Quit Your 9-5 Day job now!

As I was sipping my tall dark coffee this morning pondering about yesterday’s article about coffee drinking and saving money, it occurred to me how much life would be better without a 9-5 job. 9-5 is a generalization and in reality many of us work different kinds of hours, it could be a lot earlier, in the middle of the night, you name it, but in a way it’s still a “9-5” job. Can you quit your 9-5 job? Should do? Let’s talk a little and find out.

Work and how it can take its toll on you
Jobs are tough. Just look at everyone you come across in a day, the barista at the coffee shop, the paperboy handing out free newspapers, the security guard, the receptionist, the grocery clerk, businessman in cubicles, and so on. Every single one of these people are going through work that they might not be enjoying but they have to do it because they need to make a living. It’s a cruel world that we live in, but that’s the rule of society, or is it?

Find the Job that You Love!
This isn’t exactly quitting your 9-5 job, but it’s probably one of the best alternatives to it. By finding the job that you love, you can actually enjoy your time at work and make money at the same time! Hallelujah! If you currently aren’t in this position, and most of us aren’t I can say with confidence, take time out of each and every single one of your work days to think about what you really want to do in life! This process will make life a lot more fun and help you move to newer heights!

One of my dreams is to be able to write on this very blog and have tens of thousands of readers dropping by to see what I have to say everyday. It’s a tough goal, but I’m glad it’s something that I was able to realize. So put some thought into what you want to do in life!

Quit Your Job Altogether!
That’s a bold statement. It’s crossed my mind recently, and I’m sure it’s crossed your mind before as well. And to be honest, you probably shouldn’t quit unless you know exactly what you’re going to do next and know how you are going to support yourself. When I’m in trouble in life, I always take a step back and think about one thing. We only have one lifetime, and it’s a waste to be doing something that you don’t enjoy and love so sometime sacrifices are necessary. But be smart with the sacrifices you make, because many of the things you throw out the window, you aren’t going to be able to pick back up in one piece, if at all.

To be able to quit your job altogether, you have to first plan and work on your next step. If you have a goal or dream then start doing research on it and find out if it really suits you. For example, if you want to stop working in a cubicle and want to become a bartender, then try taking some classes or reading some books and make some drinks for your friends and family. See if you’re good at it and if you’ll really enjoy doing it all the time. Try doing it for free, if you really love something, money shouldn’t be the biggest factor.

Stop Working Altogether!
Ok, now we’re starting to push it. If you want to get to this point, you’re really going to have to be close to financial freedom. Financial freedom doesn’t mean you’re debt free, it means you are living off of your investments comfortably. This will take planning and discipline.

A great place to start would be by coming up with your portfolio number that I talked about in a previous article. Think about how much money you need to live off of your investments. You can also think about how you can reduce your expenses and costs and possibly maintain your current lifestyle without too many sacrifices.

Once you have a good idea, you can start saving up to achieve your goals. Achieving your portfolio number is no easy task, and it might even make you end up working harder and longer hours, heck even another job! But if you are disciplined enough, you will be happy that you worked hard and put money away since you’ll be retiring many years early and many times happier than the general public.

Mo2 Thinks
Quitting your 9-5 job might not be the smartest thing to do and frankly might not be necessary at all. Many of us enjoy working because of the various people we work with and the positive experiences that we sometimes have. However, it never hurts to think about the better things you could be doing in life and about how life would be without work.

All of this ties into planning for your future. Think about where you want to be in 5, 10, 20 years and draw out a plan for yourself. By having a good idea of where you want to be in the future, you’ve already taken a big step in achieving that goal.

Take Action!
Write out your current job is, and if you are happy with it. If not, write out some of the things you enjoy doing and what professions and jobs are linked to these things. Write out all of your expenses and your current investment income (if you have any). Think about how you will do if you quit your 9-5 job and what steps would be necessary to make this come true. It’s a big step but it will be well worth it, if you don’t like commuting and working long and grueling hours. Take action now!

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Bankruptcies soar above 50% in June 2009 in Canada

The recession is hurting many. Losing jobs can lead to the downfall of so many parts of our lives especially if we have debt. In most likelihood we all have some sort of debt from credit card balances to car loans and mortgages. This number is most likely reflected in most nations around the world as we are all in the same boat to some extent.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/08/11/june-canada-bankruptcies235.html

According to this CBC article, there were 10,823 bankruptcies in the month of June this year, up 54.3% from the same time a year before.

What Can You do to Avoid the same boat?
There are times when everything falls apart but you need to stay prepared for the worst scenario. That’s why so many talk about the “Rainy Day” fund and its importance. You need to keep 3 months worth of living expenses saved away. This basically means that you need 3 months of wages so that you can survive in the case that you lose your job.

The problem is that with the recent recession, many are unable to find a job within 3 months of losing their job. This is a tough reality since it’s getting increasingly difficult to find a job, which is evident from rising Unemployment numbers. You may have to settle for a pay cut or try and explore different career opportunities but having a job is extremely important so that you can take a positive step forward and keep your finances in order.

What part of your Finances should you make your priority?
The obvious part of this is your living expenses. Not only should you be putting out money to buy food and pay for rent, you have to sit down and look to cut costs. You have to lower your living standards if you are living paycheck to paycheck and look to save money. The more you save, the more you helping yourself move a step forward.

After you have done that, pay down the debt carrying the highest interest. Credit cards usually have effective interest rates that are insane. As long as you carry balances on any credit card, you are on the road to financial doom. Never carry a balance on any credit card! If you have a line of credit with the bank, use that to pay off your credit card.

Upon paying off your credit card and maintaining a monthly balance that you can pay off each month, look to pay down your line of credit and bring that down to a manageable amount. Thereafter you probably have bigger debt like car loans and the mortgage on your condo or house. Don’t think that you will eventually pay these off over time, strive to pay them off as soon as possible. The interest you will save over time could be better invested in stocks and other investments to make you money and lead to your financial freedom.

Check how you can pay down your mortgage, many banks have ways of making double up payments to pay down only your principal without paying interest. A couple of these payments could immense savings in interest! Don’t be surprised in bankers don’t tell you about this, they want to make money by charging interest, why on earth would they want to tell you how to lose revenue they could earn?

I’m a former banker so I can say this. If you find someone giving you advice such as this or ways to sincerely save money then you’ve found a rare breed of a banker that actually cares and should treasure their advice. But you need to do your homework so that you don’t tricked or suckered into “investing” into something you don’t want to be invested in.

Pay Off Your Mortgage!
One of the biggest expenses that we have is paying for shelter. Whether if its rent or paying our mortgage it’s usually a big chunk of our paycheck and this is why you need to do everything you can to pay down your mortgage. Once you pay off your mortgage you have taken a huge step towards Financial Freedom as you will have disposable to put in other more useful places like investing!

Make your money work for you! This is the key to financial freedom. If you can grow your wealth and reap the benefits then you will be happy with your finances and life. Hardly sounds easy and it isn’t but it will definitely be worth the effort! This is probably one of the biggest reasons to buy a home instead of renting. The next would be the value appreciating in your home. In Canada, we have the Principal Residence Tax Exemption which allows us to sell our home and upgrade without having to pay tax on our capital gains that result from the sale. Take advantage of every chance you are given.

Hope this helps!

How to Save Money Everyday in Tough Times – Part 3

Today is day 3 of learning how to save money in tough times.
Be sure to check out Day 1 – Tip #1 Quit Watching TV & Tip #2 Drinking Water
And Day 2 – Tip #3 Don’t Smoke! & Tip #4 Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs
Every little bit counts and I want to help you save money to survive these rough times that we’re going through right now. If you can make it through and continue to keep these habits in place, it will definitely help you in the long run.

Tip # 5 - Buy Used Instead of New
Now this doesn’t go for everything, but for a lot of things we can buy used. A car is a really good example, if you can buy from a reputable dealer, you could save tons of money on a one-year or two-year old car instead of buying the new things. This money saved can be put away or used to buy other necessary things. In the case of a car, just make sure you do your due diligence and possibly take a mechanic with you and do a test drive and be sure you have a decent warranty with the car. You want to spend some money upfront so you won’t have to worry about getting ripped off. There are many other things you can buy used and you should take advantage of every opportunity that you have to maximize your savings. You don’t need everything new if it’s something that you’re only going to be using for a short amount of time. Be smart about your purchases so that you can save money.

Tip # 6 - Pay Down Your Debt First!

A lot of us have debt whether if it’s credit card debt or loans from the bank. Before you put money away to save and invest you should be paying this debt down as much as you can since the interest on debt is usually higher than the interest you can earn from your investments. Paying down your debt can also improve your credit rating, it’s all about being financially responsible and by paying down your debt on time and sometimes more than you need to shows that you are responsible. If you save money in any way such as the tips that I’m giving the past few days, pay down your debt.

Mo2 Thinks
Buying used can be tough sometimes especially if you don’t know if you can trust the person you are buying from. That’s why it’s always good to have insurance or a warranty if you’re buying. Buying from friends and relatives are a good way to save money too as I’m sure they have things that they don’t need or they might be thinking of upgrading. Paying down debt is important but sometimes it can be stressful to think that all of your savings are going to paying debt. That’s why I like to put some money away in investments while paying down debt. That way you are decreasing the amount you owe while increasing your net worth at the same time. It really depends on what you want to do, but I like to have money saved away just in case I can’t make my payments down the road.