Archive for November, 2009

« Older Entries

Carnival of Personal Finance #233

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Carnival of Personal Finance is up-version #233- Two hundred thirty three-I wonder what that means in Dog Years?

Please visit “A Gai Shan Life’s” site linked above and review the posts chosen.  For those of you who don’t know, a Carnival is a compilation of posts on a certain subject, reviewed and posted in one place for the ultimate in convenience for all.

Please check it out-great tips to help with that tendency to overspend during the holidays.

Tags:
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Giving Makes You Happier and Wealthier!

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

One of the chapters in my soon to be released book, The Millionaire Nurse discusses the importance of giving.  No one becomes a successful nurse/person without much help along the way.  This may be an accident of birth-having loving parents.  Or is it a special mentor/teacher/friend who showed you the way, when you were close to giving up? Giving money or our time in service to others is a way of paying back for all the blessings we have received.

Free Money Finance has a great blog post today about givers.  The premise is that those who give are happier, and as a result tend to become wealthier.  The post is based on an article written by an economist at BYU studying the act of giving.

I placed my chapter on giving at the end of my book.  After reading these discussions, maybe I should have put that chapter at the beginning. There are a lot of stories out there about those whose giving continued even during times when it would be easy to say “maybe next month”.

One of the nurses in my practice was just discussing the other day-how, in her experience, every time she thought there was no way she could make that tithe check not bounce-the money just seemed to always be there.  God works in mysterious ways, but He does work.

So let us all remember, don’t wait until you are successful to give.  Even those of us who have little money can give a little of our time to help others.  Ring the Salvation Army bell, be a big brother or big sister.  Help out at a soup kitchen, or go by the nursing home and visit the elderly as another nurse friend of mine does.

As the above posts discusses, it may not just make you feel richer, and happier;  you may truly be better at building your own wealth if you learn to give sooner, rather than later.

Please let us know your stories on giving-how it makes you feel and whether you feel happier as a result.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Quality of Life, Wealth building | 2 Comments »

Twelve Ways to Not Become a Millionaire Nurse

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Remember the song,  The Twelve Days of Christmas, listing all the things “my true love gave to me”.  I thought in honor of the season, I would give Twelve Ways to not becoming a Millionaire Nurse.

So here goes:

  1. Not paying attention to my money-no spending plan, budget, or clue of what to do.
  2. Paycheck runs out before the month does.
  3. Buy/lease a new car.
  4. Purchase any item without planning/study of item and how it fits into your budget.
  5. Not having an emergency account.
  6. Borrowing money for college, beyond the bare minimum, and not being able to pay the student loans off quickly. (Such as borrowing $100,000 for a job that pays $25,000/year-just doesn’t make sense, but people do it all the time.
  7. Carrying a balance on a credit card.
  8. Forgetting  those once per year bills and not saving for them- such as insurance,  or taxes.
  9. Shopping without a list/plan.
  10. Eating out/fast food daily.
  11. Borrowing money for routine purchases-not saving and paying cash  for the new “blank” that you really need.
  12. Not saving money for retirement, and building wealth.
  13. Wasting time-TV, online, video games, reading celebrity mags.

Yes I gave you a baker’s dozen just to see if you were paying attention.  Which to me is the number one thing that will help most folks manage their money-just pay it a little attention-give it some love as the saying goes.  Make it a priority in your life to learn about and understand how money works, how savings grow over time in an interest bearing account.  Learn what your money mistakes are and make a plan to deal with it.

And if you need Emergency Money Resuscitation, check out my free ebook.  I will also send you my free mini-course on personal finance.

Please let me hear from you about your most common problems involved in managing your money-I want to help, and the way to getting better is to admit the problem, so please make a comment or ask a question.

I have also posted this question-” What are your most common money mistakes ?” over at Cash Commons-check out those answers too.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Quality of Life, debt reduction, personal finance | No Comments »

Seven Step Plan for a Great Holiday Season from Dr Dean

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

I am going to spend Thanksgiving with my children-for the second year in a row.  It is kind of nice to just show up-(with the turkey of course)- no I don’t mean my wife, I mean the birds I smoked.  I will also be spending time with my son’s fiance’s parents for the first time.  Knowing their daughter, I know we will get along well and have a great time.

In one of the chapters in my soon to be released book, The Millionaire Nurse, I spend a great deal of time on quality of life issues.  Money and money problems, of course, is a common cause of family stress, and divorce.

But many families quality of life does not suffer because of money, as much as lack of focus.  Life is so hectic with both parents working, sports activities, dance, music for the kids.  All of the family tied to their phones and televisions-texting, facebooking, googleing, yahooing, tweeting-they spend little or no time face to face with no outside distractions.

So, during the next month between now and Christmas, plan to spend one evening a week with your family with the following restrictions:

  1. Turn off phone, music, television, radio, video games or whatever other electronics that are going on.
  2. Have a meal together that all in the family participate in preparing-even if that means chaos in the kitchen.
  3. Before the meal, begin with a prayer of  thanks, or at least each member voicing what they are thankful for.
  4. After the meal, cleanup should also be shared by everyone.
  5. After the meal and cleanup, spend an hour or so looking at old pictures, remembering those relatives and friends who are no longer with us, play a game of cards, monopoly, or other slow-paced game that will allow time for talk and interaction.
  6. Make each participant promise to not bring up any negatives, whether it is job loss, tight money, family illness or other stresses..
  7. Take a moment and express thanks for a free country and for all those who have sacrificed now and in the past to keep us free.  Make a plan to ring the bell for the Salvation Army, or buy gifts for a needy family, or some other family event to help others in need.

Now, I don’t want to hear excuses-”I work nights!” ” We can’t eat without the tv on.”  “I don’t know how to cook.” “My husband won’t participate.” ” I am single, and have no friends.”

We are always able to accomplish that which we feel is important.  So rearrange your schedule, make a new friend, show the kids who is in charge, and I know that you know how to make your husband do what you want, now don’t you…..

I can guarantee, that your holiday season this year will be more meaningful, and remembered by each member of the family as the “Best Holiday Season Ever”.

So from my home and family to yours, Have a Great Thanksgiving.

And if you try my seven step method to a great holiday season, let us know how it goes.  Would love to hear and to share with others how your life and the life of your family was changed as I know it will be.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Quality of Life | No Comments »

Credit Card Offers-How to Stop Them From Cluttering Your Mailbox

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Unsolicited credit card offers: When you go to the mailbox, looking for that letter from a loved one-(do you remember letters?).  Or maybe you are looking for a favorite magazine or newspaper (do you remember newspapers?).  I know when I check my box I am unfortunately receiving many unsolicited credit card offers-probably 1-2 per day.

The credit card companies get credit information from the credit bureaus, and if you meet their financial criteria-they send you an offer.  Now before the recent recession and the bursting of the credit bubble, we all heard stories of credit card offers addressed to children, dogs, and dead people.  Whether they have now decreased the offers from the credit card companies with the currently decreased credit availability, or just sending more to less people now, who knows.

If you would like to stop receiving those offers then I can help.   You can go to this website for opting out of credit card offers.  Fill in the necessary identifying information, and voila, no more credit card offers filling your mailbox.  If you would rather make a phone call then try 1-888-5-optout.

What other advantages to stopping those annoying credit card offers?

  • Saving trees-how many trees murdered to send these millions of unsolicited credit card offers.
  • Saving time and energy-if you are like me you either shred or tear these offers into little pieces to keep others from applying for your credit card, ( identity theft).  Not counting the trouble and time involved in tearing them into little itsy bitsy pieces.
  • Decreased temptation-when  trying to get out of debt-all these card offers are like a drunk walking around in a liquor store-temptation, temptation, temptation….

Now if the only mail you get is credit card offers and you will miss the full mailbox, let me know and I will send you a few catalogs that are also filling my mailbox.  Maybe I will write another post on getting off catalog lists-but since most of those are my wife’s, maybe I better leave that one alone.

Now if you need “Emergency Money Resuscitation” go my website linked here, and get a free ebook.  This will also result in getting a free short course on financial management-did I mention free.

Please let me know if you have any credit card offer stories to tell.

Tags: , ,
Posted in credit cards, personal finance | No Comments »

Buying a New Car: Is it Evil?

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Danielle, aka The Frugal Lawyer, blogged this week, a mea culpa of sorts, about purchasing a new car.  She had hinted at her indiscretion earlier in the week, but finally confessed.  I have come to enjoy her writing while participating at Cash Commons, a new question and answer site about money problems.

Far be it from me to pick a fight with an attorney, as an Ob-Gyn I am genetically afraid of lawyers….

But, so far, the comments on her post have been all congratulatory in nature, and as she is a self-confessed recovering spend-thrift, I think I would lose points in the personal finance blogosphere, yes maybe even a little bit hypocritical, to let her get completely away with buying a new car.

So for all The Millionaire Nurse wannabe’s here is my list of reasons why buying used is better, when buying transportation:

  1. Depreciation-when driving the new car off the lot, the value of your new purchase drops by 20-45%, making this a depreciating asset-it usually doesn’t pay to borrow money for something that drops that quickly in value.
  2. Hidden Costs- Besides the monthly payment, and interest there are other costs involved in buying new vs used.  These include higher insurance costs-see this article in the Wall Street Journal about insurance costs.  Taxes-the taxes on buying your tags in most states is directly related to the cost of the vehicle, and new cars just cost more, therefore a higher yearly tag tax.
  3. The savings she suggests from buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle are real, but most studies show at today’s gas prices, it will take 5-7 years to make up the difference in price that the new car costs.
  4. Having a large amount of your net worth tied up in a vehicle, is usually not a wise move, financially, although that is probably not an issue here, but is for many people whose car is the second largest asset after their home.

So, before anyone points out my personal hypocrisy, in the spirit of true confession, I will admit that I own, (or the banks own) several investment lots on the Gulf coast, that I purchased at the height of the real-estate boom, that have now dropped significantly in value, and though I am paying them off as quickly as possible, I do admit that I made a big mistake in not purchasing them with cash or not at all.

The Frugal Lawyer also makes me a little jealous when she describes the personal pleasure she gets from driving her “new green machine” (my words not hers).  When I climb in my 10-year-old paid for truck that gets 16 miles to the gallon, I am thinking about what I am going to do that day-not how I am saving the planet.  But maybe that is because I am over 50, and  male, so I just don’t get that emotional attachment she has with her new vehicle, with my truck.  So far the truck doesn’t seem to mind my emotional detachment, but maybe I am just not listening…

So, do I want Danielle to feel guilty every day she gets in her new car?  No, just like I am trying to quit beating myself up for trying to be a real-estate baron.  We just need to continue to learn more about our relationship with our money, and try hard to be a good example in the future to those we are trying to help on their path to financial freedom.  Which is, I think, both of our goals in blogging about personal finance.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Wealth building, personal finance | 4 Comments »

Mortgage Adjustments: Is it Right For You

Friday, November 20th, 2009

The federal government has issued incentives for mortgage holders to work with those homeowners who may be behind on their mortgage, to renegotiate.  The renegotiating may involve reduction of principal, adjusted payment amounts, and delayed interest.

The problem with this situation, is there is no easy mechanism to handle this sort of problem.  It has to be done by the mortgage holder, after being asked by the homeowner for assistance.

This report shows that the mortgage adjustment departments of many of the nations biggest banks, such as Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, are actually hiring a lot of new people to handle the volume.  One of the few areas of growth in employment in the country right now.

Another issue with this situation is  it frequently just delays the inevitable.  If you have lost your job, it may not matter if your mortgage payment is 25% less than it was-”can’t get blood from a turnip” as we say here in the South.

What does this have to do with Millionaire Nurse wannabe’s-well mainly as a cautionary tale.  Don’t let your eyes fool your stomach, to keep up  the southern sayings-and buy a bigger house than you can afford.  Many suggest keeping your mortgage at less than 25% of your salary.  Buy the house with a large down payment that gives you equity in case you do have to sell sooner than you intend.

If you are in trouble regarding paying your mortgage, then make sure you call your mortgage holder sooner rather than later, before the money runs out in these federal programs that are helping the banks with these mortgage adjustments.

Develop that emergency fund I keep posting aboutbecause it is so important to give you a cushion when times are tough.  Cut out non-essential expenses, keeping your spending to a bare minimum until you decide if you can stay in your home or have to sell or renegotiate.

And remember, if you haven’t signed up for my free ebook, “Emergency Money Resuscitation” you can do so here.  As part of my mission to help nurses with their finances, we will also email you a mini-course over the next 6 weeks or so on improving your personal finances,-free too, of course.

Tags: ,
Posted in personal finance | 1 Comment »

Time is Money-Money is Time

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

One of the chapters in my soon to be released book deals with the time we spend daily on things that may not be important enough to merit the time and stress related to them.  Many of these things cost money, with very little benefit.  Others may not cost money directly, but because of  the stress related to over scheduling-the costs are more emotional than monetary.

One of the most common causes of nurses leaving the field of nursing is burnout.  With a job as emotionally stressful as nursing, any other strains added to the normal job strain, can push good nurses “over the edge” so to speak, and lead them to quit.

What are  a few of those strains?

So please take the time to do a life inventory.  Begin to read,  study,  and discuss with your family what is truly important, and begin to whittle away at the “stuff” we let get in the way.

Let me hear your time and money concerns, questions, and your recommendations if you have made progress in these areas.

Tags:
Posted in Quality of Life | No Comments »

Emergency Money-Five Ways to Raise Money in a Hurry!

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

One of my strongest recommendations for people trying to get out of debt, beside goal setting, and planning is the emergency fund.

See this post for more information about the super-duper emergency fund, that I recommend all  of you have and the reasons why.  For today’s post, I want to give you a few options for how to raise an emergency fund account in a hurry.

  1. For nurses, overtime is frequently available.  On one of the wards that I work, there was a sign about overtime available to work the night shift, because of a temporary nursing shortage on that wing.  Two or three extra shifts at time and a half, can raise a thousand bucks for a small emergency fund in a hurry.
  2. Sell books and text books.  See this blog post from Money Blue Book on helpful hints for those of you who haven’t sold any books online before.
  3. Have a yard sale-while this tried and true method for raising a few bucks may seem old hat, in this economy people are shopping more than ever for a bargain.  Go in with friends, and make it a fun day, in addition it will  help clean out a few closets.
  4. A second job-if overtime is not available-and these days those overtime shifts can be harder to come by, a second job working an extra weekend a month, or a couple of shifts extra on your off days-can help you pile up emergency cash.  Most nurses can find work in their field, but if not delivering pizzas or other short term work can help fill the coffers-remember this is for emergencies!
  5. Sell a toy-(no I didn’t say sell your boy).  If you have a Harley, boat, extra vehicle, jet ski ……. You get the idea.  Put it on the block.  Do an internet search to find out the going price and get it gone.  If you have no emergency money, you have no business with a toy or toys anyway-and you need to be working extra right now, not playing.

So look at the above list and find which way suits you to help build your emergency fund.  Maybe do some of it all-having a cash cushion or margin can be a life saver for those of you trying to work your way out of debt.  It can be the difference between just a bad day-having to dip into savings for a new set of tires, or an expensive medical emergency. Compare that to blowing weeks or months of hard work trying to lower your debt, then having to reach for the old credit card to pay for an emergency expense-then having to start all over.

Good luck!

For more ideas for “Emergency Money Resucitation” go to my website for my free ebook, packed with money-saving ideas.

Tags: , ,
Posted in credit cards, debt reduction, personal finance | No Comments »

Buying a New Computer-the Millionaire Nurse Way!

Monday, November 16th, 2009

If you are like me, buying a new computer is similar to the way I felt as a new student in the hospital-every one around you knows more than you do, and they know it.  So they are standing around, with a smirk on their face, watching and waiting on you to ask a dumb question, or do a dumb thing and look like a fool.

The older I am, the less I care whether I look like a fool, as long as I get my questions answered.  I would rather look like a fool in the computer store, than know I was a fool, when I figure out I wasted money and bought the wrong thing.

Now there are a lot of decisions to make regarding computers that I can’t cover in a short blog post, so please let me know your suggestions, or recommendations.

  • Mac or Windows:  Mac pro’s: less virus prone, easier to manage media, such as pics and video, cool factor (not worth much for Millionaire Nurse wannabe’s).  Mac Con’s: more expensive.  (I choose Windows   because my son is a Windows expert-if you have a computer expert in the family-do not buy something that will allow him or her to say-sorry can’t help I’m a (Windows or Mac) man!!!
  • Netbook, Notebook, laptop or desktop:  The new netbooks have a great “cute” factor-so my grown daughter says.  They work great for a lot of folks who are not into games, or media-but use them mostly for email and web-surfing.
  • Notebooks and laptops, can be more full service-if portability is important, and you need pics and video management-these are great choices.
  • Desktops-you get more bang for your buck here.
  • Brands-among windows versions, brands are numerous.  I go to http:// www. cnet.com  for reviews of specific brands-get an opinion from your IT friends on what your particular needs are.  Go to the computer stores to test-drive and make sure you are comfortable with them.

I bought my last laptop at Wal-Mart-they have gotten more involved in computers with a special push on pricing competitiveness in the last year or so.  If you don’t need a lot of technical support, or have it available like I do “in the family” then go with Wal-Mart or your local wholesale club.

If you do need support, then the computer stores, both local and chains, Best Buys etc may be better for you-just make sure they are financially stable and will be around next year if you need something-remember Circuit City.

Just an aside for those of you who have computer nerds in the family or close friends-they will want you to buy the fastest, coolest machine you can afford-they just will.  So remind them over and over that you don’t want more machine than you need.

The hardest part in computer buying to me is being sure you are comparing apples to apples-make sure the specs you are comparing match.  If you are not sure, then keep asking questions until you are.  Write down the RAM and ROM, chip speed, video-card-note whether it has a built in camera if that is important to you.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what those things are-just make sure you compare computers of similar specs.

Screen size of the monitor may matter if you are like me and do a lot of writing and reading on the computer.

Also make sure you know the stores return policy, before you leave.  For a review on the pluses and minuses of warranties see this post.  I don’t usually buy extended warranties-but there are times when you may feel it is worth it.

For those of you who haven’t shopped for a computer in some time, here is a range of prices for what we have discussed above:

Netbooks: $300-500

Laptops: $400-1200 for Windows-900-1500 for Macbooks.

Desktops $400-1200 for Windows versions-  Macs start at $900 but go up quickly from there.

So remember when computer shopping-don’t let bells and whistles overwhelm you, get the computer you need for the next 24-36 months-not one for 5 years-doesnt’ mean you trade in 2 years, just don’t buy so much more computer than you need  now because you “may need it” in the future-cover just the present.  Technology changes so fast, if you tried to predict what you need 5 years from now-well you can’t!

And it should go without saying-your computer purchase should be with cash you have saved for this purpose.  It should be part of you or your families planned spending-not an impulse.

And if you need Emergency Financial Resucitation-go to my website and sign up for my free ebook.  And remember to send your nursing friends our way-to learn about personal finance topics-all questions welcome.

Tags:
Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries