Humbling Time Period Constructing Site

There is nothing more humbling than updating a web site and realizing that the road you were previously on was much better than the path you are currently taking. There was a time in which we had such vigor when it came to our bills, finances and savings. Sadly though it is a wakeup call as I look at the rising amount of debt that my family and I have accumulated and man do we have a task at hand. Now granted where we are sitting is not nearly as bad as what others may be dealing with so this is definitely something that I am thankful for.

I have updated the Debt Snowball with the most accurate information I have and believe it is pretty reliable. Now with all that said our debt comes in just a little over $88,000 with no money in savings, living paycheck-to-paycheck and that buck stops here. No more am I going to be stuck where we’ve been and the time is now.

Can you feel the motivation? Can you since the excitement in my voice? I look forward to being able to successfully sign off on the $1,000 Emergency Fund. I am ready to be done with the first baby step as we’ve been here before. Now though I must concentrate upon getting from zero to one thousand and as stated before….energy flows where attention goes. $1,000….here we come baby!

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.

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?

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.

Taking Can’t Out of the Vocabulary

In surfing the Internet over the past couple of days I have been searching.  Searching for people who are in debt and instead of making excuses they are actually doing something about it.  I recently came across an individual who is unemployed, stated he owes more than $60,000 in student loans and cannot get on at McDonalds.  I find this hard to believe.  This person said he is waiting on a call back, waiting to hear from them, and I believe he is waiting and holding on to the same excuses.

Yes the job market is down.  Truthfully it sucks but there are jobs out there.  It is times like these that we are living in that people need to be thankful for having employment and making for damn sure they are doing whatever necessary to stand apart from the other employees.  I work in a production based non-factory atmosphere with a lucrative bonus structure for hitting numbers and exceeding budgets.  Before I was in management my motto as an employee was I was not there for the regular paycheck, I was there to make bonus checks.  This mentality helped me achieve more bonus money and paved the way for the company advancements I have earned.

With that said I have employees who openly admit to being satisfied with the regular paycheck and it’s not that great of money so it’s not like these people are receiving fat paychecks.  The drive and mentality of people are different with each individual spoken to and what motivates me is different than what will motivate you.  I grow increasingly tired of hearing people say they cannot do this or they cannot do that. 

Folks it is time to take the word “Can’t” out of the vocabulary banks.  If a person says they cannot doing something then they will never accomplish the feat unless by pure chance and coincidence.  Show me a person who uses phrases such as “I will”, “I can”, “I have” and I’ll show you someone who is more likely to be successful than the person who constantly gives up.

As for that $60,000 person in debt who cannot get a job even at McDonalds I have to call bull shit.  Jobs are out there it takes being proactive not reactive and sometimes we have to do jobs that are below us.  Until you have done everything in your power and exhausted all options do not say “I can’t get a job” be honest with yourself and everyone else and say the real reason, “I don’t want to work at XYZ place.”

Do you fail to plan or plan to win?

I came across an interesting article by Zig Ziglar today in regards to the tendencies of individuals in sales organizations.  According to the findings of Mr. Ziglar the top sales people are seated at or very close to the front while the bottom-feeders tend to arrive late or at the last moment and unprepared.  In the article he notes these low-producing people are also the ones who most likely squirm in their seats, leave early or talk to the person next to them.

He goes on to mention a great point.  These bottom-feeders are typically the same people who arrive at an athletic or entertainment event wanting the best seat in the house.  Generally arriving in plenty of time and are irritated when there are distractions from anyone else.

This is my friend sounds to me like a Piker who is someone who holds back, looking forward to vacation time and giving very little effort at work.  In my line of work I have one person that comes to mind while I was reading Ziglar’s post.  In fact most recently he was talking about his recent trip to a professional sporting event, how the tailgating before the game was fun, how he was drunk 3 hours before the game, the annoying person in front of him, and then the after-game party.  All of this coming from the same person who shows up 1-3 minutes before his scheduled shift and he wonders why he is having a hard time producing.

I cannot help but chuckle out loud as to how right Zig Ziglar is on this.  The individuals at my work who are successful have two things in common.  They do whatever it takes, every time.  They are the people who sit in the front, who continuously want to learn, unlike the above-mentioned individual, they show up early to meetings and generally are the last people to leave.  I leave you with the closing comments from the article:

“In short, these people are winners because they plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.  That’s a good approach to life.  Try it and I’LL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!”  

Ms. Shuster The Piker

What could you do with $100,000? What could you do if that $100,000 only required you write an essay containing 480 words and was written at Microsoft Word readability statistics of grade 10.6? Well I would think this would be a really good accomplishment especially if you beat out 40,000 other hopefuls. Chances are you might go to a local community college, a 4 year state school or in the case of Yelena Shuster you would go to Columbia University.

That’s right you would take your $100,000 attend a phenomenal school in the Eastern United States receive your degree and then bitch blog about how horrible it is to have an Ivy League education and unemployed.  I think back to the thousands of people that I have met throughout my high school and collegiate days and I cannot help but ponder what they would have been able to accomplish with that extra $100,000 just laying around.

This goes back to the issue I have of people and money and now with student loans. This individual won $100,000, she won an amount from an essay that sadly some people in our country will never at one instance in their life see yet she has the audacity to write about how bad it is to be her. Cry me a river especially when you come into the fortunate opportunity Ms. Shuster had. I have no respect for her and sadly she and I are from the same generation pool but the difference is I know how to pull myself up by the bootstraps.

Hey I just checked out the stats for my post, over 250+ words and written with a readability statistic of 12.0, this should be good enough for $60,000, right? Wrong. To the people like Ms. Shuster get over yourself and when you do that get a j-o-b. She, like many others, need to realize that she chose her education and her future is from the decisions she makes today. Maybe if she would spend more time focusing on getting a job and less time on blogging she could turn her blog title to Ivy League and employed dot com.  Just a thought. 

$100,000 Victory

Savior Obama Keeps Trying To Get It Right

Savior Barack Obama and his administration have planned new efforts on battling foreclosures and helping people remain in their homes. The objective is to increase the rate at which troubled home loans are converted into new loans with lower monthly payments. I can hear the people singing and dancing in the streets right now how they taught the government a lesson.

What that lesson is I am not for sure but I have continuously heard people say if I can’t pay my bills then President Obama will help me out. I was watching a local news station and a woman proudly announced, “President Obama will help me with my mortgage.” I couldn’t help but think to myself are you crazy? Are you that nut? 

My parents taught me that it takes responsibility to live an achieving life. Stay within your means, do not rely upon credit cards, pay cash were common methods my dad wanted to instill in me. So my entire thought philosophy goes against what Savior Obama is preaching.

Somebody help me understand as he is rewarding bad behavior. Oh YOU took out a loan that YOU couldn’t afford and YOU expect the government to help YOU out. There are tons of excuses from predatory lending to unemployment but what about the people who are paying their bills? What about the people who have done whatever it takes to make sure their necessities and creditors are paid? Obama forgets about them because it’s easier for many people to ask for a handout than to pull themselves up by the boot strap. What’s Obama get out of this? It’s not being a Savior but his reward comes at the ballot booths in votes. The more he gives away the more likely he is to lock up more votes even though he hasn’t accomplished truly anything in the near year he has been in office.