Jul 17, 2019 | Financial Management 101
In a world where tech advances have in many cases, made life easier than our parents and grandparents time. Why is it that for some of us, we are less content and happy with what we have – than previous generations?
I was scrolling on LinkedIn the other night or should I say morning and thought how so many of us are all vying for a piece of the pie. The pie that enables us to pay our bills, grow our business and build on long term wealth.
It was the early hours at 2 am that I sat at my desk wondering why.
I was supposed to be sleeping but wasn’t because my brain was overloaded with thoughts on how I can impact and help so many people who, on the surface appear to be doing well, but are not and are struggling financially.
Struggling to get ahead, trying to make ends meet and longing for more financial freedom.
Now I’m not talking about the kind of freedom that few achieve from massive wealth like Tony Robbins, Bill Gates or the Richards Branson’s of the world!
I’m talking about the financial freedom you get from not having to worry about mortgage repayments or even having a mortgage at all.
It’s the freedom of never having to worry about how you’re going to make your money stretch further and the freedom of not having to worry about money on a day to day basis.
That’s the kind of financial freedom I believe most are striving for.
There are many possible reasons why so many are financially struggling…
Here’s my top 3:
- The obvious one is spending more than is earned.
- From extensive personal debt that never seems to get paid off, and
- Keeping up with those more fortunate or “keeping up with the Joneses” as the old saying goes.
Spending big on personal debt, whether trying to keep up with others or not and thinking you’ve got it covered at the end of the month (when you don’t) is a disaster resulting in crippling interest repayments.
I do feel we’ve lost some of the basic money management skills and fundamentals in how to work money to our advantage.
We don’t plan and save money. We think the good times are going to keep rolling on.
The problem with this mentality is that when an unexpected interruption comes along, whether it be a relationship breakdown, loss of income or our health is under pressure, we’re just not prepared and this has an enormous impact on our financial wellbeing.
Without the foundations in place when things go pear-shaped, as they do from time to time. Not having a money safety net to catch you and take the pressure off while you get back on your feet, can become very stressful.
There’s no denying it that people are doing it tough today.
I speak regularly with individuals, businesses owners, tradies and other professionals who are all looking for the same thing.
They want to get ahead, take the pressure off worrying about money coming in and just have more fun in life.
What I’m hearing and seeing is that under the surface people are really struggling.
They’re either doing it really tough feeling overwhelmed and struggling or frustrated and in pure survival mode.
The one thing I do know is that when you have the money foundations set right – it takes enormous pressure off.
Sadly, money stress continues to be the No 1 factor amongst our peers, our friends and our family.
The way to alleviate this stress is to look at financial education and getting the basics down and then building from there.
The start in my opinion to any healthy financial position is first looking at what I call “cash essentials”.
Cash Essentials is about ensuring you are saving and putting an amount every time you get paid or paid for work you do in separate a savings account.
Putting a minimum of 10% into a savings account away from your everyday banking is a forced discipline and if you put this on autopilot the amount you’ve set gets deducted and transferred into this saving account.
It may not feel like much at the start but when you factor in how quickly this can compound and grow you’ll be amazed at what you will have a few short years.
I’m still surprised today that so many do not have a regular savings plan set up.
That’s the first and crucial step to building financial muscle. The second is looking at what you’re spending.
It’s all too easier today to overspend and credit cards were designed that way to help you spend money you probably don’t have.
While we are becoming more and more a cashless society, there is a way you can get back control and that’s by switching from a credit card to a debit card. The debit card acts the same way but you’re only spending what you have and not what you don’t have on credit.
This is an awesome way to ensure you don’t overspend for those tempted to keep pulling out the plastic and losing control over their spending.
These suggestions are just a couple of basics that can be put in place today. However, in the end, it’s up to you and only you if want to live a financially free life.
It’s funny how we always find the money when it’s something we want and this is why we are a nation of spenders and not savers now.
If you’re serious about becoming financially free there’s an awesome resource available at “How to Keto Your Money” a 21-day kick start money program design to get you and your money is shape as quickly as possible.
Head over to How To Keto Your Money to find out more.
Apr 12, 2019 | Podcast
Hi it’s great to see you here.
Today I’m going to share with you my top 10 tips on how you can spend less without feeling like you are missing out.
There are so many ways you can put more money back into your pocket whist spending less money and without having to cut costs or stick to a budget that most of us struggle to work with.
The ten but not exhaustive tips I’m sharing in this podcast – I trust will give you some inspiration on how you can look at ways to spend less and start feeling good about the way you can manage money better.
Where are the ways you could spend less while enjoying more money in your pocket? Leave me a comment and let me know if you enjoyed this podcast.
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Here are the resources mentioned in this episode:
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Apr 2, 2019 | Podcast
Hi and welcome back.
Wow it’s been a while since I’ve recorded a podcast – my apologises.
I recently had someone ask hey where are your podcasts I’ve missed them. Actually I didn’t know anyone was listening as nobody seems to comment, which doesn’t surprise me but would be nice every now and then to know someone is listening.
Well I put on hold recording while I was finishing off writing some courses that I’ve released this year. So I’m back into recording and I hope you continue to enjoy.
In this episode podcast 003 I’ve decided to share my thoughts on happiness.
Why, because everybody wants to be happy – but very few people know how to achieve it in their life.
This is a tough subject because there are so many factors that inhibit us from truly being happy. One that appears a lot is a lack of money and the other is we’re too busy being busy that we’re not stopping to see what’s going on around us and then making the changes we need to bring more happiness and joy in our life.
In this podcast, I’m going to share how the little things can bring more happiness if you allow them – so I hope you enjoy.
SUBSCRIBE to hear more tips and information on areas relating to financial and mindset and leave a comment on what areas of your life stresses you out the most.
Here are some resources to support you in your journey for happiness:
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Oct 10, 2018 | Financial Management 101
What Is Financial Muscle!
A little while ago someone said to me what’s this thing you keep talking about financial muscle – it doesn’t make any sense. That’s probably because I’ve coined the phase “building financial muscle”. So here’s snapshot of what it means to have financial muscle!
So financial muscle is about building strength in your finances and it’s also about building mental stamina, as well as, ensuring your money is working for you and not for some credit company or banking institutions benefit.
It means that in a time of emergency you can pull on money reserves to get you out of a bind.
Having financial muscle is about taking the worry out of unexpected things that can go wrong and often do.
Financial muscle is also about knowing you’ve got this covered – you’ve money behind you and that’s giving you greater peace of mind.
It means you can enjoy more out of life without any added financial stress and worry.
I believe we all want the same things out of life.
We all want prosperity & happiness.
We want to live a life free from stress.
And we want to live a full life – filled with many adventures and the freedom to do what we choose.
The problem I see it is that today people are being burdened down with a massive amount of stress in their life.
Some – if not a lot – of the stress is caused by financial issues.
If you take a look again at this diagram you’ll see that when you don’t have financial muscle – it means you don’t have money working to your advantage.
If this is the case then you’re probably struggling and feeling very overwhelmed.
When this occurs it usually means you’re either spending everything you earn with nothing much left over.
Your relationships are probably suffering and you’re stressed out and if you’re not careful your health will start to suffer.
If you’re not quite at the bottom but feeling like you’re just surviving – by managing to pay your bills. I’m guessing you’re frustrated and possibly feeling angry and annoyed, no doubt still stressed out that your money isn’t working the way you want it to be.
In a recent study done by the Australian Psychology Society’s stress and wellbeing survey – financial issues continue to be the number 1 stress for people.
Today, there is not just one income earner but two in most households.
Families in general have more money coming in today than previous generations – and on the surface, things look really great.
However, we know there are more divorces today than ever before and the average family is looking a lot different now than from a few years ago.
When did we decide that we would give up so much of our core values in order to have the material things that give us the appearance of living a happier fulfilled life but in reality are not!
People are now slowly starting to question things like is it worth really getting into so much debt and buying stuff to impress people that we don’t even like? The onset of this is causing them to suffer in the process.
People are looking for options and want the best out of life without sacrificing their core values and principles.
You see…
“It’s not how much money we earn. It’s our ability to manage our money that can make the difference”!
Regardless of where you might be right now – invest some time into obtaining more financial knowledge that will lead to you making better decisions about your money and life.
This is the first thing you can do to start learning how to build financial muscle.
The second way you can build financial muscle is investing in yourself.
Investing in your belief that you can do it, while earning how to pay yourself first.
You pay yourself first by putting away every pay day a minimum of 10% into an account that you can not touch or access easily with the swipe of an ATM card.
This account should be one that doesn’t have any ongoing monthly fees and gives you the ability to automatically transfer at payday the minimum 10% directly into this account.
Having this on autopilot means you don’t have the think about transferring money and it just gets done.
You’re not going to miss this amount and before you know it you will have built up a sizeable amount of money that can now be used for investing and growing you money further.
Stick to the minimum of 10% until all bad debts like credit cards etc are paid off. Once you’re in a position then look to increase this to 15%.
This is how you build financial muscle.
Did you know that 80% of people are managing their money out of sheer habit with no real understanding why their doing things a certain way.
So often following or listening to someone who is not that knowledgeable in financial matters. Or following “the crowd mentality and subscribing to clever marketing tactics by advertisers” both can be dangerous if you’re not sure what you’re doing.
Managing money requires know-how and understanding on whether its actually good for your own situation. You see we all have different comfort areas and risk tolerances. So check with your financial adviser before embarking on any new investment opportunities to see if they fit your personal investment style.
Research has shown that when people get a handle on their money they end up making making smarter, healthier financial decisions that enable them to live with less stress.
Making changes in this area can be difficult for some than others – and it does require courage and commitment.
But unless people decide to make some major changes, there will be a very difficult future that lies ahead for them.
Obtaining financial education is one thing – having an awesome mindset is another and both go hand in hand for you to achieve a stress free life.
When you start building financial muscle you will find yourself at the top of this diagram. Feeling happy and confident that you are on track to becoming debt free, maybe looking at investment options and overall designing your life the way you want it.
Building financial muscle is about understanding how money works to your advantage so that in the end you can live a financially stress free life.
I hope you now have a better understanding what “Building Financial Muscle” is all about so you can create a stress free life for you and your family.
Until next time…. here’s to you building financial muscle.
Oct 10, 2018 | Podcast
Hi and welcome to podcast episode 003
In this episode I’m going to be sharing how stress maybe shortening your life and why it’s never been more important to get your money in order today.
Stress takes a huge toll on us not only emotionally and physcially but in how we’re living our life. I know myself that when I get stressed my body aches, my patience gets tested and my family suffers a little as they’re not getting the best of me.
In the episode learn how to become better equipped to deal with stress related symptoms so you can improve the way you handle your stress.
SUBSCRIBE to hear more tips and information on areas relating to financial and mindset and leave a comment on what areas of your life stresses you out the most.
Here are the resources mentioned in this episode:
Right-click here and save as to download this episode to your computer.
