How can you change your thinking?

Hey Buck here.

One of the biggest challenges we each face is changing our thinking. This is something that only you can teach yourself. You have to find a reason, something that will compel you to be better than you currently are so that you can succeed.

Susan and I have gone over a few steps and suggestions on what you can do to better your financial situation. These steps may seem small and even simple but if you are one of those that are scoffing at we are saying then you will always be struggling.

You first have to train yourself to do the things that millionaire do. You get ready to purchase an item, do you consider whether or not you can get it cheaper down the street. Do you purchase name brand or buy generic? How many of you realize that most generics are packaged in the same facilities, they are just given a different label.

If we just take a few extra minutes, when we determine our purchases, we can save thousands of dollars each year or more.

Please think about these things and send us some of the things that save inspired you to do better with your finances.

 - Buck out

Wants vs Needs

Something that is very important when setting up a budget is understanding the difference between wants and needs.  We all have needs that must be taken care of to live. We have to eat, have a place to live, and have clothes.  In order to keep our home up, we need gas, water, and electricity.  Depending on circumstances, we may need a car to get to and from work or a uniform for a specific job.  Needs must be met before wants.

Wants are things we do for fun.  It is okay to have and get wants as long as our needs are met and we have the ability to purchase the wants without over extending ourselves.  We have to be careful when assessing what is a want and what is a need.  For example, we NEED to eat, but we may WANT to eat out once a week.  We NEED to have clothes, but we may WANT to wear the most expensive name brands.

Also,  we must be careful about being wasteful.  Do you have a light on in your house that doesn't need to be on?  Have you ever watered the lawn in the rain?  We still need to have water and electricity, we just don't need them in certain circumstances.

Before we spend our money, we should ask ourselves if we can maintain our current standard of living without it.  If we can, then it is probably a want.  Are all of your needs taken care of?  Are you able to afford it?  How bad do you want it?  All these things should be addressed before purchasing a want.

Finding Deals

There is this great website that I found to help find all kinds of great deals.  It is http://www.freebies2deals.com/.  I love this site.  The lady that does it posts a ton of deals and freebies just about everyday.  Some of them are local to her (Utah).  But a lot of them are on line, so you can get  them where ever you live.  She is also looking to branch out so she can get local deals for people nation wide.  Check her out.  This is a great way to save yourself some money.

Some of the deals she lets us know about are awesome grocery deals so we can stock our shelves.  She finds ton of free samples we can request.  I just got a sample of pantene shampoo and conditioner in the mail.  I was expecting those little envelope type things.  I actually got a travel size bottle of both the shampoo and conditioner.  I also get tons of coupons in the mail, because she showed me where to sign up for them.

We are planning on doing a couponing post eventually so you can get some awesome deals on stuff you already buy.

--Susan

Money Magnets

Something we learned from T Harv Eker was to be "money magnets."  Basically, if we see an opportunity to increase our money or save us money, do we take it?  How often do you pick up a penny you may see on the ground?  If you pick up the penny, you are showing the universe that you are willing to accept the gift it is offering you.  A penny may not seem like much, but as you start accepting these gift, you will see more gifts. 

Buck and I have seen this first hand.  We started picking up whatever money we would find on the ground.  The first couple of times, it was just a few pennies here or there.  Then one day we got a check in the mail.  It was a refund of part of our escrow account on our home.  We called the mortgage company to make sure it wasn't an error and the money was truly ours. We were able to use the money to get some things we needed and wanted.  We needed to get some new clothes, and we wanted to get a movie we were saving for.  We went to the clothing store first.  When we got to the cashier, we saw about 15 cents on the ground with no one around to claim it.  We picked it up, made our purchase, and walked out the door and saw a dollar bill on the ground.  Now we try to make an effort to give money to the rightful owner if we can.  We looked around to see if anyone may have dropped it, but again there wasn't anyone around.

Next we went to get our movie.  We got to the store and found they were doing a promotion on some of their movies.  They were buy one, get a $5 gift card.  The movie we wanted, was part of that promotion.

An important part of being a money magnet is to express thanks for the gift.  Always remember to thank the universe.  Also, remember that money magnet not only attract money, but ways to save money.  I was going to get some medicine for Buck.  I had already found a coupon for the medicine that was for getting $4 off.  Next to the medicine was another coupon for $6 off.  I was happy to take the coupon and save $2 more than I originally thought.

Please remember that if you find a good deal on something, it doesn't mean you have to get it.  We wouldn't have bought the movie just because of the $5 gift card.  We were going to get it anyway.  The medicine was a necessity, we would have had to get it even if I didn't have a coupon.

We see examples of being money magnets often.  We have set up a section on the sidebar to keep track of our gifts.  This way you can see how to recognize when you are given gifts.  You can also see that if you accept them and give thanks for them, you will see more and more.

--Susan

More to our Story

When we first got married, we were both making pretty good money, so we decided to get a truck.  We wanted to get something that we could taking camping and that would have enough space for a family we wanted to have.  Buck had gone over our income and expenses and figured out about how much we could afford.  We went with a brand new Dodge Dakota 4 door.  We loved it.

What I didn't love however was my job.  I dreaded going to work every morning.  I made good money, but I couldn't imagine making a career out of it.  I started looking for something else.  I have always been interested in photography, so I found a job in the photography field.  I took about a $4/hr pay cut.  Not only that, but I ended up not getting the hours I was hoping for.  Things started to get tight, so I also picked up a Christmas job to get through the season.

After Christmas, we decided to look into Buck going back to school to get a Master's Degree.  We decided to move in with his parents who lived a few hours away.  We found new jobs, and Buck applied for school.  He didn't get in.  He was working about 20 hours a week and I was working full time at a retail camera store.  A few months later I got pregnant.  The day after we found out I was expecting, we totalled the truck.  We received some money from the insurance, but not enough to pay off the truck. We were suppose to be living with his parents for a couple months, but with everything that happened, we stayed for over a year.

While we were staying with them, we decided to find a way to increase our income.  We read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  We learned about being an employee, self-employed, a business owner, and an investor.  We decided to start a vending machine business.  We took out a loan and bought 32 quarter vending machines.  We placed the machines in small business around town.  Small business in small towns do not seem to get a lot of customers.  We were barely making enough from the machines to pay the loan each month. 

By this time, our little boy was born, and we needed a space of our own.  We bought a condo.  The mortgage said that we couldn't lease out the condo for a year, we had to live in it.  We also couldn't sell if for two years.  We were okay with that since we were planning on being there for a while.

--Susan

Here comes the Fun!

Buck is back and our subject today is one of my favorite. Fun account.

The first thing about this account is that you must have your Main account and Tithing account established and working right before the Fun account can be created.

This is the account designed specifically for our immediate wants. Decide how much each paycheck you can put aside for fun. Try to put at least something (even if it is only a dollar) in the account. We split our fun account between Susan and me and the kids. We use the kids funds to buy their birthday and Christmas presents. As they get older, we will use it to give them their allowances.

The amount that Susan and I get, we can spend on whatever we want. The other person is not allowed to question or get angry with what we buy with our Fun account. I usually like to spend my Fun cash as soon as payday comes. Susan will save hers to make big purchases for herself. We, also, found this allows us to actually buy gifts for each other. Before we started this account, all gifts, dinner, and things like this came from our joint account. We would have to know what the other spent so we wouldn't go over. Now we have our own money to spend on each other or treat each other. It makes it more personal that way.

We found it best to split our play account so that we each get the same amount no matter who makes the money. Decide what you think is the best method to split up the Fun account for your marriage/partnership. Don't forget to give some to the children if you have any.

This principle is talked about in both "Richest Man in Babylon" and "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind."

One last thing, I want you to know. When you are ready to set up this account, have FUN!

 - Buck