Enjoy the rest of your summer. Don't blink, August is here...
Best,
Brian
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget. Show all posts
7/26/15
7 pic Euro Vacation recap
Summer is flying by, hope you had/have great vacations that didn't break the bank!
3/4/13
Plan to Save- a few options for Spring
Winter vacation is over, the temperature is rising, and the snow is melting in the yard. That's the good news. The bad news is that I get a clear picture of how awful my lawn looks. I have a lot of spring cleaning to do.
8/15/11
And we're back...
We leave the U.S. and the markets crash. We arrive in the U.K. and London burns. Good thing nothing crazy happened when we were in Paris, that city is absolutely perfect the way it is!Things are expensive over there and the exchange rate doesn't help but the opportunity to experience some of Europe with our kids was worth every over priced British Pound and Euro. Exposing them to a world outside of what we live every day and helping them to understand and experience that it is a big world out there, is truly a priceless experience. They probably won't remember too many trip details down the road, the recall will begin to take shape around the pictures and video. But who knows what the long term impact will be? We will continue to provide experiences to challenge and expand their developing minds to recognize the amazing possibilities and opportunities they have before them.
Enough of that! We had a blast and by following some of my own saving/spending rules, it was not a budget busting experience. Whoa!
These kids hardly know who the Beatles are but they got the full-on Abbey Road experience!
Time to start planning the next trip... where should we head next??
Brian
2/16/11
Do you know your number? Go Micro.
Recent economic challenges have forced many people to take a closer look at their finances and that, of course, is a good thing. The practical matters of spending less than you earn, saving, and budgeting have become familiar practices for more people than ever before. I hope it sticks (we can be a fickle bunch, can't we?) but that's another topic for another day.
12/30/10
Decision Making: Don't leave it up to the waiter.
We were out to dinner last night and my wife couldn't decide between two interesting fish and chicken dishes. She asked the waiter to help make her decision, "Which is better?" she asked.
12/15/10
Pay it forward. It helps keep the budget in line.
I'm on a new kick. Laundering money. At least it feels that way...
We all know that a cardinal rule of personal finance is, "Don't spend money you don't have." Easier said than done, right? I have a Upromise MC. We're trying to stuff a few extra bucks into the 529's we have set up for the kids #CollegeNextYear! Upromise gives 1-5% cash back on all purchases made with the card. It's not a ton of money but we might as well get something for spending.
One of the features I like most about this cc, unlike other cards is that I can transfer more money to the card than my current balance (up to $500, same with AMEX). I love it! It's a great budgeting tool. I can better plan out and pay for the coming week of spending with $$ I HAVE. Remember the days before the now ubiquitous online account management/billing/payment functions? Get that cc bill and hold your breath opening it to see what the damage was for the month? That was like driving a car on the highway blindfolded! (Many of our younger friends never felt that pain #ShockAndAwe)
We all know that a cardinal rule of personal finance is, "Don't spend money you don't have." Easier said than done, right? I have a Upromise MC. We're trying to stuff a few extra bucks into the 529's we have set up for the kids #CollegeNextYear! Upromise gives 1-5% cash back on all purchases made with the card. It's not a ton of money but we might as well get something for spending.
One of the features I like most about this cc, unlike other cards is that I can transfer more money to the card than my current balance (up to $500, same with AMEX). I love it! It's a great budgeting tool. I can better plan out and pay for the coming week of spending with $$ I HAVE. Remember the days before the now ubiquitous online account management/billing/payment functions? Get that cc bill and hold your breath opening it to see what the damage was for the month? That was like driving a car on the highway blindfolded! (Many of our younger friends never felt that pain #ShockAndAwe)
11/16/10
Don't fall for the lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig.
Today I broke one of my own cardinal rules. In fairness to me (excuse alert!), I was out of my routine.
9/28/10
They bet you will make a mistake. They're usually right.
I was blazing though my food shopping route today, working the plan that I had put together on Sunday. I had my sale items listed by store with the coupons organized in their respective store envelope. Every shopping trip is a game to me, who will get the better of this transaction, Them or Me?
9/8/10
Saving Tip: Making Location & Loyalty choices
People ask me where to start. One place to go for a quick win is to review your "shopping universe". I got into a bad habit. I went to the same place for the same stuff all the time.
9/5/10
Buyer Beware: Learn from my Sunday Shop mistake: B-
It started off promising. Today was all set up for a good day of planning for a solid week of savings.
Then the phone rang.
Then the phone rang.
8/24/10
"How did you do that?" said the man behind the register..
I like feedback. I like to know how I'm doing, I'll take it wherever I can get it...
8/23/10
Year 1: SAVED some, LEARNED more
Who doesn't love to save money? I want to do it any way I can! Almost.
8/19/10
8/5/10
Back to BASICs
We can all do better when it comes to living within our means. I read something somewhere that, "70% of Americans live like they are in the top 1%"
That is a bold and un-scientific statement, but it does paint a clear picture. A wild picture supported by a noisy backdrop of ugly economic numbers.
Recently, my wife and I have made some major life changes, resulting in a "focus on what you can control and recognize what you cannot control" kick with our kids. Whatever your circumstances, it’s a great reminder and starting point to make some changes, for all of us right now whether you are in that 70%, or think you are in the other 30.
For us, that focus means taking control and getting back to BASICs. I have worked through these steps for the last year and have cut our family spending by 40%! It has been a positive financial and emotional journey for our family.
Step #1: BASELINE: accurately determine your current economic reality. This is your baseline from which all of your progress will be measured. When you get rolling and implement your plan, you will see significant changes from this starting point and everyone will breath a bit easier...
-a Keep track of everything you spend. Everyone gets a blank tracking sheet, a calendar page will work. Capture every penny spent. Two months is a fair sample size.
-b Calculate Cash Flow. Income(minus)Expenses= Cash Flow. There are a lot of expenses out there that you might not think about. Use the tracking logs from above to make sure you have an accurate picture of what you spend. There are plenty of good, free spreadsheets out there, or you can make your own.
Step #2: ASSESS: Now you’ve established an accurate baseline, you must assess your priorities. Before making sweeping changes, make sure that important areas for your family have been identified and discussed. Communication through any type of change is critical.
Give everyone an assignment. "Tomorrow night after dinner, we will each share a list of 3 things that are truly important to you, or that you love to do, or what you just can’t do without." The idea is to find a conversation starter to help identify what’s most important to your family.
Step #3 STRATEGIZE: Now that you know where you stand and what’s important to your crew, it’s time to brainstorm and research ideas on ways to improve both sides of the cash flow equation. You need a game plan, a strategy. "How can we earn more dollars?", "How can we save more of the dollars we spend?", "What can we do without, what could we use less of, what are our wants vs. the needs?" Consider everything. Have that conversation and then turn the talk into action! It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be major but it does have to be specific. Write down the improvements (just a few to start, easy ones. Change is hard. You want to have some early wins to get things rolling) that you all agree you can take action on immediately.
Step #4 IMPLEMENT: Right now you are well on your way to making great improvements that will have a profound impact on your family! The communication that has taken place so far is important and very eye opening. It is a wonderful exercise and learning experience for the whole family. But all of that work means very little if the plan is not implemented. You must take action. Action will happen if you plan for it. Don’t assume it will happen. Take the family calendar out and write in what changed behavior will take place and when. I heard it when we started this leg of the journey, "yeah, yeah, we don’t need to do that, we got it, this isn’t rocket science." It’s common knowledge: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Too much work has gone into this BASIC plan, don’t take this critical step for granted!
Step#5 CIRCLE back: Circle back and evaluate how things went. What went well? Celebrate your success (within the budget of course!) You must take the time to recognize your efforts. That is the fuel that will keep things moving forward. What didn’t work this week? Why didn’t it work and what can we plan to do differently next time? This is how you will improve next week and the next week, and the week after that. Eventually this will become a routine, second nature. That’s when you really start to see results that make a difference.
That’s a good, BASIC start for now, to get better today and set your crew up for success tomorrow. There are a million details you could add or consider left out of this BASIC plan but don’t hesitate. Put a BASIC plan together and add your own flavor but take action now. "A good plan acted on today is better than a perfect plan executed next week"
That is a bold and un-scientific statement, but it does paint a clear picture. A wild picture supported by a noisy backdrop of ugly economic numbers.
Recently, my wife and I have made some major life changes, resulting in a "focus on what you can control and recognize what you cannot control" kick with our kids. Whatever your circumstances, it’s a great reminder and starting point to make some changes, for all of us right now whether you are in that 70%, or think you are in the other 30.
For us, that focus means taking control and getting back to BASICs. I have worked through these steps for the last year and have cut our family spending by 40%! It has been a positive financial and emotional journey for our family.
Step #1: BASELINE: accurately determine your current economic reality. This is your baseline from which all of your progress will be measured. When you get rolling and implement your plan, you will see significant changes from this starting point and everyone will breath a bit easier...
-a Keep track of everything you spend. Everyone gets a blank tracking sheet, a calendar page will work. Capture every penny spent. Two months is a fair sample size.
-b Calculate Cash Flow. Income(minus)Expenses= Cash Flow. There are a lot of expenses out there that you might not think about. Use the tracking logs from above to make sure you have an accurate picture of what you spend. There are plenty of good, free spreadsheets out there, or you can make your own.
Step #2: ASSESS: Now you’ve established an accurate baseline, you must assess your priorities. Before making sweeping changes, make sure that important areas for your family have been identified and discussed. Communication through any type of change is critical.
Give everyone an assignment. "Tomorrow night after dinner, we will each share a list of 3 things that are truly important to you, or that you love to do, or what you just can’t do without." The idea is to find a conversation starter to help identify what’s most important to your family.
Step #3 STRATEGIZE: Now that you know where you stand and what’s important to your crew, it’s time to brainstorm and research ideas on ways to improve both sides of the cash flow equation. You need a game plan, a strategy. "How can we earn more dollars?", "How can we save more of the dollars we spend?", "What can we do without, what could we use less of, what are our wants vs. the needs?" Consider everything. Have that conversation and then turn the talk into action! It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be major but it does have to be specific. Write down the improvements (just a few to start, easy ones. Change is hard. You want to have some early wins to get things rolling) that you all agree you can take action on immediately.
Step #4 IMPLEMENT: Right now you are well on your way to making great improvements that will have a profound impact on your family! The communication that has taken place so far is important and very eye opening. It is a wonderful exercise and learning experience for the whole family. But all of that work means very little if the plan is not implemented. You must take action. Action will happen if you plan for it. Don’t assume it will happen. Take the family calendar out and write in what changed behavior will take place and when. I heard it when we started this leg of the journey, "yeah, yeah, we don’t need to do that, we got it, this isn’t rocket science." It’s common knowledge: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Too much work has gone into this BASIC plan, don’t take this critical step for granted!
Step#5 CIRCLE back: Circle back and evaluate how things went. What went well? Celebrate your success (within the budget of course!) You must take the time to recognize your efforts. That is the fuel that will keep things moving forward. What didn’t work this week? Why didn’t it work and what can we plan to do differently next time? This is how you will improve next week and the next week, and the week after that. Eventually this will become a routine, second nature. That’s when you really start to see results that make a difference.
That’s a good, BASIC start for now, to get better today and set your crew up for success tomorrow. There are a million details you could add or consider left out of this BASIC plan but don’t hesitate. Put a BASIC plan together and add your own flavor but take action now. "A good plan acted on today is better than a perfect plan executed next week"
7/21/10
Save like you have to UPDATE: courtesy NYTimes
“One of the reasons that the re- covery has lost momentum is that high-end consumers have become more jittery and more cautious,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. (NYTimes 7-17-10)
We were just talking about this! Everyone is showing signs of saving like they have to. Whether you need to or not, it's a good idea to run a tight ship and save like you have to because someday, you just might have to. Looks like some of these folks are feeling like they have to. I hope it's not too late!
Calculate your cash flow number (or update it), and then reduce the income number. Go through that list of expenses and figure out what can/will be cut.
"Practice like it's a game so the game will feel like practice" #quote
Practice saving like you have to because someday your game may come.
Have you changed any personal finance habits lately?
We were just talking about this! Everyone is showing signs of saving like they have to. Whether you need to or not, it's a good idea to run a tight ship and save like you have to because someday, you just might have to. Looks like some of these folks are feeling like they have to. I hope it's not too late!
Calculate your cash flow number (or update it), and then reduce the income number. Go through that list of expenses and figure out what can/will be cut.
"Practice like it's a game so the game will feel like practice" #quote
Practice saving like you have to because someday your game may come.
Have you changed any personal finance habits lately?
7/20/10
Organizing: Reality Check
There are so many awful economic numbers out there that don't seem to be getting any better... There are are lots people in trouble, let's hope not many are saying, "it's the other guy, not me." Pick a number, any number: 31% have NOT saved for retirement, average household has $8k credit card debt, 43% of families spend more than they make, by most accounts, 70% of American's live like the top 1%. So odds are that at least one of those really nice cars I saw on the road today must belong to one of our statistics, right? Do you know enough about your financial situation to know if that might be you?
We must clearly define your reality.
Take a close look. Look at every label and under every rock while you take take complete inventory of what you use and spend. Then look at what you can and cannot, or will not, live without. We all have our personal comfort zones, which should be tested but we do have our limits... I will tell you right now, I am not yet at the point where I will make my own toothpaste. You? But I am crazy with the coupons, that's a project I can manage. It fits who I am. There are so many ideas and suggestions out there for saving/managing our money, we can't possibly do them all. After you take that close look. What will change?
Prioritize and take action. (all you need is a spreadsheet with two columns. ( 1.- what we spend $ on/ 2.- negotiable or not?)
Once you have an accurate picture of your current reality, only then can you make lasting changes. Don't be another bad statistic.
Take a close look. Look at every label and under every rock while you take take complete inventory of what you use and spend. Then look at what you can and cannot, or will not, live without. We all have our personal comfort zones, which should be tested but we do have our limits... I will tell you right now, I am not yet at the point where I will make my own toothpaste. You? But I am crazy with the coupons, that's a project I can manage. It fits who I am. There are so many ideas and suggestions out there for saving/managing our money, we can't possibly do them all. After you take that close look. What will change?
Prioritize and take action. (all you need is a spreadsheet with two columns. ( 1.- what we spend $ on/ 2.- negotiable or not?)
Once you have an accurate picture of your current reality, only then can you make lasting changes. Don't be another bad statistic.
7/19/10
New Blog. SMART goals.
I'm just getting started and I couldn't be more excited about the VALUE of my message yet I'm still poking around, talking, reading, listening and trying to learn about the best way to go about my business... There is so much great (and not so great) material out here, it is easy to get distracted, overwhelmed, and ultimately lost. So as I go through this process (I'm sure many of you can tell me how long I can expect it to last), I'm reminded of a few things but one struck me this morning... I must have goals. When we have goals, they must be SMART.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound
Seems like most people know that there must be goals in here somewhere but without the guidelines of the widely applicable SMART acronym, we can get distracted, overwhelmed, and ultimately lost... sounds familiar.
Set goals. Be smart.
How do you stay on track??
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound
Seems like most people know that there must be goals in here somewhere but without the guidelines of the widely applicable SMART acronym, we can get distracted, overwhelmed, and ultimately lost... sounds familiar.
Set goals. Be smart.
How do you stay on track??
Save like you need to
Foreclosure rates are up again in the first half of 2010, clearly, we are not out of our collective financial mess yet, even if the market is over 10,000. I wonder what percentage of this increase was due to poor budgeting, or planning, and a lack of self-control with credit and pursuit of the finer things... How much of this increase could have been prevented if only there was more attention to the details of the family balance sheet, and/or a greater focus on saving?
There is still plenty of job loss and tough situations that are difficult to overcome that I'm sure are represented in this increase and have little to do with a lack of discipline or responsibility. That should be reason enough for all of us to take some time to do a few things to make sure you be alright should the unexpected hit you!
They say the best time to look for a job is when you already have one. Maybe saving and strong budgeting and planning is best done when you really don't need to do it to make ends meet.
Take a few minutes to save like you have to. Look at your budget, your cash flow... What would you do differently if you or your spouse lost your job? What if certain variable expenses increased unexpectedly (heating, gas prices, insurance, etc) What would you do more or less of? Prioritize the things you could go without in the worst case scenario... then implement some of those withholdings on a trial basis, you might be surprised! BANG! You just saved a few extra bucks for those kids to get to college! When of course you are disciplined enough (as I know you are ;)) to save that money you just made.
I have gone through this exercise with my family (because we now have to and I wish I did this when I did NOT have to!) and we have some good new money habits. I have cut our grocery budget in half and everyone is a bit more aware of what we are spending and questioning whether or not its a good idea. The discussions about money with my two kids (both almost 10) have been outstanding. I can see how their feelings about money are being shaped as we speak. I hope we are doing a good job!
Save like you need to. Give it a shot because someday you might.
There is still plenty of job loss and tough situations that are difficult to overcome that I'm sure are represented in this increase and have little to do with a lack of discipline or responsibility. That should be reason enough for all of us to take some time to do a few things to make sure you be alright should the unexpected hit you!
They say the best time to look for a job is when you already have one. Maybe saving and strong budgeting and planning is best done when you really don't need to do it to make ends meet.
Take a few minutes to save like you have to. Look at your budget, your cash flow... What would you do differently if you or your spouse lost your job? What if certain variable expenses increased unexpectedly (heating, gas prices, insurance, etc) What would you do more or less of? Prioritize the things you could go without in the worst case scenario... then implement some of those withholdings on a trial basis, you might be surprised! BANG! You just saved a few extra bucks for those kids to get to college! When of course you are disciplined enough (as I know you are ;)) to save that money you just made.
I have gone through this exercise with my family (because we now have to and I wish I did this when I did NOT have to!) and we have some good new money habits. I have cut our grocery budget in half and everyone is a bit more aware of what we are spending and questioning whether or not its a good idea. The discussions about money with my two kids (both almost 10) have been outstanding. I can see how their feelings about money are being shaped as we speak. I hope we are doing a good job!
Save like you need to. Give it a shot because someday you might.
11/20/09
Getting Started @ home
Monday morning. I wake up and do not have an office to go to, no voicemail or email to check. I am officially a fish out of water but I can't sit still. My wife just got a great new job and the kids need to get to school. There is work that needs to be done. Let's get to it!
The first thing I need to after the kids leave for school is to go through everything that we have here and take inventory. I need to take time to see what we've got and make a broad list of anything and everything that I don't understand or that could use some improvement.
- Is the "house in order"? Physically and Financially. What needs work?
- what do we, don't we have streamlined? How about online accounts, passwords?
- Insurance. I think I might actually give the gecco a call!
- I've heard a lot about those 529's and we have two kids that are only 10 years away from college. OH MY!!
- What are those things that we've been talking about for a while, what are the "nice to do's"? We've been so busy working on the "need to do's."
- Those family photos have been piling up, I need to get those files cleaned up! What's the best way to do that?
- OK, my wife is at work, I just realized that all the leadership skills in the world aren't going to feed my kids. I need to get my act together in the kitchen.
- Before I can do that, I need food to work with, right? We need a shopping plan!
- The family income has been downsized, we will need to downsize the other side of the balance sheet too. Actually looking forward to that assignment.
I'm sure there is more to add to the list but this transition is overwhelming enough. I'll start with this list!
The first thing I need to after the kids leave for school is to go through everything that we have here and take inventory. I need to take time to see what we've got and make a broad list of anything and everything that I don't understand or that could use some improvement.
- Is the "house in order"? Physically and Financially. What needs work?
- what do we, don't we have streamlined? How about online accounts, passwords?
- Insurance. I think I might actually give the gecco a call!
- I've heard a lot about those 529's and we have two kids that are only 10 years away from college. OH MY!!
- What are those things that we've been talking about for a while, what are the "nice to do's"? We've been so busy working on the "need to do's."
- Those family photos have been piling up, I need to get those files cleaned up! What's the best way to do that?
- OK, my wife is at work, I just realized that all the leadership skills in the world aren't going to feed my kids. I need to get my act together in the kitchen.
- Before I can do that, I need food to work with, right? We need a shopping plan!
- The family income has been downsized, we will need to downsize the other side of the balance sheet too. Actually looking forward to that assignment.
I'm sure there is more to add to the list but this transition is overwhelming enough. I'll start with this list!
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