Our economy probably needs us to shop irresponsibly again and “live beyond our means” in order to give the economy a boost. I never understand why North Americans are the only people where the average resident consumes more than their income.
Some people blame the educational system for not having personal finance classes, but there are ways to learn outside of school too! It’s not like my teacher taught me how to use the toilet. I don’t know about you, but I learned because:
- I had to (out of necessity) and was told about this fact
- It never occurred to me that there was an alternative
- I did it enough times so I could do it without thinking
Toilet Training (Personal Finance Style)
If you need to toilet train yourself again, here are some tips that expands from what I talked about above:
The Need to Save Money
In case you are lucky enough to not know the importance of saving money, let this post be the wake up call. You need to save for your own sake! Can you imagine what will happen if you lose your job and can’t find work for 6 months? How will you pay for your mortgage? Do you know what it’s like to live in your car? Do you know how cold it gets at night if you live off the streets?
Stop Getting Further Into Debt
It’s so strange that so many people just borrow, borrow and borrow. It didn’t matter where either, be it credit cards, home equity line of credit, RESP or others, people just keep taking out money they don’t have! I just don’t get it, but why does it seem like rocket science to buy something only if you have the means?
Do you really need that car, the TV, or even that new pair of shoes? What happened to what you already have?
Knowing What to Do with Money
Without getting into details, you know what to do when you need to go. Money is exactly the same way. Once it becomes second nature to save, you just do it. You don’t think, you don’t regret and you certainly don’t ask why you save.
Getting started is always harder though, so here are some common tips that always works:
Save up all the income you receive as soon as it gets into your bank accounts
Treat your savings like a high security vault that requires maximum clearance before you ever withdraw
And best of all, lay out a logical plan (if you want, consulting with someone else could work too) so you can just follow it.
At first, you might not be perfect but with practice, everyone can become an expert!
Hey, no one is toilet trained when they are born.
When times are tough we tend to engage in a lot of fearful chatter. We replay limiting beliefs such as, “I can’t ask for a raise now.” Or, “I can’t make a career shift in times like these.”
This fearful chatter is helping neither your peace of mind nor your bank account. Fearful, limiting beliefs block your inner guide and prevent you from creating positive financial outcomes, blinding you to opportunities.
Try this three step process for releasing fear and add more ~ing to your finances.
Step One: Identify your limiting beliefs by listening to the fear-driven messages in your mind. What limits are you buying into: "I can't get ahead"; "I'll always be broke"; "There's never enough"?
Step Two: Release the chatter. Kick off each day with the affirmation, “Today I choose to release my limiting beliefs and stay positive about my finances.” Then, if a self-sabotaging message pops up, recognize it for what it is. Let it go.
Step Three: Forgive. Our fearful mind loves to compare. When you perceive your finances as better than or worse than someone else's, you're creating a negative dynamic within the relationship—and in your earning capacity. So throw down an F bomb and forgive. Forgiveness will clear space to receive clarity and more ~ing.
If "spending money to make money" has never made sense to you, consider the return on investing in a virtual assistant. Hiring someone who can handle your backlog of scheduling, research or administrative tasks, can free you up to maximize your income potential, whether you're an entrepreneur or fully employed.
Not all debt is bad. Good debt means you are able to borrow money and repay it on time.This way you are able to
build up a good credit record which enables you to borrow in the future.
On the other hand, bad debt means you take out a loan, but are unable to repay on time and you don't have enough money to live on. If your credit record shows that you did not repay on time it will be difficult to borrow in the future.
This blog entry has been contributed by Courtney Carroll from Financial FitnessDuring the past several weeks I have shared with you my thoughts regarding 4 key strategies for setting you on a path to Financial Fitness. Today I would like to share with you the 5th strategy for living a more purposeful life. The 5th strategy to be explored and incorporated in your plan is Charity. Charity begins at home, we have often heard that. This strategy is often overlooked by those who are living pay check to pay check because they fear that giving will leave them with very little for themselves. Unfortunately they do not understand the universal law that there is more than enough to go around and that those who give shall receive. Even in the good book (the bible) it is written that it is better to give than receive and that when you give your rewards will be multiplied ten fold. Imagine the following scenario, a man has within his grasp $20.00 and he could share a portion of this $20.00 with others who are also in need but instead he clutches to that $20.00. The unfortunate reality is that unless he is willing to open his hands and share what he has no more will come to that closed fist. And so it is with charity, in order to receive you must open your hands and give willing to others. By doing so, you set the stage for more to be returned to your hands. The wealthy in society have been doing this for years. In fact many of them give 10% if not more to worthy charities all over the world. They understand the universal law and give willingly, knowing that by giving they will be blessed and rewarded accordingly. Now giving doesn’t always mean giving your money. Money is only one aspect of what is meant by charity. For many of us our most precious resource is our time, so giving back to your community by volunteering in a senior’s home, working with children in a group home or giving back to your school community are all aspects of giving and it is your time. What is your time worth? Maybe you have a dollar value of $50.00 an hour for your time. Well if you multiply that dollar value by the number of hours you volunteer per week that is the monetary equivalent of what you are contributing. So giving does not have to be physical dollars, it can be time. One of the blessings that come from giving is that you never know whose life will benefit from your charity. You get the opportunity to touch countless lives through your selfless acts of kindness. In order for you to be truly blessed and live a Financially Fit life you must become a willing giver to those in need.
According to the CD Howe Institute, Canada is unlikely to see a “massive wave of defaults” in the housing market as the market cools.
The report comes day after the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a report saying six Canadian cities – Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal – were due for a correction because prices have increased beyond what’s justified by the broader economy.
“A comparison of housing market policies in Canada versus the U.S., however, suggests that there is little likelihood of a U.S.-style surge in foreclosures or a collapse of house prices in Canada.”
He said a decline in underwriting standards was key to the dramatic bust in the United States, which saw prices plummet up to 50 per cent in the last three years in some markets. Although both countries have kept interest rates at historic lows, regulations regarding who could get in on the market differed significantly.
“During the U.S. housing boom, both private insurers and government-sponsored enterprises facilitated looser underwriting standards by increasing their exposure to high-risk mortgage products such as low-documentation, interest-only and adjustable rate mortgages,” he said.
“This buildup was a key factor in the U.S. housing market crash, since when house price appreciation slowed (and then reversed) many borrowers found themselves unable to meet their monthly mortgage bills or to rely on higher prices to refinance. The resulting rapid rise in foreclosures, in turn, seems to have played a role in driving the large decline in U.S. house prices since 2006.”
Canadian officials didn’t give in to the temptation to ease qualification criteria, he said, which means fewer homeowners should find themselves in a position where they can’t pay to keep their homes. Indeed, after a short period of looser standards from 2003-2006, the government clamped down and forbade zero-per-cent-down mortgages with amortization periods longer than 35 years.
It further tightened standards this year, insisting buyers qualify for mortgages at the five-year rate instead of the lower variable rate, and insisting on higher down payments for investment properties.
“Canadian housing policies, which avoided the sharp decline in underwriting standards seen in the U.S., worked well in reducing the possibility of a housing bust in Canada during 2008-2009, and continue to mitigate the risk of a massive wave of defaults in the future,” he wrote.
“To the extent that current policies impose on taxpayers a significant exposure to mortgage insurance guarantees and, therefore, some of the aggregate risk of a decline in housing prices, it will be in the interest of all Canadians if policy makers recall the lessons of the 2008-2009 experience should pressures to relax underwriting standards reoccur in the future.”
A retreat is simply a block of time set aside to focus solely on you. The goal of a retreat is to get your life as on track as you can possibly get it.
Usually, this means focusing in on a particular area of your life that feels out of whack, determining what exactly you can do in your own life to fix it, and coming up with a specific plan for achieving that. It also means refreshing and renewing yourself so that you can actually attack that specific plan that you’ve developed.
A weekend works really well for this. The time spent between Friday afternoon and Monday morning includes two full days and three full nights of sleep, which provides plenty of time to think about goals, refresh yourself, and move on from there. A three day weekend is a great time for this because the third day of the weekend is perfectly left for the first steps towards implementing your new goals.
Many Real Estate Investors have been flocking to Windsor for some amazing real estate investment deals that provide good cash flow. Here are some reasons why investors should consider Windsor. - Windsor was rated number 1 best overall small city in North America to invest by the Financial Times of London.
- Windsor- built Ford engines power the best selling truck in North America - the Ford F Series.
- The Chrysler plant has been moving full speed ahead with 3 shifts, 6 days per week
- "Birth of an industry". A major solar panel plant is being built on a 300-acre site.
- $500 million investment to upgrade Caesars Windsor.
- Ford engine plant in Windsor has been awarded the future "green engines" status which should keep many people employed for a long time.
- $133 million approved for infrastructure projects
- $230 million approved for education infrastructure
- New medical school to be built at a cost of $28 million.
- New border crossing and highway expansion investment of $5 billion will create 25,000 jobs.
- Windsor no longer depends on the auto industry. New infrastructure investments mean that there is going to be a building boom and the price of real estate will rise!
Here are some examples of investment properties currently for sale: - 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garag, finished basement - $82,900
- Bungalow, 2 bedrooms, full basement, close to university - $52,500
- Large duplex, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, close to university - $149,000
- 2 bedroom bungalow, 2 bathrooms, deep garage, $650 per month rental - $75,000
If you measure the success of your life by what other people think of you, you will never get ahead and never be happy. There will always be someone else to impress or some other tool to win their fleeting awe. It all passes.
When you realize that the fleeting awe that others give you really doesn’t matter much at all and that what really matters is you and becoming the best possible person you can be, personal finance often snaps right in place in this kind of complete life.
Take control of your life. Figure out what you want, set your own goals, and use your money as a tool to put you where you want to be. Stop wasting time and money on what other people think.
The things you’re passionate about are the things that you can dump tons of time into while still deeply enjoying yourself. If you can channel that into earning income in some way, you’re far ahead of the career game.
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