September 12, 2010
Filed under: Money and You — Gloria and Alpha @ 1:00 am
Let’s take managing money back to its most basic concepts. In a previous post we looked at Your Inherited View of Money. You need to consider this when you learn about money from now on, as it might be clouding your education.
At its most fundamental, in order to grow your reserves of money, you shouldn’t spend more than you earn. This is a basic concept and if all else fails, will always mean that you end up with more than you started with.
We are all creatures of habit. If you are constantly in debt and feel as though money is a struggle, take a look at your past 3 months of incomings and outgoings. Do you see a pattern forming?
There is always something that comes up and unless you make the conscious decision to break the pattern, it will keep repeating itself. This is closely linked to your view of money that you learned as a child.
This is not to say that you need to go into analysis paralysis with every financial decision that you make. Just be aware that there may be a pattern, and as soon as you become aware of it and realise you are in control of changing the situation, you have more power than you started out with.
Again, at the basic level, think about how easy it is to spend money. Also, credit cards make it so easy to buy everything we want now, without thinking about whether we could have waited until we really had the money to buy the item.
It’s natural to be impatient and want something straight away, but believe it or not, you will actually value the item more if you wait until you can actually afford it outright.
This is all commonsense, but it’s good to be reminded sometimes…
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September 5, 2010
Filed under: Money and You — Gloria and Alpha @ 1:00 am
Your state of mind is an incredibly important part of how you view yourself and the actions you take as a result. It becomes a vicious cycle if you’re in debt and don’t want to be. It can wreak havoc with your feeling of self worth, which can in turn lead to more debt.
Guilt and regret belong in the past – leave them there. What’s done is done.
T Harv Ecker, in his book “Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, says, “The fact is that your character, your thinking and your beliefs are a critical part of what determines the level of your success”.
If you’re in a position that you don’t want to be, find role models you are, and learn from them. There are so many great people out there – learn from their triumphs and challenging experiences (they have all had them). Their stories are fascinating, and it will show you what’s really possible, and the mindset it took to get there.
We all have a money mindset and as with everything, we can determine what our mindset is – it’s not always easy, but it can be done if you truly want it.
One of my favourite stories in this arena is Richard Branson’s “Business Stripped Bare”. While not directly related to debt reduction, it goes through what process Mr Branson went through in order to build the Virgin businesses into what they are today.
Donald Trump is another worthwhile source of information. He built a business empire, only to over-extend himself with debt and lose it all, and then some. He not only recovered from this, he is even more wealthy than before. These are the people to watch and learn from.
For truly mind changing concepts, pick up a copy of Napoleon Hill’s classic “Think And Grow Rich”. While the language is a product of the time the book was written in (1937), the messages contained within this book are powerful.
Here is an important sentence from this book, which I want you to really think about:
“The turning point in the lives of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis, through which they are introduced to their “other selves””.
If you’re experiencing a period of crisis, what “other self” will you find?
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August 1, 2010
Filed under: Money and You — Gloria and Alpha @ 12:04 am
Money means something different to everyone. What money can provide for you depends on your values and expectations.
Let’s have a look at some common phrases that appear in our daily lives, which provide an insight into how we view money:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees”
“The love of money is the route of all evil”
“Money isn’t everything”
Now, considering we all want, and need, money, yet are brought up hearing these phrases, no wonder we get ourselves in a subconscious twist and often self-sabotage our chances of becoming wealthy.
If you can relate to any of the quotes above, then I highly recommend you read Paul Zane Pilzer’s book, “God Wants You To Be Rich: How And Why Everyone Can Enjoy Material And Spiritual Wealth In Our Abundant World”. Paul Zane Pilzer is an Economist, and this book will definitely shake up any pre-conceived limiting ideas that you have about money and wealth. It’s a very easy read. It really should be a must-read for everyone who is in a profession where they make financial decisions, for example, politicians
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July 27, 2010
Filed under: Money and You — Gloria and Alpha @ 11:58 pm
Money makes obtaining what we need to survive easier. If we strip our survival needs right back, our core need is water and food (in that order).
Now, if you live in a first world country, you’re already ahead of the game. Obtaining basics like food and water is relatively easy, depending on your circumstances. Even so, there most major cities have soup kitchens.
The concept of exchanging something for “money” is a relatively new concept. Previously, people bartered goods they produced for things they didn’t, or couldn’t produce. Even a live animal was used as ‘money’. There are still parts of countries today that count in the number of camels, cows and other animals that something can be bought with.
The earliest record of ‘money’ came in about 3,000 BC, when gold bars were weighed to measure their value, in Egypt and Mesopotamia (parts today known as Iraq). Now, that may sound a long time ago, but if you think how far back human civilisation is recorded on earth, 5,000 years ago, isn’t that long ago.
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