What Does It Really Cost? Do You Still Want it?

Coaching, Financial Coaching, Personal Finance No Responses »

Apr 072013

Have you ever crunched ALL the numbers to see how much your car, cable bill, or house really costs? I bet they cost way more than you think they do. Our brains are programmed to just grab the little information that we remember vs if we crunch all the costs associated with something to find the true cost. We remember the rent or mortgage amount coming out of your account instead of extended list of associated costs like:

$1650 mtg

$275 maintenance

$100 electricity bill

$135 property taxes

$20 condo insurance

$1650 is a big difference from that actual cost to run my loft $2180!

This is fun. Let’s do it for my cable bill. I only get basic everything on my cable. I don’t need the lumberjack channel. All I need is BNN and CNBC so I can get insights to trade my portfolio. Unfortunately it comes in one of the bundles and it costs more. Add it all up to see if you can save more money….

$69 cable

$53 cell

$40 internet

Minus my 10% discount for bundelling them all together. When ever the prices go up I’ll call and threaten to cancel. My goal is to keep my products all around $150 before taxes. I went a year without cable but I missed BNN and CNBC. :/

Do the same for your car. We think of the payment and say to ourselves” I can totally pull that off each month for that stud mobile” but do the math. Say that payment is $650 a month plus….

$200 fuel

$200 insurance

$50 a month for yearly license charges, maintenance, oil, wipers, and fuzzy dice.

$1,060 is a HUGE difference compared to $650.

Do this to all of your bills to see how much extra cost there is and then plug the actual number into your yearly budget. $7,800 vs. the actual $12,720 for the yearly car cost might get you to get rid of it or downsize to a put put. Ask yourself – self? Will that $12,720 can make me happier or more secure as a trip or in an savings account. What do you think?

Love your money and it’ll love you back with a better life!

Have a great week,

Dave

2013 Goal Planning!

Coaching, Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Uncategorized No Responses »

Feb 032013

The New Year is just a month ago and there is no better way to kick off the year than with a solid plan for 2013. This year instead of just writing down the same old stuff like going to the gym and reading more — blow out your ideal life. Go area by area and in great detail crystallize what you truly want each area to be. Dream you reality and then live it.

Things you have always wanted but were afraid to ask for? Add them. Better food, better body, more fun, more adventure, the things that will make the hair on your arm stand up because you’re so excited by the thought of living that way.

The best way to motivate ourselves in life is by designing our ideal reality. Not just one or two things that we think we can accomplish but every single thing that we can dream we go for. Spend an evening with a bottle of wine in a quite place and let your mind go free. Don’t sensor anything. If it comes to you. Write it down.

Instead of writing “a million dollars” in the bank. Write what that million dollars would allow you to do. Travel 6 months of the year, spoil your family, nest egg for an future health problems, the dream car that you have always wanted. There is nothing more powerful than dreaming our ultimate reality, confirming why it is important to us, and then achieving it. What is happiness if not that.

Take three pieces of paper and write on the top of each one “Personal Goals”, “Professional Goals”, and “Material Goals”. Take the time with each piece of paper and fill both sides with everything that you want. This is your life so dig deep for inspiration. For personal it could be classes you want to take, creative expressions through music, dance or art, even more time with your dad. Professional could be getting your MBA or writing a book to share the skills you have learned through business. Material goals are simply every thing you want to buy. If it costs $5 or $1.5M — it goes down on the page. This is the fun one for me.

After you have filled a page front and back for each three areas. Write beside them a priority if “1″ if it is super important to do, “2″ if is is less important and “3″ if is the least important to you. We’re going to do everything so don’t feel bad about the “3″s you softy! Write down all of the items that you have a “1″ beside and commit to yourself the EXACT date when they will be achieved. These will be your top goals to accomplish this year. Keep them close to you and when you feel less motivated take them out and re-energize thinking of how amazing you felt when crafting the list.

Next week I’ll show you how to commit to your goals and then allocate resources to achieve them all!

Happy February everyone,

Dave

What Investors Need To Know For 2013 - MSN Money

Coaching, Credit Cards, Financial Coaching, Income Investing, Personal Finance No Responses »

Jan 282013

What investors need to know for 2013

2013 is the year of the snake (the yin to last year’s dragon yang), and according to www.astrology.com that means “we’re likely to see significant developments in the area of science and technology this year.” So if you want to base your investing on the stars that’s your prerogative, but for those looking for more down to earth advice I spoke with David Campbell Lester, a financial life coach and author of the best-selling book I Heart Money.

Lester predicts 2013 will “be relatively flat like 2012 has been. Investors should expect the first increase to the bank of Canada’s prime rate as well as a slowing in condo sales and house prices. Chinese growth will determine if the markets rise or decrease in 2013. If China can keep positive growth it will slowly pull Europe out of its recession. Go China!”

He also says it’s going to be a slow climb from the 2009 bottom of the fiscal crisis. Old strategies are about as reliable as basing your investments on your horoscope, Lester says. “Buying ETFs and mutual funds, with the hope that they will go up over time, won’t work anymore. Investors need to diversify into dividend or income producing investments to “get paid to wait.” Look at alternative investments to gain income like REITs or covered call strategies on large cap dividend companies.”

David Campbell Lester

Of course when crystal balling 2013, it’s not all about money. Fortune tellers are constantly being asked about finding love (or holding onto the love you’ve got). So don’t let your financial plan mess up a good thing. Lester says make sure you and your partner are both on the same portfolio page.

“Having a common money strategy with your love monkey is a huge plus,” says Lester. “Separately draw up all your material, personal and professional goals. Then sit down together and discuss what you both want. Look at what the other person wants to achieve first. Is it paying off the mortgage or building a retirement nest egg? That would suggest to me that they were looking for security. If your partner wants trips and convertibles, they are looking for freedom. Working together to satisfy both of your core values, set up a monthly contribution to both of your RRSPs. At the end of the year, take the return and enjoy it with a trip somewhere awesome! Now that is how to satisfy both your values while being financially responsible as well!”

And even if you’re not ready to invest, there are some simple steps you can take to bolster your financial situation, without resorting to tea leaves, or even a budget. “Budgets don’t work,” says Lester. “Everyone hates them. It goes against our humanness. Automatically have your housing, retirement, debt repayment, and goal saving taken out of your pay each month. What is left over is what you get to spend until [the] next paycheque. Take out the cash and when it is gone, it is gone. Or dump your miscellaneous spending amount on your credit card before you spend, and THEN spend down to zero. That way you’ll get the points and will never spend more than what you’ve dumped on the card. Or you shouldn’t, if you’re good! ”David can be found on his blog, Iheartmoney.ca.

– Steven Bereznai, MSN Money

Posted at 11:02 AM in Banking, Behaviour, Credit cards, Debt, Family finances, Interest rates, Money management, Mutual funds, Personal finance, RRSP | Permalink

Pick Up Every Penny In 2013!

Coaching, Personal Finance, Saving Money No Responses »

Jan 132013

Pick Up Every Penny In 2013!

How you treat a lost penny is a window into how you view money overall. Do you keep walking past and not bother with them? Or do you scoop down and pick them up? Then compare to the way you treat bigger financial realms like your credit cards, investments and career?

If your belief system understands money to be important, it’ll show itself in the other financial areas in your life. Pick up those pennies and that respect will flow into other areas like making more money!

Have an awesome week,

Dave

Be Financially Savvy in 2013! Now 24% off.

Business Tips, Coaching, Credit Cards, Dating and Money, Financial Coaching, Investing, Mutual Funds, Personal Finance, Saving Money No Responses »

Dec 222012

CLICK ON THE BOOK TO BUY!

“While budgeting is akin to dental surgery to many, Lester approaches this in a way that is both painless and practical. He includes budgeting exercises that are easy to complete and which help you identify misguided spending that, when redirected, can result in better allocation of assets and income. “Writing it down in black and white is half the battle towards being a master at budgeting. The same principle applies to your goals,” says Lester. His ‘life status’ section allows you to identify your core values and to prioritize your life while also providing you with tracking tools to chalk up your achievements. These chapters alone make the book worthwhile.”

John Archer is an investment adviser with RBC Dominion Securities in Montreal and will be spending his New Year’s Eve coun
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Budgeting+will+help+make+money+love+back/5930472/story.html#ixzz2FnHVetI5

DOING Stuff vs BUYING Stuff!

Coaching, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, Personal Finance, Saving Money No Responses »

Dec 022012

Mind-Blowing Money Facts!

Dating and Money, Financial Coaching, Goal Setting, sex and money No Responses »

Nov 142012

Hi Friends,
I found some awesome money facts that will blow your mind:

The average human being has more fantasies about money than sex. Oh la la, Mou la la.

The biggest argument couples will have involves money.

$20 bills are more often counterfeited than $100 bills.

1 in every four Americans believe that their best chance of becoming rich is by winning the lottery.

If you drive 10 miles to purchase a lottery ticket, you are more likely to be killed in a car accident then you are to win the lottery.

The average wedding in America costs $20,000.00.

It is a proven fact that people tip more on sunny days than they do on rainy, cloudy days. Tsk tsk.

Shop til you drop or have great sex? For men… sex but women would rather have unlimited shopping sprees than spend a romantic weekend with their loved ones.

Money is the number one cause of stress for a person as opposed to health, wellness, fitness etc.

Most people will not bend over to pick money off of the ground unless the value is more than a dollar.

The odds of winning the lottery are 10 million to 1.

Coupons found in the Sunday paper are the second most read page besides the front page.

A piece of currency can be folded forward and back 4,000 times before it will tear.

In the 1920s you could buy a brand new car for less than $300.

57% of couples pool their income, with both partners withdrawing and spending at their own discretion.

Do you feel like this right now? Mind Blown?

I hope you enjoyed these mind-blowing awesome money facts.
Have an awesome week my friends,

Dave

STOP!

Financial Coaching, Personal Finance, Uncategorized No Responses »

Oct 102012

Hi Kittens,

We always talk about what we are going to do and all of us money people say to make list of goals, of values and of your past accomplishments. Well how about we make a list of the 5 top things we are going to STOP doing? I’ve been doing this for a while and I find it more effective.

Here is an example of a list of 5 things to stop doing financially.

1. STOP taking money out of the bank machine “willy nilly”.
Take money out of the the bank machine once a week and use that cash for all of your miscellaneous spending like coffees, lunches, after work drinks, hair etc. Once the money is gone that week, you’ll need to wait for Sunday PM to come around to get any more money.

2. STOP procrastinating about starting a small business or asking for a raise.
You’ve worked your butt off or you’ve worked through all the kinks – you deserve that kind of success! Take the very first step and set up a meeting with your boss or register the business url. DO IT!

3. STOP putting off a trip to the bank to save money.
Get in there with a list of items to save or make more money on. Change your mortgage payments to accelerated weekly. Done. Go down to two accounts. One chequing, one savings and keep the minimum balance to waive the monthly fees in the account. Done. Set up an automated savings account with 10% + of your net pay to go into some sort of retirement account. Done and done.

4. STOP worrying about insurance and wills.
Make a will with lawyer. Make sure you have enough and proper insurance to pay off all debt and replace the deceased person’s salary for life. A solid insurance professional can help with this.

5. STOP shopping first and paying it back later.
Get in the habit of saving all of the money for trips, property taxes, fierce shoes, etc. Then debit or pay your card FIRST before you buy them.

Hope you loved the list. Don’t STOP visiting my blog,
xoxox
Dave