One of the most difficult steps to organize your life – finances, relationships, etc. – is decluttering, I think.  I’ve been thinking a lot more recently about the idea of decluttering and minimalism.  I don’t consider myself a minimalist, but I have simple test that works:  if I clean up, do I feel more relaxed?  If I organize and remove unnecessary items, do I feel better?  Yes, I do.  It’s not a tough test; anyone can do it quickly.  I don’t like clutter.  I don’t even like auditory clutter; on a Waldorf-inspired binge a few months ago, I removed almost all of our childrens’ toys’ batteries so we wouldn’t have to subject ourselves to the bleeping and blooping.

Part of the decluttering is tough.  I do enjoy having a lot of books in the house, but I wonder: will our children even appreciate books or will they just tote a Kindle or a Nook around with them?  I don’t like junk lying around but I can’t bring myself to toss out pictures our children having painstakingly crafted.

Minimalism and/or decluttering are tough journeys, no doubt about it.  I’m reading more and trying to get my own head straight about what I want out of my material possessions.  Is it fair for me to deny my kids batteries in their noisy toys while keeping a DVD player for myself, for example?  Food for thought.

On to the links:

• Calculating Net Worth: Should Home Values Be Included?
• 10 Ways to Make Money Online from Anywhere
• A Tale of Two Televisions
• How to Save Money when Eating Out | Million Dollar Journey
• Top Bloggers with Books
• My First Job Ended in Unemployment
• Should You Invest In An Ivy League College Education?
• My Financial Bucket List
• The Ben Franklin School of Persuasion

minimalism, and links is an original article from the website brip blap.

But if you can’t focus on something, it’s a shortcoming. In my case, I don’t have a lot of passion for my work.  I view it as a mechanical activity that provides food, shelter, clothing and Netflix for the family.  I wouldn’t view this as ideal, although I realize at the same time that 99.99% of the human population wouldn’t view sitting in a quiet, air-conditioned cubicle for 8 hours a day for an income in the top 1% of the planet’s population as a hardship.  Many of the “seize your passion” bloggers do – they assume that everyone can seize their internet business bliss – nobody has to make the computer, only to live off of them.

But that’s fine – of course some can and some can’t. Whether any of us choose to do so is of course a choice; if you love taking care of horses and instead choose to pursue a career as an account receivable manager, you’ve made a choice.  Whether you can live with it or not is the problem – many can, and a few can’t.  I’d guess that the time when all of this questioning really came into play was when the social contract that said companies would handle retirement broke down.  If I worked for IBM for 25 years and knew they’d take care of me during those 25 years, and after, I’d be a lot more inclined to give up on the need for passion.  But nowadays, that’s not true; just recently a colleague of mine got laid off from a company he’d worked for over 20 years without even a thank you.  Your future is not secure.

I realized all of this tonight while reading to my son.  For about a week we’ve been reading a few pages of “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien every night.  I’ve explained the general story to him – a little hobbit goes with a bunch of dwarves to steal back their gold from a dragon – but I don’t have many illusions about how well a four-year-old can follow Tolkien’s esoteric prose.   It’s not exceptionally complicated, but it’s not Goodnight Moon.

But tonight when I asked him if he wanted to try something easier, he said no. I asked whether he understood most of it, and he said no.  I asked then if he wanted to stop, and he said no.  I asked why, if he couldn’t understand all of it, and he gave me an answer that should make things clear (to paraphrase):  I’m excited about it because you’re excited about it, Papa.  He liked listening to it because I liked reading it.  Something was in my voice that wasn’t there when I was reading Goodnight Moon or I’m A Truck.

Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of my father reading The Hobbit to me from the same book at a slightly older age. I remember being a little confused by the language and the complex plot, but loving the fact that my dad thought I was ready for something so amazing.  That passion translates easily, and makes reading something like The Hobbit far simpler than struggling through Goodnight Moon for the 100th time.  Sitting down at the desk in the corporate office for the 100th time is much like that; coming up with new ideas, starting new jobs or developing new ideas is much like picking up The Hobbit.

I don’t like to think that work – and through that, life – is bleak without purpose. It’s not; other things should put life in balance even if there isn’t purpose in one’s work.  But work and parenthood and friendship and one’s relationship with parents, community, school and whatever else are, in fact, intimately tied up with passion.  Without the passion to pursue something – church, charity, community, work, parenthood, etc. – life is going to be a little less exciting.  Excitement is its own reward.

the passion of the hobbit is an original article from the website brip blap.

But starting from an early age, Bubelah and I have taken pains to make sure that both of our children are not only able to swim for recreational purposes, but able to “rescue” themselves if they fall in water unexpectedly. With Little Buddy we started when he was less than 1 year old, and with Pumpkin we started just after she was 1. The necessity for the training moved from a mild concern to an urgent one when we moved to Florida. You can’t go 100 feet without seeing a pond or a pool or some other body of water – let alone the fact that we’re in an oceanfront town.

We signed both of our kids up for the Infant Swimming Resource, and to get an idea of what that was like, watch this video (if you’re a parent, it’s fairly amazing).

You might think that’s some kind of trick, but my son (a little older than 3 when he took the course) and daughter (a little more than 1 year old at the time) could do exactly the same, even in full clothes with shoes on. It’s a shocking thing to observe – in a good way. I still wouldn’t trust either of them to spend even 1 minute unattended around a pond, but it does give me the confidence that they wouldn’t panic if they did fall in water someday, which – in the minute it might take me to reach them – they wouldn’t do something that would result in drowning.

No parent (or spouse or friend or anything else) wants to contemplate the mortality of their loved ones. Jan commented on my post about making time for details about my lack of a will:

No WILLLLLLL?????? and you have children? This is really bad. Just jump on line and go to a simple legal site and download one. In fact- write one yourself and take it to your next party. Line up four people to sign that they saw you sign it. Do the details later. Appoint guardianship! Do it- TODAY!

Jan was of course right. Just like it was difficult to talk about why a survival swimming course for our children was necessary (because we don’t want them to drown), it was difficult to talk about how our children’s lives should be handled if we died before they were at least young adults. After I had written about not having a will, though, I realized it was time for us to answer the ugly questions finally – it was irresponsible parenting to teach children to swim but not worry about what would happen if they were thrown in the water, figuratively speaking, by their parents’ deaths.

Infant swimming is a good metaphor for many of the life skills we want for those we love to acquire, and for many of the actions we can take on their behalf to give them the ability to react in a crisis. We teach kids to recite their names and address from the time they can talk in case they are lost. We teach them to survive falling in a pond. We set up wills to protect them (frankly) against the system. So many of these actions are small, but they require asking yourself “what’s the worst that can happen” – and being honest with yourself about the answers.

Note:  This month, ISR has been selected to compete in the Pepsi® Refresh Project.  ISR needs daily votes for FLOAT during the month of August to “Help Eliminate Childhood Drowning” at this link www.refresheverything.com/InfantSwim.

Voting opened Sunday, August 1st, and is open for just one month! ISR supporters can vote daily to help provide ISR lessons to families in need. The Pepsi projects with the most votes receive the grants.  If you feel so inclined, please vote to help a worthy cause:  stopping childhood drowning.

infant swimming is an original article from the website brip blap.

Some other things broke down a few months later and I decided to take the car in for an overhaul. The mechanics were mystified by the fan problem, and ended up keeping the car for an extra day. When I picked it up, I found out that a non-standard part had been substituted at some point in the car’s repair history and the result had been that the fan had shorted out not only itself, but a lot of the wiring in my ignition. I didn’t follow all of the technical details, but the mechanic summed it up this way: “you were lucky the steering column didn’t burst into flame when you turned the car on.” I let out a “whew” and decided that in the future I would try not to let “little” repairs go too long without checking them out.

The same is true for most aspects of your life. Think about all the areas where you need to check out the “little things” to make sure the “big problems” aren’t lurking:

1. Your health. Going to a doctor once a year is a must, but if you’re lucky enough to have insurance, that insurance probably also covers vision, dermatology, podiatry, etc. Make an effort to work visits to specialists in occasionally to make sure that no problems are lurking (for example, getting a glaucoma test once a year from an optometrist or checking out that new mole that might be the warning sign for skin cancer).
2. Your financial future. Check on your insurance policies and your will. I am up-to-date on insurance, but Bubelah and I still don’t have a will. I wonder how I can really offer much financial advice when I haven’t gotten that one piece of critical financial planning done myself, but do as I say, not as I do in this case. Put money away in savings somewhere.  Don’t waste too much time worrying about Roth IRAs versus 401(k)s, for example – just start doing it.
3. Your family future. Make sure you check on the little things with your family. Understand what’s going wrong with your relatives, your spouse or your kids before it becomes a bigger issue. This could be health, school, social life, finances, etc. Anyone you feel responsible for needs a “checkup” from you once in a while.
4. Your home. If you own, making sure your home is in good shape is no small exercise. From alarm systems to air systems maintenance to just checking out the drafty places around the window, fixing little problems now can prevent big problems tomorrow.
5. Your political future. I know people get more excited about presidential politics in America, but let’s face it – your Senators and Representatives (both federal and state) and even your local officials have more day-to-day influence on your life than the President does. I know worrying about who gets elected to the state senate isn’t as “big a deal” as presidential politics, but it matters.   The people who sit on your local school board probably have more influence over your daily life than you imagine, even if you don’t have kids.
6. Your life, the universe and everything. Little things that bother you today can become a bigger problem tomorrow. If you’re unhappy about something today, don’t let it fester. Even if you can’t fix it today, take one tiny step toward correcting it.

I am often more worried about the long-term, big-picture issues and grand questions about life and history and whether the Jets will win a Super Bowl in my lifetime, but little things like avoiding a fiery steering wheel column through dumb luck remind me that I need to pay attention to the details in life, too. Don’t wait until the little problems become big problems; I don’t know of many problems that disappear on their own.

photo credit: swambo

making time for the details is an original article from the website brip blap.

Trinity: Please just listen. I know why you’re here. I know what you’ve been doing… why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You’re looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when I found him, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question, reader, just as I did.

What is the secret to financial freedom?

If you are deeply in debt, or spending more than you earn to acquire stuff, you are living in a world that is less than what it could be. Corporations and consumer society have constructed an elaborate world that is filled with shiny things and toys and useless items. In this  world, you are told that true happiness comes with the acquisition of things, that your attention should be focused on today, that tomorrow will take care of itself. In this Matrix, it’s always Black Friday and it’s always the Presidents’ Day Sale.

Morpheus: What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

But just maybe, while making a call on your iPhone, driving your leased car wearing your latest fall fashions on your way to the mall on your one day off from your crushing commute and your boring job, you had a sudden thought. Maybe the world isn’t supposed to be like this. Maybe we weren’t all meant to be shopping units in the corporate world’s vast consumer Matrix. Maybe our happiness doesn’t come from owning CDs, or watching American Idol, or buying a Wii. Maybe there is another world – the real world – where your work and your life are one and the same because you love them both, where you can do what you want, when you want, where you have time to give to people and experiences, not just to commuting and working for a faceless employer. No, it’s not possible. Your neighbors look like they are doing fine, and they have lots of stuff, right? This is how it has to be. This is how it has always been.

Morpheus: I’m trying to free your mind. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it. There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.

Maybe you’ve started reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad or Dave Ramsey or Your Money or Your Life. Other people are trying to show you the way out. The trouble is, you set down the book and remember “I need a new belt! I want to see “Avatar” 8 times!” Only you will start the journey out of the Matrix, and it will be difficult – there will be roadblocks everywhere: pricey restaurants, bigger homes, newer cars, fancier cell phones. The Matrix will do everything it can to keep you, because its existence depends on your continued function as a shopping unit. Without shopping units to generate power, the consumer Matrix will weaken. You have to stop, today. Put down your credit card. Stay away from the store. Cook a meal at home. Turn off the TV.  Try to earn income a different way.

Neo: Why do my eyes hurt?
Morpheus: You’ve never used them before.

When you finally leave the consumer world, you’ll notice that your old behavior is now awful to consider. You’ll see credit card debt, still-functioning cell phones gathering dust in cabinet drawers, barely-worn clothes in the back of the closet, half-empty rooms never used in your house. Your eyes will hurt looking at all of this STUFF that you valued so much, because you never really SAW before.

Morpheus: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

The dream is the 9-to-5 world. The dream is a 3000 square foot home for a family of 4. The dream is a $400 per month car lease. The dream is an iPhone, a Wii, digital cable, the latest fashions. And the dream is a nightmare. You have to wake from that dream and realize that in the real world there is VERY little you need other than shelter, food, friends, family and basic clothing and entertainment. In the dream you have no time – but you can have all the time in the (real) world if you just wake up.

Neo: I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid… afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules or controls, borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.

(with many thanks to The Matrix)

Originally posted back in 2007 or so – just thought I would run it for those who haven’t read it before.  I know the Matrix references are already very dated, but hopefully everyone’s seen it.

welcome to the real world is an original article from the website brip blap.

When most of us were younger, we were told to do well in school – make good grades, impress the teachers in order to get good recommendations, do extra credit. Scoring well on the ACT or SAT meant a lot. Proving that you were smarter than the average bear somehow indicated future success. Yet intelligence isn’t always a marker of success – at least success as measured by wealth.  Wealth is not, of course, the only measure of success – far from it – but it is a measure accepted by our society as at least a general measure of overall success.

Intelligent people are often gripped by what I’d call (technically) “smart people stupids.” If you’re an intelligent person, it’s quite easy to imagine a variety of outcomes to any given set of circumstances. If A happens, then B or C or even D might occur. Wondering whether “slim chance event D” might occur can drive an intelligent person nuts – you might sit around wondering how you would deal with situation D; would reaction D.1.1 be appropriate, or D.1.2? How will this affect you 15 years from now?

Over the last ten years I’ve started to believe that intelligence – at least as far as the ability to imagine future events based on current circumstance – can be a crippling factor in the pursuit of wealth (and happiness). Someone who doesn’t have the ability to imagine positive outcome X may also be able to avoid thinking about negative outcome Y – and therefore be freed from worrying about the result of their actions. Worrying about the future is a heavy burden; not worrying about the future would be liberating for most of us.

I know people who don’t worry – like I do – about long-term wealth. They assume that they will have “made their nut” at some point – whenever they make it. Whether it’s the blissful ignorance of uncaring or fewer smarts I don’t know. I would assume that not worrying about the future is an overall net plus. It may put you into some pretty bad situations, but at least you won’t worry about the outcome.

I suspect that being intelligent and being wealthy will always be unrelated. Just because I can play the piano, for example, doesn’t make me smart or stupid. It just marks me as a good piano player. I don’t think wealth accumulation can be associated with intelligence for much the same reason – it’s a skill, just like musical ability, or sports ability, or the ability to learn and speak foreign languages. You can’t think your way into it – you have it or you don’t.

photo credit: swambo

(originally posted 3/09, in different form)

wealth and intelligence is an original article from the website brip blap.

A positive attitude can be as elusive as a perfect cheeseburger, shoes that are both gorgeous and comfortable, or a TV show with a compelling and engaging script (we’re all missing Lost right about now). But by starting every day off on the right foot, literally rolling out of bed with a spring in your step, you are much more likely to live your life in a positive way and enjoy the many things that make being alive worthwhile. So here are a few ways to get on board with positive thinking so that every cheeseburger tastes better than the last (shoes and sitcoms are sadly beyond your control).

1. Eat when you’re hungry, sleep when you’re tired. In this fast-paced world, we train our bodies to go without food and sleep much of the time. We skip breakfast and rush through lunch, only to pop a high-sodium calorie fest of an instant meal in the toaster or microwave when we get home (yes, we are all guilty of eating Pop Tarts for dinner once in awhile). We scrape by on five or six hours of sleep and lament the fact that our eyes are baggy and bloodshot and we just can’t seem to get rid of those ten extra pounds of spare tire around our midsection. But you can live like the Buddhists and lead a happier, healthier life by listening to your body and responding to its needs.
2. Learn to say “no”. This may be the most important word in the English language, as every two-year-old knows. In order to put yourself first, you have to learn to deny demanding bosses, shrug off guilt-laden requests from friends and family, and stop yourself from joining every club and charity on the planet. Just say no! Schedule in some time for yourself and don’t let anyone deter you (especially YOU).
3. Appreciate what you have. The world is full of have-not, why-me, and grass-is-greener complaints. Don’t be one of those myopic souls who can’t see the good that’s staring you in the face. Instead of wondering why you got passed up for promotion, get proactive and seek out ways to improve your standing and recognition. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses (or Kardashians, or whoever else has more money, fame, and acclaim). Live well, within your means, and love the life you have. Being content is a big part of being positive.
4. Create something. Working in a soulless corporate environment can often make you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels. So think about ways in which you can produce something tangible in your life that makes you feel good. Plant a garden, paint a portrait, or build a scale model of Devil’s Tower in your living room. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the creative outlet you desire, so make something (anything), even if you think it will be bad.
5. De-clutter. This is something that you can do both physically and mentally. Proponents of feng shui will tell you that de-cluttering your living space will simultaneously clear your mind of debris. There may be some truth to this, but the two do not always go together. However, a clean house will certainly allow you to relax and enjoy your free time more, so it couldn’t hurt. As for a worry-free mind, that is easier than you think. If you have a problem, write it down and forget about it. You can always come back to it if you need to, but the simple act of releasing it from your thoughts will take a weight off your shoulders and allow you to focus on something more positive.

Today’s guest post was written by Kyle Simpson.  Kyle writes for Medical Billing and Coding Schools where you can find more information about a career in medical billing and coding.

Photo by kevindooley

Wake Up on the Right Side of the Bed Every Day is an original article from the website brip blap.

I am no fan of Apple. I know there is a cult behind Apple but some of the frenzy behind iTunes, the iPhone, the iPod and the Mac has always eluded me. I get the general principle. They look nice and they do their stuff with flair and they aren’t Microsoft. But let’s face it – if I told you I had a great car that wasn’t susceptible to typical car problems, and looked really cool, but at the same time used a different kind of gasoline that wasn’t widely available, needed car parts that only one manufacturer produced and cost twice as much (or several multiples as much) as your current car, would you be in a hurry to upgrade? Since 99% of my computer time is now online, it’s hard for me to understand why I would want to pay a premium (and suffer so much incompatibility) for an Apple. I am sure someone reading this on an Apple will have a good argument why Safari browsers are better than Firefox or Chrome… ?

But when I had to really stop and wonder was when a $600 phone became a source of such consumer bloodlust. Is this what America has come to? $600 phones? Are there that many people out there with that kind of money to spend on phones? That’s a rhetorical question, since I know that many people will buy an iPhone while ignoring their upcoming credit card payment or saving for retirement. But just stop and think about that statement: something you can get for free like a cell phone is being sold for $600 because it adds functionality so you can play YouTube videos from lonelygirl15 on a one-inch screen!

The concept of something-for-nothing that comes out of offering an after-the-fact refund for a price change when none was implied in the sale is terribly annoying to me. Should I get a break on my house if the prices in the neighborhood don’t go up as fast as they did the year I bought the house? Should I be able to go back to Pathmark and ask for $1 off a carton of milk if they offer a sale the day after I bought it?

Of course I can ask. That’s my right as a consumer. I am willing to bet more stores would consider whether it was worth their trouble. I remember buying a video-editing device from amazon and seeing a rebate offered before it even shipped that wasn’t available at my time of purchase. In that case, Amazon acted quickly to grant the rebate when I pointed it out, because it was a matter of hours. I just don’t understand why Apple felt a need to cave in to demands for refunds 2 months later. You can’t convince me that your average Apple first-adopter isn’t going to rush out and buy an itouch or an iToaster the second it’s offered, no matter how many times they get screwed. Apple should have said hey, $200 is your instant gratification premium! This is your premium for being among the touched – the divine – the ubercool!

It’s this kind of consumer mentality that leads almost directly into consumer debt. I can whip out a credit card and buy something now for $400 but pay $200 on it in interest because I don’t have the cash on hand to pay for it. Or, I can wait 2 months and pay $400 in cash. I know that this seems obvious to most of the people who read personal finance blogs, but I think a large segment of America just doesn’t get it. At all.

I have learned that you have to stop and think before you buy stuff. I have also learned that rushing out to buy stuff is a good way to retire poor. The iPhone and the iPod and so many of Apple’s products have become so trendy and so cool I continue to wonder when a backlash will come and they will become uncool, and people will realize that there is no need to pay a premium simply based on design. I suppose it will happen when someone else comes up with a neater, cooler product and not before, rather than when the American consumer suddenly realizes Apple – like a million other “brands” – is giggling all the way to the bank.

the iPhone sickness (2010 and counting) is an original article from the website brip blap.

I’ve known more than one guy with the following life story: working at a corporate job as a middle manager, married with young-ish kids and settled in normal sized house in an acceptable neighborhood. Maybe the kids are really young, even though he’s in his forties; like me, a lot of men (and women) are waiting until later in life to have kids. The house is comfortable but small. The job is OK but if the guy’s honest with himself he knows he’s not likely to soar to the CEO floor in the 15 or so years of working life he has left to him.

So here’s the question: if you make X dollars at age 40, say, and 40% of your income goes to your mortgage that you took out at age 38 – a 30 year fixed mortgage – and you’re expecting a 5% raise every year (if you’re lucky) – when will you reach the finish line?

I know the common perception is that if you own instead of renting there will come a blissful moment when you burn the mortgage documents and skip off into sunset worry-free. In my mind, two things will be happening in 30 years when my mortgage is paid off that will throw a big monkey wrench in those plans.

Property taxes

Perhaps you live in Cheyenne, Wyoming. If so, your property taxes are the lowest (on average) in America, probably around $1000 per year. That’s $83 per month, a doable figure. However, if you live in places like Garden City, New York, your taxes run closer to $9000 per year, or $750 per month. One thing I can guarantee about both Cheyenne and Garden City that holds equally true for both is that 30 years from now, those taxes will be higher. Will they have grown at a rate faster or slower than your annual raises at work? With the strains looming on the US economy – an enormous national debt, rapidly ageing population, and so on, I’d be willing to bet those taxes will eat up a big chunk of your post-retirement income after you’ve paid off the mortgage.

Shoddy construction

On this point I only have my own limited experience to go on, but I remember laughing out loud every time someone asked me in New Jersey if I expected to pay off my mortgage on my townhouse in 30 years. I laughed because I really didn’t expect my townhouse to last 30 years. We moved in while construction was going on in the community, and I saw how these homes were built: pressboard and 2 by 4s. Not stone, not metal. K. Hovnanian put them up fast, using what (ahem) APPEARED to be workers who might not have been entirely legal citizens. These were not structures built to last. These were not cheap places, either; it was a very expensive gated neighborhood with fancy homes (think elevators installed in the homes, riverfront views, etc.) Most American homes will need substantial and continuous maintenance and repair work in 30 years. So think about that mid-70s guy dealing with a crumbling home. Again, no mortgage, maybe, but those bills can mount up quickly.

…the dead end

I still think you ought to own if you want to own, and you ought to work for a corporation if that’s what twirls your pigtails, but this scenario just looks like a dead end to me. This house I’m in now needs to be my last one, or else I’m going to need to move into a place where I can pay off the mortgage substantially sooner than 30 years or I’ll be working to pay the mortgage (and other costs) into my 80s. If you don’t think that’s a dead end, I don’t know what is. I for one don’t want to be struggling away at age 75 to finally pay off my mortgage just to get stuck in a crumbling house paying exorbitant property taxes. Figuring out how to stay out of this dead end ought to be a high priority for anyone who looks to buy a home in their late 30s or later.

the dead end of home ownership is an original article from the website brip blap.

(A guest post from Jack Reed – see below for his bio).

Your hands firmly on the steering wheel, you zoom across the open highway in full throttle! Your adrenaline rushing, you thoroughly enjoy the thrill of owning the new car you longed for! Life never felt so great! Suddenly, the alarm went off!! Oh! And then you realize it was a dream after all. You wake up disgusted, and the thought of your overwhelming debts take away your peace of mind again!

Has anything like this ever happened with you? Do you very badly want get rid of your debt stricken life? Worry not! If you are a little careful, a few smart steps from your end could ensure you put those worry some debts to rest.

Budget. Sounds familiar..?

Your budget is your personal money plan, a plan for saving and spending. All of us know the importance of budgeting. But have you ever given it a serious thought? Yes, first of all get rid of the wrong idea that to budget is to put yourself in a financial handcuff. Restrict your expenses and start budgeting.

But why should you budget?

Do you want to work yourself out of debt? Do you want to make your future financially secure? How would you feel if you spend your money on things you dreamt of buying? Yes, you got it! Budgeting would help you do all this.

Wise money management can help you save up for the rough times in your life. Budgeting would help you to accumulate your savings gradually and this will eventually work for you. Your budget will allow you to keep a track of where your money is going and you will be less likely to overspend. Thus, you increase your chances of meeting your financial goals.

A budget can help you to survive an unforeseen financial crisis. What’s more, it could even save you from being bankrupt! Instead of running after bankruptcy attorneys, it is obviously better to take charge of your financial condition yourself.

When to start budgeting?

This is akin to asking something like ‘When to start leading a happy life?’ Obviously, we always want to be happy. Same goes for your budgeting. The answer is ‘now!’ The sooner you start budgeting, the better are your chances of meeting your financial goals and achieving financial freedom. A solid budget plan is the simplest tool that you can use to achieve financial freedom. You are in a better control of your life when you save for emergencies.

A last word

Now that you know the importance of budgeting in your life, carefully plan out a proper budget which would help you to be financially free. Your financial stability lies in your own hands. Be responsible. It is only then that you will be able to sleep peacefully at night without the worry of how to pay the bills!!

Author bio- Jack Reed is a financial writer associated with Oak View Law Group.  He offers advice on debt related issues.

photo by jared

The First Step to Financial Success is an original article from the website brip blap.