You are here: Home » Blog » Money

From the category archives:

Money

Amazingly, I am nearing the 1 year mark since I began this journey and this blog toward financial freedom. I have made a lot of progress, and yet most of it has been geared at an awareness that I can and will learn what I need to learn to be able to succeed and thrive financially. Nonetheless, one of the most important aspects of gaining financial freedom, passive income, is still a far away goal for me. I have finally started earning close to $300/mo in my retirement savings account (converted to a Roth IRA this year as well!). I have it split between a Mutual Fund and Lending Club. This is a huge success. However, that is money for later. I don’t have as much to invest right now into Lending Club or other investment vehicles that earn passive income. So, what I need to invest in is the business building online goals that will generate sales. This is where I feel that I am falling behind where I had hoped to be from last year.

Though I have been convinced again and again of the need to produce products and services that create wealth through recurring sales, getting to the point has been difficult for me.

I have done a few experiments and found that it is indeed possible to make passive income online through automated sales systems. I haven’t made a lot, and I’ll tell you why. I haven’t been able to narrow down my focus. I’ve written about this before, but it is a key area of weakness for me. Multi-tasking all the time in my lifestyle has made me rather scattered at times.

With the help of some great online goal tools, I have set some very specific goals for 2010-2011 for where I want to grow my business. Guess what? They are not what I am spending my time on. What am I spending my time on? I’m either working the old-fashioned way, hour by hour, or doing personal things like cooking, cleaning, being with family, etc. I have broken out of tradition by going out on my own, and not working directly for a corporation, but I have lost some steam in my passive income generating business efforts. All of the free time I do tend to have lately, I have been, well, enjoying. I’ve been gardening and being with my family. Not bad things at all. However, I do feel that I have gotten side-tracked and I want to schedule back in more time to really pursue these interests.

I’ve managed to make exercise a part of my routine despite many failed prior attempts, so there is no reason why I can’t schedule in some real business building time.

{ 0 comments }

Financial Check In – Celebrate Progress!

July 13, 2010

Since I began this journey, I made a commitment to myself to continue to check in and work on improving my knowledge and application of financial matters. Boy is it exhausting! Today I finally squeezed in finishing some of my legal documents – I now have a Living Will, a Power of Attorney for Medical [...]

Read the full article →

My Best Investment So Far: Lending Club

July 1, 2010

With the volatility of the stock market, I have been interested in other investment opportunities. They can be hard to find. So far, I am very pleased with the peer to peer lending model offered at Lending Club. I can honestly say that its simple to set up and use, and is providing me an [...]

Read the full article →

Can You Have Too Many Long Term Savings for Spending Accounts?

June 22, 2010

A while back, I wrote a post that I still find to be an extremely valuable, but somewhat idealistic, way to manage your finances on Eker’s Jars budgeting. One of the accounts he recommend setting up is called a Long Term Savings for Spending account. He recommends saving 10% of your income towards this ‘jar’ [...]

Read the full article →

Healthy Way to Combine Finances When Married

June 16, 2010

Joint and Individual Accounts Keeps Couple Finances Fair and Fun The following is a guest post by Shannon Pray. I’ve been married for almost a year now. Prior to being married, we were engaged and kept our finances separate. We decided that if we were going to be married and sharing a home and many [...]

Read the full article →

Start Doing, Not Just Saving

April 21, 2010

In responding to a comment on this site, I noticed a sentence that I wrote a few months back that still resonates strongly with me: As Americans, the only way to get out of a recession/depression is to face our fears, and start doing, not just saving. So many of us have been burned by [...]

Read the full article →

How to Rollover a Complicated 401K

April 14, 2010

I have 2 types of accounts in my 401k from my previous employer – a tranditional 401k and a Roth 401K. After doing some research and weighing my options, I have decided to roll over my 401k into Vanguard due to the lower fees and a variety of investment choices. I still do not feel educated enough to trust my 401k funds to a fully self-managed account with individual stocks and bonds, so the fund option is still appealing to me at this stage in life. Hopefully, one day I will have the time and knowledge to invest more specifically and strategically. For now, I plan to put some research into the funds, diversify wisely and monitor my investments.

Read the full article →

5 Months in, I’m a Lot Closer to “What I Want”

April 6, 2010

On day 1 of my 365 Day Journey towards Financial Freedom, I charted a short list of what I wanted in order to find a more ‘sustainable’ happiness.

In reviewing my list, I am proud to say that I am a little, or maybe even a lot, further along in my journey than I would have predicted. This blog, and my dedication to not lose my drive and focus, have helped me stay on track and get inspired. This transformation of my life is real, and I want to thank those that are reading and following me along in my journey. I hope some of my stumbling thoughts have helped you.

Read the full article →

Simple Way to Organize Your Day in Your Mail or Calendar Tool

March 26, 2010

I use a very simple, but extremely effective, method of planning out my day that has helped me immensely when I worked in the corporate environment using Outlook’s calendar feature, but also will be an essential part of my success as an entrepreneur.

I wanted to share it with you, because whenever I have told others about it, they find it very different and a helpful way to organize their time to be the most efficient.

Read the full article →