Tag Archives: personal finance

More Money: Get Paid to Shop

Income Creation, Spending, , , , ,

Many people are feeling a tight squeeze on their pockets as their spending power decreases in line with the increasing cost of goods and services. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have incomes that automatically adjust to inflation, so it means that what we earn can buy fewer items each month. How can we maintain our standard of living in light of this reality?

To stay on top of rising costs, you need to create a budget plan for the year and track your expenses every month. When you consistently record your actual spending, you will quickly be able to ascertain when your bills start to increase. You can download a budget plan with a monthly tracking spreadsheet at www.financiallysmart.org.

Rebalancing your budget

When the expenditure side of your budget goes up, your first strategy is to try and rebalance it by cutting back on other costs. Apply conservation strategies to reduce your utility bills, plan your driving routes to use less petrol, and make drastic reductions on non-essential expenses such as cable TV, fast-food restaurants and mobile phone calls. Continue reading More Money: Get Paid to Shop →

Budgeting: Get it right, Get it done

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Last week we reviewed Brian Tracy’s best-selling book, Eat That Frog! looking at simple tactics that could help you to take action on your financial resolutions this year. The book’s unusual title is derived from a saying that if the first thing you do each morning is eat a live frog, it would probably be the worst thing that would happen to you for the entire day.

Tracy, a goal achievement expert, explained that your frog is your most important task, “the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it now.” If you immediately tackle your frog every day, it will have a tremendous positive effect on all your goals. Ignoring your frogs will only make it harder to achieve your life’s objectives.

Your ticket to success

One thing you can do right now to change your financial future is to prepare a budget. However, it is probably the one money objective that people procrastinate on the most. Budgeting could definitely be viewed as a big ‘frog’ that you need to eat. It is the foundation to money success; as without the clarity it provides, it will be hard to proceed with your other goals. Continue reading Budgeting: Get it right, Get it done →

How to Become a Goal-Getter

Book Review, Goals, , , , , ,

Last week we discussed the importance of focusing on one major goal at a time instead of attempting to carry out all the items on your money to-do list. The idea is to concentrate your efforts on the activity that would have the biggest impact on your finances right now. By breaking down that task into smaller steps and doing something every day, you would be more likely to succeed.

As simple as this plan sounds, I know that it can be difficult to stay on track when distractions and disappointments come our way. When it comes to goal achievement, it really is a case of ‘easier said then done.’ If you want to make the most out of 2013, you need to learn some practical strategies to help you persevere and press on until you accomplish all your objectives.

Don’t kill your dreams

To become an effective goal getter, you will need to overcome one of the biggest dream defeaters that prevents people from actualising their plans. Victor Kiam got it right when he declared that “procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin,” as many dreams die a slow and painful death simply because persons failed to take action on them. Continue reading How to Become a Goal-Getter →

Money Mission: Just Do It!

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It’s the beginning of a new year, and like most people, you may have prepared a list of things that you want to accomplish for 2013. Whether you hope to get fit, lose weight, save more money, read a book each month or spend less time on Facebook, you probably have a strong desire to finally see your plans through to completion this time.

The reality is that the success rate for keeping New Year’s resolutions is usually very low for many persons. Despite our best wishes and firm declarations of change, somehow it is just easier to continue along the familiar highway of ‘same-old, same-old’ than to traverse the often challenging pathway that leads to progress.

If you are one of those faithful readers who have followed my column for almost seven years, you might have seen me confess my own limitations with following through on important tasks. In the past, there have been several missed opportunities and projects that have been left undone, because of my lack of courage, determination, or patience. Continue reading Money Mission: Just Do It! →

2012 Money Mission Review

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This year, we started off on an optimistic note, asserting that it was possible to make 2012 your best financial year ever, despite the challenges that you may have been facing. To guide you along the way, I outlined a Money Manifesto with 12 commitments that were essential if you wished to achieve financial success.

Recognising that many people abandon their new year’s resolutions by the end of January, I thought that it was important for us to make more regular declarations if we really wanted to improve our financial well-being. My monthly Money Mission suggestions were designed to help keep you focused on carrying out your money goals.

If you have been reading my recommendations every month, how successful have you actually been in carrying out the advice? Has your year been a ‘Mission Accomplished’ or has it been yet another 12 months of ‘Mission Impossible’? Let’s review all the money objectives that we proposed during 2012. Continue reading 2012 Money Mission Review →

My Christmas Wish

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And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. – Job 42: 9-11

The year 2012 has been very eventful, and in some respects, it has been the worst of times. We have experienced many low points and challenges hitherto unseen in our young nation – frightening criminal atrocities, worrying economic signals and disturbing social trends, among other concerns.

In many other areas, however, we have had the best of times. We celebrated 50 years of Independence with successes in the cultural and sporting fields; and once again, we proved how much influence our little island has on the rest of the world. Jamaica is indeed a nation of confusing contradictions and intriguing inconsistencies!

A welcome holiday break

In a few days, we will commemorate another Christmas Day. This holiday period gives us a brief respite from our personal and national troubles; when we can eat, drink, be merry and pretend that all is right in our world. After all, who can be too concerned about the future when we can enjoy family, food and fellowship right now? Continue reading My Christmas Wish →

Money Lessons from Home Decorating

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Recently, I got involved in a home decorating project, which saw me creating custom-made curtains for some bedroom windows. In a former career life, I used to produce and market a line of ladies’ clothing and accessories, but I had shelved my sewing machine and design skills for nearly 15 years.

It seems that a change of environment had rekindled the dormant fire of my creative talent. I became inspired by a scrap of leftover fabric which had been used to reupholster a chair. Convincing myself that I could turn this remnant into fabulous window shades, I set about bringing my vision into reality.

I knew it would have been challenging to pull off this feat, since I was a little rusty in recollecting some sewing techniques. However, just like riding a bicycle, there are some things that you never really forget. In the end, I was rather pleased with my designing effort and even more thrilled that I had used what I had on hand to achieve my objective. Continue reading Money Lessons from Home Decorating →

Money Mission: Curb Careless Consumption

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All too soon, the month of December is upon us, and many people are busy making preparations for various kinds of seasonal festivities. If gift exchanges, holiday events, party clothes, lavish decorations, and Christmas feasts are part of your plans at this time, it means you could be spending a lot of extra money this month.

In light of the current financial challenges being faced by the country and its citizens, we need to be very cautious when it comes to our spending choices. At the risk of sounding like the Grinch who stole Christmas, the reality is that this is not really the best time to be engaged in too much frivolous spending.

With 2013 promising uncertainty in many areas of national life, it makes sense for us to adopt a more prudent approach to what we do with our money. The possibility of more job layoffs, the depreciating Jamaican dollar and the ever-shifting date for a final IMF agreement are only some of the worrying signs on the economic horizon. Continue reading Money Mission: Curb Careless Consumption →

More Money: Use What You Have

Income Creation, , , , , , , ,

Patrick owned a small pharmacy that had been struggling in recent years. Rising overheads, declining sales and a burdensome debt situation were some of the factors that were crippling the cash flow and profitability of the business. Patrick was in a quandary – there wasn’t enough capital to either cease or continue operations.

To pay off long-standing bills and restock his store, Patrick tried to obtain additional financing, but his poor credit rating prevented him from getting another loan. In desperation, he decided that the only option to generate extra cash was to have a massive sale on most of the items that had been sitting in his establishment for a long time.

With little concern about the original cost of his ‘dead’ stock, Patrick slashed prices on all non-performing goods to J$1,000 and less. Then he put up sale signs and displayed some of the articles on a table outside the store. To his surprise, during the first week he made over J$40,000; and the increased traffic also boosted his sales of regularly-priced items in the store. Continue reading More Money: Use What You Have →

Sponsor Me, Please

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You may have vivid (and not-so-fond) childhood memories of being asked to take home a sponsorship form in support of a school fund-raising effort. Sometimes you were required to participate in a walkathon based on your pledges, but very often it was merely a symbolic effort to bring in cash from friends and family.

These promotions were usually quite successful in helping schools and other institutions to generate much-needed capital to carry out important projects. Sponsorships have been used to buy sporting supplies, send students on trips overseas, and even build auditoriums. Individuals can truly be powerful when they co-operate towards achieving a common goal.

One, one coco full basket

Recently, I received an e-mail that invited persons to sponsor the entrepreneurial efforts of a young lady who wished to publish a daily calendar featuring Jamaican proverbs. The link pointed to a website, Sponsume.com, where you could support the project either by giving US$5 in sponsorship or pre-ordering various quantities of the proposed item. Continue reading Sponsor Me, Please →