Philosophy & Motivation

It’s payday.  You’re happy.  But your joy doesn’t seem to last for long. You start to pay your bills one by one, and quickly the money leaves your checking account just as soon as it got there.  In the blink of an eye, you’re pretty much right back to where you started … You’re living paycheck to paycheck, and you can’t stop worrying about money.  And unfortunately, your story is not unique. According to a report from CareerBuilder, seventy-eight percent of full-time workers said they live paycheck to paycheck, up from 75 percent from the previous year. If you think that simply earning more money is going to solve your problems, think again!  In the same article, they state that nearly 10% of people who … [Read more...] about How to Stop Worrying About Money – 5 Effective Strategies for Better Money Habits

Whenever someone asks “What should I be investing in?”, they’re usually looking for some kind of magic stock or once in a lifetime opportunity that will make them rich.  But in reality, there is something far greater that everyone could invest in that will pay them back over and over again for the rest of their lives.  It’s called their “financial education”. A financial education is one of the single greatest assets a person can have.  Yet, for too many, it often gets ignored or even neglected altogether.  Take, for example, the topic of saving for retirement.  This is something we all know we must do.  But according to this article from Money, less than 40% people surveyed can answer basic questions … [Read more...] about How a Financial Education Can Bring You Success With Money

As humans, we tend to value a lot of different qualities and abilities in ourselves. But when it comes to appreciating the value of knowledge, this is one asset we tend to underestimate. Consider this: Would you say you're an "expert" at something? Don't be too humble. According to the author Malcolm Gladwell, author of the incredible book "Outliers", it takes at least 10,000 hours to become a master at something. While that might sound like a crazy amount of time to invest into something, chances are that you may have already put that much time into your favorite hobby or interest. Perhaps you have knowledge or skills that are the by-product of your day job. And even if its not the most interesting topic, if someone were to … [Read more...] about Never Underestimate the Value of Knowledge

Christmas has always been a special time for me. As a small child, I would spend every night leading up to Christmas morning wondering what was going to be underneath the tree waiting for me.  As a young parent, Christmas became a whole lot less about "what I wanted" and more about how much  my wife and I could surprise our kids. Now, Christmas means just a little something different to me. It was Christmas 2014 when I was a seemingly perfectly healthy 34 year old husband and Dad.  Then, not 15 days later into January, I went to the hospital only to find out that I had Stage II cancer. When you’re in the hospital waiting to find out what’s going on exactly and how bad your situation really is, certain things tend to … [Read more...] about Financial Freedom Has Never Been About The Money

One of the greatest obstacles we have to truly achieving financial independence are the money excuses we make for ourselves. I love to talk to people about money!  Yet I can’t help but notice how many times a conversation ends in “I could never do” or “why that will never work for me”. These excuses are the lies we tell ourselves to make it seem better when we’re not where we want to be with our money. It’s no secret why we do it.  Excuses are easy!  They’re a convenient place to run and hide when there’s real work to be done. But as the expression goes, “time is money”.  And the more time we waste, the further away we get from becoming financially independent. That’s why I’d like to address a few of the most common money … [Read more...] about The Top 7 Money Excuses That Hold You Back From Financial Independence

I’m very sure that just about everyone has thought about how they can work less and make more money at some point in their professional career. And why not.  The U.S. is one of the most over-worked developed countries in the world.  Our mantra for generations has been to simply put more hours in when we want a bigger paycheck. Yet … we all know there are outliers.  I’m sure you can think of one.  Everyone has that one guy or girl in the office that seems to never be there or be very busy.  But then they (appear to) make way more money than the rest of us. Maybe you know of a friend or family member that works fewer hours than you do, but they seem to be doing very well financially. Are we jealous? Of course!  Who wouldn’t want … [Read more...] about The One Thing You Need to Do to Work Less and Make More Money

We all want the best.  We want it for ourselves, our families, friends, children, loved ones, etc. No one in their right mind ever wishes ill-will upon another, right? So why do we sometimes feel such a contradiction of emotions when someone we know has a good fortune?  Why is it that we suddenly feel consumed by feelings of envy and disdain? According to a paper from the University of California, San Diego, feelings of envy are much, much more common than you might guess. More than three fourths of all study participants reported experiencing envy over the past year (more so with women 79.4 percent versus men 74.1 percent). So why is this?  Is it natural to hate other people's success? Could it be because we suddenly feel … [Read more...] about Overcoming Envy – Why Do We Hate Other People’s Success?

Here’s a piece of advice you’re not going to hear often on a money blog: If you’ve got a gym membership and you love going there, it’s okay.  You don’t have to quit just to save money. Really.. it’s fine. Contrary to some of the other personal finance advice you might read out there, you’re not committing some kind of financial suicide.  The frugal police aren’t going to come bust you. In countless articles I’ve read, one of the first areas they always suggest you cut out of your life is that “high-priced” gym membership. And I get it.  According to USA Today, the average price of a typical gym membership these days costs just under $60 per month. And to make matters worse, 67% of them go unused.  For those people , that’s … [Read more...] about Is a Gym Membership Really a Big Waste of Money? Not According to These Calculations