Gather Little by Little - Personal Finance with a Christian Perspective » Psychology http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com Proverbs 13:11 - "...he who gathers money little by little makes it grow." Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:00:51 +0000 en hourly 1 Famous quotes about money http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2010/01/famous-quotes-about-money/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2010/01/famous-quotes-about-money/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:00:46 +0000 Stew http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2700

Some statements about money for your enjoyment today. Some true . . . some not so true . . . some will make you think.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. – Benjamin Franklin

Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. – Donald Trump

My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income. – Errol Flynn

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something. – Jackie Mason

Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves. – Albert Einstein

The mint makes it first, it is up to you to make it last. – Evan Esar

A penny saved is a penny earned. – Benjamin Franklin

Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy. – Groucho Marx

It is not easy for men to rise whose qualities are thwarted by poverty. – Juvenal

A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money. -  Senator Everett Dirksen

Never spend your money before you have it. – Thomas Jefferson

Be you in what line of life you may, it will be amongst your misfortunes if you have not time properly to attend to pecuniary [monetary] matters. Want of attention to these matters has impeded the progress of science and of genius itself. – William Cobbett

There is only one thing for a man to do who is married to a woman who enjoys spending money, and that is to enjoy earning it. – Edgar Watson Howe

Why is there so much month left at the end of the money? – Anonymous

I never been in no situation where havin’ money made it any worse. – Clinton Jones

Neither a borrower nor a lender be for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. – William Shakespeare

Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repairing. – Billy Rose

To make money, buy some good stock, hold it until it goes up, and then sell it. If it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it.- Will Rogers

He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. – Proverbs 28:20

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19

Do you have any great quotations to add?

Article by Stew

Photo by Tony the Misfit

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2010/01/famous-quotes-about-money/feed/ 8 Financial Challenges from Proverbs 22 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/financial-challenges-from-proverbs-22/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/financial-challenges-from-proverbs-22/#comments Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:00:59 +0000 Stew http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2583

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.

God has promised to meet your needs, you do not need to trade your good character or reputation in order to get ahead in life. After all, our lives are “but a vapor” in light of eternity. Do right in every circumstance.

The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all.

Do not be covetous toward those who are better off than you and do not be condescending to those who lack. God is not a respecter of persons and the rich and the poor both have equal standing before him.

The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

Save for a rainy day, invest for the long term, do not buy more than you need. Never assume that your plans will unfold exactly as you wish. Investigate and listen to wise counsel.

The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.

Remember that Proverbs is not a book of promises, but rather a book of wise sayings that are good to live by and true most of the time. Not all riches are monetary.

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Don’t we know it! I think this verses has application in our personal, family lives. Just think about the money we send out every month to creditors! I think this principle also has application in our civil government. Everything you are given by the government comes with a price and our American government is increasingly the “slave” of other countries who have lent us money.

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Do you have an eye that sees the needs of others?

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!”

We can always find an excuse to be lazy, can’t we? Right now, I am using the “I’ll start working out in January” excuse to avoid exercise.

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.

If you seek success through the oppression of the poor or through “kissing up” to the rich, things will end badly for you. Remember that words like “riches” or “poverty” do not always refer to physical money in Proverbs. When I read this verse, I think of a godfather or mafia kind of set-up, where illicit favors are exchanged for power.

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.

There are some who make a living from taking advantage of the poor or using the less fortunate in order to gain treasure and power. God is keeping score and even though a man might publicly get away with usury, He does not forget. Modern day usury happens in the Payday Loan or Cash Advance store. Sometimes I wonder if this verse is a warning to the politician who trades the life of the unborn in exchange for the vote of the mother.

Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?

Do not risk the things that you and your family need for sake of the things you want. Be content. A home equity loan in order to take a vacation to Mexico . . . ?!

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Take your time, set a good foundation, prepare, practice, work hard and you will have success!

Article by Stew

Photo by Gene Hunt

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/financial-challenges-from-proverbs-22/feed/ 4 Visualize debt freedom http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/visualize-debt-freedom/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/visualize-debt-freedom/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:07 +0000 Stew http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2503 meditate

I often struggle with my weight, eating properly, getting exercise and all that goes with it. I have learned the one way to motivate myself is to visualize the goal. To think about how it feels to bend over and tie my shoes without losing breath, to imagine being able to button one’s pants without holding my breath and to imagine not having the extra weight on my knees.

I am asking everyone to take a minute today to visualize debt freedom. We all have the goal and sometimes we all need a little encouragement to keep on fighting. To help with the exercise, take a pencil and a piece of paper and write down the monthly payment for every debt for which you have to make a payment. These are not my payments, but just a few examples to get us started:

  • School Loans: $225
  • New living room furniture installment: $45
  • House payment: $1,100
  • Car Loan payment: $300
  • Home Equity Line of Credit: $122
  • Credit Card #1: $75
  • Credit Card #2: $105

Fill in your own numbers and add them up. Then sit back in your chair and close your eyes. In your mind, appropriate the money that you are no longer sending to creditors. Figure out how you would save the money you now have in your bank account every month:

  • Contribute $300 toward a six month emergency fund
  • Max out employee retirement match: $200
  • Start saving for your next car: $300
  • Let your spouse spend a little extra on whatever he wishes: $50
  • Start giving your kids an allowance: $20
  • Buy some more life insurance: $50
  • Contribute toward a health savings account: $200
  • Get Lasik eye surgery: $852

The possibilities are endless and hopefully the goal of debt freedom is inspiring. For some of us, debt freedom might mean that we could be a single income family once again. Aaah  . . . wouldn’t that be nice. I feel rested and invigorated.

Now wake up and get back to work! Do not stop until your debt is gone!

Article by Stew

Photo by goosmurf

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/12/visualize-debt-freedom/feed/ 6 Lazy = No money http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/lazy-no-money/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/lazy-no-money/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:30 +0000 Stew http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2415 lazy

Okay, that title was just to get your attention. People who have little money are certainly not all lazy. A lot of people struggle to make ends meet while still working hard. My point is that many times we allow money leaks into our lives simply because of laziness.

Lazy people miss out on deals or discounts because of procrastination. Coupons? Too hard to cut out and use.

What about sweat equity? Sometimes a house owned by a lazy person does not appreciate because he simply does not make the effort to paint or clean or decorate. He does the bare minimum in his yars and then loses money when it comes time to sell.

The lazy person does not save money by doing research before making a purchase. We have more information at our fingertips than ever before, but a lazy person will buy the next shiny thing only after listening to a salesperson’s recommendation.

Another area that a lazy person can overlook is the savings that can be realized by doing one’s own work around the house. There are many home  and even appliance repairs that homeowners could do themselves if they only took the time to read a manual or just tried to fix something on our own. My dad recently fixed his own furnace and saved himself $600.

Lazy people often lose money by paying late fees and extra interest by paying bills late. It is not that they do not have the money to pay the bill – they just do not mail the payment on time!

Lazy people do not practice proper car maintenance – oil changes are put off, tires are bald, wiper blades disintegrate – not for lack of money or time, but simply because of a lack of responsibility.

Lazy people do not keep good records, they lose warantee paperwork, have trouble recording tax deductions and forget to write down critical financial information for their spouse in case of an emergency.

I have to confess that laziness sometimes creeps up and takes money out of my wallet. What about you? Does your laziness cost you income? Does your laziness increase your spending?

Article by Stew

Photo by Misserion

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/lazy-no-money/feed/ 4 How To Support An Unemployed Friend http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/07/how-to-support-an-unemployed-friend/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/07/how-to-support-an-unemployed-friend/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:00:52 +0000 Mike http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1855

joblessAt the beginning of the month, the most recent unemployment statistic was published. The USA reached double digits while Canada was close behind with 8.8% (as of June). The scariest aspect about these statistics is to think that once you stop receiving unemployment support payments; you don’t count as “unemployed” anymore. Therefore, the unemployment rate might be 10% in the States, but it is even higher in the “real world”. People stop receiving unemployment support but not necessarily because they have gotten a job.

Lucky you! You are still working this morning (you better not keep reading blogs all day during work though ;-) ). However, it might not be the case for all your friends. What can you do to support an unemployed friend?

#1 Be there

Losing your job is definitely not a happy moment in one’s life. We spend so much time working that when a job is lost, an important part of our life is lost at the same time. Our routine is disrupted; some of our friends are still at work and we miss the feeling of being useful to society. This is why it is so important to take the time to listen to your friend and let him talk about his pain, anxiety facing the future even anger. If it ever happens to a close friend, make sure to be supportive; to go out and have a drink with him to lend an ear. Your friend might have lost his job, but he certainly doesn’t want to lose the rest of his life.

#2 Pass the word around

So far in my career, I have had three different jobs. Each time, I got the job from “someone who knows someone”. Networking is always important in career planning but it becomes crucial when you are unemployed and looking for a new opportunity. As a friend, talk about him to every single person in your own network. You never know, maybe a friend of a friend (that you don’t even know!) is looking to hire someone.

#3 Be honest

He may be your best friend but you wouldn’t even hire him to wash windows? This is going to be hard but you are better off telling him the truth. If you don’t think that he is in the right field or that he has an attitude problem at work, you should tell him tactfully. Being unemployed is not always a positive experience. It can be a great opportunity to ask yourself if you want to continue with what you were doing.  Perhaps take the time to improve your transferable skills in a specific field. If your friend gets a real picture of the image he is projecting, it will definitely help him in his job search. Since he just lost his job, the point is not to hammer him with all the negative points. Make sure to tell him what you appreciate about him as a colleague and point out his strengths. You don’t want your friend to stay unemployed and risk being depressed the rest of his life ;-)

#4 Lend money?

Aaaahh…. I’m not sure I like the idea of lending money to friends actually. I have done it a few times but only to one person and it wasn’t in a context of unemployment. I think your buddy need friendship more than money. And you will definitely help him more by finding him a new job or helping him getting on the right track for his next employer than supplying money. Once someone said: “Give a Man a fish, Feed him for a day. Teach a Man to fish; feed him for a lifetime”. While money will only offer tempororary support (unless you are really rich!), it may become a source of dispute if your friend remains unemployed. Usually, friends and money don’t make good partners.

#5 You don’t have to follow him

You have to be empathic to your friend’s situation but it doesn’t mean that you have to join him during his “black days”. Helping an unemployed friend is one thing, and you must know your limits. You don’t have to feel guilty either. This is called the “survivor syndrome”. If many people in our personal circle lose their jobs in the same field as ours, we may tend to feel guilty. However, it should not become a personal matter and you are not the one (hopefully!) who decided to lay off your friend!

Do you have any other thoughts about helping an unemployed friend? Did it happen to you? What did you tell your friend?

image source : khalilshah

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/07/how-to-support-an-unemployed-friend/feed/ 11 How in the world did I get here? http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/06/how-in-the-world-did-i-get-here/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/06/how-in-the-world-did-i-get-here/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:57:39 +0000 glblguy http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1669 You Are Here

Ever ask yourself: “How in the world did I get here?”  If your current situation isn’t a good one, generally there is a huge emphasis on the word “here”. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve asked myself this same question over the past 4-5 years. Fortunately a few of the times have been positive, like when I stand out on our front-deck and see our beautiful mountain view or when I look at my work queue for my blog consulting business that is now booked out 4-weeks. For the most part though, the last 3 years or so have seen that question in a less positive light and particularly with my personal finances.

How in the world did I get here?

I was asking that same exact question in November of 2006: Due to some personal events in my life, I was facing a job loss. For some in the technology field like me, no big deal right?  My problem though was that my finances were a mess:

  • I was living paycheck to paycheck. We literally were spending each and every paycheck before the next one came.  I remember for the last few days prior to receiving my next paycheck literally having no money in our accounts and frequently over drafting.  I remember even buying life basics using our already way too full credit cards.
  • I had more than 60,000 dollars in debt, not including our mortgage.  This was a combination of car loans, a camper loan, and 3 or 4 different credit cards.  We were just barely able to pay the minimum payments on the credit cards.  Heck, I remember a few times even using one credit card to pay on another!  Can you say stupid?
  • We owned a home, but it badly needed some fairly major repairs. Due to how tight our finances were we couldn’t make them.  We literally slowly watched the wooden chimney surround on our house rot away and fall off into the yard along with various other issues.

The only silver lining in our dark financial cloud was that I had been contributing 6% of my monthly salary into a 401k program since the first day I started my professional career.  We did have some long term savings.

What a mess right?  Have you seen the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still?  We rented it from Netflix one evening.  It’s not a great movie, but it did have one very interesting observation about people: “It’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment. ”

Was I on the brink?  Oh yeah. Did I change?  Absolutely.

Finding the will to change

At some point everyone “living in the land of stupid” (as Dave Ramsey likes to say), reaches the precipice.  I was there, and here’s what I did to change:

I read

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking you are the very first person to ever be in a particular situation.  I can almost guarantee you that regardless of your situation, somebody, somewhere is going through your situation (or worse) AND someone in the past has survived your situation.  The best way to get out of your situation and change is to look at the positive actions done by others.  Fortunately for me I found Dave Ramsey’s book: The Total Money Makeover while at Costco one evening.  I also found Get Rick Slowly and The Simple Dollar which opened up the world of personal finance blogs to me.

One thing I learned pretty quick is that just based on the number of debt reduction blogs on internet, I wasn’t alone.  I was not the only one facing repayment of  large amount of debt.  They say misery loves company.  I believe that’s very true, but for me it wasn’t so I could complain and wallow in self pity, knowing that I wasn’t alone gave me hope.  When facing 60,000+ in debt, one thing you really need is hope.

I also dove deep in scripture.  The Bible is literally full of money advice.  If you aren’t sure where to start, read to book of Solomon.  Solomon was the first personal finance blogger and was given wisdom far beyond that or normal man.

I stopped what wasn’t working

Based on the things I was learning from reading, I stopped doing all of the stupid things right away.  We immediately stopped eating out, we cut up our credit cards and  with the exception of buying things we absolutely needed to live, we stopped spending.

When you’re headed down a road to destruction, the first thing you have to do is stop.  While that seems like an easy thing to do, it’s not.  Easy or not, stopping is critical.

Another important aspect of stopping is facing the reality that you are the reason your finances are mess.  Oh sure, blaming everyone else is easy, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.  Go stand in front of a mirror, look at yourself and literally say out loud “You are the reason you’re here“.

Let’s just take a quick example.  Many people today are losing their jobs.  Their fault?  In some cases yes, but for the most part no.  Job losses as a result of corporate cut-backs are just a reality of the recession.  So losing your job in this situation isn’t your fault BUT is not having your finances in order to sustain such a loss your fault?  Absolutely. I don’t care who you are or how important you are to your job, you can lose your job.  As a result, each of us needs to take the necessary steps to shore up our finances in case just such an event occurs.

I took action

Once I stopped and realized that I was indeed responsible for my own financial situation, I took action. I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t dwell, I didn’t roll in self pity crying out “poor me”.  I immediately picked something I could do to start down the road to financial control and did it.  That first step literally cost me nothing but a little time.  What did I do?  I created a budget.

Here are the initial steps we took to get our finances under control:

  1. Cut up our credit cards and vowed to live on cash in our checking account only.
  2. Created a budget
  3. Created a financial plan – Think about it: if you want to head down a new path you better darn sure know where you’re heading.
  4. Sold everything we had that we didn’t need and used that money to pay on our debt
  5. Created an emergency fund
  6. Created a debt snowball

Given I had lost my job, I also aggressively started looking for other employment.  This event also taught me to never, ever rely on just one source of income.  While not the initial reason I started blogging, blogging coupled with my blog consulting work has provided  that backup income.  While it doesn’t earn me near as much as my full-time job does, my side income would pay the mortgage AND put food on the table.  That is very comforting.  Investors diversify their investments, shouldn’t be diversify our income?

How in the world did you get where you are?

Are you currently in a bad situation in your life asking: “How in the world did I get here?”  If so, while it’s certainly important to understand how you got where you are, don’t dwell.  Remember also: Only at the precipice do we evolve. You aren’t the first person to be where you are, and you can change.  Changing may not be easy, and the path to getting where you need to be might be hard, but it will be worth it.

Figure out what your first action is and take it.  Don’t think too much, don’t look to far ahead as if you look at things as a whole it may be too overwhelming.  Just figure out the first step and take.  Then the next step and take it.  After all, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.  Start your journey towards making your personal finances better.  I did and it is one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.

Photo by: 0ccam

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/06/how-in-the-world-did-i-get-here/feed/ 9 Faithful in a little http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/05/faithful-in-a-little/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/05/faithful-in-a-little/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 11:00:33 +0000 Stew http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1492 coins-cropped

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 14:14-30

The story above was one of the many parables told by Christ during his earthly ministry. A parable was a  genre of oral literature that was commonly used in that day. The story is not to be taken literally in the sense that the event really happened. Christ used parables to explain an abstract idea through the means of the permanent. When reading a parable, it is important to remember that parables were not allegories. An allegory, such as Pilgrim’s Progress, Animal Farm or Gulliver’s Travels, every character or event stands for something in the literal world. A parable, however, only teaches a single truth. Aesop’s Fables are another example of parable literature.

So what was Christ’s intent in telling this story? I think it is pretty clear that God expects us to use the resources that have been entrusted to us and when we prove ourselves with a small amount of resources, he will send more resources and more responsibility our direction.

Do you want a job as a VP of a Fortune 500 company some day? How do you handle your employees in your current job as a McDonalds manager?

Do you want to be debt free? How do you use the extra $10 in your budget each month?

How do you handle leftovers in your kitchen?

I once knew a man who kept an immaculate yard and house. The owner of a local company drove past his house daily. One day he stopped and offered my friend the job of overseeing plant maintenance in his company on the spot. He recognized that this man was faithful in a little and entrusted him with a lot.

We have all been given a different set of resources and it is important to point out that all of our resources are not monetary.

Some have been given many children (like glblguy) and have the ability to make the world a better place through how their offspring are reared. There are some couples who have not been blessed with children, but God has given them the gift of extra time and money and tasked them with the responsibility to use that time or money for His glory.

Some have been given gifts in the area of writing or speaking or leadership. My wife is great at friendship and encouragement. Many of us might not possess any other talent than simple faithfulness – we just keep showing up.

Regardless of where your talents and resources lie, it is clear that God will hold all of us accountable for how we invest our lives.

Picture by: Miss Claeson

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/05/faithful-in-a-little/feed/ 5 Do or do not, there is no try http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/04/do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/04/do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/#comments Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:32:24 +0000 glblguy http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1478 yoda

One of my favorite life quotes isn’t from Mark Twain, Buddha, Abraham Lincoln or any other famous historical human.  Instead, it’s from a little green guy who lives on a planet named Degobah. While this little green guy named Yoda from the Star Wars movies is full of awesome and inspiring quotes, my favorite is:

Do or do not, there is no try.

Simple words yes, but powerful meaning they have, hmmm? Okay, I’ll stop talking like Yoda. Seriously it’s a great quote and one that my children can quickly quote as well, as I constantly remind them of it every single time they say “I’m trying”.

How often in regard to your personal finances have you said “But I’m trying?”   Generally that statement is proceeded with some type of statement like: “I’m not budgeting like I should…“, “I still use my credit cards…“, or “I can’t seem to keep any savings…“  But I’m trying…

Stop trying!  Time to do or do not!

If you’re guilty of making these or similar statements, stop trying! The time has come to take control of your financial situation and do or do not.  In my opinion, trying is an excuse that makes people feel better about not doing something they know they should be doing.  Dedicate yourself 100% and do what you’ve been trying to do or stop trying to do it.

I truely believe that we can accomplish anything we set our minds too, it all boils down to how much effort we want to put towards it.  I truely believe that regardless of how much you make that you can live on a budget, you can save, and you can be debt free.  Doing so just requires commitment and sacrifice.  Commitment is easy, sacrifice is hard.

Debt

Maybe you have a large (or even small) amount of debt and you’ve been trying to make a dent in it.  Stop trying and make it happen.  Here’s how:

  1. Make a commitment to yourself to stop using debt.  Recognize that you are the problem, nobody else.
  2. Cut up your cards. Jesus said we should separate ourselves from our sins as far as the east is from the west.  Why leave temptation laying around.  Cut up your credit cards.  You won’t miss them, I promise.  We cut ours up two years ago and haven’t missed them once.
  3. Start a debt snowball. Use the proven process of a debt snowball to pay off your debt.  Most all personal finance experts will agree a debt snowball is the most effective way to get out of debt.  Add snowflaking to make it even more effective.

Saving

Have you been trying to save money, but just can’t?  Time to stop trying.  Head over to ING Direct and create an orange savings account.  Link it to your primary checking account and set-up an automatic withdrawal.  If you’re in debt, save a $1000-$2000 dollar emergency fund, and then stop saving.  Begin applying the rest to debt to your debt snowball.

Once you make your savings automatic, there is not more trying, the saving just happens.  Making your savings automatic removes you from the equation.

Budget

Have you been trying to budget?  Today is the the day to stop trying.  Start budgeting 100% right now.  Download my free budget spreadsheet or better yet purchase a copy of YNAB Pro and spent an hour or so setting up your initial budget.  Start following it today.

Don’t have the money in your budget to buy something?  Don’t buy it. Have an unexpected and unplanned expense? Use your emergency fund (btw a new plasma TV isn’t an unexpected expense).

Create a budget today and start controlling your money rather than it controlling you.  What?  Budgets are for weak or geeky financial types?  Wrong. Every successful corporation I have ever worked for has a budget.  Read the Millionaire Next Door and you’ll find that even rich people live on budgets.

Make a commitment

Is there something you’ve been trying to do for a while but you just can’t seem to make it happen?  Make a commitment to yourself today to stop trying and do or do not.  Determine what it is that’s keeping you from doing and eliminate it.  Even better, share your commitment with someone or share it below via a comment.  When you make a commitment to others, it makes you significantly more likely to go through with it.  That’s referred to as accountability.

What have you been trying to do?  Make a commitment to do or do not today.   Add a comment and make your commitment public.

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/04/do-or-do-not-there-is-no-try/feed/ 17 Unexpected check – but it wasn't mine to keep http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/03/unexpected-check-but-it-wasnt-mine-to-keep/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/03/unexpected-check-but-it-wasnt-mine-to-keep/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:01:15 +0000 glblguy http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1440 Is your faith shipwrecked?

One of the various ways I earn income here on Gather Little by Little is through affiliate offers*.  I made the decision early on before I even monetized this blog to only recommend products I use.  If I don’t use or like them, you won’t see them recommended here through affiliate offers (i.e. reviews and articles).

One software package that I really like and recommend here on Gather Little by Little is You Need A Budget.  YNAB not only helps me personally manage my budget, but is also one of my top performing affiliate programs.

An extra check

Last week, I received an affiliate payment check in the mail from the great folks over at You Need A Budget.  Whoo-hoo! more income for me right?  Opening the check and adding it into my “to be deposited” bin, I had a feeling I had already deposited a check from them this month.

Fortunately, at the beginning of this year I began tracking my blog accounting at a very detailed level.   I opened up my blog accounting software and looked at my YNAB income account.  Sure enough, earlier in the month I had received a payment, but for a higher amount.  Looking back in the history, I noted that I had received a payment in the same amount as the check I just received.  Looks like someone made a mistake.

Two options

At this point, I had two options: 1) Deposit the check and move on, knowing that the good folks at You Need A Budget would probably never even notice or 2) Contact them and make them aware of the problem.

In reality, for me there was only one option, #2.  If someone made a mistake, regardless of whether I have the money in my hand, it’s not my money and I didn’t earn it.  Taking that money and depositing it into my account without earning it to me is the same as stealing, especially considering I was pretty confident it was an error.

What would you have done?  Would you have seen this scenario the same way?

Contacted You Need A Budget

I sent a note to the You Need a Budget support team that read (financial data changed):

I received a check in the mail today for an affiliate payment in the amount of $xx.xx.  The check is dated 3/2/2009 and numbered 1234.

I am not always the best bookkeeper, but pretty confident I deposited a check I received from you last week in the amount of $xx.xx which was the affiliate payment I expected to receive.

I am unclear on what the most recent check is for.  Certainly not complaining, but didn’t want benefit at your expense.

Glblguy
Owner, Gather Little by Little

Later that day, I received the following reply from Jesse, the owner of You Need A Budget:

Hi Glblguy,
I appreciate your honesty. It looks like we doubled up on your payment! If you could please destroy that second check, I’d appreciate it. I’ll void it out in our system.

Thank you so much!

Jesse

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 6:59 PM, YNAB Support wrote:

Yikes!

You have to love honesty though. :)

Steve

Note, the reply actually contains two emails. One is from the support rep to Jesse and the one at the top from Jesse to me. Two key things stand out for me: “You have to love honesty” and “I appreciate your honesty.”

There are a few things my parents instilled in me at a very young age, and the key one being honesty and integrity. This world and particularly people in it can take away many many things from you, but they can’t take away your integrity.

Interesting enough, Clever Dude had a similar “ethical quandry” last week at the Washington DC metro station.  Head over and read about the decision he made.  I’m sure you’ve been faced with similar scenarios, I know I have: Being undercharged at restaurants, noticing that a cashier didn’t missed an item when scanning, and even contractors billing me for less money than we had agreed to initially.

1 Timothy 1:19 – “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.”

Note sure about you, but I have enough troubles in my life without having my faith shipwrecked.

What would you have done?  Ever violate your conscience?  What kinds of things would have gone through your mind when this occurred?  Have a similar story?  Share yours by adding a comment!

* Affiliate offers are purchase services or products that you can buy or subscribe to.  When you click through those affiliate links on Gather Little by Little, the merchant or service providers shares a percentage of the sale with me.

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts ]]> http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/03/unexpected-check-but-it-wasnt-mine-to-keep/feed/ 20 Emotional bank accounts http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/02/emotional-bank-account/ http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/02/emotional-bank-account/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:24:36 +0000 glblguy http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=1361 rose

For those of you who might not be paying attention, Valentine’s day is this Saturday.  I’m not a huge fan of it myself, but it’s important to my wife and thus important to me.  Valentine’s day is a great time to make a deposit into your emotional bank account.  Emotional bank account you ask?  Let me explain…

The emotional bank account

I took a Stephen Covey 7-Habit’s class a few years back and one of the many things I learned from the class and the great instructor we had was the concept of an emotional bank account.

An emotional bank account is an account that you have with everyone you know, in particular friends, family and loved ones.  You make deposits by doing something nice and meaningful to or for that person and you make withdrawals when you hurt them or treat them badly.  The balance in your account is the amount of trust that’s been built up in a relationship, the more trust the higher the balance.  Just like a monetary account, you want this account to have a large balance so that the relationship you have with that person is a high trust relationship.

Like a monetary account, it’s easy to take a high or comfortable balance for granted and begin making withdrawals.  Maybe the initial withdrawals are small to begin with, things like: forgetting to say I love, not smiling or maybe being mean, grumpy or short.  Then possibly those withdrawals become larger: fighting, saying something you regret, or forgetting important dates in your relationship.  All of these things can very quickly deplete the balance in the emotional bank account.  Before you know it, the balance is low…real low and possibly maybe even overdrawn.

Much like our personal finance lives, we often wait until it’s too late to change our habits.  For the person living paycheck to paycheck, how often do you wait until you have $100.0o dollars remaining in your checking account before you suddenly stop spending money?  I know for my wife and I some years back that occurred far to often.  We would live “high on the hog” on payday and for a few days after.  Then we would have to live like we were dirt poor for the remaining week or more.  We were so bad we would have to borrow money from our credit cards just to get gas and food.

In your relationships, how often do you wait until the balance gets incredibly low or even overdrawn before you change your behavior?  I’m still guilty of this occasionally.

Valentine’s day

As much as I can’t stand commercialized holiday’s, valentines day is one of those wonderful opportunities to either make a very large deposit or very large withdrawal from an emotional bank account.  I cannot tell you how often I’ve seen men in the local drug store or Wal-mart on Valentine’s day in their work clothes and on their way home buying chocolates, cheap stuffed animals or whatever else they could find.  I’m honestly thinking this may be worse than doing nothing.

For all of you men, it’s not about what you get or how much you spend, it’s about how much thought you put into what you get.  Now, with that said, I’m TERRIBLE at this.  For some reason I really struggle coming up with creative and thoughtful ideas, but I do try really hard.

Don’t confuse the amount of money spent with the amount of thought.  You can’t make up for thought with dollars, or at least not in the long term.  Sure a new diamond ring or necklace will make a wonderful deposit in the emotional bank account initially, but over the long term, like a declining stock, these types of items loose their value.  The amount of thought you put into what you do or give is far more import than how much it costs.

Here are just a few of the nearly unlimited low-cost or frugal valentine’s ideas you can do:

  1. Have a romantic evening at home – One year I made CD containing some of my wife’s favorite romantic songs and cooked a special dinner.  We ate dinner together while listening to the music.  I then took her upstairs, where I had sprinkled rose petals all around the bath and lite a ton of small candles and ran her a hot bath so she could relax and enjoy some quiet time without the kids.
  2. 12 reasons I love you – Another year I purchased a dozen roses from a local store and taped a small card to each one.  I hid the roses throughout the house and placed one where she would see it.  Each card contained a personal note that provided one reason I loved my wife, a memory we shared related to that reason, and a clue to find the next rose.  She loved it :-)
  3. Take the day off – If you work a lot or are away from home often, take the day off and dedicate it to spending time with your significant other.   Go for a walk, have a picnic, head to the local park and sit on the swings and talk.  Opportunities for spending the day together and spending little or nothing are endless.
  4. Grab coffee – Head to a local coffee shop that isn’t real busy and has a nice relaxed environment.  Grab some coffee, some desserts and sit together on the couch and just spent some time together.
  5. Make her something – Instead of buying something, make her something.  If you’re handy with wood, make her something she would enjoy like a  planter or bookcase.  A friend of mine once shared that the best gift she ever received from her husband was a hand-made valentines card.
  6. Write a poem or note – How about just spending some time writing down your feelings?  You don’t have to be Robert Frost to write poetry, and frankly it doesn’t even have to rhythm.  Just write down how you feel, or recant a story about how you met or a time you remember with your spouse that is important to you.

The possibilities here are endless.  Just spend some time thinking through what is important to your significant other, and what would be meaningful to them.  Couple that interest with some sincere feelings on your side and you have a winner!

But don’t miss out on the opportunity to make a big deposit in your emotional bank account this year, keep an eye on that balance and don’t wait until the last minute when the balance is low.  Keep your emotional bank account balanced, and put more in than you take out!

Share your frugal or inexpensive Valentine’s day gift ideas by adding a comment below! Have a personal example of a Valentine’s gift that met a lot to you?  Share that as well!

Photo by: Stumblingthrulifewithgr ace

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