Posts by jsangl
Top 5 Reasons I Love Taking Paid-For-In-Advance Vacations
You may have wondered why there was silence on the blog for most of the past week. It was because I was able to kidnap my bride away from our two beautiful children and do something we have never done before – go on a cruise through the beautiful Caribbean!
As we boarded the 991-foot long Caribbean Princess bound out of San Juan, Puerto Rico for St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados, and St. Lucia, I was overwhelmed at how blessed I really am! I can not believe that I am so blessed that I am able to take such a tremendous vacation – and to do it without debt.
I just want to share a picture (click on the picture to get a better view) and a few things that I love about taking “paid-for-in-advance” vacations.
Top 5 Reasons I love taking “paid-for-in-advance” vacations:
- No debt follows me home
- Able to totally enjoy the trip – knowing we saved for it!
- Total relaxation knowing that we funded a dream – and lived the dream!
- Able to negotiate a better deal because we had to plan early to save for this trip!
- My bride is happy!
Repetitive Financial Failures
Have you ever known someone whose life seemed to always be be in financial turmoil, BUT there really was no reason for it to be that way?
After all, they appear to have everything necessary to succeed financially.
They have:
- Education
- Good-paying job
- A good marriage
- Great personality
- Lots of friends
But they are completely B-R-O-K-E. Every single paycheck is immediately handed over to the lenders. They’ve declared bankruptcy once, and it appears that they feel like a second one wouldn’t be too bad. Every little bit of extra money is immediately spent on stuff that has zero value (or soon will have no value).
As the leader of an organization on a crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their personal finances, this can be extremely frustrating. We KNOW that everyone can win with their money. We KNOW that it is possible for everyone to prosper. Yet, it appears that some people choose poverty.
Surely you know somebody (somebodies) that lives this way.
I want your help understanding this behavior. Can you leave a comment below sharing the reasons you believe some people choose to live this way?
National Debt: What YOU can do about it – 3
If you weren’t able to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, you should do that first.
PART THREE Become informed
If you do not know where all of America’s money is going, it will be really difficult to speak with authority on the topic. It is important to become informed – understand where the money goes and why it is going to each program.
Here are some great places to start becoming informed:
- Wikipedia Analysis of 2010 Budget
- US 2010 Budget From the US Government Printing Office
- US Governmental Accountability Office Start with the link provided – If you read it, it will SCARE you. Seriously, if any business had this written about them, they would be shut down immediately.
National Debt: What YOU can do about it – 2
If you weren’t able to read Part 1 of this series, you should do that first.
PART TWO BE READY TO SACRIFICE
This financial mess is ridiculous. Instead of being a lender to many nations, we have become a debtor to many nations. In order to get the budget to balance, we will need to CUT SPENDING. This means that some great programs will suffer budget cuts. It means that some great programs will be cut out altogether.
We must understand that the cuts do not mean that the programs are not good. It just means that our nation is out of money!
I am a simple person, so let’s make this really simple. If my budget shows a deficit, I MUST balance it to EXACTLY ZERO. After all, it is my trademarked catchphrase: INCOME – OUTGO = EXACTLY ZERO
There are two ways to balance the budget:
- Increase INCOME (raise taxes or stimulate the economy so that more taxes are paid)
- Decrease OUTGO (reduce/eliminate programs)
Experts generally agree that some of both #1 and #2 must happen. BOTH will require personal sacrifice. Get ready.
National Debt: What YOU can do about it – 1
You’ve seen our monthly US National Debt updates, and it is not good news.
If you are like me, the sheer enormity of it can cause one to say, “That’s really bad.” Then … nothing happens. We do nothing about it. Our leaders do nothing about it.
Collectively as a nation, we continue to spend ourselves to oblivion.
What CAN we do about it? It turns out that we can do a lot! Here are some ideas to get you started.
PART ONE LIVE IT IN YOUR OWN LIFE!
Seriously – if YOU won’t live a fiscally responsible life – with a balanced budget, with manageable debt (or no debt!), with margin (savings), and continually planning for what’s next – why on Earth would we ever expect our leadership to do so?
Are YOU living it in your own life? If you are, you have the authority and the authenticity to hold our leadership accountable. If you are not, yet you are complaining about the debt and financial mismanagement – that is called … a hypocrite!