Dollars & Sense Education

Don’t get me wrong, I love to shop, buy a new outfit or two, but I have never been the type of woman who stands in front of my closet saying…I have nothing to wear.  Maybe it is my oversized sense of self or just my decisive nature, but it is just something I don’t do.  Many of my friends agonize over this decision daily, ultimately resulting in the purchase of more (and more and more and more) stuff.

The thing about stuff is, you will NEVER have enough, there never comes a point where you will say, yep, that’s it.  Anyone remember Amelda Marcos, the wife of a Philipino dictator in the 80s?  She had 3,500 paris of shoes.  Nuff said.

If you are trying to get ahead financially, this infinite money suck, called your closet, is not an asset to your financial health.  My suggestion is, set a monthly clothing number.  You will probably spend it the first week of the month, I always do!  And the number will vary wildly from person to person based on your income and other monthly outlays but setting up monthly limits will tame your inner Imelda and help release your inner Warren Buffett:)

Please contact Dollars & Sense Education to bring our seminars to your company or organization!

Dollars & Sense Education - Raising Your Financial IQ!
www.daseducation.com
nicole@daseducation.com
215-499-3834

The Golden Rule is a fundamental moral principle which simply means, “Treat others as they would treat you.”  It is arguably the essential basis for human rights.  Similarly, in my mind there is a Golden Rule for Personal Finance.  Like the moral Golden Rule, it doesn’t encompass everything you need to know but unless you tackle it, the rest is moot. 

Golden Rule of Personal Finance:  You must earn more income than what you spend.

Sounds simple enough but so many folks don’t follow this rule.  Check out this link to an awesome skit on SNL.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/cmAm8GNJ_IA&rel]

I love sports.  I love watching sports, I love playing sports.  I also love finance.  For years I have thought, why isn’t there an exchange the deals in the business of athletes?  Soon there will be!  On the proposed A.S.A. Sports Exchange, an athlete would sell 20 percent of all future on-field or on-court earnings to a trust, which would in turn sell securities to the public.  

I can see it now, “Honey, how would you like to allocate our assets in our IRA? I would like 30% in an S&P 500 Index, 50% in International funds and 20% in Ladainian Tomlinson”. Life is good.  I just wish I launched the idea myself.

My one pet peeve with MOST personal finance blogs out there is their almost religious commitment to being thrifty.  I have read articles lately about refilling toothpaste bottles and reusing cereal liners.  In my opinion that’s not personal finance, that is borderline homelessness. 

I know there are people out there that are mired in debt and need to use these gorilla tactics to crawl out of the hole they are in.  I have been at those points in my life where I had to stretch every dollar reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllyyyyyyyy far.  However, I suspect that there is another group of individuals out there that are so turned off by the “personal finance paupers” that they eschew personal finance blogs, articles and tv shows.  My belief is that you can still have a comfortable life and build wealth.  You just need to budget accordingly.

I have a confession to make: I eat out every day.  That’s right.  Every day.  No, I don’t buy my food in bulk at Sam’s Club.  And you know what else, I drink alot of beer at bars.  I have budgeted these things into my life because they make me happy.  Could I sock a little bit more into my savings account if I ate at home and drank a six pack all by my self.  Sure, but what fun would that be?  I have been able to invest a hell of alot of money from age 22-29 without living a boring life.  Does it help that I am single with no children? Sure.  Does it help that I live in a city with a low cost of living (Philly)? Sure.  Does it help that I have made a decent salary over the last few years? Sure.  But I am convinced you can have your cake and eat it too.  In college, I made $12,000/year.  My pay was able to cover rent, electric, gas, car insurance, food and alot of partying.  Did I have to skimp on luxuries? Obviously.  But I budgeted around my priorities and 12K went a long way.

My view is personal finance should be about finding the sweet spot between growing your net worth and living a fulfilling life.  Just my 2 cents.

 Please contact Dollars & Sense Education to bring our seminars to your company or organization!

Dollars & Sense Education - Raising Your Financial IQ!
www.daseducation.com
nicole@daseducation.com
215-499-3834