Made some changes to what I am doing

One of the problems I contribute to my financial problems is being not admitting I have a spending addiction and lack of knowledge of handling my money properly. In order to improve my life, I looked harder at my financial statements and continued reading articles and books by Jason Zweig. The majority of this work came about at the end of the year preparing my financial statements getting them ready for my accountant. What I have noticed on both side businesses my wife and I operate, we did not make enough money to cover our time and transportation costs. Even though we made over $7,000 in sales, our expenses came to $7,438 generating a net profit(A net profit is generated by subtracting your expenses from your sales). By not focusing on improving your financial goals, you can continually spend more money even though you are making money through sales. I have not decided what to do since you have to give a new business three years to determine if the venture is profitable.
Sunday, December 20, 2009

Education without going to class

After attending a meeting presented by the Chicago Camera Club in Oak Brook Illinois, I realized there are other alternatives then traditional education that can help you advance your lifestyle and self worth. At the meeting, they were having a picture competition. In those three hours, I learn more about taking pictures without paying the cost of attending a class. If I want to continue to learn, it only costs me $30 for the year to attend the meetings.

What type of investor am I?

After reading “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham on page 101, he points to two types of investors, one who continually researches and the one that creates a permanent portfolio. What is dictating my investing approach is the hostile work environment that I have to endure because of the lack of jobs. For me, I am adopting the later approach of crating a permanent portfolio that runs on autopilot in order to focus my time on finding a new job

Making the right business and financial decisions

On Sunday, November 15, 2009, I read Zweig article on “Ignoring the Yes-Man in your Head” in the Wall Street Journal. I can relate to that article because of my judgment, which resulted in bad business and financial mistakes. These mistakes occur because I am not asking the right questions by trying to disprove any business or financial situation. In the past, this was true especially when I was buying and selling stock continuously in which money was being lost. In terms of present and past business decisions, this is especially true with the Tastefully Simple consulting business and other entrepreneurial adventures previously tried.

Feedback is great

I am very blessed to have great friends that give me feedback and advice. I think now in this economy, having great friends is also important especially when they help you. I asked my friend T. what he thought about my blog. In his response, he gave critical information I think will help other people. In his email, he states “Mark it looks like you have put a lot of time into your posts. It is a good start. Perhaps simple things like how you save on shopping would be good too. For us we shop at the neighborhood stores which are regularly cheaper than the big stores like Jewel or Dominick’s(we have an Italian Market called Amicis and a fruit and vegetable stand called Nature's best-both have delis that are a lot cheaper than the big stores). In addition, we shop at the outlet stores for bread products (Pepperidge farm and Sara Lee). How about using coupons? Coupons.com is a good site”.

Making priorities

I always ask myself, what is the most important priority that has to be made when paying bills or even saving money? Today, Tuesday, November 10, 2009 I took money out of my savings account and put the money into my checking account. With the money I took out my savings, the amount dropped below $200. Why did I take the money out of my savings account? The main reason was to accomplish my goal or writing a book to generate money.

Finding the right broker

Over the past 12 years, I must have had 10 brokers through A.G.Edwards. Of the 10 brokers, I could trust at least three and then they left the company. After my last broker left the company, I moved my account to another company. What I like about the broker now, she shares the same sentiment as Graham and Zweig belief that it is hard to predict what the future brings. Additionally, she is also honest with me about the risks. According to my broker when I was asking questions about REI’s and TIP’S, her reply was Real Estate Investment trusts certainly did well when the real estate market was booming, and they also pulled back quite a bit when the market fell. In almost any growth, allocation model there is a component that has real estate. You do not own any specific mutual funds geared towards real estate investment trusts but inside the mutual funds, you will have some exposure. TIPS are great way to play inflation. If you think Inflation is going up then TIPS are a very good idea. Both are good investments if bought at the right time, but like everything else each one will have its day in the sunshine.

Working as a team

In this economic time, it is important families work as a team to increase their wealth. The way I am trying to help my wife, is by doing the business operations (E.g. bookkeeping) of her tastefully Simple consulting business that she just stared last June. However, I am still not pulling my weight since Tupperware is not included as part of me helping her out. I also realized it would not be in her best interest to be a consultant under her guidance since it detracts from her sales quotas. The challenges my wife and many other new consultants are facing is increasing their sales in a declining economy. By helping my wife, I am able to free up her time to make sales calls. On the other hand, I also need to learn the consulting businesses that my wife is participating as a consultant without being a consultant to increase our financial success.

Decreasing expenses to increase wealth - Stocks

When choosing a broker to handle my stocks, I switched from A. G. Edwards Company to American Stock Transfer in order to save money because there is no service charge for reinvesting or adding money to the investment. For Zweig, there is always a cost to any investment. For most people, it is hard to tell what the fees are because, like myself did not ask the right questions. In this case, I asked if a cost was associated with reinvesting and the answer was no. In this case, a cost did not occur when dividends where reinvested. However, when you add additional money to increase your investment, a cost incurred when adding money to purchase additional stocks. Nevertheless, what I found out, I should have asked the question, if I want to reinvest by adding additional money is their a cost?

The benefits of using Under-earners Anonymous vision and goals to improve your wealth and happiness

I am not happy with my life because of the types of abuses my employers used to victimize me. Most of the problems occurred because of the risks I have taken to improve my life. However, in one way they have improved my life by making me mad and taking control of my life and setting new goals and visions. As of Sunday, November 01, 2009, I sat down and worked on two work sheets provided by Under-earners Anonymous www.underearnersanonymous.org at no cost. However, generating income is not as easy as it seams. My life experience has taught me you need to focus on your strengths or your hobbies into a career that generates financial stability and happiness.

Putting every little penny away for a rainy day

I am trying to get back into my old habits of saving money by collecting every penny, nickel, dime, or quarter and putting them into a jar. This saving behavior started when I was young when my parents encouraged me to save. They told me you have two choices, save money or pay us rent. Of course, I decided to keep the money myself. This parental guidance help me save over $30,000 before I got married even working part time jobs due community colleges decisions to save money by not paying employees benefits. On Saturday, October 31, 2009, I was able to deposit $33.00 from change collected in a three-week period and generated .01 cents in interest.

Why my parents are mad?

This week I found out my wife only paid half the rent after my mom had called me. Because of this situation, funds from my bimonthly income are now paying off the remaining balance of the rent. The bad part of this situation, a greater portion of my bimonthly check cannot go towards paying off my school loan, buying more stock, investing in my IRA, and putting away money for my vacation in two weeks. I can understand how my parents can be mad. Several years ago, I was running an Internet coupon business, when several businesses refused to pay me after they made a verbal commitment. What I did notice several years later some of the businesses who refused to pay me my commission are no longer in business. Integrity is the most important part of life. It defines who you are and how people view you. I also believe by maintaining high standards of integrity that will make it easier for people to increase their wealth without negative consequences.

Making goals and seeing the results even if they are small

On Monday, October 26, 2009, I received my statement from the broker who manages my Intergy’s Energy Group stock at no additional cost. For the $50 applied to the account, I was able to purchase 1.4 shares. When saving money on a bootstrapped budget, people similar to my financial conditions have to set baby step goals. In addition, seeing the increase in shares and income from dividends does make me feel better about myself.

Enjoying my photography hobby

Sunday, October 25, 2009 I traveled to three different nature areas: Bluff Springs Fen in Elgin, Glacial Park in Ringwald, and Illinois State Beach in Lake County. The eight-hour day adventure cost me 200 miles in wear and tear on my car and $40 in gas. What I ended up with is over 200 pictures on my digital camera. What I have to realize, my hobbies need to generate revenue if I want to continue to take nature pictures. My goal is to pick at least four pictures and have them developed so I can put each picture into a frame. I want to sell these pictures at a craft show to see how much people are willing to pay for them. My goal is to sell each picture for a minimum of $30 since I seen the same type of pictures being sold for at least $30 at the beauty shop, I attended at a Carol Stream "Business After Hours."

Enjoyment and Entertainment as I grown older

On Saturday, October 24, 2009, my wife and I went out to eat and listen to music. The only thing we saved money on was the cover charge. That night, we spent $30 for two sandwiches, drinks, and a tip for the server who gave us excellent service. In the past, we were more conservative in terms of spending in which we only bought sodas and one appetizer. I am not sure what made me more liberal about spending money with my age. All I know, in the past my spending was more conservative even at the movies where I did not even buy soda or popcorn which is bad for my health.
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Comment on Interesting Business Experience

When talking to my friend Malinda, we were discussing how my wife lost a sale because a Tastefully Simple consultant canceled her purchase of a Tupperware product. The reason she gave, was she lost one of her sales due to a bad credit card. What was intriguing, my friend did not understand that this incident occurred at a country club where many of the people attending were upper middle class. Even when I am talking to one of my friends who teach at Hinsdale Middle School openly stated, the district is having financial problems. What amazes me, this school district for many years was financially stable. However, the school district where homes go for at least one million dollars now has financial troubles. The point of this discussion, it does not matter from what economic class you come from, everybody is now feeling the pinch because of bad business deals made from the financial community. In terms of trying to save or make money, you need to run your life like a small business. You have to market yourself, find out what people need, and be concerned about your cash flow.
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Made some changes to what I am doing

One of the problems I contribute my financial problems, is being lazing. Today I made a change, instead of buying hotdogs from a hotdog stand that would have cost me $4.00 for two hotdogs; I had my wife my hotdogs and buns from the store. The total cost for twelve hotdogs and buns was five dollars, a savings of $20 if I bought the 12 hot dogs from a hot dog stand. I think by not being lazy by cooking the hot dogs, $20 could now go towards other savings or spending activities.
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Friday, October 23, Debtors Anonymous Meeting

Friday’s meeting was usual like old times since I was the only one for the first half of the meeting to attend. I was ready to leave since no one was present, and another person shown up thirty minutes late. We did have a good talk about politics dealing with the American financial crises and spending money. The one thing I realized was my downfall was coming into a large inheritance. Like me other debtors, some do have the same situation as me, in which we receive a lot of money (both my wife and I inherited $60,000) and the double this amount was spent within a year. Another thing I realized, until people are ready to make a commitment to saving money, they will be in the same situation. Saving is a continued commitment to improving your life.

Every little bit counts

This last week was a hard time to save money. My wife $700 check went to paying off our credit cards in which I had to use $200 from my last check to pay for food and supplies. Unfortunately, I did not have any money set aside to pay off my school loan or add additional money to my IRA and Peoples Energy stock. However, I was able to set aside some money that I hide from my wife in a jar. What I would do, is buy a large soda from McDonalds that is on sale for $1.00. From the $2.00 to pay for the soda and sales tax, the extra money went into my jar. Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Minimizing risk with my 401K

Right now, I have six funds, all with Fidelity. These funds include three stock funds, two balanced, and one short-term investment. With these funds, I am trying to reduce my risk by diversifying my portfolio by having six different types of funds and future contributions, which are equally dispersed by 17% except for the cash reserve, which only receives 15% of the distribution. The hope is to make sure if one fund does well and another one does poorly, they will equally balance each other out at the end of the year when they are rebalanced.

Looking over mutual fund statements

According to Zelig (Wall Street Journal writer), investors need to be intelligent by understanding their risks and costs of their investments. On Saturday, October 17, I was going into Mourning Star investment web site and looking at the stats of my mutual funds in both of my 401K and IRA account. My stats were in accordance to what Zelig was preaching; what goes up does come down. What is amazing is that I am now making money even though three years ago the fund was down five percent and last year it was up by eighteen percent. It is now looking as if should invest using dollar cost averaging by putting money in every month.

Dealing with a spending addiction

One of my problems is that I love drinking soda and eating food at local restaurants and pizza places. As you know, the cost of food has increased. Last year, I used to pay $10 for a small thick crust special pizza. When I bought the same pizza yesterday, it cost me $17. In this case, buying food and soda strains my budget where I have to take out extra money out of my account to support my habit. I wish life were as easy when I worked in a factory in the late 1970’s since my income was enough to buy a car in cash. The realization that we are not in the 1970’s where money was plentiful to buy the products we want is painful. The only way to deal with this problem is to save even though it hurts the economy. However, I have not found economic alternative interims of getting a good job to increase my wealth because of the greed of the wealthy.

Saving money buying in bulk

Last Sunday, I went to Costco and spent $44 for three items. $44 for three items seams a lot of money, but after looking at what I paid for each item, the cost was lower. With the laundry detergent that cost me $14, other brands and stores would charge me $21 for the same size. Buying in bulk is the best way to go for large families. With my family, which only consists of four individuals, I decided to purchase non-perishables. Buying in bulk is not an easy task for any family with minimal income. I suggest trying to purchase small quantities below $50 of non-perishable bulk items one month and then purchase another quantity below $50 of bulk items the next month. The fifty dollars depend on your budget of what you can spend to purchase non-perishable bulk items each month.

Sharing my misfortune

I know it is easy to say that I can save. However, how hard is it? For some people, saving is not a problem, but for others, saving is not as easy as it seems. Yesterday I went to the movies with my wife and paid $17 for the movie and another $11 for popcorn and two sodas, which came out to be $28 for both of us. I could have easily stayed at home and saved money by watching TV. Because of my inappropriate decision, I had to withdraw $20 for the movie and anther $20 for gas from my account. How am I going to fix the problem? I also ask my self, if the organization, Debtor's Anonymous, is helping me since I went out and spent money that I did not have. If you look at the situation, the $40 should have been put to good use to increase my income by buying Integrys Energy Group stock.

Having an interesting business experience

This last Saturday was an interesting business experience. I was helping my wife sell Tupperware and promote tastefully simple products at a craft show at Nordic Hills resort in Itasca. We paid $100 for a booth for a $40 sale, which did not cover our costs. Additionally, we had a Tupperware purchase from a Tastefully Simple consultant who reneged on her deal because one of her client’s credit card numbers did not work loose causing us to lose a sale. We could have increased our sales by selling Tastefully Simple products. We decided not to sell the products because of the conflict it would have caused between us and the other consultant. What I have learned and my wife keeps on forgetting is that to make money as a consultant, you have to pick booths at craft events that cost between $25 and $50.

Following job leads that did not generate revenue

For the most part of my life, I was following job leads that did not generate revenue and lowered my self-esteem. This was part my fault since I believed the advice from my college instructors instead of doing market research regarding the future of teaching in colleges as a career. Although my anthropology instructor at Loyola University was correct that instructor positions would be available after many instructors retired, what she did not mention to the class was that many colleges would decide to hire part-time instructors to save money at the cost of honest people trying to survive. What I found out, was that my income is higher without a college degree then with a college degree. When I was teaching college courses with my Masters, I was only making $15,000 a year. When I changed my career to the food service, my income was more than $20,000. I do not regret my college education, but it did create a financial burden on my family.