Dreams fade away

You ever have a really vivid dream where you can taste the goodness and smell the aromas but when you wake up you can barely remember half the details but you know it was a good dream. That is how life is. We can have all of the dreams we want in our heads but if we never act on them they just fade away. Dreams and goals are two different things. We can have dreams all day but if we do not turn our dreams into goals we will never accomplish anything. Have you ever heard someone say one day. One day I'm going to do or have or one day this and that. One day never comes. When is one day. I may not be the smartest man in the world but when I check my calender I have never seen one day on there. Majority of us get up every morning to an alarm of some type so that we can get our day started. I know without my alarm I wouldn't get out of bed. We tell ourselves we need to get up at a certain time and we make sure we do by setting an alarm. Making goals is like setting an alarm. We are telling ourselves when we want to accomplish something. We are saying my one day is and setting an actual date to it. I hit the snooze button a lot. I modify the time that I should be getting up. Goals are the same way. If we don't reach a certain goal by the date we set it is okay to modify it to make sure that we still reach it. As long as we just dream and put nothing in to place we will have nothing. Dreams do nothing but fade away.

Stop dreaming and start doing.

The turtle and the hare

I'm sure by now that most people in life have heard about the turtle and the hare. I was asking my 7 year old about this story and if he understood it. He told me that being in a rush and always wanting something now is not always good for you. I thought that was a pretty good answer. A lot of us are that way when it comes to money and finances. We want to rush it and get it right now. We want to be rich over night. The amount of scams that people are able to fall victim too have grown rapidly. That's because we continue to think like the hare and want to get rich quick. We have all heard the saying that if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If becoming rich was easy everybody would be rich. Gaining financial prosperity takes time and determination. If you start a savings plan and stick to it the money will continue to grow.

When I was younger I knew people who thought like the hare. They wanted money quick and now. They decided to sell drugs to get the fast and easy money. They eventually got busted and had to serve time in jail.
Slow and steady wins the race. There is a book called "The Millionaire Next Door," that explains that many people who are millionaires you would never be able to pick out walking down the street. The books talks about everyday people who decided to make little changes in their lives that made big differences that just so happened to turn out to be million dollar differences.

If we pace ourselves like the turtle and continue to be smart in our ways of thinking when it comes to finance we too will win the race for riches.

More excuses than an all you can eat buffet

Some of us are or know people who can give you more excuses on why they can't do something instead of doing what they know they should be doing. Myself like a lot of other people desire to have an abundance of money so that I can live a comfortable life. I heard a saying once that you can have a million excuses but not one good reason. That is something we should all think about. Are we just having excuses on why not to do something and we think that we actually have a reason. We all have heard stories about people who did have actual reasons why they couldn't do something but instead of using it as a crutch they did exactly what they weren't supposed to do and it turned out great. Helen Keller was deaf and blind but was able to become an author, lecturer, political activist and even earn a bachelors' degree. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb only had three months of official schooling and also had a hearing problem as well. Everyday we can hear someone using some form of excuse for why they don't have the life they want or don't have the finances that every person deserves. I grew up in a single parent household with two other siblings. Not once did I hear my mom say she couldn't do something or ever tell us that we couldn't do something. My kids are not allowed to say the word can't. They can do anything they set their minds to.

There are a variety of restaurants to choose from to eat at when you get hungry and sometimes the task of choosing one takes a while. That is how some people are with excuses. They can pick from a long list of choices as to why they can't do something. I was flipping through the TV channels late one night and I caught an episode of Joyce Meyer. She was talking about having excuses in our lives. She said something that has stuck with me for a long time. She said that we all have a reason why we do things or feel a certain way but do not let that be an excuse to continue doing them.

At some point in time in our childhood I think almost everyone read the story of "The Little Engine That Could." At every obstacle he said I think I can, I think I can. He never once said I don't have enough time in the day, or I got kids or any other excuse we can come up with today. Stop coming up with the buffet of excuses for not living the life you want and start doing something about it. It's as simple as starting the day with I think I can, I think I can.

Borrow responsibly

When I was kid my mom had me go to our neighbors house to borrow some butter. The butter was in a container and I didn't look in it on the way home. As we sat down to eat my mom opened the container of butter and roaches started to come out. That may seem disgusting but I tell you this so that you can understand the point I am going to make. Sometimes in life we borrow things such as money or take out loans and we don't pay attention to what we are getting into. If we are to borrow money for something we at least know what we are borrowing the money for. We should also know the terms and conditions related to the money we are borrowing. I was always told that if you can't pay it back then you shouldn't borrow. That is good advice. If you borrow something than you should understand before you even borrow if you have the means to repay the borrowed assets. I know when it comes to contracts that the terminology is always a little hard to understand. If I were to go to a doctor and have a surgery I would like to understand the circumstances involved be it the risks and benefits. I'm not just going to let the doctor cut me open and hope to see what happens later. That is how a lot of people are when it comes to our finances and borrowing. We don't take the time to understand and learn about what is happening. I remember when I was looking at which credit card to get that one of them offered a 9.9% APR but if I was late on one payment then it would change to 24.99%. As long as I was never late then I would have nothing to worry about. Life happens and sometimes things like being late on a credit card payment happens. That's when something like a really low interest rate turns into an outrageous one and something like that could have been avoided if we just take the time to pay attention to what we are signing.

Dinner wasn't an easy one after opening that container of butter and having roaches crawl out. We managed to kill them all and decided to have something else to eat. If we are not responsible and pay attention to what and how we borrow life will give us roaches too. If we are careful and responsible about how we borrow we can avoid getting roaches in our lives. Please borrow responsibly.

Who is Bill

I am pretty open with my kids about money and how I manage it. I want them to know the things that I know about money that were never taught to me. I am pretty similar to most people who came from a similar background where as you always paid Bill first and sometimes you didn't pay him all the way, just enough to get through to the next month. My kids would see my bank statements and see how much money I had and they would ask if we could go buy something. I would give them the typical response that most people give their children. I have to pay bills with that money. Just like most kids mine asked me who was Bill. Since they had never met him they was wondering why I was always giving him money. I explained to them that Bill wasn't a person but something that you received every month for services around the house like your lights, gas and water. Most people use a budget to pay bills so that they know how much money they will have left after paying the bills. I set a budget for my bills so that I know how much money I will have period. 70% of my checks that I receive is for bills period. If my bills exceed that then I need to re-budget what I have for expenses and change things. If having cable exceeds my 70% budget I drop the cable. If internet exceeds my 70% budget I drop the internet. I do whatever I have to do to stay within my budget. I don't know about you but I like to have money for myself, not just for Bill. If my kids can understand the concept that why should Bill( a man we've never met) get all of our money and we never have any for ourselves then why are most adults not understanding this. I know who I am, I know the people I have to buy dinner for and the people I buy birthday and Christmas presents for but I personally have never met Bill. If we want to have something for ourselves or for our families and children we need to learn how to  pay ourselves first then pay Bill.

Paying yourself first is not hard. Paying yourself first is not splurging and not having money to pay bills either. Paying yourself is about making sure you spend your money wisely so that you can do the things you want and also pay your bills. I was taught how to sew, cook, clean and various other things in home economics in high school. Not once was I taught how to set a budget. Not once was I taught how to pay myself first. I had a really great math teacher who could teach me how to find square roots or the answer for y but no one taught me how to mange my money. I don't like going into a store and telling my kids I can't get them what they want because I don't have the money.I don't think anyone likes that feeling. Some of us buy their kids what they want even when they can't afford to and struggle all the time. Money management isn't taught in schools, it's taught at home and just like me many people weren't taught that by our parents. It is up to us to teach ourselves and it is our responsibility to teach our kids how to manage money. My kids get allowance if they do good in school and at home. They are also required to budget their money. I got my kids savings accounts not too long ago and you should have seen their faces light up. They were excited to be able to put their money into a bank. Not only that but I taught them about interest and they were excited to start earning interest on their money. I want to continue to teach my kids about  how to respect money and how to manage it. Since my kids understand that we shouldn't pay Bill first, I truly hope that others will learn the same.

You are what you eat

I remember when I first heard the statement, "you are what you eat." I didn't understand. I kept thinking how does that make sense. If I eat chicken am I a chicken? If I eat cow am I cow? When this was finally explained to me it made a lot of sense. If you eat healthy you will be healthy. If you eat unhealthy you will be unhealthy. Same is true when it comes to what we surround ourselves with in life. The things that we read and watch are what we become. I am like many people in the fact that I can quote lines from movies or remember the words to a song. If I were to say "I'll be back," most people would know that I was quoting a line from terminator. The reason that we study when we are in school is to fill our head with knowledge and the subjects that we are studying. The more we read about them and test on them the more we know about those subjects. If you are always watching cop dramas or reality shows on TV that is what you will know. Think about when you talk to someone who watches a lot of sports. They can quote you all kinds of facts and tell you you play by play. That is how we should be about money. If we truly want to become financially healthy, financially free or financially successful we need to fill our heads with financial success strategies. If you walk into a book store most stores have the finance and self help section towards the front of the store. It's not the most popular sections like the gossip magazines that have a bigger selection and bigger area in the store. The finance section is like the candy in the super market. The milk and eggs are in the back of the store because that is what you really came to get but if you walk pass the candy and chips you might pick up some of those things too. The finance books are an afterthought. After we go to the back of the book store to get the latest New York Times best seller we might pick up a book on how to be more successful in our lives. We need to stop putting out financial success on the unimportant list and start making it more of a priority. Stop reading(eating) all of the stuff that is not going to benefit you or your financial situation. We need to start reading(eating) and surrounding ourselves with more success books, with more financial literacy. You are what you eat(read) and if you continue to consume the wrong things you will continue to the wrong results. I do not like going to the store and telling my kids that I can't afford something. I'm pretty sure you don't enjoy telling yourself or your family these things either. Next time you wonder why someone is doing good in life and you are not take a look at what you are surrounding yourself with. Just like losing weight, training for a sport or studying for a test. We need to surround ourselves with the right tools, with the right equipment. Without money we cannot pay rent, buy food or put gas in the car. Money is the start to everything we need in life. Without money we cannot enjoy life the way we should. Make a habit to start putting your financial success as a priority and notice the difference your life will make.

Producers and consumers

I make it a habit to ask my kids what they learned in school. If you aren't learning anything in school what is the point in going. I was talking to my 7 year old and he told me they were learning about producers and consumers. This is something I have been trying to teach him as well but in different terms. I asked him what each of things were. His response was producers make things or produce things for consumers to buy. Consumers buy what producers make. That was a good answer to me. It explained it in simple enough terms for anyone to understand. I asked him what category was he in. He told me he was a consumer because he went to the store to buy things but he would like to be a producer because they get the money. If a class full of 7 year olds can understand this concept. Why can't adults. Many people want to become more financially stable or want to have more money but do not understand this basic concept. As long as we are spending money and not making we will never achieve our financial goals. Going to work everyday you are producing an income for yourself. Like most people that money is probably already spent or consumed since there are bills to pay. Let's make an example and say that by going to work we produced $2. Our rent is $2 which is consumed from our paycheck. We now have nothing left over. Let's take that same example as say the $2 we made at work we didn't spend and held on to it. We now just produced $2 and have $2 more to our name. Wouldn't it be even better to turn that $2 into $4. That is where the real producing comes in. There is nothing wrong with working a job to produce an income. What we need to do is take that money and produce it into even more money. Then we will become true producers. You can do this many ways such as own a business, sell stuff on the side, invest your money and more. It is up to you but we all have to start some where. As long as we continue to be more consumers than producers our finances will always be difficult. I am like my son. I want to be a producer because they get to make money.