Archive - July, 2007

Financial Learning Experience

July 11, 2007 in Event, Hope, Success stories with 2 Comments

I am back from vacation and still PUMPED about the Financial Learning Experience that was held at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC on June 26th.  I am PUMPED about the 272 people who showed up!

If you have been to one of these events, you know that a survey is completed at the end.

I thought that today I would share some of the comments written by the attendees (THEY FIRE ME UP!!!).

Q: What was your favorite moment?

  • Realizing I can do it!
  • Realizing I am not alone in my financial struggle
  • When you made me write down my dreams & plans
  • When my husband joined me. (Joe says - Makes me so happy I want to CRY!)
  • Joe's sense of humor (Joe says - Really?) Embarassed
  • It was very good - I wish I had something to drink (Joe says - I am sorry I drove you to drink!)

Q: What are you going to do as a result of what you have heard/learned?

  • Not ignore the mail (Joe says - WOW!)
  • Quit impulsive spending
  • Quit living paycheck-to-paycheck
  • We are a young married couple (23 yrs old) and are so glad we learned this now (Joe says - This PUMPS ME UP!)
  • Meet with wife (Joe says - Awesome!)

I am just venturing a guess here, but I believe that lives were CHANGED FOREVER on Tuesday night, June 26, in Anderson, South Carolina.

The Financial Learning Experience takes road trips (except Antarctica).  Interested?  Contact Joe HERE.

Fair

July 10, 2007 in Finance, Hope with 2 Comments

At times during a counseling session I hear of a situation that has occurred to the individual that sounds terribly unfair.  This unfair situation has gravely affected their personal finances.

I have heard of illnesses that cost a person their job, firings for no real good reason, having a sick child and the travel to and from hospitals far away costs the parent their job, and of a spouse leaving the other.

These situations are incredibly painful.  They can be described as AWFUL.  They can certainly be described as NOT FAIR.

Well, as Perry says, FAIR is a place where you ride rides.  Unfair things happen to all of us, and it is perfectly normal to be unhappy about it and mourn over the unfairness of it all.  It is OK to say that it is not fair.

However, at some point in time, one must choose to get back in the game even knowing that something unfair will occur again in the future.  Why?  Because the consequences of not managing one's personal finances are so great!  Poor financial management will compound the problems associated with the unfair situation.

To those who have had something happen that is unfair - I am sorry that this happened to you, but I am confident that you can recover and that you can win with your finances again!

Organization – Got to have it!

July 9, 2007 in Finance with 0 Comments

Have you ever had a "THIS PLACE HAS GOT TO BE CLEANED UP OR ELSE" moment?  My bride has this moment quite regularly around our house!

Jenn is a total neat-freak.  It has to be in order.  If I lay my glass of sweet tea (I am in the South) down for 3 seconds, it is whisked away to the dishwasher whether I was finished or not.  If an important piece of paper is put out on the table, it will be filed within 4 seconds, whether I wanted it filed or not.

Jenn is organized.  She sees "clean" and "organized" at a level I can not seem to be able to see EXCEPT when it comes to our family finances.  I have three-ring binders - three of them to be exact.  They have been neatly titled - Investing I, Investing II, and Medical.  Within each of them, all of our investing and medical records are neatly organized in chronological order.  I can't stand to see this information disorganized!

Financial organization is so key to winning with money.  Here are some characteristics of well-organized finances:

  • Balanced checkbook
  • Able to obtain an important financial document within 60 seconds of request
  • A spending plan for your money BEFORE the month begins - Remember that it is EZ!
  • Husband and wife are both "in the know" of each account and the family's financial condition
  • A central location for all incoming bills to be placed
  • Clear responsibility defined for who is actually going to be writing the checks/setting up the draft/bill-pay service for each bill

Here are some signs that you are NOT organized well with your finances:

  • Bills are unopened for 3 or 4 months
  • No idea of the checking account balance
  • 16 bounced checks in one month
  • Confused as to what that bill named "NSF" is that keeps showing up in the account
  • One or both spouses has checked out of the game financially
  • It takes you 31 hours to obtain an important financial document
  • Incoming bills are placed in the trash can
GET ORGANIZED - It will help you take your finances to the next level!

Investing Choices

July 6, 2007 in Investing with 1 Comment

I constantly receive questions about where one should invest their money.

Many folks hear about investing in the stock market, and it all starts sounding like a bunch of gobly-gunk.  This is because of the huge quantity of options that are out there.

DISCLAIMER:  I am no investing specialist.  I don't sell mutual funds.  I am not an investing guru.  So go see your investing professional before you invest.

I thought today I would explain how I have invested in the stock market.

  • I start with the company's plan.  The fees are cheaper and this is where the company match goes.
  • Since I have a long time until I need the money, I split my investment choices into mutual funds that are highly focused on small, upcoming companies that have a lot of potential for growth.
  • My current retirement investment split is about 90% stock/10% bonds.
  • My retirement investment choices currently are about 30% International Stock Mutual Funds, 20% Aggressive Growth Stock Mutual Funds, 20% Growth Stock Mutual Funds, 20% Growth & Income Stock Mutual Funds, and 10% individual company stocks.

Now, the market has been on a run lately.  I am not able to predict market performance, but I have a long time until I need my retirement money.  SO, what is Joe and Jenn doing with their money?  Continuing to invest.  Every single month.  If the market goes down, we will continue to invest.  Every single month.

If you have the day off …

July 5, 2007 in Finance with 1 Comment

Since it is the day after July 4th, you may be lucky enough to have today off.

Here are some things you could do to speed toward financial independence.

  • Start investing in your 401(k) - At least get the match!  Every 3 months, bump it up 1% until you have reached 10% of your gross pay.  You will NEVER regret this decision.
  • Get organized!  Put together a 3-ring binder for your medical insurance claims, investments, bank statements, etc.  I know it sounds like nails on a chalkboard, but organization is KEY to achieving financial freedom.
  • Talk with your spouse about your next financial steps.  What are you going to do next?  Buy a rental house?  Buy mutual funds?  Start the kids 529 college savings plan?  What about the kid's wedding fund?  Which dream gets funded next?  The trip to Australia/New Zealand?
  • Go to the "TOOLS" link and put together your first ever written budget - BEFORE you receive the actual money.  Remember, it's EZ.
  • Go canoeing down the river (my choice).

Independence Day!

July 4, 2007 in Hope with 0 Comments

This Independence Day, I thought I would note some freedoms I enjoy. 

  • I am FREE of the bondage of debt
  • I am FREE to write about personal finances
  • I am FREE to pursue the clear and distinct call that God has placed on my life
  • I am FREE to help others with their personal finances through Financial Learning Experiences, Financial Freedom Classes, One-on-One Financial Counseling, Books, and Blogs
  • I am FREE of the stress of being financially broken

I am here to tell you today, on Independence Day, you can take action to enjoy the same freedoms!  You can do this!

I am not here to sell you anything.  I am only trying to get you to buy into some ideas.  Ideas that are tried and true and will help you achieve financial freedom!

You can do this!  Who is with me?  Who is declaring today as their official Independence Day? 

Something you should not is this - The founders of the United States of America issued their Declaration of Independence and ONLY THEN did the fighting start.  ONLY THEN did the real battles begin.

When you declare today as your Financial Independence Day, expect the real battles to begin.  But you can win.  I KNOW you can!  I believe in you!  Why?  Because I have been there, done that, and NOW I can afford the T-shirt!

Happy Independence Day! 

What should I do with my car? Part THREE

July 3, 2007 in Finance with 3 Comments

It has been fun hearing everyone's thoughts about what Jenn and I should do about our 10 year old car that has been failing routinely and helping my mechanic friends achieve financial freedom!

I do want to remind everyone that I did try to replace my car, but the deal fell through!

So with all of the problems, all of the frustrations of the old Purdue car, we have decided to replace her.

She was replaced last Tuesday with a SUV that is able to run over the old car without the driver even noticing.

God gave us an incredible deal!

So the saga of the old car is over.  She is replaced.

And, yes, Steve_Sr1 (see his comment below that post), I will be changing the oil routinely and checking the oil regularly.  Thanks for the reminder!

Should I replace my car? – PART TWO!!!

July 2, 2007 in Finance with 6 Comments

WOW!  What a tremendous response to my post about my MOM telling me via the blog to REPLACE THE CAR!!!

There was a multitude of well-thought out responses that have me thinking ...

Here are some of my thoughts about the responses:

  • "Steve_Sr1" cracked me up when he said that I should have listened to my dad about checking the oil occasionally - He's right!
  • "Indiana Pal" knows WAY TOO MUCH about me - he brought out a reference to a 1981 Datsun B210 that I used to drive
  • "Joe D." needs to understand that I will pay cash for a car - car payments - did he say CAR PAYMENTS?  May my voice never utter the words CAR PAYMENT ever!!
  • "Julie Brown", "Rich Brott", "Moneymonk", and "Paul Moyer" all just flat-out agreed with Mom.
  • "Mark Asbell" and "Chip" offered excellent responses that indicates that they may have encountered this situation before.
  • "Just Me" needs someone to help her out with her car!

The amount of responses to this topic really have made me think a lot about this.  There are so many people who have to deal with making the two key decisions when it comes to their car:

1.  Should we replace the car?

AND

2.  If we decide to get rid of the car, what should we replace the car with?

Tell me some of your stories about how you made these decisions in the past, and I will post a consolidated group of those stories to help us all make a more informed decision.

PS:  The Sangl's HAVE made a decision and HAVE TAKEN ACTION in regards to the car situation.  Details to follow ... Smile

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