Finance
SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan 2
Over the past two and a half years, this crusade has been able to reach tens of thousands of people. I was recently reflecting on the top things that I see most commonly lacking in folks’ financial plans. So here are the top five things I see lacking.
Part Two A plan to get out of debt
How much money do you send to lenders every single month? Think about that for a minute. Add up the payments. The house payment. The student loan payment. The car payment. The other car payment. The credit card payment. The llama payment. The doctor payment.
How much is it?
What else could you do with that money?
I challenge you to download the FREE “Debt Freedom Date” calculator from the tools page (HERE). Take the time to fill out the “Actual Cost of Debt” calculator too. It will open your eyes as to how much of your hard-earned money is just going to fill up the bank’s pockets every month.
When will you be debt-free?
SERIES: Top 5 Things People Lack In Their Financial Plan
Over the past two and a half years, this crusade has been able to reach tens of thousands of people. I was recently reflecting on the top things that I see most commonly lacking in folks’ financial plans. So here are the top five things I see lacking..
Part One A monthly written spending plan
Anyone who has been through the Financial Learning Experience saw this one coming! It really is unbelievable how many people walk through life without a financial plan. We will plan like crazy for our proms, weddings, child’s birthday party, and a vacation, but we do not take the time to plan the one thing that funds all of those!
If you are operating your life without a written spending plan, I know one thing about you. You could substantially improve your financial management simply by preparing a written spending plan every month.
There are a ton of FREE budget tools located on the Tools page (HERE). Of course, you could accomplish the same thing with a pencil, paper, and calculator. If you do not have Microsoft Excel, set up a Google Docs account, save the free file to your desktop, and then upload it to Google Docs.
There is no excuse for NOT having a written spending plan every single month. None.
How Much Do You Spend On Groceries
Groceries. I love grocery shopping because I love to eat, and I get to choose exactly what goes into the cart.
I see that people vary WILDLY on the amount they spend on food.
So here is the question of the day:
How much do you spend on GROCERIES (not dining out) per month – per person in your family?
Share your answer in the contents!
Inflation Is Brutal
We have all noticed inflation's brutal effects over the last couple of years. We all saw a gallon of gasoline move from $1/gallon to more than $4/gallon. Four times more for the same amount. We have seen inflation in nearly everything we buy, but I think I may have experienced the last straw.
You see, I had this great thing going with my favorite soda machine. It provided a cold, refreshing soda to me for the very reasonable price of $0.25. BUT NOW inflation has hit. It was not 4% inflation. It was not 15% inflation. No. It was 100% inflation!
My now-not-so-favorite soda machine will no longer deliver a cold, refreshing soda for $0.25. Instead, it just sits there and asks for more money. Another $0.25 to be exact.
This inflation thing is brutal.
SERIES: Start A Small Business 4
I am a HUGE fan of small businesses. The ingenuity, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of small business owners makes them a favorite group of people to hang out with.
One thing I see in most small business owners is a passion for the work they do. One thing I see lacking in most small business owners is knowledge of the "business-side" of doing business. With this series, I will be teaching some principles that have helped me be successful in my small business.
Part Four Become great at one thing.
When you are starting a small business, it is so tempting to try and be all things to all people. I have rarely seen that work. Become great at one thing. Write your vision on paper and work on it until it is clear.
FOCUS is what works. I have rarely seen SCATTERBRAIN work.
There is such a huge amount of work required to start a small business, it is important to ensure that you direct that focus to your core business.
What market will your business serve? How will that market learn about your product/service? How can you demonstrate to them that your service/product can help them?
A ton of businesses survive with mediocre products/services. They barely survive. If you want to stand out, be highly focused on becoming great at something. We deal with so much mediocrity that great is unusual and stands out clearly to us.