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Archives for December 2010

Making New Years Resolutions That Will Stick

December 28, 2010 By Shane Ede 5 Comments

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!
It’s that time of year again!  That wonderful time when everybody is all hopeful and cheery and bright.  We go about spreading our cheer and hope and then declaring it to the world by making New Years Resolutions. Each year we resolve to lose the weight, quit the smoking, work less, and so on.   And each year, we all make it to about the 15th of January before we give up on those resolutions.  Not only do we go back to where we were before the new year, but some of us get even worse!

The problem isn’t that we’re weak.  It isn’t even that we make bad resolutions, although that sometimes is part of it.  What really, really kills those resolutions is the scale.  We fumble and stumble over the sheer breadth of our resolutions.  And that is almost directly a response to the overwhelming hope that we feel going into a new year.  Hope is good, don’t get me wrong, but we have to learn to channel it and control it so that it works for us, instead of against us by laying traps.

Think carefully about the resolutions you’ve made before.  They almost always go something like this: “I resolve to lose 100 pounds this year!”.  And they almost always fail.  But, like I said, it’s all about scale.  Instead of resolving to lose all 100 pounds this year, try making the resolutions scalable.  Something that has smaller increments and can be used as a checkpoint through out the year.  When you haven’t lost 10 pounds by the middle of January, you aren’t as disappointed, and you can keep working instead of giving up and going on a binge.  Try something like “I resolve to eat less this year”, or “I resolve to lose a pound a week this year”.  If you miss a day or two, or even a week or two, you can still catch up.  Or, you can just forgive yourself those few days or weeks and continue on the next day or week.  The same can go for smoking.  Instead of resolving to quit smoking entirely this year, and then giving up the first week, because you tried to go cold turkey, resolve to smoke one less cigarette each week than you did the previous week.  You might not quit as quickly, but it helps you taper, and it gives you goals that are achievable.

Use these same principles to modify the resolutions that you give yourself for your finances.  Instead of jumping right to the max contribution to your 401(k), maybe increase it a percentage or two so each quarter so that you’re at the max by the end of the year.  Instead of trying to save the full amount you want to out of your paycheck, do the same and increase it slightly each paycheck.  Not only will it still achieve your goals, but because you’re doing it gradually, it won’t produce the same shock to the system that it would if  you tried to do it all at once.

This new year, give yourself a fighting chance.  And remember, just because you want something, and you make a resolution about it, doesn’t mean it’s gonna just fall into your lap.  You’ll still have to work for it in any case.

photo credit: jazzlog

Shane Ede

I started this blog to share what I know and what I was learning about personal finance. Along the way I’ve met and found many blogging friends. Please feel free to connect with me on the Beating Broke accounts: Twitter and Facebook.

You can also connect with me personally at Novelnaut, Thatedeguy, Shane Ede, and my personal Twitter.

www.beatingbroke.com

Filed Under: General Finance, Saving, ShareMe Tagged With: new year, resolutions, resolve, Saving, stop smoking, weight, weight loss

Merry Christmas

December 24, 2010 By Shane Ede 2 Comments

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2010-12-05b

I hope your day is a great one.  That you get everything you wanted, that you spent less than you expected, and that your day is filled with wonderful times with family and friends.

By the time this post is posted, (I’m writing it on the 6th of December) I’ll be on the road to my in-laws house to partake in the festivities there.  I’m sure the kids will enjoy spending some time with Grandma and all their fun uncles and aunt.

Please keep in mind that the holiday is a celebration of life, not of buying and getting.  Give of your heart, live with intention, and enjoy the splendor of life!

photo credit: bgottsab

Shane Ede

I started this blog to share what I know and what I was learning about personal finance. Along the way I’ve met and found many blogging friends. Please feel free to connect with me on the Beating Broke accounts: Twitter and Facebook.

You can also connect with me personally at Novelnaut, Thatedeguy, Shane Ede, and my personal Twitter.

www.beatingbroke.com

Filed Under: Site News Tagged With: christmas

A World of Cash Only

December 17, 2010 By Shane Ede 11 Comments

What if you couldn’t use a credit card.  What if you couldn’t get a loan?  Imagine a world where “credit” as we know it no longer exists.  Or never existed in the first place.  Would that world be better or worse than what we live in now?

visa signatureIn many ways, credit that is used wisely can be a benefit to our lives.  It allows us to get a house without having hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash available.  It allows us a car without having to have tens of thousands available.  I know, if you purchase smartly and within your means, you don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house and you don’t need tens of thousands for a car.  But, for those that feel that they can afford to pay those payments, credit makes it all possible.

What would a world where there was no credit look like?  Instead of spending our last dollar to pay off the loans we get with our credit, we’d spend more of our time working for fulfillment.  If we didn’t have the ready cash available to pay for something, we’d have to save for it.  Or trade for it.  And we’d do more for ourselves.  We’d mow our own lawns.  We’d do our own handyman work.  Do-it-y0urself tasks wouldn’t be something of a novelty, but more of a normal thing.

For some, it may seem trivial.  What difference does it matter whether I use credit or not.  I’m responsible and pay my bills, they’ll say.  And then, they’ll get up on Monday morning and go to the job that they’ll freely admit they don’t like much, but they keep it because it pays well.  But, if there was no credit, they wouldn’t need a job that pays well.  They probably wouldn’t need any resume tips. They’d have the ability to find a job that they enjoy.  A job that is fulfilling and rewarding.

And that makes a difference.  The stress and turmoil that a job you don’t like can bring into your life is not only unpleasant for you and those around you, it can actually be fatal.  Without credit, keeping up with the Joneses becomes a thing of the past.  You only need to keep up with what skill sets they have that you don’t and find an amicable trade.

Will this world ever exist?  Wholly? No.  There are way too many hands in the pot of credit for it to ever go away.  Too many millionaires made by taking advantage of other people through credit.  But, that doesn’t mean that you and I can’t strive to lead our lives in the direction of no credit. We can take control of our finances through good financial management principles and lead a life as free from credit as possible.  And, it is possible.  Don’t be afraid to dream of that.  And don’t be afraid to guide your finances with intention.

Breaking free from the harness that we’ve given ourselves can lead us to a better life.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout

Shane Ede

I started this blog to share what I know and what I was learning about personal finance. Along the way I’ve met and found many blogging friends. Please feel free to connect with me on the Beating Broke accounts: Twitter and Facebook.

You can also connect with me personally at Novelnaut, Thatedeguy, Shane Ede, and my personal Twitter.

www.beatingbroke.com

Filed Under: budget, credit cards, Credit Score, Debt Reduction, ShareMe Tagged With: credit, credit cards, intention, loans

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