay attention to the prices and the price per unit. When comparing two like items you can see which one is cheaper and has more bang for the buck. The price per unit is calculated by dividing the price of the product by the physical amount in the package which is labeled on the packaging. Making a food list of the things you absolutely need and don’t just throw food into the shopping cart. Building this habit will not only help you save money but can help you work on your diet and cut unnecessary junk food out helping you and your family eat healthy and make many more beneficial positive choices in their lives. Eating healthy is not cheap all organic and healthy meats, veggies and fruits are expensive. If you do plan on buying these high price items and they are on your budget, try shopping at farmers markets where the foods are priced more competitively. Limiting your food budget will help you and your family save money and stay healthy providing them a sense of balance in life. Also kids eating less sugar foods and candies will mean less visits to the dentist and less medical expenses throughout the rest of your life if they can pick up these positive healthy habits at a young age.

    Another way you can save money is by contacting your utilities company or cable company and asking for a better deal. Be direct and firm with them, let them know that you were trying to cut your expenses and save money and are thinking about getting rid of or reducing your services and ask if there is anything they can do to help lower your bill while keeping the same services or else you will have to shop around or reduce the services. Nowadays you might not need a house phone or home television service because you have a cell phone and don't watch much TV. You can get rid of the service, you have data on your phone and everything you watch on TV or do on you computer can be done from your phone. You can even use the Internet on your computer via hotspot for Internet tethering devices. There are so many options so try using your creativity to figure out a set up that will work for you. You can do this with all the bills you pay including insurance plans, and carry this mindset into all parts of your life and get the most out of your dollar. There are also apps that help you negotiate bills with companies so you may be able to automate the process.

4) Using Resources- Financial Hardship Assistance

    Another resource available to you if you are struggling financially is the government backed organizations that help low income families. There are programs, services and institutions that offer everything from résumé writing to starting a business, helping people learn job skills and get training. There are organizations that help minorities or individuals from certain areas within a city that are trying to be the revitalized. Taxpayer money and government funds are put into action to help individuals and give them the assistance and guidance to achieve their goals and be successful. You just have to be willing to look or ask for help and you will improve your life and have access to the support of others.

    There are organizations to help people find housing, affordable housing and can also help pay part of the rent if you qualify for their programs. One of the biggest expenses is rent, sometimes rent accounts for more than 50% of the expenses a person has for the month. So if you qualify for rental assistance why not use it so you can work on reducing your debt and your expenses. The government and other organizations also help families and individuals get money for food through snap food benefits. This program is a federally funded program and is available to everyone that qualifies in the USA. There are also local food pantries and churches that donate meals or canned foods to families that could use the support. There are also ways to get discounted clothing or free clothing from organizations that want to help individuals looking to go to a job interview but don’t have the money for a suit or professional attire. Doing some research to check out the services available in your area can go a long way for you, or others you can pass the information along to.

5) Positive Cashflow

    Hopefully after organizing your financial records you can start to find solutions for your financial problems. You might have found new creative ways to cut down your expenses or discovered expenses that you have been paying for such as unnecessary membership fees to services such as magazines or services you could do without or pay less for by using alternatives. All this might be easy for some of you or difficult depending on how dependent you are on the products and services. Living in an American consumer based society, keeping up with the Jones is difficult to refrain from because corporations and companies want you to buy the latest phones and gadgets. Phones are released every year by multiple companies, they add one or two minor changes or upgrades and sell them for a hefty price.

    Be smart and be wise with your money, it is a valuable resource just like your time. In life you can make more money by working hard, but you will never be able to buy time, that is why we hire others to do things for us so we can spend the time doing more meaningful or productive things with our time. So be careful and conservative when you spend money because the goal is to have a positive cash flow. The positive cash flow will be a new river of opportunities that come into your life, and will keep your life fertile and flourishing. It will provide you resources to fulfil your dreams and experiences for the rest of your life and you can be more in control of your future.

Financial Literacy Overview

 The first step to achieving financial freedom is to get out of debt. Until you clear your debts, especially the ones that have high interest rates you are on the line and are in debt to someone or some organization. For me being in debt gives me an uneasy feeling of no security. The feeling of being in debt to others limits my choices and greatly influences my choices. If I have a mortgage on my house and I stop making payments the loan provider will come knocking and take the house away. They will not hesitate foreclosing on me and auctioning the house out to the next buyer. I am forced to continue paying the mortgage or else I will lose the stability of my shelter, so I am going to work in order to keep up with my obligations and live a stable life. The goal of getting out of debt is to have a positive cash flow or increase your cash flow.

The next step is to start saving your money for the future. When you start to get out of debt you will see your cash flow start to increase. Having more money is your bank account is a great achievement. This extra money is great to have and you might be tempted to treat yourself, by buying something nice. However please think twice and refrain from instant gratification purchases. Like I mentioned earlier, life is full of unexpected events and having money saved for a rainy day will help you when you are faced with an unexpected bill such as a medical bill, car or house repair.

Now that you have some extra money saved and are crawling out of debt. You can begin to focus on building your credit more successfully. It is important to remember to use your credit for making purchases or acquire things that will be beneficial to you in the long term. It should not be used to buy a new fur coat or luxury item that you will regret purchasing sometime afterwards because the money could have been used in a better way.

Truly you will have more options and opportunities in your life due to your financial health. You may decide that you should invest your money and have your money earn you more money. Remember that money is important in life but it’s not the most important part. Money is a resource which we use to acquire other products and services to improve the quality of our and our loved ones lives. 

Although investing your money could be viewed as a risk or liability and goes against the principle of getting out of debt if you invest in a big item such as a car or a house. Many times risk brings benefits and rewards in life. A car once drove off the lot depreciates in value rapidly, compared to a house which might appreciate in value over time. Although these items can be viewed as risks they allows us to have a roof over our head and a place to be safe and a place to eat and lay our heads. A car can also help us get around, travel with our family or on our daily commute to work. These two items also bring expenses with them overtime such as insurance, taxes and repairs. Having your money in a savings account is not as risky as other investments with no extra cost and little reduction in value. Many people don’t realize it, even having money in a savings account or hiding it under the mattresses is losing value because of inflation. So smart investors invest their money in order to maintain their wealth and grow their wealth over time. There are many investment vehicles and we will go over that when we analyze all the different classes of investments.

Finally we will talk about achieving financial wealth and freedom. We will look over the benefits of having the resource of money in our lives to help us improve the quality of it. Many people say that money can’t buy happiness and that might be true for some but for me money can buy products or services which will bring happiness into my life. The green dollar bills will not bring me happiness, it’s just a paper but the value of it, along with the things I can do with this resource will bring me more opportunities and help me get more experiences from my life here on earth.

Most of the topics I will cover are not taught to us by the school system because having uneducated people making poor choices and decisions is more profitable for big corporations and firms. Also if people were more smarter in using their money the more they would be able to save and the less they would be giving to the big corporations. After these readings you will have a better understanding about financial literacy and the benefits of having knowledge and wisdom so that you can apply it in your life. 

Once you become more informed and in control of your finances you can begin to help others take the proper necessary steps to do the same for themselves. Having more control over your finances and getting out of debt can open the doors to more opportunities in your life. Becoming an entrepreneur or traveling the world to new places and helping others by donating to charities or volunteering your time for organizations to help people less fortunate, providing others with what you are passionate about.

The Attitude of Gratitude

Why Gratitude?

    Having an attitude of gratitude can take you a long way because it is essential to having a positive perspective and outlook in your life. To practice gratitude successfully you need to be grateful for what you have consistently, constantly, and daily. This is very useful when you are facing tough times, when it is difficult to count your blessings and the negativity is in the forefront blocking your ability to see the good things you have in life.

    Being able to hold an attitude of gratitude will help you be optimistic instead of falling into the trap of being pessimistic. You will be able to get through the day with the cup half full instead of half empty mindset. Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong it will go wrong. This law is known and recognized by many, it has a great deal of significance and is a very wise and powerful law. I do not want to undermine this law or reduce any of its significance. However I have an altered variation for Murphy's Law, my variation states anything that can go right will go right. I tell myself this constantly and I like to start my day by reminding myself about this. Especially in my self-talk early in the morning when I get up and am getting ready to begin my day. This helps me get up out of bed in the mornings and look forward to the day.

How to Show and feel Gratitude? 

    Gratitude can also be shown in the form of showing appreciation for others in your life, also for the circumstances in your life. If you have people in your life looking out for you, supporting you to become better and they have been there for you when no one else has. It’s time to return the kindness they have shared with you so that you can show them how important they are to you, this will allow you to continue to have them in your life.

    Being kind in all relationships is important. If you pick and choose and are selective with the people you chose to be kind to, it will not work as effectively. If you unconditionally show kindness to everyone it will improve your habit tenfold. If this is an attitude you want to instill and master I suggest you to interact with everyone this way even with the less informed people, who at times are difficult people to deal with.

    Thankfulness is another term that can coincide with gratitude. Being grateful and thankful for people in your life, and for the circumstances in your life. Instead of thinking about your circumstances such as your income or the neighborhood you live in as a limiting factor that is keeping you limited. You instead choose to be grateful and thankful for what you have because these are the exact things keeping your life going. Thinking in this way will help you make the best of what you have.

    Also remember to be thankful for life and for having a conscious, being alive today breathing, living life and experiencing it in the moment. To be optimistic, it is important to think of every day as an opportunity to change your circumstances if you choose to change. So if you desire to increase your income or move to a better neighborhood you are blessed with a new day to try and work on achieving your goals.

My Lack of Gratitude

    I was not a very grateful person, I was very fixated on having nice materialistic possessions. Instead of being grateful for the things I did have in my life, I thought more about the things I did not have and the things I wanted, sometimes didn't even need. Every time I thought about the materialistic things I was missing in my life, I was making myself feel unfulfilled. I did not realize this at that time and this was a very negative thought cycle I was caught up in.

    Instead of appreciating the things I did have and counting my blessings which would have led to positive thoughts and constructive thoughts. The positive thoughts would have made me feel better about myself and would have most definitely helped me to be in a positive mindset and manifest it into reality.

    I made the mistake of wasting my time, energy and my physical and mental resources focusing on materialistic items and living what I call the consumer lifestyle. I was the perfect target for advertising campaigns from big corporations trying to sell a bunch of nonsense to make a profit. I was being dependent on materialistic products to feel instant gratification, it was a trick to make me feel like I am achieving success and progression in life. This was a very negative illusion and misconception I had. It caused me to not value the things that I did have in my life, more importantly the people in my life. I was a fool just trying to keep up with the Jones.

    The sad part about me trying to keep up with the Jones was that the generation I grew up in saw a great deal of technology updates. In my transition over the years I’ve seen it go from flip phones to blackberries, sidekicks to the iPhone. Now every year you have Apple releasing a brand new model so by the time you’re done paying one off you have a new one to buy. This is just ridiculous but if you think about how important these things are in our lives it’s sad to see how important they are and how dependent we are on them. I remember times when I would go out to hang out with friends, instead of talking to one another with interest, everyone was plugged into their phones, physically we were together but mentally we were all somewhere else.

    I was not grateful for the people in my life and things they did for me. After my car accident in 2014 I was hospitalized, I had surgery on my left leg because I had fractured my femur. The strongest bone in my body was fractured and I had to get a surgical correction in order to let the bone heal. I had to build myself up to be able to walk again. This was a very difficult time for me and it was very hard for me to be grateful because I had a broken leg. I couldn’t walk and I was on a wheelchair.

    I remember I had to go to school because I was taking college classes at the time and one of my teachers did not believe me and told me that I could not miss the test. If I missed the test I would fail the class and would have to retake the course. My parents were very supportive during this time and my mother helped wheel me into school. My classmate saw me and took over and helped me into our class.

    This was a very embarrassing and emotional time for me, I hated all the feelings and thoughts that were going through my head at the time. My self-talk was like “man everyone must be feeling pity for me and laughing at me behind my back”, “damn everyone’s going to be talking about this.”

    I am thankful for my parents and my classmate for helping me. Without them I would have not been able to make it to my class and pass the test. That was the only class which made it difficult for me during this time, especially because I had to face all my friends and all the other students in school. During this time I was very grateful for my family, they supported me through this and many other difficult times and I am blessed to have such a great family.

The Lesson I learned

    I lost a lot of so-called “friends” during this time, they say that when you need help and are not in a favorable light in life you realize some of your so-called friends were really not your friends. I know now that if I focus on the blessings in my life instead of my injuries and losses I will come out stronger and better when I face setbacks.

    I was very grateful and lucky for having the support of my family, I really appreciate them for this reason. However I did not ever tell them or give back the respect or love to my loved ones, I did not return the same help they had showered me with when I was in need. I never said thank you and never spent the time with them to let them know how valuable they are to me. I appreciated them, I felt the need to return the love they had shown me. However just thinking about them and thanking them was not enough, I had to take action because actions speak louder than words.

    I noticed that I only spent my time with others that benefited me. The least I could have done for these people was show them how important they were for me but I failed to do that. I did not praise these people enough and did not shower my gratitude and appreciation towards them through my actions or my words. Possibly that’s why I did not have many people around me after my accident. The worst part about the situation is that I overlooked my chances to change.

    Every day I woke up to a new blessed day instead of thinking about the change that I could make to better myself so that I can have more meaningful relationships or take care of and nurture the positive relationships I did have in my life.

Key Points to Walk away with  

    Practicing gratitude daily will contribute to your overall success and help you become an optimistic and positive constructive thinker. Giving back your time and support to others is important because courtesy is contagious. Every time you perform an act of courtesy you influence and encourage others to do the same. It creates sort of a domino effect of courtesy. Now imagine if you started this effect at home with your family and then with your neighbors and your coworkers. Behaving this way you can create a bigger impact and make the community around you a better place because now others are also following the positive trend that you have set. You could potentially turn your neighborhood into a great place to live or your workplace into a great place to work and your home into your heaven.

    Sometimes all people want or need is a little support and appreciation in their lives. You can encourage them to be better and feel worthy. This will not only help you build a better relationship with others, it can cause a positive ripple effect into their life and the others in their lives. Knowing this now I would like to encourage everyone to give thanks to your team members and people who support you. I encourage you to give recognition to others so that people know that they have done something right. I believe that after you have given thanks and recognition to the people in your life, they will be more willing to deal with you and be around knowing you will acknowledge their importance and respect what they provide to you.

    Being grateful for being alive on this planet and in your own shoes is the key to a more meaningful life that is filled with positive emotions. Use your time, resources, energy to help yourself, help others, grow, and learn. After my tragic life-threatening accident I was left physically damaged with a broken leg and damage to my rotator cuff in my shoulder. I was mentally damaged and left with negative emotions and trauma. I had felt guilty for putting my family through the negative emotions of almost losing my life and the burden of having to support me when in return I did not listen to them and give them the time of day because I was carrying around this baggage of resentment, anger, guilt and shame.

    Looking back now, if I was more focused on being grateful towards them and thought about how lucky I was for surviving this tragic accident and for still being alive I could have made this setback into a more meaningful life lesson and positive wake up call. During this time I did spend more time than I usually did with my family, despite being handicap I did my best to support them to the best of my abilities. However, if I had a more tentative and focused attitude of gratitude I would have had a more positive outlook on my life and taken advantage of the opportunities to change. I could have built more positive habits, which would have led to a more successful recovery. This would have also allowed me to eliminate and cut down my negative emotions.

    Although I gained this knowledge after experiencing some major setbacks in life, I'm glad I have this knowledge now. I can use it today to make sure the future is better.

Benefits of Controlling your Attitude

Is Attitude a Choice?

Many people would agree that life is an emotional roller coaster which is full of ups and downs. Most of our experiences are shaped and molded by our choices. Our choices and the decisions we make will lead us down a path to success or distraction and possibly failure. Many people don’t view it this way and continue to blame their issues and problems on others or on the circumstances in their life. The people who do this fail to take the necessary actions to change the negative situation. With this type of thinking, the person believes that the source of the issue is external and in their minds it is caused by others or things outside their control. For this reason it might falsely lead a person to believe that the solution is also outside their control. 

If instead a person takes responsibility for their actions, choices, they will begin to see that they are in control. The situation and environment around can be altered by our actions and by the way we manage our thinking. If we learn to control our attitude we can have positive thinking, emotions, perceptions, behaviors for success. This power will improve every area of our lives including our relationship with family and friends, intimate relationships and with colleagues or business relationships.

Is it really out of your control?

Some of life’s tragic and sensitive events such as the death of a loved one, or an unexpected accident, earthquakes, or natural disasters are out of our control having a positive attitude can help us better coupe with the event. Having a positive attitude even when we are struggling can help us think more logically rather than emotionally, get through to weather the storm. It is important to remember we only have control over our attitude and not others. 

In your journey to improving your attitude you may come across other less informed individuals who do not have this awareness and do not know about this thinking. Sometimes these people will test your patience and your attitude. These altercations or events are the best times to practice using the new tools that you will learn from reading these writings. My goal is to inform and equip you with new tools and attitudes. 

This new mindset and way of thinking will make your experiences more pleasant and worthwhile. It will also help you open new doors in your life. New opportunities that you may have believed were never available or possible for you, will be within your reach. You will be able to make a new and meaningful connection to the world around you by working on yourself. It does not matter where you are in life, your age, gender, nationality.

How Valuable is your Attitude?

Your attitude is your most valuable asset so why not work on it daily? Investing in your attitude will bring you the greatest return on investment, and open doors for you to accomplish success and greatness that you desire and always wanted for yourself. Whether it be to rebuild a relationship or accomplish a promotion in your career. You will need to work harder on yourself so that you can grow and others will notice the growth without you needing to tell them or needing to showoff. They will want to be around you and promote you into positions you have grown into.

So before we begin this journey, it is important for you to develop a personal definition of attitude. These new attitudes which I will introduce may have already been in your life, just overlooked or unexplored. These new attitudes and your personal definition will not only be the foundation to your change, it will be a new outlook and perspective on life. It will serve as a reminder to why you are continuously working on yourself and why you decided to change and grow into the successful person you will be.

How can improving my Attitude Help me?

The question I would like you to think about is what your attitude towards life is? And how does your attitude reflect you? Are you a person who looks at life as a cup which is half empty or half full. Are you a pessimist or optimistic? If you picture these two types of people, one that looks at the cup as half empty, you could associate negative thinking, feelings, perceptions and behaviors. Just an overall bad attitude and someone that you might not want to be around for too long. Someone you will distance yourself from. On the other hand is the person who looks at the cup half full and you might automatically visualize a person who is smiling and ready to take on the world no matter what comes his or her way.

Although this example may sound very simple. It is the truth and the same pattern of thinking and self-talk we have about events that take place, will become our habits and will spill into every aspect of our life and others around you.

Another major factor I would like for you to think about is if you positively affect the lives of those you interact with? Think of the individuals in your life that affect you in a positive way and those who affect you in a negative way.

I know for a fact that you would rather be with the people who make you feel positive, so you should do the same and be a positive person for yourself and others. You can be a role model for others if you follow the positive attitudes and practice using them.

I would much rather be the person who has control over my attitude, instead of making bad choices and decisions because of my negative attitude. Think back to the last time your negative attitude created a negative impact or consequence. It's okay if you have made mistakes and bad decisions, I'm sure we all have and can relate. No need to beat yourself up, you are just making things worse and rubbing salt on your wounds. I suggest to relax and be forward thinking, give yourself time and you will heal and eventually move forward. 

Now please think about the positive choices you are going to make in order to help you respond better to situations. Also think about the proper actions and changes needed to keep cool and keep a positive productive attitude.

80/ 20 Rule - The Pareto Principle

What is the Pareto Law?

The Pareto Phenomenal also know as the 80/20 Rule, Law of vital few, and Principle of factor sparsity. It is a generalized phenomenon developed by an Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto in 1896. The reason I say generalized phenomenon is because it is not a formal mathematical equation like 1+1=2. Mr. Pareto worked with lots of numbers, data and statistics. He noticed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. He also noticed that in his garden 80 % of the fruits were coming from 20% of the plants.

Was this a Coincidence?

No this was not a coincidence. Mr. Pareto worked with a lot of statistics as a economist. He dealt with numbers and statistics from many different industries such as population, real estate, food production, and many other demographics and industries. Pareto did not discover a coincidence, rather he discovered a relationship between two quantities.

Why does that matter ?

 The 80/20 rule was a concept I learned and it taught me that 20% of our daily actions we input, outputs 80% of the results in our life. The other 80% input we intentionally put into things gives us the rest of the 20% in results.

The reason I found this interesting is because its remined me of something that my parents told me growing up. They told me that the small choices I make create a big impact. When I reflect on my past choices, I agree with this point and it is a valid point that I can apply to make better decisions in life overall.

So if you are working towards change and making your financial life more successful the small decisions and choices you make are just as, if not more important than the big decisions. For me this would look like doing food prep and eating at home which is healthier. It would also be staying at home on the weekends and saying no to going out with my friends.