Financial Friend$ & Enemie$

There is no shortage of financial tips and tricks, hot stocks and get rich quick and flip programs... There is no substitute for common sense and diligence.

There was a recent piece on +CNBC about security breaches; Anthem, HD, Target, and the Federal Government and tax returns...

'What can you do to protect yourself?' The expert offered sage, timeless simple advice: PAY ATTENTION

and who better to learn from when it comes to pay attention lessons?

YOUR MONEY

 YOUR CREDIT CARDS

It wasn't that long ago when you got your credit card bill monthly via snail mail... sat down with the unopened letter (the ritual often required an adult beverage in reach in case the news was really bad) and brace for impact... what was the damage? Will I have enough left over to feed the dog? That sad guessing game had us set up to fail.

Those days are over and all of your financial information is accessible in real time.

2 tips for friends & enemies now that we have all have real time access:

1.) Make a regular habit to check in with your friends, your money, keep it close, several times a week, if not daily, so you know what you have and what's due to go out. I'm a mint.com guy.
     (balance the checkbook, create and reference list of upcoming expenses. No more surprises!)

2.) Keep the enemy closer: What are those credit cards up to today? Know what your total spend is everyday. Do you know? The more you look the more you'll see trends and opportunities to cut.

How do you keep your organized, what other resources do you use?

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.

Grocer plays on pump pressure. 3 flags.

"Spend $15 on things you don't usually buy and 
probably won't use and save $1 on $40 of gas!"

-the fine, fine print

We know that sellers go to great lengths to contact and manipulate buyers.  The goal being to have us buy, buy again and buy more still, certainly more than your frugal self budgeted.  We have seen an explosion in rewards programs, CareCards, store specific bucks, loyalty programs, etc.  Does your keychain look like you're on the janitorial staff at the high school?  Those are, in part, intended to have us feel like we are special, part of the group, and as a result, getting a good deal from our pals, uhm, sellers.  When you stop to think about it, they all subtly play on some very basic human needs we all have, recognition, acceptance, and being part of something.  Fine.

Hey, have you seen the price of gas lately!?  Looks like $5 per gallon this summer.  WHAT?!  That's crazy!! "but wait", says my local grocer, "allow me to play on your fear and anger.  I will comfort you with a deal, friend."  Game on.

I've seen a few fringe "gas rewards" programs but the full-court press is on as gas prices continue to climb.  As with any advertised sale or deal, you've got to break it down into little pieces to get to the bottom line and determine if it's a good deal for you.  Here are a few things to consider before you buy that $2 box of fruit gushers to save 30 cents on gas.

1.  First PLAN to buy what you NEED based on the PRICE of that item alone.  Don't consider buying dog biscuits to get 100 points that will turn into 25 cents next week if you make it to the only Shell station across town, when you don't even have a dog.  Really, only if the program fits YOU, not the other way around, proceed...

2.  RUN THE NUMBERS:  Let's say you do plan to buy what you need at the price you want it at and you manage to get 200 points, whoa!  How much gas do you need and what's the total savings?  Scratch it out on paper and decide for yourself if it's worth it.

3.  APPROVED GAS STATIONS: Make sure you know where you can use the gas points and that it is convenient enough for you to actually use.  We'd hate to see you do all this work and then not even use your points!

Good luck!
What has your gas rewards experience been?

A journey from 'Bigger is Better' to Bulk Blurs.

A wholesale club always holds the promise of a HUGE deal, doesn't it?

I've gotten pretty good with quick calculations to determine per unit pricing.  I feel like Rain Man as I pass through the aisles tying to spot a good deal.  That has proven to be the quickest way to slice through the hype of sale noise, BOGO, 2 for X, and other assorted hooks to get us to buy any given product.

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.

Help someone get an early start. They will be benefit greatly.

I've spent much of my time at home trying to figure out if I should be worried.  Another chapter in my personal "define your reality" series...  What I have learned is that I put a tremendous asset on my side: time.

A Financial iPOD for all ages

I want my kids to grow up with a firm handle on personal financial responsibility, embedded in their little brains tomorrow as deeply and comfortably as the things they do so effortlessly today.  Technology

Best time to buy it, is when you don't need it

Pressure creates a sense of urgency.  That can be a good thing.  Positive Pressure can force your hand to 'get things done'.

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.

Everyone wants what you have! Your $$

Attitudes about money have a big impact on your cash flow.

I've recently had an attitude adjustment.  

Year 1: SAVED some, LEARNED more

Who doesn't love to save money?  I want to do it any way I can!  Almost.  

New School Year... New Habits start now.

"It's the most wonderful time, of the year!"

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"

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?

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.