Finance
Series: Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin – 3
We’re continuing in this series “Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin” and this next method can be tiresome and time-consuming, but it can be the springboard to substantial financial margin.
#3 – Increase Income
This seems obvious, but so many people do not even consider it! There are multiple ways to increase income – and while some of them might sound enjoyable or desirable – ANYTHING is better than living BROKE!
- Work overtime at current job
- Negotiate a pay raise
- Obtain a 2nd job
- Start a side business
- Invest something
- Write a book
- Dig up small trees in the ditch and sell for $3 each
- Rent out a part of your house
Anyone can do one or more of these, and it will increase income.
WARNING: If you do not have a plan for the extra income, it can very easily end up being spent. Be sure to be diligent and prepare a plan BEFORE spending any of it!
Series: Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin – 2
We are continuing in this series of “Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin” and this next part takes a little while, but it is SO WORTH IT!
#2 – Eliminate Debt
Most people have no idea just how much of their monthly income goes to service debt. They have the obvious debt payments for their car or furniture, but they also have loans that are automatically paid via on-line bill-pay services or through payroll automatic deduction.
Do YOU know how much of your money is being sent to a lender each month? If you have debt, I recommend that you stop right now and add it up. The car, credit cards, student loans, 401(k) loan, furniture debt, personal debt owed to another person, and the house. Seriously, use this tool to add up how much you owe total and the amount of money you are paying to the lender each and every month.
NOW – consider what life would be like if you were debt free. ALL of that money would now be available to you to pursue so many other things and dreams. You could bless your family and so many others in need. And … you could breathe more easily.
Even just paying off a couple of debts can create substantial financial margin and breathing room.
SERIES: Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin – 1
Welcome to the latest series on the wildly popular JosephSangl.com – “Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin”
Financial margin is something we all want and need in order to stay focused on the far more important things in our lives!
#1 – Reduce interest rates on existing debt
This escapes many people because the interest rate of debt is usually “out of sight – out of mind”, but it could very well be the greatest one step you could take to gain financial margin.
I highly recommend that you use our free tool – the “Actual Cost of Debt calculator” to determine just how much your debt is costing you – be sure to find out your actual interest rates so that the numbers will be accurate.
Here are two areas I where I see people save tons of money by reducing their interest rates.
- Mortgage Interest Rate For every $10,000 finances, a 1% reduction in interest rate will save $100. So if you have a $150,000 mortgage and could lower your interest rate by 1%, you will save $1,500 per year in interest – $125 per month! I encourage you to use CNN’s Refinance calculator to see what refinance deals would work best for you.
- Credit Card Interest Rate This is where I typically see ridiculous interest rate charges that are simply not necessary! Consider $6,000 in credit card debt at 21.99%. That will result in interest charges of nearly $1,300 a year. This is why I am such a fan of 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card offers and maintain a list of offers on this website. If that $6,000 of debt were moved to a 0% balance transfer credit card offer, that incredible amount of interest would actually be applied to debt reduction!
Here are other areas to look at – vehicle loans, medical debts, furniture loans, personal loans, payday loans, 401(k) loans, and any type of loan where interest is being charged.
Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin – Margin Defined
It is helpful to explain the word “Financial Margin” – as I speak of it anyway.
I define Financial Margin as:
- Money that has been saved up and allows one to encounter financial obstacles or opportunities without derailing one’s entire finances and life.
I also define Financial Margin as:
- Money that is intentionally set aside in each month’s budget to be placed into savings for emergencies, known upcoming non-monthly expenses, and to fund dreams.
Or more directly, Financial Margin can be defined as:
- The ability to breathe and not panic when the car breaks down.
When you have SAVINGS set aside and are intentionally putting more to the side every month, it allows you live life on a mission without EVER being distracted by a negative financial event.
How would YOU define Financial Margin?
Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin
Lots of people are looking for financial margin these days. They are SICK of living paycheck-to-paycheck. They want to be able to have at least a little fun during the month. There are expenses that have been put off way too long – things like home and car repairs.
I want to help you have that margin! Life with margin allows you to live life on a mission.
Top 5 Ways To Gain Financial Margin
- Reduce interest rates on existing debt
- Eliminate debt
- Increase income – through pay increase, overtime, or 2nd job
- Sell possessions – especially those that have ongoing expenses
- Start a successful business
Over the next several blog posts, we will be discussing each of these items in more detail.
How much FINANCIAL MARGIN would you like to have 12 months from now? Share it with us!