New found savings

New found Savings

I'm always on the lookout for new places to save money and give me a better return than the local bank can.

In my short time at home, I spend most of it on my desktop and some of it working on moving my office.  The treasures I've found just by cleaning up is amazing.  It brought back so many memories, both good and bad.  Looking through statements and receipts took me back to the wild ride we had over the past several years.  Watching two of my children graduate and turn into young adults.  How we had such a rocky climb back out of the hole we had dug so deep.  Now I watch my own children encountering similar financial struggles.  Of course as I did at their age, they don't listen to anyones advice.  They know it all and will figure it out for themselves.  Lucky for you, you've decided to expand your knowledge and ended up here.  What better way to learn is from experience and that I have.

Years ago I started with an ING Direct account.  A little bit put into it and eventually became 6 different accounts for many purposes.  One is for insurance deductibles.  How many people have the deductible set aside just encase they have to use their insurance policy?  I ran into it once where there was an accident and the insurance would pay the rest after I met the deductible.  It took me months to get that money together so the truck could get fixed.  At that point I started saving into it and keep that account always at the amount needed to meet any deductible.  It gains interest and once a year I move the interest into another account.  I have a Christmas account, money set aside for gifts.  It is another thing that saves me at the end of the year.  We determine a value per child and stick with it.  Then through the year I save up to that amount.  When we start getting presents the money comes out of that account to pay for them.  An emergency account, all unexpected income goes into this account.  Any money from overtime to bonuses and  even tax returns go into this account.  This has been a big plus for me.  If there is any kind of emergency that pops up such as a home or auto repair I'm covered.  Then we have the checking/debit card account.  This usually has some undetermined amount in it and it is where the funds from the other accounts go into if I need to use them for some reason.  Please note that my emergency account is just that, for emergencies.  Going out to eat, buying something nice and so forth is NOT an emergency.  I know it can be tempting to pull from it when it grows but remember it's better to be prepared than not.  I had set up some kids accounts so my children could learn about money and have a place to save.  They get their own debit card that they can use to access the money.  A few years ago, ING Direct was bought by Capitol One and became Capitol One 360.  It still earns interest the same and works great.  I finally have a credit card through Capitol One and earn points to put towards payments or travel.  I also started an IRA account with them which is easy to fund from any of the accounts I have.  Remember, there are no limits on how many accounts you can have.  I like to save money so I pay for my car insurance for the 6 month period.  To do this I take so much a month and set it aside in the appropriate account.

The new account I found though can help you save up that emergency fund and gives you rewards for doing so.  I've been getting emails from Brightpeak Financial for some time now with so much useful information and helpful tips on saving money.  They have a way to save for emergencies and reward you for reaching the goals they set.  Signing up is easy and the only commitment is the initial deposit, minimum $1 and a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly automatic deposit.  The weekly deposit minimum is $13, by-weekly $27 or monthly at $50.  The goal is to help you have $1000 saved in a 24 month period.  The rewards are fantastic as they give you money for reaching set goals.  You can actually get some nice sums which beat any returns any bank could offer you.  Basically they will give you up to $100 over the 24 month period for reaching the goals set.  This is all done through Thrivent Federal Credit Union's Emergency Savings Share Account.  Check it out, you won't be sorry.  The interest rates are very nice as well.  There is one catch but a good one.  There are no fees as long as you don't make more than one withdrawal a month.  This may seem harsh but it insures that you will only use this money in a true emergency.

I'd like to keep going on but have some more things to do.  I have a couple other accounts that you may want to check out but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

Welcome the possibilities!!!

Welcome the possibilities!!!

If I've learned anything over the past few years, it is to welcome the possibilities and be open to new opportunities. 

Opportunities present themselves in oh so many ways and it's up to us to figure out what they are.  Many opportunities scare us so we shy away from them.  This of course causes us to miss some golden opportunities to advance us towards our goals.  Successful people take risks and risks are taken in opportunities.  So many people want to play it safe and stay within their comfort zone.  These people totally miss the opportunity boat as others hop on and enjoy the cruise.  Now I'm not saying you should take your life savings and place it all on one bet in Vegas but you do need to reach outside of your comfort zone.  I mainly do better when pressured into something.  When I have no other choice but to act is when things start moving.  This is where procrastination is a goal killer.  We can waste countless hours of energy thinking about what we'd like out of life but if we never act upon it we'll never see it come to be.

Goal setting is a very important part of finding our success.  It took me a long time to turn things around but finally realized that the process wasn't as hard as I thought it was.  Every financial books advice kept saying the same things over and over.  The problem some people face is that they think if they find abundance, someone else will lose it.  This isn't the case at all.  More and more money is being printed everyday.  Mines still produce silver, gold and diamonds, plus other precious metals and gem stones.  The world is full of opportunity for prosperity.  A little effort can lead anyone up into the top few percent of the elite wealthy.  Do you need that kind of wealth?  Not really.  I look at what it will take for me to live comfortably and without further worries.  I know I can't predict the future but being prepared for it is half the battle.  I people everyday complain about their situations and still do nothing different to change it.  This is what I call Virtual Insanity, looking for a different outcome without changing anything.  We need to be continually tweaking our lives, making changes to achieve a better outcome.  If I would have sat back and did nothing over the past few years, would life have become better?  Maybe a little but not to the extent that it has to date.  Although things look good now, did I stop making adjustments or pursuing new goals?  No, not at all.  We can't grow and achieve more if new goals don't replace the old ones.  We literally have to trick our subconscious mind into a new reality.  Force ourselves to move forward into the unknown.

I had recently read the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.  It had many strong points on how we are creators of habit.  Ever notice that your morning always starts and plays out the same way and if something should change how that schedule goes it messes up the rest of the day?  We create habits and follow those habits, good or bad we follow them.  Pets will follow our habits as well.  They know precisely when they will be fed, when you have to leave and when you'll be home.  This is because we formed a habit of feeding them at the same time everyday, we tend to leave and come home from work at the same time everyday.  Here again like writing in this blog.  It needs to be a habit, something that is done everyday without fail.  Like wise not writing in it has been a habit for the past few years.  Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing that unless it became a goal and formed into a habit, it wasn't going to get done.  Let me get out my soap box one more time.  This is where I strongly recommend Simpleology.  Mark Joyner the creator has done a fantastic job at laying out the framework for goal setting and motivation.  I have started using it again daily with great success and will continue to keep you informed on how it has helped improve my success.  It starts out with Start my day and walks you through the whole process of setting up your day with daily targets.  You can choose to do it yourself or delegate to someone else or even schedule it for another day.  There is also a dump it feature that allows you to say forget it, I would get to that today anyway or possibly something that isn't in line with your goals.  The Dream Catcher feature is fantastic for jotting something down the pops into mind for you to ponder on later.  You can set a goal for how many times you'll log in and it keeps track of it.  It even has a place for your major goals and asks you to fill out why it's important to you.  It's free so give it a try and please leave me a comment on how it works for you.

On another note, I've been doing a lot of cleaning up the past two weeks and must say I'm quite the hoarder of paperwork.  My wife has been after me for some time to get my stuff together and get organized.  I finally see it coming together but still have quite a way to go.  I'm relocating my office to another room so it's been more like making a mess out of a mess.  I'll have way more trash than usual to burn this week.  I'm actually very impressed with the progress I've made.  It will hopefully prove to be great help in my productivity.  I guess we'll find out but thanks to the above mentioned Simpleology I've been able to stay on track with getting it done.

Well I hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year.  Tomorrow I may not have a chance to blog anything since I will be traveling tomorrow evening to a customer for service but will be sure to post something on my return to the office. 

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!

As the new year begins I have worked on keeping the procrastination down for the last couple days of my vacation.  Using Simpleology on a daily basis helps tremendously.  I strongly recommend it for anyone looking to achieve success in what ever they choose to do.  It's a great way to stay focused on what needs to be done for the day and keeps you on track for future goals.  It's free to sign up and is constantly improving.

Here's my disclaimer for the above*** I do not solicit, or work for Simpleology, nor am I compensated in any way for mentioning them in my blog.  I truly believe in and use the system, so I recommend it to those who can benefit from it.***

On that note, I'm off to finish a few tasks before turning in for the night...

I do hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday...