Finances - Helping the Masses

Today I found my passion. I think I've known about it for a while but today I knew it for certain.

I want to help people organize their lives and achieve their goals. I want to help them get their finances in order and live their dream. Not only to help them with the day-to-day living problems but to also help them in a spiritual sense as well.

Frugal living does not need to be a life surrounding Top Ramen, Rice-a-Roni, and stealing wifi from the neighbors. You can eat well, dress well, and even splurge a little if you make a PLAN!!! You should know at all times how much is exactly in your account. If you spend money easily then just think of it this way...

- at minimum wage you make around 8 dollars an hour.
- that coffee you just purchased for neigh 4.50$ just cost you a half hour of work.
- that tank of gas was 5 hours of work. (for a 20 gallon tank at 2.00$ a gallon for gas)
- Christmas presents? at around 25$ (or more in my case) a pop for four family members that's almost a week of work for me!

When I start doing the math I wonder if I would do the same amount of work I currently do if I were paid in the things I buy. If the answer is no then you have unwittingly admitted to different priorities in your life.

I go this process all the time.

I still eat out (once a month), get coffee for myself (3 to 5 times a month), get groceries (15-20% of pay check), pay rent (50%), tithe (10%), and even have some left over for savings (around 15%).

Practicality at it's greatest. Budgeting has helped me overcome the constant urge to spend my money. I look for investments and sales on basic items, clip coupons, and will return items that are unsatisfactory/un-needed.

Don't think that these measures are set in stone, because no matter what we will always have those "oh crap!" moments when our savings come in handy. Splurges are also okay, but make sure they are not a constant in your life.

Also! There are so many sites out there that help you live frugally! The Reader's Digest alone gives hundreds of sites and tips every year. (and you can read them at the library for no cost!)

I would invite the more adventurous of you to invest your money. Now is the time to buy, when things are low and (as a college student) we have nothing to lose! The stocks will return to normal eventually and when they do that stock you bought for a pittance will have been an amazing investment!

Just some thoughts guys. I really don't have all the answers seeing as how I'm still a student living off minimum wage at 13 hours a week. The real world hasn't hit me yet, but I hope that this planning will help me when I get there.

Good luck!

Definitely Maybe

The Turmoil which had engulfed our nation seems to rest more heavily upon those of us who are on college campuses. Just this morning I have heard so many exclamations of thankfulness... mostly because the time of robo-callers, flyers in our streets, door-to-door harassment, and the red-faced persons who would like to have us bow to their "superior knowledge" on how our country should be run.... is over.

I know that all of you would wish to linger in this state of mass confusion and dissent. (haha!) The time has come to move on. What did the news stations show before the election? Oh! Is THAT what Paris Hilton has been up to? shocker.

Come to think of it. Election-time has always been a point of reflection for me. A what-the-heck-do-I-believe wake up call. I am always interested in the Economic situation, but what are the implications of each candidate? Are they actually going to follow through?

Missing Clevenger's class. Only the most dynamic History teacher I have ever encountered who actually knew exactly why he believed what he believed. He also knew EVERYTHING there was to know about any given situation and welcomed new ideas from all of his students. His plumb line was something that every Junior and Senior at my highschool relished. It wasn't the mounds of work we memorized, but the life lessons we learned that were actually applicable into our lives.

Who knew that the Klu Klux Klan's application looked so much like a gathering of Christians instead of murdering individuals riding on their beliefs of white supremacy? Who knew that so many of our founding fathers' beliefs contradicted the word of God? (and this was being taught at a Christian School!)

Lies we'd believed were debunked as we were encouraged to always question everything, and also to have a solid foundation on which to base your claims.

We should all be so lucky.

Happy 4th!