Archive for June 2011

SERIES: Joe Sangl’s Favorite Financial Tools – Early Pay-Off Calculator

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – Joe Sangl’s Favorite Financial Tools

In this series, I will be sharing the tools that I love the most.   There are several reasons I love these tools, but mostly I like them because they literally helped me change my life!

Part TwoEarly Pay-Off Calculator

The early pay-off calculator is a HOPE-GENERATOR!   Do you want to get FIRED UP?   Do you want to see the answer to the question, “What if?”   Use the Early Pay-Off Calculator to answer the question!

I have found that the Early Pay-Off Calculator is most impactful when used to calculate how much more quickly a home mortgage would be paid off if one were to begin paying extra principal each month.

As example, consider a $150,000 home mortgage financed for 30 years at 5% annual interest.   The principal and interest payment would be $805/month.

  • Pay just $905/month ($100 extra), the early pay-off calculator shows that the mortgage would be eliminated in 23.5 years (6.5 years sooner)
  • Pay $1,000/month ($195 extra), the mortgage pay-off would occur in 19.7 years
  • What if one were able to make two payments per month ($1,610/month)?   Pay-off would occur in 9.8 years!

Don’t think it is possible to make two payments per month?   Think again!   Most people could make two, three, or even four payments per month if they eliminated all of their other debts!   I challenge you to pull up the Early Pay-Off Calculator, punch in your numbers and discover why this tool will be one of your favorites too!

TOOL:   Early Pay-Off Calculator

RESOURCE: My book, I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., is a great resource to help you attack debt and make it leave your life!

Read the entire series (available after 6/17/2011)

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SERIES: Joe Sangl’s Favorite Financial Tools – Monthly Budget

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – Joe Sangl’s Favorite Financial Tools

In this series, I will be sharing the tools that I love the most.   There are several reasons I love these tools, but mostly I like them because they literally helped me change my life!

Part One – Monthly Budget

Preparing a monthly budget each month BEFORE the next month actually began has been the single largest reason that Jenn and I started prospering with our money.

Our monthly budget applies the basic rule of “Spending less than we earn.” It is a key hallmark of the Financial Learning Experience that I teach and all of our resources – the basic formula of:

INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO

We ensure that the “outgo” includes giving money away, saving, investing, and paying our bills.

Every. Single. Month.

Not just once every now and then.   EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH.   We prepare a monthly budget and then we do something completely crazy: we follow it!

Do surprises show up? Absolutely.   Do we have to make adjustments?   All of the time.

BUT the budget helps us stay on course.   We have realized that our budget is the engine that makes our financial vehicle run with power!   The finely tuned budget ensures that our life hums with funded dreams, giving, and peace.   It can do the exact same thing for you!

TOOL: Monthly Budgets

RESOURCE: My book, I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., is a great resource to help you prepare a budget that actually works.

Read the entire series (available after 6/17/2011)

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Margin – Part 4 – Fill Up The Tank

Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin.   This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin.   As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin.   Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues.   Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.

Part 4Fill up the tank.

There are so many benefits to having financial margin, but one of the greatest is the ability to just “fill up the tank.”   Let me explain.

When there is no financial margin, it may not be possible to drive to the gas pump and fill up the gas tank.   Lack of margin means that one has to put $20 in one time and $37 the next.   Whatever money is available goes into the gas tank.   This can be very costly – especially in time costs!

When you are not filling up the tank every time, you lose time because:

  • You have to fill up more often
  • You have to waste time figuring out how much can be spent this time

For many people, it also costs more money because more visits to the gas station means more trips into the convenience store to buy super-overpriced soda and snacks!

When you have margin, you can just “fill up the tank.”

Here are other ways this applies to having financial margin:

  • You can buy the proven name-brand appliance instead of the el-cheapo model
  • You are in the position of power so you are not subject to obtaining financing and buying the junk they are trying to sell you
  • Pawning, short-term financing, and other highly expensive ways to obtain money become completely unnecessary

To me, the sacrifices to obtain financial margin are worth it just to “fill up the tank” every time!

Read the entire series (available after 6/8/2011)

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Margin – Part 3

Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin.   This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin.   As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin.   Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues.   Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.

Part 3Improved Relationships

Individuals who are against the wall financially for extended periods of time can many times hurt people in ways that they never would do if they had financial margin.   I’ve seen business owners (with no margin) who completely lose their minds on a customer who owed them $1,000 even though they are late on $10,000 of bills to their own suppliers.   They are agitated, angry, and threatening.   But a third party could easily say that the business owner is completely out of line.   What is causing this issue?   No financial margin!

I’ve seen countless relationships injured or destroyed because of no financial margin.   Children continue to borrow money from Mom and Dad.   Mom and Dad demanding money from their children.   Friendships.   Business relationships.   Working relationships.   My bet is that you’ve seen it too and many of you have experienced it!   It is incredibly hurtful and can cause enormous stress and heartache.

Here is the question of the day:

What would these situations look like if each person had financial margin?

Wouldn’t there be a lot less borrowing?   Wouldn’t there be less heartache, pain, and agony?

Make the greatest investment into your peace and state of mind – establish financial margin!

Read the entire series (available after 6/8/2011)

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Margin – Part 2

Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin.   This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin.   As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin.   Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues.   Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.

Part 2Freedom

When financial margin is established, it provides a sense of freedom!   I know that when we finally established some beginner margin in February 2003, it was like scales fell from our eyes.   We saw life in an entirely new light!   Instead of wasting tons of energy determining how each bill was going to be paid (anyone who has lived paycheck-to-paycheck KNOWS the energy this takes!), we began looking forward.   It allowed us to start asking new questions like:

  • How much should we save each month for our children’s college?
  • Any question that starts with “I wonder what would happen if … ?”
  • Who can we bless this month?
  • Is this the life that allows us to use our gifts and talents in the most impactful way?

Here’s a weird emotional effect that I felt.   I discovered the freedom of knowing that I could pursue a dream!   It did not matter as much if I really did pursue the dream – what mattered most was the fact that I could pursue the dream!   I’m not sure this really makes much sense, but knowing that fact was incredible.   Let me share a few examples to better explain this.   I am entrepreneurial by nature.   This means I love starting things.   When I was broke and living paycheck-to-paycheck, the option to start a business or new venture was out of the question.   Financial margin gave me the freedom to consider the options without being overcome by the fear of living in a cardboard box.

Here’s another example.   When I took the leap of faith to go on staff at NewSpring Church, a church Jenn and I were a part of starting and LOVE being a part of, I took a massive paycut.   Jenn was able to make the decision to work or continue to be a stay-at-home mother without really having to worry about the financial aspects.   This was possible only because we had financial margin.   How many people can take a 50% paycut and still have this option available to them?   Not many, but I will tell you with 100-percent confidence that those who have established financial margin CAN – and that FREEDOM to choose is incredible!

If you have no financial margin, make a decision to start building it today!   If you do have financial margin, celebrate the fact that you have made the necessary choices to establish it and then use that freedom to pursue a dream!

Read the entire series (available after 6/8/2011)

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