Dying  Your Hair at Home without it Turning Green or Orange

Rainbows Might be Pretty, but Its Not What I Have in Mind!

This post is for the ladies, but if you’re a guy, send it to your friends, girlfriends or wife, they’ll thank you!

First off a note: Use this ‘advice’ at your own risk. I take absolutely no claims for your own use or misuse of hair dying products. This post is simply a few tips I’ve learned that have helped me save some money without compromising my style too much.

I have experimented with dying my own hair for years now, and I’m not going to lie, I have had some green and orange experiences.

For the dying products that I use, I like to go to Sally’s and get the professional grade products. They are very cheap, and if you know how to use them much much much more affordable than the boxed kind at the super market. Plus, the boxed kind often don’t work or leave you with the orange/green issue.

If you have golden toned hair, use products with gold in the title. If you have more grey or ash colored hair use products with ash in the title. I personally avoid all ash related products as they without a doubt can turn my hair green. I’d prefer orange to green anyway.

When things typically go wrong and leave you with orange or green hair is because you are trying to do something too drastic to your hair, your hair is over-dyed, or you aren’t using products that go well with your hair. If you get products at Sally’s ask them to help you find what goes with your hair type.

There are so many chemical factors that go into dying hair, this is why many people would prefer to go to a stylist, they don’t want to mess around with their hair and potential side effects. I forgo this to save money and take the risk. I have it down pretty well at this point.

My Most Recent Results. Not too Bad.

Using the Wella hair dye products with the developers at Sally’s has been consistent for me.  Typically I use a 1:2 ratio. One part dye to 2 parts developer. For doing highlights, I can get away with using just 1/2 ounce and 1 ounce developer. So that ends up costing me about $2 or so per time for the dye and developer used. The developer works this way: 10% will do more deposit and less lift, so its good for dark colors. 40% will do more lift so its good for lightening hair. I typically use the 40% developer for adding golden highlights to my hair.

I use a cap for highlights and then cover my head with aluminum foil. I sometimes add heat with a hair dryer to speed up the process. It can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes to get the results I want with lightening. I check often to see how its doing.

Its always good to do a sample on your hair before doing the full thing. This will prevent many many problems.

The typical rotation that I like to use to save money on hair expenses is this:

Month 1:

• Professional Hair Stylist: Color, 3/4 Highlights and Cut. Cost: About $145 + Tip
• Wash with slightly nicer than lower end Color Enhancing Shampoo / Conditioner. Deep Condition Once / Week. Cost: $15-25

Month 2:

• Semi-permanent hair shine or rinse wash to enhance the color. Cost: $5-10

Month 3 or 4:

• Do my own hair highlights with sally’s products. Cost $5 (Once you’ve purchased all the products needed, its very inexpensive to continue, but you will need to buy a brush, cap, plastic gloves and the color/developer at first)

Month 5 or 6:

• Semi-permanent hair shine or rinse to enhance color. Cost: $5-10
• Hair cut. $30-50

Month 7 or 8:

• Depending on how it looks, its back to the salon or I’ll do it myself again.

You get the gist. Again, this system isn’t perfect, but it helps me to save a lot of money without compromising on my style.

photo by mogret

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In my pursuit towards financial freedom, I have been able to narrow down my goals and realize key elements that I want to focus on for my career and life style.

I have now managed to categorize and budget my expenses, long term and short term savings accounts, and I have begun to understand tax rules and how they affect investment accounts and options.

Nonetheless, I still find it difficult to determine the order and priority to assign to saving, paying off debts, investing, and business start ups.

There are so many competing philosophies on this topic, and I believe that there truly is not any one answer. Most advisors and financial ‘gurus’ will base their recommendations for you based on your risk tolerance, age and stage in life, and other factors. Lately, many advisors are much more conservative in their recommendation that you save and save and save your money for emergencies.

Here’s a look at what our short term plan is to balance all of these categories:

Save

Short Term Savings for Spending: I am doing a better job of setting aside small amounts towards short term savings goals including a wedding gift fund, a car maintenance fund and a tuition fund for my husband’s college.

Long Term Savings: We also are saving towards longer term savings goals such as our contingency fund, software business expenses and my daughter’s education fund.

Pay Off / Reduce Debt

We are selling out house in an effort to reduce our debts and get to a level where we are more comfortable with our savings options. It hasn’t sold yet though (bummer!). I’m also looking forward to renting and not owning for a while so that we have a bit more flexibility with where we live.

Besides this, I used some of our tax refund to go towards our car loan. One of our goals is to pay off our 7 year car loan in 1.5 years. That will involve some aggressive payments. According to the calculator I used something like paying $150/month more than what we owe. I am considering setting up a bi-weekly payment also for this to help reduce the balance and interest paid. This will allow us to begin paying off our new student loans for my husband’s college expenses. They aren’t huge, but we’d like to be able to make that transition. So, paying off the car loan debt is definitely a focus for us.

Invest

I invest in my 401k, but it mostly depresses me to follow it. No matter how I allocate it, it vastly under peforms the S&P 500 index fund.

Beyond that, I am in the process of transitioning my Traditional IRA to an online brokerage. I also am opening up a Roth IRA, but realistically won’t be able to contribute to it until our home is sold.

I’ll be moving my daughter’s certificate to a 529 College Invest plan in April.

Building Businesses

I don’t plan on building just one business, I plan on having multiple, including the consulting business that I already operate. I want to focus my efforts on business opportunities but once they are developed and running well, I would like to diversify and branch into other businesses (hopefully product based) for multiple income streams. This is not an overnight thing, but I firmly believe that this is possibly the most valuable thing I could be spending my time and some amount of investment on. Plus, I think this is what America needs right now. More start up small businesses, more entrepreneurs to get things moving.

As much as I am happy to be making efforts in many financially-savvy categories, I do still struggle with balancing and prioritizing them. I’d love your insight on this.

photo by calliope

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Since I began this blog I have narrowed down my focus towards determining that I want to start more businesses that are product rather than service based. I have now taken that leap with my new, still working out the kinks website; ontimelines.com.

Based on the wonderful feedback from this website, I have realized an area that I really want to focus on further and offer help to others: Planning and organizing. I love the simplicity that a time line can offer for planning and visualizing your goals.

In the short term, this site will offer custom, beautiful templates for PC and Mac office tools for everything from wedding planning to childhood milestones to fitness scheduling. The site will include packages of timelines, checklists and plans for every day use. My long term goal is to offer an online tool as well.

So, you may notice a slight decrease in my blogging on this site, but it is not because I am not working on my journey to financial freedom, I am just redirecting some of my efforts into action!

If you have suggestions on what to do or add, I’m happy to hear them.

Happy planning!

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Photo from Apple.com

Alright, this post is just a shameless plug for my iMac on the Leapord OS X. But really, this computer has allowed me to use so many organizing and helpful tools so that I can expand both my business and improve my use of time. I know this is a bit off topic, but I just have to share some of the reasons why my Mac has made it possible for me to progress my quest for organizing, budgeting, and overall happiness since I have owned it.
For years I have wanted a Mac. I just never was ready to take the leap until Parallels (and Boot Camp) arrived. I bought my first laptop mac, but was quickly scared by my failure to get Boot Camp working and quickly returned it and went back to the comfort of my PC.

And it isn’t even perfect. In fact, I can’t get my Fireworks (software I depend on for web design) to work on Parallels. I think its a font compatibility issue. I’m not sure where to go for support because that software isn’t supported  by Parallels or Mac in it’s PC form. Yet, I’m okay with that for the moment and have transitioned to using Photoshop because of the trade off that this Mac is absolutely amazing.

Now, I know that most Mac converts already know this stuff, but a lot, and I mean a lot, of PC users don’t. So, I’m going to share my version of what you’re missing out on if you still own a PC.

Photo from Apple.com

What PC Users are Missing:

• I can use my mac and PC software at the same time
• I don’t have to buy or install virus software all the time, that comes with the mac worry free
• I don’t have to worry about backing up my files. I just plug in an external hardrive and Time Machine does all the work without me thinking about it. If you want to revert, its actually FUN to enter into the time machine which looks sort of like a star wars show and go back in time to a previous edition of a file, etc.
• Built in video, fun tools, iPhoto, and so much more. I’m not kidding, the list goes on and on with the features that PC’s are leagues behind on.

Trade Offs – What Will I Loose if I Switch from a PC?

• Old software that isn’t compatible may not work. Its unlikely though. You can get Parallels to work with XP or a newer version of windows, which works with most old software.
• Add on software tools do have an upgrad cost associated with them, such as Parallels. For some reason Parallels tells me I don’t have enough 3D video memory for optimal performance, which suprises me as I got my mac not 6 months ago.
• You have to adjust to folders and icon sorting, as well as a slightly different way of using applications, but the newer version of PC operating systems like Windows 7 and Vista are moving in that direction anyway.
• That’s all I can think of off hand. You can still use Microsoft Office if you are addicted to that. However, I have also become a large fan of iWork and the Mac Office tools. UPDATE: Please see the comments below about compatibility issues if you are an avid Microsoft Office and software user. You may not be able to make the switch if you are, because it just plain wouldn’t be worth it.
• Expose is awesome to be able to view multiple windows that you are working on at once and the dashboard widgets are also an easy and simple way of keeping your workspace clean, but allowing for quick access to widgets of your choice.
• There are many applications that come standard with the Mac and many free or cheap ones to install that just run, there is very little to do to get your apps running.

If you can, I say ditch the PC. Its worth it.

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There are many savings and investment vehicles to choose from when it comes to saving for your children’s college. They range from ESAs to CDs, and in some states, you can invest in a 529 savings fund.  I have been confused and intrigued by the 529 College Savings Plans since I had my daughter, but have made it a goal to start one by April 2010 when her CD expires. I’m not clear what states these are available, but they are where I live in Colorado.

529 plans are more than just savings accounts. These state-sponsored college savings plans were established by the federal government in Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code to encourage families to save more for college. They offer unique state and federal tax benefits you can’t get from other ways to save, making them one of the best ways to save for college. – College Invest

Benefits of 529 College Savings Accounts are Numerous:

• Possible state tax deductions from contributions
• Savings are tax-free
• High contribution limits
• Withdrawals and account options are flexible for your needs

Why not invest in something stable for my daughter and get a little help at tax time? Here’s a summary of what I’ve learned about what’s available and how to select a 529 College Savings Plan.

There are 4 plans to choose from. Some of the plans available, such as the one from Vanguard, offer a range of investment options for your funds with varying levels of risk. The main concern I have is that I would rather have a stable return with little risk, and have the tax incentives than have a volatile savings plan for my daughter’s education savings.

Great Resources:

• Smart Choice College Savings Plan eFirstBank.com – Offers a money market and a 1 year savings option.
• Vanguard’s Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan – There are options for all risk levels, use their Risk Tolerance Allocation Tool to find out your level
• Scholars Choice College Savings Program – Offers a variety of investment options through Legg Mason Global Asset Allocation, LLC. and thier financial advisors only.
• CollegeInvest Stable Value Plus – A partnership with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of Connecticut (MetLife) to offers a guaranteed fixed income college saving option
• Comparison of the difference between 529, Coverdell Savings ESAs, UTMAs and more for 2009. Compare College Savings Options. [PDF]
• CollegeInvest.org – Full Detail on the 529 Program Options

I personally have a low risk tolerance for this account and want something stable that I can manage myself, so it looks like my options are narrowed down to eFirstBank and the CollegeInvest Stable Value Plus option. eFirstBank doesn’t have that great of rates right now though. The annual rate of return for 2010 of the Stable value is 3%, which would be acceptable for me. Their minimum is 2% regardless of their annual rate, and their management fees are .75%. View full details.

One thing is certain, don’t bank on your children getting a scholarship, start saving today. As parents we don’t have to do everything for our children, but what we can do makes a huge impact. I know it did for me, as the help my parents have given me has been invaluable.

Please note, this post is not to be considered financial advise. I do not take any responsibility for your investment or financial decisions. Please see my policy for more details.

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I am curious if life is made up of Either / Or choices or if it is truly possible to have a life full of ANDs. I’d like to believe it is possible to keep adding ANDs to your life, yet I know that at some point your plate gets full and you have to take things off.

So, what do I mean by leading an AND life versus an OR life?

Do you agree with this statement?:
In life, you can either have a fulfilling career or a great marriage or you can have children.

Or do you agree with this statement?:
In life, you can have a fulfilling career and a great marriage and you can have children.

There are only so many ANDs you can add to your list. Yet how do you know when enough is enough? Is it possible to just get more and more efficient with your time to the point where you can have all the ANDs that you want?

Here’s some of the financial top gurus family status:

Suze Orman – No Kids

Robert Kiyosaki – No Kids

David Bach – Unknown (Please let me know)

Dave Ramsey – 3 Kids

Okay. Point conveyed. Is it possible to reach any sort of financial freedom when you have the responsibilities, be it financial, time, energy, love, that you have to devote to your little ones? I’m not sure. I hope so. However, it does bother me a bit that many of the top advisers on financial education and wealth don’t have a family. Suze Orman recommends investing in your retirement before sinking too much to save for your child’s college, but that is a very difficult choice to make in my opinion. As parents, you often have the instinct to take care of your children as much as if not more than you take care of yourself.

Its difficult for me to listen to some of these gurus talk about how to get rich because I feel they are already too far removed from me and my life. Not to mention my age group. I prefer to read many of the blogs out there at the moment.

I have a little toddler and the question that has entered my mind lately is just that: can I have this AND that, and to what degree. Can I truly find balance? Right now, it seems that all that I am doing is adding to my plate, with out enough focus, and I am not taking enough away.

What do you think? Is it possible?

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If you haven’t happened upon it, check out the site Wordle.net. Its a great free tool for fun, or to use as part of your process to visualize your goals. Somehow making a nice picture out of words from what you are working on can really help you focus.

The one above is a tool that categorized weights not to TAGs like a TAG cloud does, but as a word cloud from the most frequently used words on my blog feed. Guess you can tell what I’ve been writing a lot about lately: GOALS.

You can enter words, a blog feed or a de.li.cio.us bookmark list and it will automatically add frequent words. You then can sort colors, direction of words, and play around with the settings on the fly. After which you can print, save or share the wordle publicly if you want to.

Pretty fun tool to get the creativity started! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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A recurring theme that I have heard and read from ALMOST ALL of the books on wealth and prosperity involve one consistent thought: Documenting and staying focused on your vision.

This is taught in many ways. Some people prefer to clip pictures together from magazines, etc to have a visual representation of their future desires. Personally, I want to write it down, them set goals and visual representations through things such as timelines to chart and hold onto my plans.

Many businesses write their vision in the present tense, to add weight to the vision. I am consciously not going to do that, as it doesn’t jive in my head. I’d rather write about the future in a clear and precise outline format.

So, Here Goes. Hopefully this will also give you some ideas for getting started as well.

1 Year Life Vision (Personal & Business)

• Work to find preferred neighborhood to live in for at least 5 years
• Continue to learn and improve relationships with my daughter, husband, family & friends
• Feed my mind with wisdom and knowledge
• Transition to additional entrepreneurial business ventures (product vs service based)
• Begin to focus on health industry as I have realized that this is where I want to focus my life’s work

3 Year Life Vision (Personal & Business)

• Move to neighborhood close to jobs in our field and with good schools
• Have second child
• Transition to PT work after 2nd child, with focus on entrepreneurial ventures
• My husband will have a successful personal / athletic training practice
• Continue to work on balance of mind, body & soul
• Develop solid business relationships with a broader range of colleagues

5 Year Life Vision (Personal & Business)

• Spend more time being a mom
• For business, we’ll begin to think bigger. Invest in larger business opportunities in health industry.
• Increased efforts towards balance of body (more exercise & diet choices)

10 Year Life Vision (Personal & Business)

• Move to somewhere humid near the ocean with lots of greenery. I want to walk on the beach every day.
• Increased efforts towards feeding the soul (meditation, gardening, down time)
• Continue to learn and build business ventures in health industry

All of these tie in with what I have been blogging about so far, getting your mindset in the right place, getting organized, and setting goals. Oh, and my free and simple timeline template is a great tool for visualizing your plan. Next, action, action and more action. Followed by planning, monitoring, and adjusting as you go and learn.

What does yours vision look like?

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I had the privilege of listening to a thoughtful free webinar by “conscious” entrepreneur Max Simon in which he interviewed Vishen Lakhiani on the concepts of creating a wealthy mind. He also spoke about how to turn a business from performing so-so to really reaching a ‘turning point’.

Some of the most insightful points of the audio (available for free below) were the following:

• The biggest mistake that most marketers make is that they have a lack of understanding of what Eugene Schwartz says is called “Market Sophistication”. Market Sophistication is the not the same as the buyers life cycle. The traditional marketing concepts that I was taught in my marketing undergraduate work was regarding reaching your customers at certain stages in the buyer life cycle: awareness, interest, preference, adoption. Instead, Market Sophistication refers to the stage that the buyer is at in terms of their awareness of the types of messages already available for a particular product. If it is a relatively new product, your message needs to be much different than a message for an much more saturated market. For a saturated market, you will have to offer much more to differentiate yourself. I love this concept and it gives me a lot to ponder in my marketing efforts.
• Succeeding in life, whether it be in wealth, health, relationships, etc is really all about your MINDSET. We all know this, yet it is entirely different to consciously, day in and day out, make sure our mind is in the right place. It is so easy to let it veer off in the direction of doubt, uncertainty and loss of focus.
• By setting a clear purpose and vision for what you want to do with your business, you will be able to focus your efforts and achieve much better results. Seems obvious? Large businesses do this, but you can apply this concept to your small business OR your personal life, and achieve great results as well. (Goal tracking tools help with this)

No matter what business you are in, if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you can’t avoid needing to also learn the tricks of the trade of marketing. Personally, I love the ever changing dynamic of the marketing world, and the endless possibilities that are presented by the concept of reaching your market in the best, fastest and most efficient ways.

In my opinion, much of the laws of attraction and success can be boiled down to these 3 things: Confidence, Purpose & Marketing.

1) Confidence: Free your mind from doubt, fear and worry. Doubt is the #1 thing getting in your way towards success. Hold true to your intuition, but do not let doubt cloud your belief in yourself.
2) Purpose: Define and hold true to your purpose and vision for yourself and your business efforts
3) Marketing: Brand yourself first, your business second. Your personal brand will get you farther than all the efforts you can put into your business. Start with yourself, then build from there.

Listen to the recorded webinar, and let me know your thoughts.
The audio is also available here: http://www.getselfcentered.com/turningpoint/replay.html

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Review of The Best Online Goal Tracking Tools for Personal Use

There are many online tools available for keeping track of and measuring progress on your goals. Many corporations have started to incorporate goal systems (Success Factors is one example) and S.M.A.R.T. goals. Not all goal systems utilize this method, however, it is widely accepted as an excellent way to achieve results with your goals. The following is a look at how to measure your personal goals and a review of some of the best online tools for measuring your goals.

So, what are S.M.A.R.T. Goals?

S – Specific (the more specific the better)
M – Measurable (The criteria that you will use as measurement that you have completed a goal, such as getting your degree, etc)
A – Achievable (Do you currently have the skills and resources needed to reach this goal?)
R – Relevant (How does this goal tie to your passion or purpose?)
T - Time-dimension (When will you aim to start and finish the goal, will there be milestones to reach along the way?)

Many of these goals start with the questions (that you then fill in the blank for):

• Why do you want to achieve this goal?
• Next ask yourself, what specific benefits will come with achieving it?
• When will you achieve it by? (time factor)
• How you plan to achieve the goal?

There is a growing philosophy that if you share your resolutions or goals with others, your friends, family, or a social community can help encourage you to stay on track and keep your goals alive. The same often holds true for other areas in life, such as getting in shape, isn’t it more fun to do when you have a friend that will meet you at the gym and hold you accountable for sticking to your work out goals? So, some of the online tools focus on the social sharing element of goal tracking.

Best Online  Goal Tracking Tools of 2010:

GoalsOnTrack.com Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars $48/year subscription

This simple, easy to use tool does a great job of allowing you to track your goals, visually chart your progress and see reports, create specific action plans, manage daily tasks associated with your goals, track specific time spent, as well as keeping a journal for your additional thoughts and inspirations that you want to capture. You can assign visual pictures with your goals, set overall categories with specific goals beneath that category, and assign any type of progress metric you want to show your measurement (dollars, percentage, etc). It follows the S.M.A.R.T. goal model. You can print out your goals, your daily tasks, and really use this tool to get on track. You can set email reminders, import and export your tasks to CSV or for iCal format, and much more. Just check out their full list of features on the site. This tool costs money, yet I believe its worth the investment if you want a full suite of highly effective goal tracking tools.

SuperViva.com Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Free
SuperViva is a social sharing goal or “life” tracking site that allows you to create  goals to share or keep private. SuperViva was created in 2006 (runs ads and accepts donations to support it). It allows you to set up weekly reminders to check in with your list of goals. Super viva offers something closer to the SMART goal method by allowing you to group your goals, set specific goals within an overall list, assign what “Life Dimension” your goal applies to (Personal, Family, Finances, Community, etc) and also set the start and completion dates, priority, effort needed and budget needed. You can mark a goal as completed, on the backburner, or remove it. There is a section to find ideas from the community and ‘get inspired.’ Nice overall concept for a free tool, however, I find it difficult to navigate and you cannot visually see and chart your progress on a goal.

Goalmigo.com Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Free

Goalmigo is also a social sharing goal tracking tool. You start by adding your goals, and adding who is going to help hold you accountable or your ‘Supporters’ for your goals. You enter your completion date, and can set up reminders in day, week or month increments. A great feature is that you can assign a tracking log (they have some already listed such as weight, calories, etc). You can assign tags to help you to share your goal in the social environment. Once you set your goals, you can mark them as complete and also add milestones in your “Log” which display in a bar chart format. Beyond that, you can visually see a reminder of how long you have remaining to complete you goal such as “One Month Remaining”. You can also add notes to your goals. There are ads on this site, but otherwise its a pretty clean and user friendly interface.

eLifeList.com Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Free

eLifeList is another social sharing tool which allows public or private goal tracking. What’s awesome about this tool, is that it has very useful categories and goals already entered in it. I’m not sure if there are from the community or were created ahead of time, but they can help you get started. You can add descriptions, photos or videos to your list, and also set reminders to be sent to your email. The site is pretty user friendly, though some of the features you don’t edit until after you’ve set the goal, such as reminders. I would think you’d create everything when you are creating the goal. You can mark the goal as complete, and see a progress indicator (from 0-100%) of how far you are toward reaching your goals. From the design of the site, it appears to be focused on a younger demographic (perhaps college students?). Overall, it does the job for simple goal tracking.

LifeTango.com Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Free
LifeTango is a very clean and effective goal tracking tool. As the other tools, you can choose if you want public or private goals. You can sort by priority, date, and other categories. You have to manually update the progress you are at in your goal by a percentage from 0-100%.  Ongoing, periodic goals are considered “Tasks” and are tracked using their “Task Tracker” (as opposed to goals that you want to assign a specific due date for). And example of a Task Tracker goal would be to workout every day for 1 year. You would then set these recurring tasks and mark your progress daily. They assign stars that you click on to indicate that you have completed your recurring task goal (kinda cute like when you were a kid and got stars for getting something done). There is also a fun little sticky note for “reminders”. Overall, I like this site for their Task tracking but I think it is a little confusing for tracking larger picture life goals.

Stickk.com – Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Free

Stick is a tool meant to motivate you to stick to your goals through the use of accountability with other people and putting a bet or monetary value at stake if you don’t meet your goals. It is much more focused on coaching and pushing you to achieve your goals than any of the other tools. You start by setting a goal (Referred to as a Commitment Contract, much more formal and committed sounding!), then setting the ’stakes’ or what’s at risk to complete it (You literally have to pay out money to your selected charity or person if you miss your goal deadlines), then you ‘get a referee’ or a person in your life to to push you meet your goals, and you can also add friends to help you achieve your goals. Many of their pre-set goals are around losing weight, quitting smoking, or other life-changing habits that it often takes a ‘coach’ to help with. However, it can be used for other goal tracking as well. You can set the category, whether it is a one-time or recurring event, get reminders and view your progress. Oh, and you don’t HAVE to set a “Stake” of financial value, you can still use this tool without the pressure of a stake. For many people though, I can imagine that this method (fear of losing your money!) works great for actually getting them motivated and on track. This is by far the most unique of the tools I’ve seen.

GoalsTogether.com Rating: 2 out of 5 stars Free

This free social sharing site offers the ability to create and track your goals, and share them with the community. You can choose to have private or public goals. You can search for other goals for people in the community. It allows ‘basic’ goals which are manually updated for progress, and ‘checkpoint’ goals which you set the checkpoints or milestones needed to attain the goal at the beginning of the tool. When you have completed a task in the goal, you mark it as complete by checking it off, like you would on a to-do list. Overall, I would say that this tool is very basic, and not all that useful for the serious person trying to implement a SMART goal process or anything much more than a task list. There are ads on this site.

43Things.com Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars Free
I saw this mentioned often as a goal tracking site, but it really isn’t. This site is really just a simple social site to measure trends for goals and resolutions with the answer to 1 question: “What do you want to do in the year 2010?”. To me, it seems similar to Twitter and many other social sharing tools, so who knows if it will be used a lot. Cute idea, but not that helpful for achieving your goals.

Which one to choose?
You decide. Just keep in mind, when searching for a goal tracking tool, I would recommend determining if you simply want to have to do lists, or if you are ready to have specific goals with associated tasks. Goal tracking is about all of the small tasks (from your TO DO Lists) that add up to one overarching goal. Sometimes, you may have random TO DO’s that don’t really seem like they fit into any goal, but you feel that they have to get done anyway. Go ahead and add them to the list and perhaps even do them, but first consider: WHY am I doing some task if it doesn’t help me reach any of my goals? This can lead to the type of self reflection that will ultimately help you to reduce the amount of mindless, or purposeless tasks that you are doing, and help you to find the best use of your time.

Let me know your thoughts on these tools or if there are some great ones that I have missed.

Random Posts

• January 18, 2010 -- Lesser Known But Great Personal Finance Blogs of 2010
• November 14, 2009 -- Top 3 Barriers in My Journey Toward Financial Freedom
• November 23, 2009 -- Review of Free Credit Score Analysis Tool: Credit Karma
• January 19, 2010 -- Review of GratitudeLog – “The Happiest Place on the Internet”
• November 1, 2009 -- Safely Store Documents Online: Review of Best Online Organizer and Password Tools

One of the things that many of the financial gurus tell you is necessary to reach financial freedom is to be able to free your mind from the fear and worry you feel about the future. It would be nice if we could control our future, but its very difficult to do because of all of the unknowns and external factors. Without control, comes uncertainty. With uncertainty, often comes fear and worry.

The realities of adult life have left me with more responsibilities than I originally knew I signed up for, and it makes it rather difficult to find peace. Nonetheless, I am finding inspiration and making much more conscious decisions with my money and choices since I started this blog. In order to confront my largest fears, and give myself a chance to push past them, I’m documenting them below.

My 2 Financial Fears

Here are my greatest financial fears around making a dramatic life-changing choice that I want to do, but tell myself is foolish:  ‘what if I were to drop everything, reduce or stop paying some of my obligations and responsibilities, be with my daughter more and pursue an entirely entrepreneurial career’:

1. Fear #1 – I would hurt my credit score. I’m not actually afraid of the concept of foreclosing on a mortgage or losing my house. I know that I will always have the means, family and friends if we ever needed somewhere to live. I am afraid of the long-term implications of running out of money and impacting your credit score. I don’t want a short period of time in my financial life to affect my ability to borrow and get ahead in the world. So, there it is, this very realistic fear is what I believe cripples many people into paying down their debts before taking care of their true desires and their dreams. The fear of breaking the rules of the system stop many of us from doing what we truly want to do with our lives.
2. Fear #2 – I would lose my health insurance coverage. This year, we switched from my company’s HMO to the HDHP because of costs. Though it may sound nice, it really is bothering me already. My husband is avoiding going to the doctor for something, even though we pay hundreds a month for health insurance, because we don’t want to pay another $150 out of pocket with the risk that he will have a virus and not be given any medication anyway. HSA’s definitely do force you to think twice about going to the doctor, but this may not always be a good thing when you are ill. I am interested in looking into alternative and more preventative health and nutrition options, such as eastern practices, certain foods and herbs, etc, but sometimes you need American medicine and care. Many American’s are literally losing everything because of their health expenses. I had a client tell me that she was going bankrupt because of her medical bills. She was previously a very successful, wealthy woman. What has this world come to? I’m sure many people feel the same way, and I’m not certain if it will actually get better with the changes they are making D.C. I would be afraid to have another child because of the costs that I would incur in medical bills if I didn’t have health insurance coverage. And even then, it costs thousands to add a person to your family (unless you are really poor and can get help from the government).

That’s about it.  Those are the two scariest things for me. I’m pretty sure I could live in a trailer, and eat cheaply for a while if it meant that I was able to spend time with my daughter and pursue my dreams. But I am afraid of the immediate implications, and because of this, I currently have to make a choice to take things slower than I want to. Ah well, baby steps are better than no steps at all. My life is run by the rules of taxes, debt and inflation.

What About the Fear Driven “Emergency Fund”?

I’ve been reading a lot that most people recommend having 6-8 months of expenses saved before you ever do anything dramatic such as pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor. (We have a small one, about 2 months bills worth). The part of this concept that I struggle with is that the premise of this fund is based on fear. It may be a justified fear, but it is still a fear nonetheless. Will you be thankful that you had this fund set aside in times of need? Quite possibly. Yet there is also the flip side in which you may not take the necessary steps that you want to take with your life, because you are so consumed with a fear of the unknown and of having enough to pay your bills. Maybe a well-educated investor would at least put some of this contingency money into a somewhat liquid, but higher paying asset. Or diversify in multiple types of assets. Or spend in on your business venture that you want to start…? As Americans, the only way to get out of a recession/depression is to face our fears, and start doing, not just saving.

So, here’s my thought for anyone feeling afraid, desperate, or just plain stuck (a word I am very much trying to get out of my vocabulary, yet there it is again): Acknowledge your fears, but do something anyway. Nothing dramatic, just something. Read a new book, try something new. Turn off the TV and sit down and write about what it is you want, your goals and your dreams. Focus on what you want, to the point where you can visualize and see it, and you will start to set the forces in motion for change. Change doesn’t always happen quickly, but it does happen.

What are your greatest financial fears? Do you think they are based on reality or possibly just in your head?

Related Posts

• December 21, 2009 -- Be the Change You Want to See in the World
• November 24, 2009 -- Review of Free Credit Score Analysis Tool: Credit.com
• November 23, 2009 -- Review of Free Credit Score Analysis Tool: Credit Karma
• November 20, 2009 -- Simple Approach to Change: Assess, Aquire and Apply

Science has proven that people who express their gratitude daily are 25% happier and significantly healthier than those who don’t—and doing it takes as little as a minute a day! – Gratitudelog.com

GratitudeLog.com is a fun social site that takes the basic concept of short updates from sites such as Twitter, and applies it to a specific concept, Gratitude.

You are able to mark someone’s comment as “Awesome!” or reply to it. You can follow people and they can follow you. Beyond that, you can send people “Appreciation” gifts (for free), which are simply little icons with a thoughtful note (like you can send on Facebook).

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Pros:

• People on this site really seem to respect the type of content that can be posted and shared, you will find inspiration from what other’s are saying!
• It can integrate with your Twitter account to post your updates
• There is something both cool and scary about publicly sharing your personal thoughts on your gratitude for your life

Cons:

• The list of updates on the main page shows those that you follow’s comments, but I find it somewhat difficult to navigate as a running list.
• If someone isn’t a member of this site, you can share a gift with them, but you can’t really interact much further than that… So, I suppose they’ll have to join!

I have made a pledge to myself to login and put something that I am thankful or grateful for every day. So far, day 5, I’m doing pretty good. Reflecting on what I am grateful for on this site has been  great, but the best part is that I am starting to expand that further into other aspects of my life through out the day. My husband and I have made a commitment (thanks to a posting I saw on this site) to express something we are grateful for to each other every day as well. Already, this starts off or ends the day with a smile.

No matter your religion, your spirituality or your place in life, it is without a doubt helpful to give thanks for what you have in your life that you appreciate. I am convinced that a commitment to maintaining a pattern of expressing my gratitude will play a key part in keeping me motivated and maintaining my perspective.

Related Posts

• January 6, 2010 -- 5 Steps to Happiness with a Personal Finance Twist

I’m new-ish to the personal finance/weathly mind blogging and as much as I like some of the hugely known PF blogs I enjoy reading from perspectives of ’smaller’ PF bloggers because they aren’t necessarily experts, but instead on a similar journey to mine. I thought I would share some of the interesting personal finance blogs that I have found so far for you to check out yourself:

• Automatic Finances – Writes about saving, ‘automating’ your finances so you don’t have to worry about certain things, personal finance and spending. I liked a recent post about how to follow the entire personal finance blogosphere through sites like Tip’d and PFBlogs.com
• Frugal Zeitgeist – Writes about saving, setting goals, finding happiness, and the realities of life with debt. Having just recently educated myself about what zeitgeistism (if that’s a word) even is, I am intrigued to learn more of what he has to say.
• Fiscal Fizzle – This blog offers a ’spicy’ and very educated perspective on personal finance. He has a unique perspective of discussing principles, simplicity, critical thinking and ‘money paradigms’, or thinking of money through different perspectives. I recently found this blog and am very impressed.
• FreeFromBroke – A very honest perspective on saving, raising a family, and affording life.
• SteadfastFinances – Covers a lot of topics from banking to frugal living and real estate. Very insightful writer.

These are just a few fun ones to check out. Let me know what other blogs are growing in popularity in the personal finance world. Or better yet, submit your PF blog to me to check out!

Random Posts

• January 6, 2010 -- 5 Steps to Happiness with a Personal Finance Twist
• November 4, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Password Storage Tool: Passpack.com
• November 5, 2009 -- Review of Online Personal Data Organizer Tool: Orggit.com
• October 28, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Money Management Tools: Mint.com
• February 4, 2010 -- Many Popular Financial Advisors Don’t Have Kids

I’ve noticed a lot of blog posts and a growing movement on Twitter and the blogosphere about the topic: “move your money.” (See the site: MoveYourMoney.info). Full disclosure: I work for a local credit union in my area, and I prefer the credit union not-for-profit business model. I typically try to avoid any direct reference to where I work because that’s not what my journey is about, its about my personal finances. However, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the concept of “going local” with anything you buy, including where you choose to bank. To me, going local is an important part of making conscious decisions and choosing where and how to spend your money. Choosing to shop local has many benefits which I will explain in a moment.

This particular movement is coming from consumer’s anger at the big banks for being bailed out and spending OUR tax dollars for often times wasteful and frivolous purposes. Many people, including big names such as Bill Maher (watch a video from Maher), and Suze Orman are endorsing and making public statements about going local and moving your money. They believe that if enough people actually do this, it would mean that we are actually doing something big to INFLUENCE change, one individual at a time.

I have not always been a large proponent of ’spending local’. I admit that I still (shamefully) have a BofA credit card. I don’t always remember to shop at the farmer’s market. However, the more I start to learn and educate myself about the current financial system in America, the more that I learn about the awful things that are put into my child’s toys that are from China, and the more that I truly understand the impact of shipping my hard-earned dollars out of my local community, the more I realize that choosing to spend your money local is one of the most useful things you can do for YOUR local economy and the stability of those around you.

So, if you are already choosing to shop local, or if you are considering taking it one step further, start to think of other places that you can make the choice to spend local and invest in your own community instead of communities outside of your influence.

Here’s a few suggestions for spending & keeping your money local:

• Go to your old town, specialty shops, or craft fairs for buying gifts, these stores need your support
• Stock up at the farmer’s market from local growers
• Look for local produce at your regular grocery store
• Choose a local bank or credit union (find a credit union) to save and borrow money from
• Consider going thrifty – to thrift stores and garage sales to buy things that you don’t need brand new (Better yet, swap! Check out SwapMamas.com for local swap options)
• Consider a Staycation this summer – there are many uncharted territories in your state to be discovered, its often less expensive to stay in town on your time off, and you spend local
• Eat at locally owned restaurants instead of big chains

You don’t have to give up things that you love to go local. And you don’t have to do all of the items on my list. Mainly, all that I plan to do and suggest you try, is to think twice about the options for where to spend your money, and consider making a more conscious choice when you do decide to spend.

Random Posts

• November 20, 2009 -- Simple Approach to Change: Assess, Aquire and Apply
• November 30, 2009 -- Free Financial IQ Quizes
• October 28, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Money Management Tools: Mint.com
• November 13, 2009 -- Advice for the Young, Fabulous and Broke from Suze Orman
• October 29, 2009 -- Shopaholic? Put a Halt to Retail Therapy

Best Envelope Budgeting Software: You Need a Budget YNAB 3.0 for PC or Mac

Just when I thought I had it all figured out by using online tools like Mint, I repeatedly saw mention of one of the top rated budgeting software for download on your PC or Mac, YNAB 3.0 (You Need a Budget). YNAB is a budgeting software that incorporates the envelop method of budgeting. This may just be the next step for me in advancing my money management and control of our finances. The tools that I am currently using are easy to import my financial information and great for big picture trending, but we still haven’t really done well at isolating how to break some of our patterns and stick to our budgeting goals.

One of the goals of this tool is to help you get off of living only paycheck to paycheck. This is accomplished through the “YNAB Buffer” or by organizing your money in a way that you are able to save enough to off set one month of bills.

Your YNAB Buffer is the equivalent of one month’s income which, once saved, will allow you to use paychecks received during the current month for the following month, removing you from the “Paycheck to Paycheck” cycle.

This tool is not for the faint of heart. It is for people that are truly committed to managing the budget and investing the time and energy necessary to do so. When your are ready to get serious, give this tool a try.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Type of  Tool: Downloaded Budgeting Software for PC or Mac, imports .OFX, .QFX or .CSV files (Download from your online banking)

Price: $59.95

Compatiblity:
Windows 7 / Vista / Vista 64 / XP / 2000
Mac OSX
Linux

Pros:

• Simple, user friendly interface includes “Accounts”, “Budgets” and “Reports”
• Intuitive categorization
• Flags for follow up
• Excellent reports for trending with ultimate control of what you are looking at and exportable to Excel or to Print
• Helpful how tos section and blog for getting started
• Helps set up and manage your funds for one time expenses
• Helps save for larger 1 time expenses
• It can help you track EVERYTHING you spend – even cash which I hate because its usually disappears without a trace.
• Very helpful for people with variable income
  

Cons:

• Getting started can take a long time to set up. Unlike some other tools (Mint.com) that auto categorize the majority of your expenses, you need to manually categorize all of your expenses, at least at first.
• Cannot auto-import your information, you must download it and import it into the tool (This could also be seen as a PRO for some that are weary of the online only methods for security reasons)
• Not as full featured as Quicken or MS Money for investment and business tracking

Screenshots:

Random Posts

• February 1, 2010 -- Visualize with Wordle
• November 21, 2009 -- Review of FiLife: Your Financial Lifeline
• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich
• January 19, 2010 -- Review of GratitudeLog – “The Happiest Place on the Internet”
• November 20, 2009 -- Simple Approach to Change: Assess, Aquire and Apply

Do not wait for an opportunity to be all that you want to be; when an opportunity to be more than you are now is presented and you feel impelled toward it, take it. It will be the first step toward a greater opportunity. There is no such thing possible in this universe as a lack of opportunities for the man who is living the advancing life. – Wallace Wattles

Do some people just have it easy while others always struggle to get ahead?

In the past, I’ve often felt jealous or a bit resentful when I look at certain other people that seem to have everything in life fall into their lap. I always thought that wealth, jobs, boyfriends, and the works seem to just naturally happen for some people more than others. Social and economic factors are certainly a big part of why people have opportunities in life initially, but beyond that, when you are truly on your own, what makes opportunity happen?

Recently, I had a realization. Ever since I’ve started writing my blog, and putting myself out there more in the world, I have had small but steady opportunities start knocking on my door. Its what I wanted, but I didn’t really know what to expect or believe that it would happen. We’re not talking a big book deal or achieving financial freedom in 2 months. Its a different sort of opportunity that I am CREATING. I’m connecting with amazing new people from all over the country. I’m sharing stories. I’m offering up what I’ve learned for someone else to hopefully gain some insight from. For instance, my simple but useful free time line template is now getting 5-15 downloads a day in just a short few weeks of its existence. It makes me feel great to give something useful to a lot of people that will help them plan. It inspires me to do and give more. Giving is definitely addictive.

Lately, I have had a much more positive outlook on my life because I feel like I have gotten my power back. No more white flag, no more self-pity, I am taking control and doing something every day to make a difference, education myself, set goals and make tiny steps in the direction I want to go in life. I am making more conscious financial choices in spending, saving, budgeting, and in what I spend my free time doing.

I’ve realized that opportunity, though it may seem like it just falls into some people’s laps, is usually a result of a few key things:

• Having the right attitude and mind set to SEE the opportunities when they appear
• Taking ACTION – Small steps are better than nothing at all
• Putting yourself out there, meeting people, networking
• Offering something(s) of true value to others
• Having confidence in yourself, your purpose(s) and going after what you want

So tell me, are you one of those fortunate that have had opportunity come to you, or have you had to do something different to find it?

Related Posts

• January 28, 2010 -- Confidence, Purpose and Marketing: Ingredients for Success

Can You Really Find Personal Finance eBooks for Free Download?

It can be hard to find any summarized information online for personal finance education without having to give away your email address or buy something. I have been reading a lot of blogs and websites and books, but for some reason, I do enjoy the occasional ebook. Often times, ebooks offer a great compressed version of key information from people’s blogs or books.

Here are some resources that I have found that offer truly free ebooks or PDFs of some very useful information and education on personal finance and a wealthy mindset. (Some of them do want to sell you something also, but you can still get these for free without purchasing anything).

List of Free eBooks on Personal Finance & Motivation

• Dream Manifesto from Thomas Herold -Herold offers an amazing site with topics ranging from Mind and Body to Personal Finance, to Simplifying Your Life. I also find his blog very refreshing. Download his free eBook, The Priciples of Successful Manifesting, right now. [PDF]
• Mint.com found 30 Free eBooks for Personal Finance – This list offers free ebooks from accross the web on topics ranging from personal finance to credit to privacy and consumer advocacy. What can I say? Thanks Mint for compiling such a great list. It will take me a while to get through it.
• The Incidental Economist Offers a link to an eBook on Roth IRAs from Blogger J.D. Roth, host of Get Rich Slowly – Great resource for Roth IRA information.
• Jess & Graeme Stuart Showcase Some Great Wealthy Mind Free eBooks – The Stuarts mainly want you to join their sales team, but the ebooks they have compiled on their site are really nice and timeless for matters of wealth, laws of attraction, and business.

Enjoy, and let me know if you know of other great free reads to add to the list, besides all the wonderful websites and blogs in the financial blogosphere that is!

Random Posts

• November 2, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Password Storage Tools: Mitto.com
• November 22, 2009 -- Review of SmartyPig Online Savings Account and Budget Tracker
• January 12, 2010 -- Does Opportunity Come to You or Do You Have to Create It?
• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich
• November 9, 2009 -- Eker’s Jars and the Millionaire Mind Philosophy

Silver and Gold are Pretty and Shiny, But is the Allure Driven by Fear in the Economy or a Sound Investment Decision?

I have been researching and reading and researching some more on the commodity market and I have no idea what to do. I admit that I am a novice at investing. However I do not deny that it will be an essential component in my journey to financial freedom. My experience investing consists of this: I got burned in 2000 when I invested in a four star mutual fund, thought that I didn’t need to watch it, then it tanked with the rest of the stock market. Beyond that, I tried day trading a few individual stocks and felt like I was uneducated and gambling rather than making sound investment choices. My main problem is, right now I just don’t know exactly where to begin on my limited funds. I have read contradictory things, and still have a lot of financial lingo to learn.

The Gist of the Typical Advice in Many Personal Finance Books and Blogs:

1. Save for an emergency/contingency fund (Various advise between 3 – 8 months expenses… That’s a lot of money sitting there not earning anything!)
2. Max out investing in your company’s 401K, or at least enough for the company match (Diversification choices of a mutual fund or another mutual fund)
3. Next make sure you have a Roth IRA (Roth’s are great for the young investor because when you take your money out way down the line, your earnings are not taxed)
4. Then beyond that, there is a lot of debate what to invest in next
5. Most financial gurus suggest your best investment is in your financial and occupational education (That’s what I’m focused on)

I am happy to have some liquid funds saved aside for contingency funds. I do invest for my company’s 401 K match, but I am not happy with the selection of funds available, it is too limited. Also, I hear over and over again that Mutual Funds take too much out in fees, and over 70% of mutual funds under perform against the S&P 500 Index Fund. I have monitored the trend of my 401k funds against the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 and it is true, they vastly under perform. So, needless to say, I am disillusioned with my 401K as a sound investment (not to mention) retirement vehicle.

So Where Do Commodities Fit Into the Mix?

First off, do not consider investing in silver, gold, platinum, oil, etc without doing a lot of research first. There are a lot of people out there trying to scam people in this market. This is why I haven’t invested in it yet, because I am very cautious and skeptical with my money. You work hard for your money, don’t let it go with out a lot of research.

Here are some pros and cons that I’ve gathered to the choice of investing in silver, gold and other commodities.

Pros:

• They can serve as a hedge against inflation (many predict inflation to increase, investors will flee to commodities and the US dollar value will continue to decrease)
• They can be a good investment choice for diversification if you have most of your investments in paper assets (Funds, Bonds, Stocks)
• If you have the physical commodities, you do not have to worry about paying taxes on selling them them (Interesting fact!)

Cons:

• You pay a high tax rate on them if you have owned them less than a year (28%) in ETFs and withdraw (this can be avoided through holding shares in a Roth IRA fund)
• If you have large quantities of the physical commodities, they can get expensive to secure and protect
• The 5 year market trend for most of these is rather volatile (ie, they still carry risk), though seemingly on an upward curve the past year, the 5 year trend is still quite volatile for many commodities
• Often the price of entry to gold, platinum, etc is rather high. (You can go buy a few silver coins, but that doesn’t seem like a true investment to me, just something to add to your coin collection)

For a thoughtful approach to reviewing the balance between commodities, the dollar and inflation , consider reading this post by Dream Manifesto.com on Is Our Monetary System Near a Singularity?

I’d love to get more valid resources, and I will update this post as I read more books and articles on the topic. Let me know your thoughts.

Random Posts

• November 3, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Password Storage Tools: Clipperz.com
• December 30, 2009 -- Year in Review: 365 Days to Financial Freedom Top Posts
• March 4, 2010 -- How to Save Money Dying Your Own Hair
• November 26, 2009 -- Despite the Economic Future, I’m Still Thankful
• January 12, 2010 -- Does Opportunity Come to You or Do You Have to Create It?

I came across five simple steps to be happy and appreciated the simplicity of them. Often times, greed and corruption overcome people’s desire to do good when they are on a quest toward financial freedom. If your moral and/or ethical compass is overlooked or compromised on your journey to earn more and save more, you risk the loss of balance in other areas of your life, such as happiness and fulfillment.

So, the following are my thoughts on how to combine your quest for financial fitness with your quest for happiness using these 5 simple steps.

Step 1. Free your heart from hatred.

There are often negative and petty emotions which cloud our day, contribute to our stress, and keep us from feeling happy. Letting go of some of the anger you feel towards your boss, your co-worker, your spouse, or your ‘enemies’ leads to you being able to be happier. Sometimes it seems impossible, but I have noticed that if I allow myself to achieve this, I am able to be more productive with my life. How to apply this to personal finance? From personal experience, I have felt a lot of anger/hatred at the state of the economy, political climate, and the greed of our society. It is an age-old tale of humanity that often the greedy take more than their share and the division of classes becomes more and more evident. I have to constantly remind myself that the anger that I feel does nothing to change my financial situation in life, and I am the only person that has the power to change.

Step 2. Free your mind from fear and worries.

Worry and fear are the often the top 2 things that stop most people from taking risks. Taking risk is the surest way to earning more passive income. You can control that risk by having a sound financial education and taking financial moves that are in your best interest. But you will always have risk. The fear of the unknown and the future is also a reason that people worry. These days, the financial guide Suze Orman says that you should save 8 months worth of expenses in your ‘emergency’ or what I prefer to call contingency fund and only pay minimums on your credit card if that will help you reach your contingency fund goal. The fear of the unknown, of security and monthly income to pay the bills is one reason that so many people stay with thier jobs instead of doing something on thier own that may be riskier. We as a society have been taught to be responsible and believe that safety and security are more important than almost anything else.

Though I believe its important to have a contingency fund,  I think its more important to play an active role in daily financial education, awareness of your budget and your spending, and taking action to improve your financial situation. Don’t spend all of your time focusing on paying off debt, because then you are spending your energy on debt rather than on increased wealth.

I cannot say that I am free of fear and worry. Far from. However, what I am able to do right now is take action, start learning, and push through my fear toward doing something in the right direction. As long as your fear and worry aren’t crippling you from action, you are still on the right path.  The less fear and worry that you let into your mind, the wealthier your mind will be, and you will be able to take more action to succeed in your financial endeavors.

Step 3.  Live simply.

This one is the key that so many Americans have missed for so long, but are  just now starting to value. Frugality and thriftiness are in these days as opposed to the recent days of excessive spending, huge homes and lots of vacations.  The more recurring debts that you add to your life, the more your bills seem to control you. I am making many conscious efforts to simplify our lifestyle, determine what is truly important to us, organize, reduce clutter, and not buy new things that we do not need. For me, having only what I need, having things in their place and being able to spend my time on the important things in life like family, education, etc, are all made more possible by reducing some of life’s distractions. Technology has the power to make things more complicated and provide us with over-stimulation, but when used carefully can also help you organize and simplify your life.

Step 4. Give more.

Given the fact that my family struggles to get by month to month right now, its difficult to donate a lot of money. However, sometimes I think monetary donations are not always as valuable as giving other things, your time, your wisdom, your teachings, etc. If you put thought into what you are giving, it can often have a larger impact than simply writing a check. Giving someone a smile and brightening their day is giving. Volunteering is an amazing form of giving. In the online personal finance world, I love all the cool sites like FiLife which allow people to answer financial questions that you might normally have to pay a financial advisor to get an answer to. That’s a pretty cool forum for giving. Some of the most successful people acknowledge that giving is a win-win because it helps someone and makes you feel better as well.

Step 5. Expect less.

This step could almost go hand in hand with living simply. Expectations are the stories that we tell ourselves and hold others or ourselves accountable for. Often they are not based on a true reality other than our own. For so long in my life I had an expectation of what my life SHOULD look like, and I made decisions according to the shoulds. I have now realized that there are many options, and the less that I require out of the specifics of my life, the more I am able to see the opportunities and possibilities that are right in front of me, and the closer I can get to being happy in the present.

Have you found happiness in your journey toward financial freedom? What contributed to it?

photo by nosha

Related Posts

• November 12, 2009 -- Who Am I Writing For?
• January 19, 2010 -- Review of GratitudeLog – “The Happiest Place on the Internet”
• January 3, 2010 -- Definition of Financial Freedom
• December 21, 2009 -- Be the Change You Want to See in the World
• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich

What Does it Mean to Be Financially Free?

I’ve been writing about my journey toward financial freedom through organizing my finances and education for months now, but realized that I didn’t ever define the specifics of what it was I want in saying that I want to be financially free. What does it mean?

Definition of Financial Freedom:

Passive Income – Expenses >= 0

Passive Income Minus Expenses is Greater Than or Equal to Zero

Now, let me explain what this means to me. Being financially free does not have to mean that you are a millionaire. All of us want to be millionaires in theory, but that’s not always easy to come by. So, following the advice of many great financial thinkers like Eker and Kiyosaki, I would rather set my sights on something tangible to begin with, so that I have a goal that is attainable. My goal is to make enough in monthly passive income to equal or outweigh my monthly expenses. This is something that many retiree’s are used to. Or, at least they were before some of the crazy stock market crashes of late that hurt their 401 K and retirement plans. However, I don’t think this has to be a goal of only those that are retired. I don’t plan to retire when I reach this goal. Instead, I plan to be able to start using my most precious resource, time, in more efficient and better ways because I’m not slaving away the days trying to earn an hourly income to ’survive’ or ‘pay the bills’. My goal, essentially, is not to be a slave to my bills.  I am also working to decrease the dollar amount of our monthly expenses. I want to make sure that we are living within our means so that my goal of a passive income to meet our expenses becomes even more attainable.

I believe that there are many ways of reaching this goal. First, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve started getting organized and playing an active role to take control over my family’s finances. Secondly, I’m working to reduce whatever is in our control of expenses. Next, we need to increase our income sources, most importantly through passive income. Passive income is a phrase that gets tossed around a lot in the financial world, as its the “gold mine” towards financial freedom. However, it is not easy to come by in large quantities and involves a lot of financial knowledge, hard work, and conscious decisions towards achieving it. Generating large amounts of passive income can difficult, because of risk. Almost all investments that generate a passive income also come with risks which can sometimes eat into or diminish your gains. I do believe there are many creative ways of making passive income and I have started to research them as part of my journey. Many network marketers and others believe that the internet presents the best opportunity for generating automatic, recurring income (residual or passive). I believe the internet can do this as well, however as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, this is not always done in a way that I believe to be trust worthy sales practices.

Definition of Passive Income: Income derived from investments in which the investor does not have to be actively involved

(Examples: Income from a vending machines, parking lots, a certificate of deposit among countless others)

Definition of Residual Income: Income derived from recurring sales, in which the investor is not involved actively beyond the initial sale.

(Examples of residual income businesses: web hosting, Comcast cable, basically anything that charges a monthly recurring fee for use of their services)

Passive income will be an important part of my journey. My journey has just begun though, as I am still actively learning and have not yet picked which path to focus on.

What are your thoughts on Financial freedom and passive income?

Related Posts

• December 26, 2009 -- Online MLM Recurring Passive Income Stream Techniques: Trust Busted
• January 6, 2010 -- 5 Steps to Happiness with a Personal Finance Twist
• December 21, 2009 -- Be the Change You Want to See in the World
• November 12, 2009 -- Who Am I Writing For?
• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich

Key Points from Conspiracy of the Rich

I am reading a lot of financial books right now, and I plan to provide the key take aways that I get from the books, not necessarily a full review of each chapter. In fact, I’m not even going to outline the full “8 New Rules of Money” from Conspiracy of the Rich, instead, simply the main points that I found of value and how I’m going to apply them to my life. I have seen a lot of controversial blog post about whether Kiyosaki offers sound advice or just fluff, whether he has a legitimate story for his background or not, etc. My feeling is that he offers some good big picture suggestions that you then have to spend time researching on your own and deciding what will work for yourself.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Historical Key Points:

There is a lot of information about the history of the dollar, why banks can ‘print money’ and how our government will essentially never stop the bail out cycle because its in the federal gov’t and rich classes’ best interest to bail out the big banks. The purpose of outlining his beliefs of the conspiracy is to motivate those that read his book to action. To take control of their own financial situation, make educated and sound financial decisions, and increase their financial IQ as he calls it.

Financial Education Key Points:

Key Point #1 - Invest in all four areas of investment for true diversification.

1 – Business (Owning one)

2 – Income producing investment real estate

3 – Paper Assets (Stocks, bonds, funds)

4 – Commodities (Gold, silver, oil, platinum)

This may be easier said than done, but it makes a lot of sense to me. If you simply own your home (a liability as I have found out as of late) and have a few savings and a 401k accounts, you are putting all your eggs in very limited baskets.

How I’m applying this: The items from above that I have control over now are #1, #3 and #4. I am and have been a small business owner, but I want to be more strategic about a business plan in 2010. I own stocks, bonds and funds in my 401k,  but I am not happy with them. I’m going to move my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA when I can figure out how to do it, and determine what is best to invest it in. I plan to look into and research investing in commodities because this is something that can be done with a smaller initial investment.

Key Point #2 – Learn how to sell. Him & Trump recommend doing a network marketing type of business to learn the ins and outs of selling.

How I’m applying this: Whether you agree with this point or not, it is inevitable that to be successful you have to build confidence in yourself, who you are, and what you offer. Don’t mistake confidence for arrogance or not being humble. They are  different things. I’m working on building my brand for myself, and what that means. I am in the marketing profession right now, and understand that if you don’t get people’s awareness and interest in your offerings, your business will not succeed. I believe you can sell your products or services without compromising integrity, value and trust with your potential customers. That’s what I plan to do.

Key Point #3 – Derivatives. Kiyosaki discusses how money can be a derivative of your financial knowledge. He defines derivatives as simply being a off shoot of something or something that comes from something else. So, instead of selling his own books by himself, Kiyosaki sells licenses to reprint his books to many publishers, and gets a derivative of his book, the product, through royalties.

How I’m applying this: I like this concept when applying it to yourself and what you can offer the world. Stop thinking about your hourly wage and start thinking about what value you bring and how to make it into value for others. This will lead to derivatives of, well, you. I have already been thinking of ideas for some time now. Applying all or any of these iddeas, and focusing your efforts (which Kiyosaki also says is key) is the hard part!

Key Point #4 – He challenges his readers to push the boundaries that they have set in their life. He says that you shouldn’t think, look or act poor because the world treats you as you treat yourself. This concept gives me a lot to ponder. He uses examples such as: he managed to drive his dream car by bartering services. He managed to live by the ocean by trading services as well. This point was of interest to me. As humans we often don’t think of creative ways to solve our biggest problems because we are so stuck in what we know or believe. However, there is always another way, it usually just involves accepting different options, and putting yourself out there. The concept of bartering is back big time these days since so many of us are struggling financially, and cool websites like Swap Mamas and various others make it easy to do nationally or locally. When you don’t have enough money to get what you need, its a great idea to find someone willing to trade you for something you do have or can do that has value.

How I’m applying this: I have often traded my design services with others for what their business offers. This is a win-win for both of us. I’m interested in finding new, creative ways to make what I want happen in life.

Despite the fact that Kiyosaki spends a little too much time (1/2 the book) on the history, and a little too much time discussing his game, Cash Flow, I found this book to be very useful and thought provoking for my next steps towards learning and improving my financial knowledge.

What are your thoughts on Conspiracy of the Rich? What are you going to apply to your life?

Related Posts

• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich

In today’s world, it seems rather pointless to have cash. You’ve seen it on the Visa commercials, but it definitely does slow things up at the cash register. For convenience at tax time and keeping track of your spending, credit or debit cards are the way to go. If I can’t use a credit card, I occasionally use checks still, but only if I have to, otherwise I’ll use EFT or ACH (Bill payments from my online banking account at my local credit union).

Here are some reasons why I hate cash:

• It tends to disappear, unaccounted, from my wallet for the ‘little things’ like food and quick purchases
• It doesn’t import into Mint or a personal finance software so that I can track and account for it at tax time
• It doesn’t earn points that I can redeem for cool stuff like my credit card does
• It is dirty, and difficult to deal with in my wallet compared to my pretty little cards

Here are some reasons why some people still love cash:

• Its a tangible, physical account of your money, you know exactly how much you have and when its gone, its gone
• Some people like to use it for budgeting because of the same reason above. There are various envelop budgeting methods that use cash
• It can come in handy when traveling to areas where you don’t trust people for fraud reasons or they just don’t accept debit/credit
• It can be a psychological thing – It makes people feel happier or wealthier when they have it (Personally, I’d rather have a bunch of silver and gold!)

If you can control your spending on your credit card, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t use a rewards credit card for all of the purchases that you can. You get points, you can account for your spending better in your personal financial tools, and you can see your trending for spending a lot better in those tools when its categorized.

Any other good reasons for or against the dollar?

Random Posts

• January 28, 2010 -- Confidence, Purpose and Marketing: Ingredients for Success
• January 19, 2010 -- Review of GratitudeLog – “The Happiest Place on the Internet”
• November 3, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Password Storage Tools: Clipperz.com
• November 24, 2009 -- Review of Free Credit Score Analysis Tool: Credit.com
• November 28, 2009 -- Is It Possible to Make Money On Your Website or Blog?

For those that are new to my site, I’d like to share some of the most popular posts that I’ve written to date.

Online Budgeting & Organization Tool Reviews:

• Safely Store Documents Online: Review of Best Online Organizer and Password Tools
• Top Free Online Budgeting Money Management Tools

Personal Finance:

• Eker’s Jars and the Millionaire Mind Philosophy
• Review of FiLife: Your Financial Lifeline
• Free Financial IQ Quizes
• Review of SmartyPig Online Savings Account and Budget Tracker

Wealthy Mind:

• How to Find Sustainable Happiness
• Be the Change You Want to See in the World
• Carpe Diem: Is It Possible to Seize the Day?

Trust Busters:

• Trust Agent Inspired Term: Trust Busters
• Online MLM Recurring Passive Income Stream Techniques: Trust Busted

For a full list of my categories and posts visit the sitemap.

If you enjoy my posts, consider following me on Twitter @FreeMeFinancial, sharing my posts, or subscribing to my RSS feed.

Thanks for reading, and please let me know if if you have any input on what I should look into and write about next.

Random Posts

• November 16, 2009 -- Carpe Diem: Is It Possible to Seize the Day?
• January 18, 2010 -- Lesser Known But Great Personal Finance Blogs of 2010
• February 11, 2010 -- Recovering PC User Tells All: Why I Obsessively Love my Mac
• November 13, 2009 -- Advice for the Young, Fabulous and Broke from Suze Orman
• November 15, 2009 -- Giving Mint a Run for Its Money? Just Thrive

Free Timeline Template for iWork (my Mac) or Word

I love and recommend the goal tracker site for setting and measuring progress on your goals. However, I still have a desire to use a high view time line of where I want my life and plans to go in the next few years.

I have had a hard time finding anything decent without paying hundreds of dollars, so, I’ve created my own and decided to share it for anyone that wants to use a visual, big picture format for planning out events, projects or milestones in their own family or business.

UPDATE: Please visit OnTimelines.com for additional cheap ($3.50+) timeline templates for Mac or PC for life planning, wedding planning, childhood milestones, blank timeline templates and more.

Screenshot:

Free Timeline Template:

3 year monthly timeline on (11″ x 8.5″ horizontal)

• Timeline Template (Secure Download on Box.Net) iWork Pages 2009 Version (11 x 8.5 Inch Horizontal)

• Timeline Template (Secure Download on Box.Net) Microsoft Word 2003 Version (11 x 8.5 Inch Horizontal)

HOW TO USE:
To adjust the timeline, simply copy and paste the markers and stretch or format them to fit your needs. Change the text, colors, etc to whatever you’d like. Add notes for additional date specific details.

If you are having trouble with overlaps, select the item that you most recently added, right click and select “Bring to Front”.

I plan to use this and move the big ‘ol “NOW” along as I go and set it as my desktop or something so that I have a visual reminder of where I’m at and where I’m going. Of course my life WILL inevitably vere in different directions, but this way I can acknowledge that change and document what happened and what I’m going to do with the next phase. As I mentioned, I think it really complements the planning work that you can do in the goal tracker online software to get yourself organized!

Here’s to Planning!

Random Posts

• November 19, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Money Management Tool: moneyStrands
• November 28, 2009 -- Is It Possible to Make Money On Your Website or Blog?
• November 18, 2009 -- Budgeting for the Holidays and Avoiding Holiday Impulse Buys
• January 9, 2010 -- Are Commodities The Right Investment Choice?
• January 19, 2010 -- Review of GratitudeLog – “The Happiest Place on the Internet”

The Trump Network. Jonathan Budd. What do both of these have in common?

Both of these guys focus on 1 MAIN thing: Recurring Income Streams.

Budd says its about leads and conversions, but at the end of the day, I believe its not about that as much as it is recurring income (or residual income). From what I’ve found, these guys are a few hot names in today’s Multi- Level Marketing (MLM) world. The Trump Network just launched a few months back, but already MLM marketers are spreading the word in hopes to convert more representatives. Jonathan Budd has been very influential with using a lead generation and automation system. They don’t care as much about the initial cost to sign you up, they want an ongoing, recurring payment that you have to pay because you depend on the system they have set up for you. And they want to leverage lots of other people to go to work for them to spread the word. That’s where affiliate partnering comes into place.

Automatic Approach

So far in my journey, I have added a few affiliate links and ads to my site for things that I have personally found a lot of value in.  At the end of the day however, there is something cold, detached and missing from the automatic approach that Jonathan Budd and others sell. So many sales landing pages all look the same, their messages are all similar, and it seems so apparent to me that they are trying to sell me something as the first priority. They only ask for your name and email as the first lead, but its SO obvious they are going to sell you. However, they think that capturing your email on a list means that they will get a CHANCE to get you to purchase whatever it is they sell. And I understand that’s the way of the business world, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

As far as the Trump Network is concerned, I’m glad that so many MLM marketers like it, but to me the site is too highly focused on Trump himself, and there isn’t nearly enough information about the PRODUCTS they are selling. Its all about getting people to sell under you, not about the product. If I am going to sell something I better be able to find out a lot about the product before I commit to anything.

Now, I’ve talked about just 2 of the most hyped up options for MLM that I have found so far. There are many, and I have no idea how to sift through them all because of the simple fact that they ALL want to sell you as that is the very nature of what they do, so its very difficult to get any real and impartial information on any of them.

A Note on Automation in Email vs Twitter

Automation has its place such as in email, but at the end of the day, if over used, its just plain cold and a big Trust Buster alert to the tuned in crowd.

I have a hunch that the majority of my followers on Twitter only found me through an automated system. They are only following me with the hopes that I will follow them, be interested, click on their link, and buy what ever it is they are promoting. I have personally resisted purchasing such a system. Firstly, I have not decided on anything to sell and secondly, I want to interact with humans, not machines on Twitter. I understand the concept that if you get thousands and thousands of leads, chances are you can get some sales, but I believe these types of Twitter accounts are the one’s cluttering up the true usefulness behind Twitter and making that tool full of more fluff than something trust worthy.

As Seen on TV: Misleading, Pushy Sales Techniques

Its certainly tempting to try to grow something online, but I am still reluctant because of the misleading and pushy tactics that are being used by so many of the popular and famous business leaders. I equate it to the As Seen on TV approach that has been used for years on certain TV Commercials. Tactics like timeliness: “if you buy in the next 10 Minutes, we’ll throw in this!” or inflated reduced pricing: “A $490 value, yours today for only $30!”.

My gut instincts are telling me that something big is missing from the way these big names are doing business online.

It may work now, but it won’t forever. People will eventually catch on to misleading sales techniques like HURRY this is only available to the VIP top 500 people for the next 20 hours! I personally just can’t  give into something like that. It feels too much like selling out. As Seen on TV commercials still make money, but quite often its because the product itself truly is unique and ads value. Even still, I choose not to sell my products that way. Ever.

I believe it has to be done differently than some of these top names are doing it. I get that you have to sell, but I just don’t like the way its being done, the old Made for TV sales techniques applied to the web. Its not trust worthy. Though it can covert some, or even many, I certainly hope that consumer’s grow wary of these techniques and look for better alternatives to do business with. And when I get to the point where I’m doing more selling online or in whatever means, I plan to apply sales techniques that are transparent, honest and straight-forward.

What are your thoughts?

Related Posts

• January 3, 2010 -- Definition of Financial Freedom
• November 17, 2009 -- The Infamous Kirby Vacuum Trust Buster Alert
• November 25, 2009 -- Bank of America’s Lost My Trust: “Affiliate Partners” Unethical Practices
• November 8, 2009 -- Best Kept Secrets of How to be a Millionaire & Other Trust Buster Phrases
• October 31, 2009 -- Trust Agent Inspired Term: Trust Busters

Gandhi knew what he was talking about. This simple, but powerful phrase has become my mantra as of late. I wake up hearing it in my head. I think about it at random times of the day. I don’t  know why it popped into my head, but it rings true as a mantra for a path towards both sustainable happiness and financial freedom.

I’ve Figured Out What I Want

Through much self reflection over the past 3 months, I’ve finally found myself at a point in life where I have a good idea of the direction I want to go, the goals I want to set, and I have a very vague idea of how to get there. Up until recently, all that I have been doing is driving my life on auto pilot, doing the things that I’m supposed to do, trying to ’survive’ and following in the traditional cultural patterns of the US family. This is not to say that I’m not happy with the family, friends, and other aspects of life that I have built, however, I have finally realized what it is I want to DO with my life, and this has been an inspiring and enlightening process.

But I Don’t Have the Resources to Get There Very Fast

The only problem I have now is that my mind is very focused on this new direction (yes, I admit, practically obsessed to the point where I’m sure I’m annoying everyone I know talking about it), but the rest of my life is not even sort of ready to catch up to where I’d like to go. I still don’t have those same resources I’ve blogged about in the past, time, money, etc to just up and start my new business idea, or focus my efforts to reaching my ultimate dream. I still am relatively stuck financially, and its slow going to get ourselves out of the mess we are in. Feeling stuck is still a pretty real thing if your income outweigh your expenses, even when your mind is on its way towards a brighter future.

So, I’ve been telling myself to just do what I can, get things written down, keep learning, etc. However, I feel compelled and compulsed to do more. I’ve never before felt so clear about what I want to do with my life.

So HOW do we be the change we want to see in the world?

I believe the answer is through a serious of small, but important choices that lead us in the right direction. I know this, but sometimes I really, really wish I could make big ‘ol giant leaps all at once.

Small and steady wins the race, but the energy and passion I feel towards what I have discovered makes me oh so conflicted on why I can’t just sprint to the finish line.

I can’t do everything I want to do all at once, but the New Year is always a good time to think of the things I’ve accomplished and assess where I want to go.

What I Want To “Be” More Of in 2010

• I want to remember my cloth bags more often when I go shopping
• I want to read and go to the park more with my daughter
• I want to read & write more and continue my financial education
• I want to keep getting more organized
• I want to develop at least 1 full clear business plan for my new inspiration
• I want to act on my knowledge, whether small or large steps, some type of action is better than none at all!

What will you do to be the change YOU want to see in the world?

Related Posts

• November 12, 2009 -- Who Am I Writing For?
• November 11, 2009 -- Financial Ignorance and Conspiracy of the Rich
• October 26, 2009 -- 365 Days to Financial Freedom
• January 21, 2010 -- My Greatest Financial Fears Explained
• January 6, 2010 -- 5 Steps to Happiness with a Personal Finance Twist

Easily Keep Track of Family Addresses, Birthdays and Events Together

Around the holidays, I always send out emails to family members and friends alike in a frantic attempt to mail holiday cards. Why do I keep repeating this process? Because people move, or I get forgetful and don’t update the many places that I store addresses.

I was thinking about starting a Google Doc to share a long list of family contact information, but before I did, I did a quick search to see if there were any useful online tools that already solve this issue for me.

And of course, there is! FamilyCrossings.com

At Family Crossing you can get a free or premium account. You can ask your family to join, and then everyone can store their addresses as well as pictures, videos, and also very handy, a family calendar of events. I’m very much hoping I can convince my family members to at least use the address and events calendar. I’m thinking that if I put videos of my daughter on there and share them, that might just be enough to entice them to start using the site.

Beyond those features, you can also store family history, recipes, chat, and more. I don’t know that my family will utilize ALL of the features, but it will be a huge help if we just can all update our addresses, birthdays and key events on the family calendar!

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• November 30, 2009 -- How to Find Sustainable Happiness
• November 2, 2009 -- Review of Free Online Password Storage Tools: Mitto.com
• January 6, 2010 -- 5 Steps to Happiness with a Personal Finance Twist

Not long ago, I admit that I wanted lots of “things” for birthday and holiday gifts. It is really nice to get something that you wouldn’t ordinarily buy yourself for the holidays such as lotions, electronics, books, etc.

Lately I’m a big fan of practical gifts. When you are on a tight budget, things that may once have seemed normal to spend money on such as socks, nice shampoo, getting your hair done, going to the car wash, etc, are all pushed out and minimized. What once seemed like a norm to purchase has become a luxury.

For my birthday this year, I asked my parents for a gift card to a hair salon. I just got back today and am very pleased with my do. I couldn’t think of a better gift, as I really can’t make myself justify spending the money myself, but I really, really want to get my hair done every 4 or so months.

I have had a difficult time taking care of my ‘wants’ vs. ‘needs’ list since I have had a child and we are only on my income. However, it is so great to have those things that I have had to let go be given to me on occasion.

So What’s a Practical Gift?

If you are still searching for a meaningful gift for the holidays for your family or loved ones, I suggest something creative-ly practical such as:

• A full service car wash
• Contribution to someone’s specfic savings funds
• A gift card for a restaurant + offer to baby sit
• Gas card gift certificate or auto maintenance service
• Gift card to their hair salon
• Gift card to a specialty grocery store
• Some of their favorite, but expensive snacks such as nuts, dried berries, etc

Any other creative but practical gifts that you can think of?

photo by kevindooley

Related Posts

• November 18, 2009 -- Budgeting for the Holidays and Avoiding Holiday Impulse Buys

We are in the age of the next .com era. There is practically limitless opportunity with the internet for business success. You “just” have to find your niche, and break a few rules in terms of doing something unique.

Initially, since I started this journey, I’ve been very interested in the concept of doing an online business further than what I have done so far with my consulting and job. That is what I have been mulling over and researching.

Look the Other Way

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized something. More and more people are doing as much shopping as they can online. The trend will only continue that way. So, the natural progression is for people to offer online offerings. So, what if, during the time that everyone is looking one way, you, the new business starter, look the other way?

What if in the future “brick and mortar” is going to be a key area of opportunity for the RIGHT products because everyone else is so focused online for everything else?

Its obvious why you would want to start up a business online as your up front costs are much less, overhead and ongoing costs are significantly less, etc.

But I’m not actually interested in doing something easy or cheap. Of course those factors affect me, a lot. But what I’m more interested in is finding a path for my life that would involve doing something worthwhile. I want to live a life with out regrets. And for me that means finding and starting a business that is good for me and my values as well as something that will be wildly successful.

Online Still Matters

I plan to have an online element to my business, as every successful business these days has to have many channels and offerings that it serves. However, for what I want to do, online is not the best option. In fact, the business model I have in mind is focused on in person options, sort of like Starbucks is.

Now, I’m not going to blog about what my business is going to be, as I don’t want to speak to soon. As soon as I actually launch the business and get my t’s crossed and i’s dotted, I will blog about it. However, I have come up with a few ideas, and the general area of where we want to focus our efforts. I can say, though, that its a product. Probably no surprise there.

What’s Next

My next steps are product development and business education. I’ll be starting an LLC or a Corporation of some sort, and I want to make sure I do it right. I want to take the right precautions, ask the right questions and follow the right steps. At the moment, I have a huntch, but I don’t really know, so I’ve bought some books on how to start a business. I reserved my domain name, and checked the trademarks on the name that I’ve come up with. I’m not 100% certain that I have the exact idea nailed down yet, but its helpful to think about the idea itself to keep motivated and excited.

I already have a business right now, its a sole proprietor business though. I’ve heard that LLC’s are great, but I’m not certain that that is right for us without reading up.

This is not an immediate plan, but it something that me and my husband are excited about and committed to, and that was missing in my life up until now. I didn’t have something to motivate me for the future that I could latch onto. It feels good to have a general direction. I know that it will change in one way or another, as my life always does, but that’s okay as long as I focus on my ultimate goals. I didn’t use to believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do now and finding this new idea is part of that reason.

The difference between who I was before and who I am now is that I am determined to use the direction and ideas of my life to move to action, rather than just thinking, “What If?”

Is there a business that you want to start? What’s stopping you?

photo by wit

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Top Habit Changes That Help You Stick To a Budget

It can be a struggle to stay within your budget, especially around the holidays. I’ve been more actively monitoring my budget and income/expenses for a while now. I’m proud to say we did decrease our spending significantly in November. We also shifted some spending to more quality things such as education and investments.

However, unfortunately, on one income, we still spend more than we make. Not good. I’m confident our plans will take us where we need to go with this, including lifestyle changes, awareness & monitoring, conscious spending, and increased income from other areas.

1) Watching the Little Dollars – For us, its not about ’skipping the latte’ specifically, but instead the things that you buy as habit that there are alternatives for. For example, making lunches and cutting back on eating out, even if its fast food, is healthier and cheaper.

2) Sharing the Knowledge – One of the most significant changes has been a true evaluation of what’s important to us, and a family goal of working towards our future. I have previously been managing the money more than my husband, and he is now playing a more active role. Sharing the ‘burden’ helps us be more aligned with our goals together, and has significantly minimized some of the confusion or disagreements.

3) Gotta Love Coupons – And of course, there’s nothing like the good old fashioned coupon. Its my personal belief that I have to save at least $1.00 off of something to make it worth my time. And I only use coupons for something I would have bought already.

4) Awareness & Monitoring – I’m actively monitoring my spending and money habits on Mint and Thrive, and I have weekly email reminders and alerts being sent to me. Even if I wanted to forget, too bad, I have now made it a habit not to.

5) Conscious Spending – I wrote a post about How to Curb Impulse Shopping, and for me, the online shop-a-holic, unsubscribing from tempting emails was the trick. It has significantly helped me from thinking about or wondering if I’m missing out on a good deal. Its helped me from justifying why I just have to buy something because of the bargain, since I don’t actually know about the bargain. My husband is great at sticking to the grocery list, and this saves a lot on impulse grocery buys. Overall, I’m trying to wait at least 1 day to 1 week on purchases outside of the norm to determine if they are impulsive or not. I’m not perfect at this, but this is my goal.

6) Setting Expectations with Friends & Family - This is a tough one, but it helps. I talked with my family and friends this year about cutting back on holiday spending, most of us are in the same boat, so it makes it easier. Its almost a relief when you talk about it that everyone says you don’t have to spend too much. This doesn’t mean you can’t do something thoughtful. I’m already finding that I have more quality time lined up with friends and don’t have to worry about the gifts, but instead can spend a little on the event itself.

Finally, I definitely recommend that you don’t push too hard and cut yourself some slack with changing habits. You can’t change habits overnight, or you won’t stick to them. I know that I’m too hard on myself about this, and it is okay to slip as long as you stay true to your goals overall.

Anything I should add to this list?

photo by girlonaglide

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