Thursday, December 29, 2011

A New Year Saving I hope that you have had a good 2011, if you didn't, hang in there you have just about made it! Start planning your 2012 by downloading a goal setting sheet or budget. If you don't have any financial goals set for this year let me give you a little help. Why don't we start saving, for purchases and emergencies. The hardest thing for me to do in making my budget is paying myself (saving). Something always comes up that I, want or need to spend that money I wanted and needed to save. Lets all try this in the new year, determine how much you want to have in savings by this time next year and calculate how much you need to save a month to get there. When you get paid, pay your necessities and yourself first, because if you don't do it right off, you might need a new fishing pole or outfit when it starts to warm up. If you don't know how much you should have, excluding retirement, ( I will deal with that later this year) use this rule of thumb. For a mini emergency fund I recommend 1000.00, if you make 20000.00 or under you may try for just 500.00. You may think that is a little amount but, you should work on your non- mortgage debt after you get your mini emergency fund. Once you are ready to begin fully funding your emergency fund I recommend 3-6 months of monthly living expenses. Once you have that met then go to work on retirement. Don't get so focused on the end amount that you miss the small weekly and monthly deposits that can easily slip away if you get discouraged. Saving is best done little by little, because you appreciate and value more if you have more time and energy invested in the effort. If you get it easy it has little value to you. When your work hard and it takes a little time, you are less likely to buy that new thingy with the money. I know because I have wasted more that enough of what I have had. If you don't know how you are going to get the savings started off, sell some stuff you bought with the money you should have been saving! Pick up some extra work anywhere you can get it. What ever the amount is that you want to save, set your goal and start doing what you need to do to get there. Yes you will have set backs, just use them to learn and to get re-focused. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Tim West Go West Coaching 12-29-11

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Gift of Son-ship Well it is just about that time, Christmas! We kick into neutral and enjoy life differently from any other time of the year. The retailers probably don’t get to enjoy much time off because they are working hard to get as much stuff sold as possible. I have been caught up in the, I have to buy a bunch of stuff and get a lot of stuff to have a “good” Christmas before also. Its easy to do and I have to resist it this year because of my new daughter (big smile). This year I want to start enjoying my life as a son of God. The great thing about this gift that was given to us is that you can enjoy it every day and not just in late December. God sent us Christ, His son so that we could be adopted as sons and not have to live like a orphan. As Dudley Hall says Jesus isn’t the the ticket to get to the event in Heaven, He is the event! I highly recommend his book Orphans no more to understand and view life as a son and not an orphan. Lets start living our lives enjoying the gift God has given us and quit living as if we don't have a Father. Don't get wrong I am not a scrooge, I love to give gifts, and as of today I have never rejected one! But why not this year and every year afterward we enjoy being a partner with God and manage His creation with Him. The Gift He gave us in Christ allows us to have a relationship and partnership with Him, that’s the best gift ever! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!!! Go West Coaching Go West Coaching 12-21-11 Financial Peace University begins January 15th 2012 mailto:tim@gowestcoaching.comfor more information

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Blessed to be a blessing

During a time of recession and struggles we tend to get focused on the negative things that have happened to us during these times. We see things like our income go down, losing jobs and our savings accounts shrink. Sometimes we get so focused on these things we neglect what we do have that are blessings in our life. We wonder why the principles that God has given us don’t work the way we think they should or why they work for others and not us. I believe God sometimes presses the pause button in our lives and interrupts the path we are on to get focused on what is important. He done it to the Israelite s and we are no exception to the rule when we lose our focus on what He wants. I can get focused on building my kingdom and ignore the One that I serve. When life is going well we get focused on what we can get and forget that we get these things to be a blessing to others in the world. I think when God holds back the blessings we are working towards it is a good time for a recalibration on our part. I have been given these things, not to see how much I can accumulate, but to help others. I challenge you to take an inventory on what you do have and let the creative juices flow to where God wants you to be in your life. Maybe we should be using these tough times in our life to squeeze out the things we should be doing to be a blessing to others. What are the talents that you have been ignoring because you thought it was some crazy idea that could not produce anything to help you. Maybe those ideas are to help others. What if you have been called to teach a class or serve in an area that you are interested in but feel like you are not qualified to do so? Why don't we serve there until we get better and then we will start seeing the blessings flow to others and us when we do. I believe once we get our focus off of ourselves we will see the world around us open up and life will flow out of these areas. Consider the areas that you have strong convictions in and begin to move forward and be a blessing to the world! Maybe the blessings are waiting on you to act on a dream you have had in the past. “The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones which will give him no pain or trouble.” Henry Miller “Security is not the absence of danger, but the presence of God, no matter what the danger.” Tim West Go West Coaching 12-14-11

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Money to the Max

Money to the Max

You may be thinking that I am talking about more money than I know what to do with, wrong. I am talking about how we live, or use to live, our financial lives to the max. Before the recession era most of us were making more money than we are now and we could afford more “stuff” to buy. You never really realize how much less you can live on until you have to. We cut the unnecessary things out of our budget, although they were fun we can live without them now. A lot of times we wait to long to remove those items from our lives and dig a deeper hole. Think of all the things you use to live with then and look how you live now and you will see just how much money you may have been able to save. Don’t get me wrong we should do fun things but we should control how much we do them. We tend to get into the habit of buying fun and that can make you broke fast! A recession will tend to help make us content the hard way. Why don't we take this new budget that we now have and apply it when our income does go back up? A lot of people have had over a 50% decrease in income over the last three years and now realize how much they spent. Here is a challenge for you when your income goes back up again. Live on less than what you make. Do some fun things but do them less than you use to. You may be able to live on 75% of your income and save the rest for a 3-6 month emergency fund, retirement and for purchases. Get a plan and start following it and create the financial life you want to have. Besides, all the fun you use to have before, is not any fun now because you probably cant remember what you spent your money on then. Nothing can run maxed out for a long period of time without breaking.

Tim West
Go West CoachingMoney to the Max

You may be thinking that I am talking about more money than I know what to do with, wrong. I am talking about how we live, or use to live, our financial lives to the max. Before the recession era most of us were making more money than we are now and we could afford more “stuff” to buy. You never really realize how much less you can live on until you have to. We cut the unnecessary things out of our budget, although they were fun we can live without them now. A lot of times we wait to long to remove those items from our lives and dig a deeper hole. Think of all the things you use to live with then and look how you live now and you will see just how much money you may have been able to save. Don’t get me wrong we should do fun things but we should control how much we do them. We tend to get into the habit of buying fun and that can make you broke fast! A recession will tend to help make us content the hard way. Why don't we take this new budget that we now have and apply it when our income does go back up? A lot of people have had over a 50% decrease in income over the last three years and now realize how much they spent. Here is a challenge for you when your income goes back up again. Live on less than what you make. Do some fun things but do them less than you use to. You may be able to live on 75% of your income and save the rest for a 3-6 month emergency fund, retirement and for purchases. Get a plan and start following it and create the financial life you want to have. Besides, all the fun you use to have before, is not any fun now because you probably cant remember what you spent your money on then. Nothing can run maxed out for a long period of time without breaking.

Tim West
Go West Coaching

Monday, December 5, 2011

The New Time Way

The new time way

I drove past a church the other day and the name of it was the old time way church. I thought why would you always want to stay in the old time way when things change all of the time, and the majority of the time for the better. Don’t get me wrong there are some things in church that don’t change and should not. Some things should but I will not discuss that. I was thinking more on the lines of our life. I know some people will not try computers, my mom for one will not get a computer. There are people who don’t want a cell phone. There is nothing wrong with that because I hate my phone sometimes. Some people think they have to stay where they are at in their work lives. They think, I have always done it and its not great but, its the way I know so why change. I want to challenge that mind set this year. You may be like a lot of people who wanted last year to be over with only to find out that 2011 wasn’t that much better. The old time way says keep waiting and something will change. I suggest we try the new time way and stop waiting and start working. Move out on faith. Its not faith until we put it in action! Thanks Tr Sweeney for that word. Make a plan and start executing it this year. What area do you want to change this year? Feel free to download a goal sheet and plan out your new time way. Feel free to contact me if I can help. "There are a lot of ways to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the most successful." - Anonymous


Tim West
Go West Coaching
12-5-11