Ben Bernanke on a dartboard!
Archives For Greg Whitaker
Taxes and entitlement programs are beating up one guy to force him to pay another guy’s bills. Video courtesy of www.wealthcycles.com
Pop means Put it On Paper. When are you finally going to sit down, write all your monthly expenses/income on paper and face the truth? The truth is what’s already been happening for quite some time now. You’re spinning your wheels with your finances.
I’ve been there, believe me. My wife and I were grossing $80k/year and we were dead broke. Couldn’t seem to put $500 dollars in the bank and we both worked in banking. Hello? Aren’t bankers supposed to be really good at managing their finances? Not necessarily. Just because you work in the money business doesn’t mean you know how to work your money business.
We had a nice house, two nice cars, and three dogs. Life was good. Yeah but it was financed, except for the dogs. Oh, wait a minute, we used that credit card for a lot of vet bills. So I guess the dogs were sort of financed too. Ouch. But Greg, I love my four legged babies. Nothing I wouldn’t do for em’. I’ve been there too. I’ve paid $5k for a cataract surgery for a dog, for just ONE eye. Did I forget to mention I put it on plastic?
The list goes on doesn’t it? And the list you need to be working on is your monthly net income minus your monthly expenses. If that’s a negative number you’ve got work to do, lots of work. I’ve been there. I’ve made the list. It wasn’t pretty. Then again it wasn’t as ugly as it seemed before hand. The math doesn’t lie my friend.
The checkbook register is the window to your soul. Show me how you spend your money and you show me what’s important to you. No arguments.
Spending $100 a month on cigarettes and wondering why buying school clothes for the kids is so damn hard to manage? Reality check amigo. Doing a 12 pack of cold beer every Friday night yet your bank account stays at or near zero? Oh, I’ve been there. More than you want to know. Got a closet full of mall bought clothes you never wear and wonder why you get a hole in your gut every time you struggle to make your rent or mortgage payment?
Unless you’ve got zero debt and at least 12 months living expenses saved up, you’ve got no room to complain about Congress’ pathetic ability to manage the nations finances. I’m not defending Congress, they suck at finances. It’s obvious. I just don’t complain nearly as much about them as I used to. I had to clean my own house first. Humble pie is best served cold?
If this makes you mad, I’m doing my job! I’ve hit a nerve and that’s my intention. If this makes you uncomfortable that’s a good thing. Because until you get very, very uncomfortable with your current financial situation you aren’t going to do anything to change it.
If you wanna’ POP (Put it On Paper) drop me a line and I’ll email you a simple worksheet that will help you do exactly that. Facing the truth is the only way we ever change.
To Your Financial Freedom,
Greg Whitaker / greg@debtshepherd.com
Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved
What if you were unable to work for 30 days? What would that look like?
How long could you go without a paycheck? Do you know how much it cost to live each month? If your answer is “I don’t know,” you’d better find out. It’s been said over and over again, most American’s are one paycheck away from bankruptcy.
If you were out of work for 30 days, what would happen? Could you pay your bills without using a credit card? What’s your rainy day fund look like? I’m willing to bet you don’t have 30 days of living expenses in savings.
If you don’t have the ability to pay all living expenses for 30 days, start saving now. Call it your emergency fund. Call it your rainy day, just in case fund. Once you get that money saved and don’t touch it except for extreme emergencies, you’ll have a piece of mind you never knew was possible with your money.
By the way, a sale at your favorite store in the mall is NOT an extreme emergency!
To Your Financial Freedom,
Greg Whitaker
Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved
Who’s responsible for your current financial situation? Here’s a book recommendation…..
Living in the past. It’s something most of us do whether we know it or not. It keeps us from enjoying the present moment. Surely you’ve heard, “It’s called the present because it’s a gift.”
My uncle Steve said something many years ago I’ve never forgotten. We were talking about reading books and how important reading is to continue to grow. He said, “I don’t want to know what you’ve already read. I want to know what you’re reading right now.” Seemingly subtle difference with huge implications.
So if I’m living in the past, afraid of the future, and unhappy with the present then where the heck am I? Nowhere is where I’m at. Personally I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of but I’m certainly not ashamed of them either. That collective experience is the flavor of my personality. I wouldn’t trade that flavor for anything.
Back to nowhere. Nowhere is now-here, right? Mike Myers said it in his crazy portrayal of Pitka in The Love Guru. Those self help cliches sound corny, but this particular one is no laughing matter. You are literally Now, Here. There’s no other place or time you can possibly be. Now is the only moment there is. Here is the only place that exists. Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now illustrates this better than most. It’s a little heady, but if you listen to it with your heart it’ll ring through.
Les Brown, possibly the highest paid motivational speaker on the planet, reminds us “Used to bees don’t make no honey!” Stop living on your past accomplishments talking about who you used to be. Stop worshipping others for their past success. Our Hollywood hero worship is a glaring example. The old saying in Tiseltown is, “You’re only as good as your last film.” What a dark cloud to live under, if you so choose.
What you did isn’t who you are. This includes the debt you incurred in the past. What you aspire to do isn’t who you are. Thinking about getting out of debt isn’t enough. What you are doing in this moment defines you. Take action right now toward financial freedom. Don’t just ask, “How am I doing?” Also ask, “How am I being?”
To Your Intellectual Freedom,
Greg Whitaker
Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved