Category: change

I am thankful for my….

Health

Family

Friends

Job

Unanswered prayers

Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!!!

The greatest gift you can give yourself is the stop paying credit card interest. Using credit cards is easy. Credit cards are simple to get. Every store takes credit cards. Some stores no longer take cash…how amazing is that? But there is a cost to using credit cards. The cost is called interest unless it is paid off every month. The interest on credit cards is a crazy high percentage, sometimes greater than 25%. Think about it this way, you buy dinner that cost $50, if you use a credit card and make payments that dinner could cost you more than $62.50 over the course of the year.  Give yourself a gift, pay cash and save the interest for other things you want to buy.

How would I define happiness? To me happiness is a simple concept. To be happy a person must find appreciation with what they have. I don’t believe a person needs to settle. Quite the opposite, I believe it is important to strive to be better or improve. That does not mean that you cannot appreciate what you already have. Appreciate your accomplishments, appreciate your family, appreciate your time with friends, appreciate your job, and so on. That is being happy to me.  

The greatest investment an individual can make is in themselves. Take time to learn something new every day. Read, go to school, talk with others, watch youtube, etc….simply invest in yourself and learn.

How you spend your time matters.

A friend once asked a very interesting question…” Are you able to act when the next opportunity is presented?” The conversation was regarding the stock market and took place in February 2020. We all know what soon happened…

I believe one needs to be on solid ground financially to act confidently on an opportunity. To me this starts with being debt free. Debt creates so many problems and keeps us from acting when opportunities are presented. Debt adds pressure and stress to our lives. Think about what you could do if you had no debt and money in the bank.

In the past several years the economy has had some interesting twists and turns. There was the great recession and there was the pandemic. Both created large drops in the stock market. Both created financial opportunity for those positioned for it.

When will the next opportunity be presented? Will you be able to act?

It is all about perspective….Who’s perspective? Well, I suppose the person answering the questions. You see, everyone has a unique perspective on a subject. It is based on their experiences, wants and thoughts. No one perspective is correct. Here is an example of perspective on spending…

You go to the store and buy an item for $750 that normally costs $1000. One perspective is that you saved $250. Another perspective is that you spent $750. Both could be correct. Which perspective do you agree with? For me the only way to save money is to not spend it…My perspective is that you spent $750.

Again, it’s all about perspective.

If you think money is tight now, just wait.…It will likely be tighter in the future. Interest rates and inflation will most likely continue to increase over the next year or two. So, what can be done to relieve some of that stress that comes when funds are tight? Here are a few simple ideas that could help.

• Stop paying for apps on your phone. Live with the commercials.
• Stop paying for subscriptions and memberships.
• Use the public library and parks for entertainment.
• Reduce the number of streaming services.
• Stop paying for warranties or insurance on purchases.
• Eat at home. Have drinks at home. Watch movies at home.

These things won’t make you wealthy, but they might help reduce the financial stress just a bit. It is tough living paycheck to paycheck. And to change that, you will need to start doing things differently.

This past year I ran my first marathon. I did it in style…I ran the Disney world Dopey Challenge. For those who don’t know, the Dopey Challenge is a 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday, and a marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday.

Here is what I learned…

You are the only competitor…

As a recreational runner the only competition is your expectations of yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. It is simply not important. What is important is that you completed what you set out to achieve.

Be happy with your effort…

Only you know how much you put into the effort. If you are happy with your effort that is what matters. Forget what others think. They don’t know what you put into your effort.

Keep moving forward…

You cannot complete the task if you do not keep moving forward. What is important is the direction not the speed. Sometimes we are slow, sometimes we are quick…Keep moving in the correct direction. That is what matters.

Life is a marathon…Education is a marathon…Marriage is a marathon….Living debt free is a marathon…

I liked this one. So I thought I would post it again…

It is finally time. Time to end a long-standing relationship. I have finally decided that the relationship has not been in my best interest. As a matter of fact, I think this relationship has been terrible. What relationship you ask? I am ending my relationship with FICO.

I have decided to let FICO go out of my life. I will no longer care about credit and credit scores. You see, I just don’t need to borrow money and pay large sums of interest to banks and lenders. I know that, like in all breakups, friends will be forced to choose sides and that’s okay. If you choose to remain friends with FICO, it will be okay. All I ask is that you don’t ask me to keep inviting FICO into my life.

I have come to the realization that if I cannot pay cash for an item, vacation, whatever; I simply don’t need it. I can wait until I have the cash to make the purchase. And I am okay with that idea. I only needed FICO to get credit so that I could improve my FICO score to get more credit. Which makes no sense. It has been a terribly one-sided relationship which resulted in negative consequences for me. There was no need to keep paying today for yesterday’s purchases. And I won’t do it. So, there it is, goodbye FICO. I wish you well and hope you have a good future somewhere else.

Now, I know this won’t be easy for me. I will need to change a lot of behaviors and possible develop new friends. But, in the long run I know it is the best decision and in my best interest. I have a few things which will linger in my life a keep FICO around and involved. Things like a car payment and a mortgage, which still need to be paid off. However, I will not let that keep me from moving forward into a better future without FICO.

It is finally time. Time to end a long-standing relationship. I have finally decided that the relationship has not been in my best interest. As a matter of fact, I think this relationship has been terrible. What relationship you ask? I am ending my relationship with FICO.

I have decided to let FICO go out of my life. I will no longer care about credit and credit scores. You see, I just don’t need to borrow money and pay large sums of interest to banks and lenders. I know that, like in all breakups, friends will be forced to choose sides and that’s okay. If you choose to remain friends with FICO, it will be okay. All I ask is that you don’t ask me to keep inviting FICO into my life.

I have come to the realization that if I cannot pay cash for an item, vacation, whatever; I simply don’t need it. I can wait until I have the cash to make the purchase. And I am okay with that idea. I only needed FICO to get credit so that I could improve my FICO score to get more credit. Which makes no sense. It has been a terribly one-sided relationship which resulted in negative consequences for me. There was no need to keep paying today for yesterday’s purchases. And I won’t do it. So, there it is, goodbye FICO. I wish you well and hope you have a good future somewhere else.

Now, I know this won’t be easy for me. I will need to change a lot of behaviors and possible develop new friends. But, in the long run I know it is the best decision and in my best interest. I have a few things which will linger in my life a keep FICO around and involved. Things like a car payment and a mortgage, which still need to be paid off. However, I will not let that keep me from moving forward into a better future without FICO.

Goodbye FICO it is time to part ways.

In people. People want to be successful and can achieve great things provided the opportunity, tools and training to do so.

In accountability. We accept responsibility for our actions and the consequences.

In diversity. We appreciate differences in cultures, backgrounds and experience. We treat everyone with respect and dignity at all times.

In trusting people to do the right things for the right reasons.

In being honest. Honesty and integrity are core principles which cannot be minimized.

In teamwork and collaboration. More can be accomplished when we work together than if we operate in isolation.

In education. Continuous learning is a cornerstone of improvement.

In providing extraordinary customer service.