Two Is Better Than One

Finances are so much easier when everyone is on the same boat. Too many times there are personality conflicts that prevent the cohesiveness needed to run a successful budget such as one person being the saver and the other person is the spender. Yet when these two personality conflicts are able to come together there can be some financial harmony. The more and more that my wife and I dive into getting our finances back under control the more we realize that too many times people worry way too much.

Think about all the things that we, humans, worry about and how many times over those things we worry about actually never come to fruit. With that said there are many reasons that people give as to why they cannot start their budget today yet truly nothing is a good excuse. It is because of that mentality that we are getting our budget strategically in place so we can change the way we are living. It’s easier said than done especially when you claim that you’re going to live like no one else so eventually you can live like no one else.

More to come on this thought process and an update on the budget and goals.

Focus Upon The End Result

So the more and more that I start to focus in on this financial fitness mumbo jumbo the more that I realize there are a ton of people (just like me) who are financially out-of-shape yet try to appear as if they are financially fit. Whether it be the neighbor down the street or the stranger in the grocery store the fact is there are more and more people trying to live up to the Jones’ expectations.

Sadly though I understand that the Jones’ and my expectations are going to be two totally different concepts. To be honest with you it sucks trying to save money. It is so much easier to keep blowing money but I’d rather not have fun and reap the benefits of saving money than have to deal with the stresses of having more month than money left.

In just a few days I will be celebrating Thirty-One years of being on this earth and sadly for almost all of those years I have been held captive to the slavery of debt. Now I am hoping to break through these chains with a fierceness that will leave the debt trembling into oblivion. The focus needs to be positive and needs to hone in on the baby steps of Dave Ramsey’s program. The very first thing we are going to have to concentrate upon is going to be obtaining $1,000 in our emergency fund to get past baby step one.

Now with that said in the next couple of days it is imperative that my family and I sit down and map out the dreaded budget. It is all about trying to find the right budget though because it cannot be too tough (get discouraged and quit) and not be too loose (not make any traction). If you are where I am, or have been where I am, or you are going to be getting at my starting point….feel free to voice your opinion here.

Weaving the Web

It is amazing to me how easy it is to fall off the wagon of life. When I mention this wagon of life you can almost insert any word pertaining to that wagon. Whether it be working out, living on a budget, eating right, doing better at work, whatever that list might pertain the fact is it is easier to go back to slacker ways than to keep moving forward. I cannot but chuckle to myself as I looked on this site to realize that my last post for this site was almost one year ago. In fact it was 10 months ago the last time that I thought to myself I want to get back on my budget.

Truth be told I am not alone in my battle against debt. Let me take that back, I am not alone in my personal war on debt. So I am hopping on the wagon again and this time I am hoping that I can maintain my focus on slimming down my debt as well as slimming down my waistline. I love the lay out of my site here and I have decided to use this as my thoughts on everyday life. I am sure that we will laugh together, we will cry together, maybe disagree with each other, but one things for sure I plan on expressing my ideas and my goal in 2012 is to be able to claim that I am, “Debt Free!” I have made the mistake in the past of falling off the wagon and to be honest I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

I’m taking the financial challenge in Twenty Twelve to becoming more financially fit as well as physically fit and this is going to be my stomping ground in doing so. Also I plan on setting the stage here as I grow as a Christian. Like I said this is going to be a mixture of all things in my life because I cannot grow in one area without growing in others. Here’s my spiderweb, let’s weave this web together!

A New Adventure

After starting and stopping then starting and stopping again my wife and I have finally decided to make a solid push to the gazelle intensity of being debt-free.  In fact with the way we have our finances set up we should complete the first baby step (saving $1,000 as an emergency fund) by the 8^th of April.  At that point in time we will be looking at our snowball and what we can do to make the debt decrease to where it is nil.

We’ve also started considering and have decided to partake in a home-based business for my wife of selling jewelry.  There’s an initial upfront investment but we have several friends of the family who have been able to make a steady profit from the business.  One of these individuals grosses a monthly income of $15,000 per month from the line of work and I must admit I was skeptical at first until I saw the numbers myself.

With that said these people do not treat this business as a part-time job but attack it as a passion to do well.  Now does everyone make this kind of money per month?  The answer is simply no but I do believe a person will reap the benefits of what they sow.  Ideally I would like to build the business up to about $8,000 per month.  I figure this would be a solid way to change the rest of our lives.  With that kind of money coming in would mean that my focus on employment would turn to this line of work.  I expect to get to this level would take us some where between 6-8 years of steadily pushing the business.

I think to myself what we could do with this amount of money and if we take the Dave Ramsey method of living simple I can only imagine the amount of money we could put back.  I understand it doesn’t hurt dreaming but I am bound and determine to make this a success.  I would love to be able to stay-at-home with my wife and master this business working it daily together.  Only time will tell but I must admit I am excited to get started!

We Hold The Key To OUR Destiny

I love the fact that I control my own destiny. The decisions we make today affect the circumstances of tomorrow. Our society in the U.S., throughout the world will never see everyone try to reach their potential. Never. Look around now and I’m sure you can name several people who are fine with barely getting by and not interested in bettering their situation. I know people like this and I know you do too. If everyone became exceptional then the next step would be to raise the bar.

Look around at the horse and buggy industry, it’s been put out of business by people who raised the bar higher and developed a better system known as the automobile. Look at the advancements in that industry seems to me the exceptionable accomplishments keep getting higher. This is one example but when you reach one plateau start going towards the next. People fail to be exceptional by becoming content with where they’re presently at.

Again a person will never be self sufficient waiting on other people to provide for them. What’s it teach? Depend upon others to get what you want? It’s just not my view of the world and everything that I have is because I have earned it. At the end of the day no one can take that away from me. I’m proud of what I have accomplished and I have had obstacles that I had to endure earlier in life that prepared me for the future.

Student Loan Debt Overtakes Credit Card Debt

I’m thinking back to a post that I wrote in December of last year about the excuses people make regarding student loans.  Almost 11 months later and I am still just as puzzled today as I was back then as to why people continue to make excuses as to why they cannot pay back on their educational loans.  I think the biggest reasoning is that too many people want to be the victim when it comes to dealing with their student loans.  The victim, are you serious?

Recently there was an article that came out detailing how student loans have now taken over as the largest debt owed in our country as $830 billion goes to student loan debt with $825 billion being that of credit card debt.  A person has to wonder truly what the big deal is as our society has turned to one where it is important to get an education.  If we traveled back in time 40 years ago the ideology of going to college was a luxury as it was not uncommon to land a good job with just a high school education.

Flash forward to the times of today and in this economy it is crucial in having a degree to be able to land good employment.  I’ve been approached in the past by parents telling me how their children are over qualified to work at McDonald’s, or any other fast food restaurant.  I cannot believe that parents are so naïve that they would actually believe this.  Any time I have needed a second job I have been able to walk into a fast food establishment and land a job shortly after completing the application.  For these parents believing their kids that they (the kids) are overqualified is completely asinine.

The problem with our country is that nobody wants to step up to the plate and take ownership for their actions.  Not too long ago a college professor shot up her department heads during a meeting and defense attorneys were quick to call insanity.  This is yet another case where people are too afraid to admit their actions.  The beds we sleep in today are from what we made yesterday and the beds we’ll sleep in tomorrow are being made today. 

Even though student loans may be a larger debt in America than credit cards the difference is the advantages given by having the degree.  Failing to pay a student loan back is part of the instant-gratification attitude of those graduating today.  Amazing how no one wants to pay their bills compared to the days of our grandparents.  What will the future of this country look like as these people become the leaders of tomorrow?

Trying to increase my focus

I have been reading a book, The Noticer, as I have been on vacation this week and there was one sentence that has captured my attention.  These words went something like this, “…Whatever you focus upon, increases.” (p. 13).  This got me to thinking about how too often I know I focus on what I don’t have.  I don’t have enough money, I don’t have enough time, and I don’t have enough fill in the blank.

This all goes back to the thought process which I have mentioned before.  At this point in time I am starting to question whether the happiness that I am seeking is from the state-of-mind that I will be in.  Everything is actually kind of confusing as right now I seem to be suffering from brain overload in trying to decipher this or that.  Anyone with insight I look forward to your comments.

My Passions:

Family: My goal is to be able to provide for my immediate family.  The idea being that when I find out what it is that I want to be career wise then I will be able to reach a greater fulfillment to the ones that I love.  Ideally I would like to be able to be there for my family at a drop of a hat and the last thing that I want to do is look back on my life with regrets.

Technology: This passion stems from tinkering with computers, building databases, to utilizing the Internet.  I am fascinated with this realm and I understand there are stable companies within the computer repair market.  There must be some kind of market share that has not been tapped (as of yet) that I can cross over into.

Politics: I have my political views and let’s just say I find a passion in writing about current events.

Religion: This has not always been a strong passion of mine but the more I am immersed in the readings of the Bible the more I realize the path I need to take.  I have my religious beliefs and there is no influence in to changing my mind away from my savior, Jesus Christ.

Sales: This is a money maker for me (no pun intended).  I am very comfortable with building a rapport with others in establishing a solid trust base.  In the present and past I have had extreme success on the sales side.  I wonder what it would be like to dabble into the commission side of sales but if you go back to passion number 1 there are 3 other people depending upon my earnings.

Spanish: Even though many people will disagree with this the fact remains the United States of America is going away from an English-only speaking country to a wide array of languages being heard from coast-to-coast.  My love of the language is high and I have a general knowledge of the language but I know that I need to step up my study habits and immerse myself more into learning the language.  I know that the better my understanding of Spanish is the more opportunities will open as knowledge is power.  This power will open many doorways to regions of success unknown to me before.

Listening to the inner-child within us

What do I want to do when I grow up?  This is a common question that we pose to children on a frequent basis.  The answers vary and if you were to ask my children what they wanted to be when they grow up the answers too would vary from being Dora the Explorer, a Princess, a Mermaid, to even being a mommy.  When the answers are given though the common phrase is based around the ideology that a kid can be whatever it is they want to be when they grow up.

How far is this from the truth?  The older I get the farther away from what I wanted to be when I was kid I become.  With age comes a sense of reality and that reality is that bills need to be paid, food needs to be on the table, and the American dream will always be just that…a dream.  What causes us to go from believing in our children to suddenly stifling out and killing their childhood dreams?

Now granted there are certain responsibilities that we take on as adults in trying to make it through the day-to-day grind.  Simply put more Americans are merely trying to survive than live out their dream of what they want to be when they grow up.  Instead of being a doctor kids take the easier road and become a business major.  Instead of being a nurse kids decide to be secretaries.  At some point in time we go from believing in the impossible to living for the path of least resistance.

My goal is stop that cycle within my own life.  I’m here to dig deep and find out what that dream was of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Now granted I know what my responses were in the past but I now understand throwing a baseball 110 mph on a major league field is not feasible.  What I need to do is find out who I am, what my dreams are, and how I can amply apply my abilities to living out my dream.  It sounds simple.  I understand where I’m at right now and I know the end destination that I want but the hard part is going to be finding my way from point A to point B.  In discovering my inner ambitions I expect to find out more about who I truly am.  I expect to learn more about what motivates me, what excites me, what I am truly passionate about.  In doing all of this I expect to find the answer to the common question of what I want to do when I grow up.  When I get where I’m going I am positive there will be a “new” me living the life I have always wanted.  I’ll finally being living the life I dreamed about, finally living the life I was destined for.

Thinking out loud

I believe that I have a lot of great ideas but too often is the case that I do not allow my ideas, visions or dreams to come to fruit.  I believe this is the case with most people and I have to wonder what it is that allows for others to go from ordinary to extraordinary.  A person could contemplate this and contemplate this, toggle thought after thought through their mind and not come up with a conclusion.

To me though I think the answer is relatively simple in that too often we do not allow ourselves the personal time to enable our minds to dictate our future.  Too often we tend to think in a negative manner of how that job promotion will not occur, or I will not be able to accomplish this feat, or that feat, and the biggest factor is we tend to worry too much about things that are beyond our control.  I’ve heard the saying of, “90% of the things I worry about do not occur.”  How true this statement is in my life and I’m sure it is for you as well.

I’m here to make a difference in my life and it begins with this blog.  My idea or thought process behind this is to enable my thoughts to be written down.  I’m not talking about thoughts such as what’s for dinner, what time does the game come on.  No, I’m not talking about useless thoughts.  I am speaking about processes that we allow me the opportunity to go from ordinary to extraordinary in all facets of life.  Who knows maybe along the journey you have personal testimonies about yourself or someone that you know that can help get me over a hump, through the woods, to Victory I come.  I look forward to the ride and to the path traveled by few.  Sit back, relax, and let’s take this journey together.