Posted: March 27th, 2009 | Author: Mo2 | Filed under: Budgeting, Finance, General, Saving Money Tips | Tags: Budgeting, Buy Used, don't smoke, Drink Water, Finance, Go to the library, Investing, pack lunch to work, pay down your debt first, Save on Banking Fees, saving money, Stop Watching TV, take advantage of sales, use coupons, use energy saving light bulbs, Used Car | 1 Comment »
This is day 5 and the last installment of “How to Save Money in Tough Times”. If you missed the previous 4 days here are the links:
Part 1 – Tip #1 Stop Watching TV! & Tip #2 Drink Water
Part 2 – Tip #3 Don’t Smoke! & Tip #4 Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs
Part 3 – Tip #5 Buy Used Instead of New & Tip #6 Pay Your Debt First
Part 4 – Tip #7 Pack a Lunch to Work & Tip #8 Save on Your Banking Fees
The recurring theme in all 4 articles is that every little bit matters. Every dollar you save means you save up to $2 of earned income and you can put that somewhere to help you down the road. Money isn’t easy to come by especially in times like we are going through now and it’s very important that we all cut back and think about what the necessities are what the luxuries are. Even a latte at Starbucks could be considered a luxury in the tough times we’re going through so be smart about how you spend your money!
Tip #9 – Go To the Library
This might sound really cheesy but I can’t tell you how important it is to go to the library. First, you can read all the books you want for free! Imagine having to buy all the books that you read, even if books might have gotten cheaper, they still average $15-20 per book. Even if you only read one book a month, that’s 12 books a year which amounts to $225-240 a year. You could save that money and put it to better use, just by taking a trip to the library while giving yourself the chance to read more.
Second, you can learn so much about a new subject such as doing business or saving money. Libraries are a great place to spend time to make you more knowledgeable while saving money. You can learn new things all the time and there will always be a wealth of information! The next best place would be wikipedia.org in my opinion since there’s information about pretty much everything on Wikipedia, a truly great site.
Tip #10 – Make the Most of Coupons & Sales
Many people don’t like sales and coupons because it seems like they’re being cheap. Nothing could be further from the truth. You have to make the most of your chances to save money and coupons and sales are one of the best ways to do this! There are so many ways to find coupons and dates of sales nowadays. The Internet is a great place to start, just visit the website of the company you plan to shop at whether if it’s a grocery store or a department store.
Sometimes you can get coupons online for stores that you might visit. Even if you can’t usually the online stores as well as other deal hunter sites around the internet will give you a good idea as to when you can expect a sale from that store.
If you’re shopping online, be sure to do a quick search for online coupons because there is always a bunch that you can use to get a discount at almost any online store. Every dollar that you save is a dollar you can invest or save on something else.
Mo2 Thinks
Libraries are a wealth of information and they carry a lot of the books that you might see on Amazon or in other bookstores. It doesn’t hurt to take a look and save you some needed cash. I know $15 or $20 might not seem like too much, but in the long run it adds up and you can be saving a lot of money if you understand how each purchase can affect you.
Make the most of coupons that you get in the mail and through your e-mail as well. There are always ways to save money. The best obvious way to save money is to not spend it at all, but unfortunately many things are just simply necessary. But no one ever said that you’re not allowed to save money on necessary things. So do your shopping by searching for the best deal out there for everything!
Posted: March 13th, 2009 | Author: Mo2 | Filed under: Finance, General | Tags: anger management, discipline, Finance, Investing, stock market | No Comments »
Absolutely everything we do in life has something to do with discipline. We need discipline to bring food to the table, we need discipline to speak in an orderly manner, and we need discipline to just do what it takes to survive. The definition of discipline I was use for the purpose of this article will be, “activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill” (from dictionary.com).
Discipline can also include punishing oneself in order to learn. “Punishing” is a harsh word, but if you take a step back and look at what you go through everyday, it might be just that. I don’t think I’m someone that is strong enough to be “disciplined” enough to do exactly as I say. Therefore, this article is almost a reminder for myself as it is advice for others. Those that know me can direct me back to this article when I do something out of line.
Discipline to Set Goals
Everyone has goals and dreams that they hope to meet or attain “one day.” But how many of have actually spent the time to write it down or think the process through of getting to that goal line? I have dreams, dreams that some would laugh at, but that’s what dreams should be. Something that seems utterly impossible yet seems like something that you can grab a hold of one day. Setting goals is the first giant step to reaching what you are striving for. By writing it down, you have now committed a part of your life into what you dream of.
Discipline to Work Hard
As I’ve said before in other articles. I think I’m one of the laziest people on the face of this Earth (actually I think my recent ranking has fallen in the Universe as well). Writing down the goal is one thing, but to actually spend countless hours on attaining that dream is on a whole different level. Sometimes you won’t be rewarded for the hard work you put in. You could be doing something for years without any recognition or sense of accomplishment. But all that shouldn’t matter, if it’s your dream, then that in itself should be worth striving for.
Discipline to Be Consistent
I’m a guitarist and I have been playing for over 5 years. I’m not Jimi Hendrix but I’m proud to say that I can play a few tunes now. That didn’t come from listening to Hendrix once in a while or picking up the guitar to polish it every blue moon, it came from endless hours of guitar playing. However, just putting in 23 hours a day every 4 months isn’t good enough. More than one amazing guitarist told me, the key is to simply pick up your guitar everyday. You don’t even have to play it, just pick it up. By doing that you’ve committed that part of your day to at least “thinking” about the guitar.
Discipline to Learn From Your Mistakes
We all make mistakes. I don’t care what you do, we all screw up. The important thing is that we pick ourselves up and take another crack at it. The only different thing is, you’ve made one mistake now and hopefully you’ll be able to avoid it the next time. When something goes wrong it’s really easy to feel down and out but what can separate you from the rest will be how you deal with such situations. If you make a mistake write it down! Why on Earth did you do that? What can you do to avoid the next time?
Discipline to Review and Reassess
Whether if things are going well or horrible, you need to take a step back sometimes and see what the situation is. Are you doing well? Going in circles? Or have you discovered that you’re actually a Darth Vader wannabe? Whatever the situation (issue) is, it’s really important to think about what you originally set out to do. And that’s where having written down your original goal helps. During the course of your long journey to whatever end, you’ll change your mind, have new discoveries, and might want to stop. But if you look at what you were originally thinking, it can blow all of that away and put you back on the path of where you were originally intending to go.
Discipline to Always Be Humble
With time you’ll begin to realize how good you really are at something. Sure you might not be the best, but even if you are, don’t get too cocky. When you think you’re the best, that’s it! You’re done. You’ve reached your limit and now you’re vulnerable to being ousted by someone else. Always be humble with what you do and don’t always think about yourself. The place we live currently happens to have over 6 billion people you know.
Discipline to Be Yourself
There is one you. And every one of us can make our difference. Whatever it is that you do, strive to be the best at it. Unfortunately there are many that just don’t know what they’re doing and distract or annoy other because of that. But if you can understand who you are and have the discipline to be yourself, then you can make the world a better place. There are over 6 billion people on this planet and that’s the greatest reason why you need to understand why you’re here. Do something that will make your mark in a positive direction, not just for you, but also for everyone. If everyone around you is happy, then surely you will be too.
Mo2 Thinks
Discipline is a strong word. It’s only one word yet it can determine where we go in life. Having disciple once in a while isn’t too hard but to be on top of everything is nearly impossible and I guess trying to be perfect in that sense would futile. Having said that, if we could reach such a state then I guess we would all be doing something meaningful.
I’ve set my goals by writing them down. I’ve worked hard at what I do and have had plenty of mistakes and problems that I could write another 100 articles about. Instead of complaining about what happened I try to look to see what solution could be viable. Having said that, I’ve a few devastating blows that have nearly crippled me at least mentally and I’m finally in the recovery stages as I write this article. This article might be exactly what I needed to put me back in place. After doing my reviewing and reassessing of what my dreams are (yes I’ve actually spent some solid hours the past couple of weeks doing this) I’m ready to take the next step. I know there’ll be hiccups along the way but I also know that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. It really does take a lot of work to be disciplined but if we can learn to be disciplined consistently then it’ll truly be worth it in the end. I hope everyone that reads this article will agree.
Posted: March 12th, 2009 | Author: Mo2 | Filed under: Finance, General, Philanthropy, Planning | Tags: donating, donation, estate, Finance, Financial Planning, giving, giving stock, Investing, Philanthropy, poverty, trust | No Comments »
Unbalance in The World
The world that we live is not a fair place. No matter where you look there is inequality. Unfortunately only little can be done sometimes. Canada and The United States are extremely rich countries. We have many of the richest people in the world and have great resources. There’s a reason why people want to live in these two countries, it’s obviously not just for the money but because there is so much potential, at least that’s what it seems like at first glance.
Unfortunately, not every country can be rich and powerful. Poverty seems to be a common theme yet only little seems to be done about it. Many do give support both humanitarian and monetarily, however it can only change so much. Poverty can often lead to greed, and the leaders of many of these countries are plagued with greed. They can consume the support that is given and only the bare bones of the funding can reach those in need.
Even when the funds do reach those in need, simple money cannot change things. You cannot teach your children to ride a bike by supporting them all the time, you must help them make mistakes and learn the hard way. The same goes for supporting those in need, everything cannot be done for them; they have to learn to self-sustain their lives.
Why Should We Give?
We all have a limited time in our lives. Compared to some things in this universe, a human life comparable to a mere firework. But if I am to use the analogy of a firework we have our chances in life to burst, spark, and possibly glitter. By living your life, getting married and having children you can probably consider that bursting. When you take care of your friends and family in a genuine way, you might be sparkling. But only can you glitter when you go out of your way to help those that have no relation to you; those that live half a planet away and are suffering even if you cannot see them. Wouldn’t you like to live a life that will be seen as one that shined a light on those that were in need?
Warren Buffet and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Warren Buffet is probably the man I respect the most when it comes to investing. Although, I’m not a pure growth investor, I have had much to learn from his style of investing. A couple years back, Warren Buffet shocked everyone in the financial and the philanthropy world. He donated over $30 billion dollars of his portfolio to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The once richest man in the world gave a large part of his money to another once richest man in the world and his wife to help those that really need it.
Before We Start Worrying About Others…
Not everyone can shell out $30 billion dollars to give away. In fact, for most it’s hard to even give anything. Many of us live lives that require us to use every penny of our paycheck to sustain our living standards. Or do we? A recurring theme in my website is that you don’t need to spend every penny of your money to sustain your lifestyle. I don’t care if you make two thousand dollars or a million dollars a month, you can survive. If you are spending every penny of your monthly income, you have a problem and trust me, it isn’t only your boss.
In a day and age that consumers spend more than they save, you need to really look at what you want in life. Do you want to reward yourself now, or do you want to help yourself have a comfortable (and better) life later on? If you think about your future and plan this way, you will have more money to donate.
Give Now or Later?
Everyone will say give now! Why wait? If you have the money then you should give it! I might stir up a controversy with this but I say give later. Warren Buffet wasn’t known for his philanthropy until his shocking move. That’s why it was shocking; he’s never done anything this significant (well other than his billion dollar takeovers) to help others. I have a similar mindset. If you really are willing to give, then you probably won’t change your mind whether you give today or later on.
If you give $1,000 today, that’s great and I’m really happy that you did because not many people can take that step. But wait, what if you invested that $1,000 and waited 10 years with a 6% yield. Hmm..let’s see let me pull the calculator out…that’s put you to around $1,790 after 10 years. Even considering inflation that would still amount to more than the $1,000 you gave away 10 years ago. Ideally you should be giving now and later but not everyone can and in my mid-twenties, I know I’m not capable of giving out too much.
What’s more is if you bought securities you can give those securities without paying tax (probably depending on where you live) to the charity you intend. And you can keep the dividends if you want! Or give them to someone else. Just a thought, you obviously don’t have to do things this way.
Mo2 Thinks
Well, you probably have a good idea of what I think now. Philanthropy really is an immense talk about and I doubt this will be my last article about it. We really need to follow the footsteps of great people like Warren Buffet and the Gates family. I don’t care if they’re the richest people in the world, they don’t have to do what they are doing but yet they still are committing a large part of their lives to helping others. So the question at the end of the day is: “Will you glitter in your life?”
