Cost Versus Value

Cost versus Value Most of us have heard the saying we know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. We can apply that to many areas of our lives. Sometimes we have paid more money than we have intended when purchasing something but received a lot of value out of the purchase. To value something, is to esteem and put worth on the item. What are you doing that will or will not bring value to your life now and in the future? Small deposits whether, financially or relationally cost us something. We may deposit a small amount of money to save for something in the future. It will cost us a trip out to eat or a little “thingy” we feel we must have, but it is worth it if you are saving for your golden years or you children s college fund. We fail to plan our lives because it cost to much time and is costly to stick to the plans we make. Sometimes it just doesn't feel good. As Dave Ramsey says “children do what feels good, adults devise a plan and follow it.” It may not be just a financial cost, but a time and energy cost as well. We all have 168 hours a week to invest in our lives. Please if someone can find more than that I need to know where! Subtract 40 hours a week for work, say 56 hours a week for sleep. According to Nielsen Co. we watch 28 hours of T.V. A week! That would leave you 44 hours a week left to live. Our time is very valuable! How you spend it will determine what you value and determine what you get in return. When coaching people we set goals and priorities. Just like when making a budget, telling your money what to do, you can do that with your time and invest in things that will bring you value in your life. So what are you doing now that will bring you value down the road? What do you need to eliminate that is costing a lot and not bringing any value? (28 hours a week of television would be something good to eliminate) Is what you are spending your time on going to bring value to your life? Is your work worth spending your life on? Is your money being spent the best way it can be to bring you things of value in your life? Are things in life costing you everything and bringing little value? Remember you are in charge of you, make the necessary changes. Let me know if I can help. Tim West Go West Coaching 2-20-12

Budgeting 2012

Budgeting 2012 The first month of the new year is almost over. If you are having trouble with your new budget plans don't quit! You only fail if you quit, so hang in there. There are a lot of budget busters that may come up that you didn't plan for this month. Its okay, a budget usually takes about three months before it starts operating smoothly. Just adjust until it smooths out. No one budgets perfectly. So here are a few things you can do to help get you back on track. Remember spend every dollar you make on paper before you get it. If you tell your money what to do and where to go before you get it, your money will not disappear before you pay the necessities. Its easy to go get something to eat at a fast food place when you don’t feel like cooking, but that can bust your budget. Also, subtract your expenses from your income so that you get a zero balance. If you have some left that means you didn't do it right. If you come up short you need to go back and change the amounts in some of your categories or get some extra income. Once you set the amounts in each category, stick to them. If you do not, you will come up short and panic. Try not to borrow from other categories, it can create a bad habit that will cause you to spend more than you need. Use cash as much as you can, it hurts to spend cash more than it does to swipe a card. When we make our budget we tend to put it up till the next month. You must track what you have spent on your budget. If you don’t know the exact amount going out you cannot prepare for it the next month properly. I sit down at least once a week and enter how much I have spent and find out how much I have left. If you don’t track it you will over spend and sabotage your budget. You can either do it with a pencil and paper or down load a budget. If you are really nerdy like me, email me and I will send you one that has all of the bells and whistles. Remember a budget is telling your money where to go before you get it. After you have done it a while it will take you about 15 minutes every month to prepare it. If you don' t take the time it can cause you years of trouble down the road. You would not set out to build something with out a plan. You cannot build a good financial future with out a budget (plan). I struggle like everyone else too, so just don’t quit! Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Tim West http://gowestcoaching.com/

Focus

Focus You have probably heard the saying to focus on where you are going to get to where you want to be. That is true. You have to know were you are going to arrive at that destination. Or as Yogi Berra would say, if you don’t know where you are going you may wind up some place else. When helping people get out of debt or working with them on career direction, I help clients (friends) keep their eye on the goal. But sometimes, and I have been guilty of looking too far ahead myself. We get so focused on where we want to be that we take our eyes off what we should be doing now and get discouraged. We also miss the lesson we should be learning from the process. We can be so focused on being debt free that we don’t do the small things like put the extra money aside that we squeeze out of our budget for the debt. When we do this it slows our progress down and we get frustrated and have a pity party and buy something instead! (yes I have done that!) Always keep in mind where you want to go, but keep looking at each step you take. If you write a book you want to focus on finishing it, but you have to go one page at a time, and one word at a time to get to the end. So I want to encourage you to look to where you want to be, but focus on the step that you are on. God has you in the place where you are now for a reason, so keep on focusing and don’t sweat the small stuff. You will get there, not in the amount of time you would like, but in the right time. Don't miss the woods for the trees! Tim West Go West Coaching 2-11-12