Luckily, I was able to attend a financial planning seminar today and would like to dispense some financial habits I've picked up. You had to attend to really have these notes meaningful to you, but here are the top things that I've learned with my personal anecdotes added in. :)
1. First you have to determine total your net worth. Sit down one night after work and crank up "Under Pressure" by Queen & David Bowie. Next, calculate what your total net worth is. Your Total Net Worth = Assets - Liabilities. Through this work, you should realize what position you're in. Now, it's your J-O-B to increase your assets and decrease your liabilities. 2. Determine and realize what your goals are. Depending on your life stage, realize what your goals are. Are you trying to pay down your student debt? Sick of living on food stamps to get your three daily meals? Saving to buy a car so that you can get to work? Paying for your child's college tuition? Ready to retire in Hawaii? Having these goals and planning on what you want definitely helps you with goals. 3. Make sure that you create a savings plan that contains: A. An Emergency fund (should be at least 6 months of living expenses) B. Savings for Short Term Goals C. Retirement Savings 4. Think about retirement. What are your goals for Retirement? What percent of your average annual gross salary do you need to retire on? What do you want your retirement to look like? What lifestyle compromises are you willing to make? Realize that heath care costs will likely increase in the future! Tips and Tricks 1. You're eligible for one free credit report per company every year. That means you can get multiple credit reports a year, cause there are multiple companies out there. For example, you can draw a credit report from TransUnion in 1 quarter and Experian in another quarter, etc. 2. If you're in a precarious situation, you MUST change your behavior. Don't run away from your problems. Time to face reality. You MUST reduce your debt. It's much better to cut down your costs and pay down your debt asap. Pay off your credit card debt that has the highest interest rate ASAP. 3. You really need to invest in your 401k or 403b if your company has one available. 4. You should really save 15% of your salary for retirement. Life is hard. It's going to get harder in the future. What ended the good ole times in America? Globalization. What's next? Artificial Intelligence taking over your JOB. Be afraid, but be prepared my friends. 5. Pay off your credit cards to zero, but don't cancel them. Don't close the card. Put it somewhere secure so your borrowing limit is still high. Tips for Saving Money 1. Turning lights off 2. Wear multiple layers instead of using the heater/Wear easy breathing clothes instead of using the A/C 3. Eating in/Cooking at home 4. Shopping at various grocery stores using coupons/sales 5. Buying easy to care for clothes 6. Giving gifts of trade/service 7. Taking advantage of library, free movies, discounts, community events, free concerts 8. Pay with cash as opposed to credit 9. Check out your local goodwill store for goods/shop at discount clothing stores for high quality goods at low prices (TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, etc.) And most importantly... Spend less than you make
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Chewy Pesto Pasta.... Spicy Tuna Rolls... Little Neck Clams.... Seafood Paella... man I could eat it all... I don't know what kind of food y'all like, but there's so many different cultures and tastiness around the world... that life is too short... I wish I could keep eating... Anyways you guys are here to save the dinero and not hear me be a weirdo.... so let's get ON IT! Earlier this year, I was extremely fortunate to be in a 4-man jeopardy team competition. Being the insightful person I am, I knew that my useful skills were limited to rap music and history; I quickly came to the conclusion that I needed to pick a team that consisted of people smarter than me, were more cultured, and had a broader knowledge base than "yours truly" wannabe hood rat. When I realized that I couldn't pick my team and that we were already pre-assigned, I gave up all hope on winning. Mysteriously, god must have smiled on me. Little did I initially know, but I soon came to realize that one of our team members was an ex-jeopardy contestant!!! This guy was on fire... on the music questions... he knew all the songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s while I knew all the rap songs. He rapid fired all the movie answers to movie quotes he had stored in the multi-terabyte brain of his while I was in awe and drool came down my chin. We ultimately cleared the closest team by a healthy margin and this exercise allowed to me to realize one of life's greatest lessons. 1. Even though one is dumb... he or she can still be paired with a genius... and come out on top. But the truly MOST important thing I received and learned was winning a gift certificate to a local restaurant. This allowed me to enjoy an artful latte and the most amazing crepe. Which this caffeine-laden beverage and hearty brunch and led to my discovery that...
1. If you have won a gift card or gift certificate, you don't have to pay taxes on the food that you just ordered with that gift card (No, I had actually realized this years ago when I paid for a hotel stay with points and realized that you weren't charged city tax, state tax, and all those miscellaneous fees) This should save you some money if you're winning stuff with your credit card points, just lucky in those random drawings, or get paired up with an ex-jeopardy contestant on trivia nights. Also, just today, I was very lucky to attend lunch at an upscale unnamed restaurant and noticed that at the very end of the menu was a little something written like this: "The total bill will have an additional 3% surcharge due to the local worker's salaries, local fresh produce, and supporting the local community. This is a community restaurant and all profits go towards the community." After some friendly discussion, this is a charge that can be levied by any establishment by management's decision and it isn't government mandated. Eating out just gets more and more expensive ever year. With Trump building the wall, it really stopped illegal immigration, and now real Americans have to work at these restaurants. These real Americans demand higher wages, and the patrons of these fine establishments now have to pay more. (My last two sentences are sarcastic if you haven't noticed) Besides the tax on the bill (8%), and the tip (15%+), and now this 3% surcharge... I only go out to eat if I have to. Which leads to my final tip of the month. 1. If you want to eat healthy and save money... eat at home So one of my new year goals was to get more in shape. Besides the typical cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises, I decided to get a tracker to quantify how many steps I take a day.
I was very fortunate to be able to purchase the new Fitbit Inspire. It's a brand new device only available for corporate, health wellness patients, and other big groups for their employees and patients. From what I've been reading on the net, it may or may not be available to the general public sometime soon. I have to admit, that I was hesitant in trying out this device, because I really did not like wearing the previous generation Fitbit Charge 2 device at all. It was bulkier, not very comfortable, and I hated how the heartbeat sensor flashed all the time. I decided to try a inconspicuous device that you couldn't even notice that you were wearing, was swimproof, and just had the basics of being a pedometer and showing the time. After two days of wearing this device, I can honestly say it's a much improvement over the previous generations of trackers and you won't even notice that you're wearing it. Sure, it wouldn't attract attention like a Swiss watch, be as smart as a Apple Watch, or have the durability of a G-shock, but it's my favorite pedometer to date (plus it is more accurate and convenient than carrying my bulky iPhone everywhere to record my steps). The face of the watch can be changed to multiple different options, but they are all very similar. A couple different fonts, or how much basic information that you want displayed is all the customization that you can get. The OLED display is nice, because it is very easy to read in the bright sun. There's only one button for turning the display on or off, but there is a built-in accelerometer that detects when you flick your wrist up and the display lights up automatically. Thank god for technology! Basics such as steps, calories burned, high intensity cardio, distance walked, or an exercise virtual drill sergeant that buzzes ever hour if you haven't walked are the default menus. You're also able to set alarms that vibrate your wrist or timers as well. However, you need to have a smartphone to use this device to the fullest. You're able to compete with your friends, join competitions, and update the device. One thing of note, is that this device charges fast. I put it on it's USB charger and it literally charged from 35% to 75% in about 45 minutes. You'll be able to put your electronic leash in no time and not skip a beat tracking your steps! The manual said that this device lasts up to 5 days on a charge. Note: 2/26/19 Review Update: If you have all the notifications and incoming text messaging buzzing turned on, battery life can as short as 3 days. I've recently just disabled text notifications and hope that it would last the work week. If you are more geeky about your stats, they do offer the Inspire HR that includes a heartbeat sensor, can sync with your phone's GPS to track where you've walked and other additional information. I just wanted something simple so I stuck with the regular version. If your company offers this product at a discount or subsidizes your purchase, it's a great way to track your steps! |
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