Is the resolution working? Then try this

Is the resolution working? Then try this.

  They say the percentage of people who achieve their resolutions are about 8%.  You may be thinking this is going to be one of those blogs that will fire me up to work harder to achieve my resolutions or one that reminds me that I have failed once again. I can throw out statistics that say if you do A+B=C every time (yeah sure it does, NOT)   you will do better.  We have been smothered with work harder, do more, do it better, that when we fail we say, well I guess I am just can’t change.  Well we do know if we quit we do not have to measure up to everyone else that seems to be succeeding.  One reason I love the gospel is that I was not good enough, and Jesus fixed that problem for me! No more having to do better, I get to do better!  You don’t have to do better at whatever your resolution is, but you get to do better if you want.  Don’t compare your problem, your progress or your success to someone else.  We all move at different speeds and handle things differently.  If you have ever taken a DISC profile you know that we have different personalities, and react differently in life situations. One of the animals they use to describe different personality types is a lion for the strong type A personalities.  For the more stable and lower keyed faithful types they use a golden retriever.  We all know that a lion and a retriever will react differently and handle things differently.  Neither personality type is wrong, they are just different. We need all the different types in our lives! 

So what should you try?  Whatever your resolution is write it down and create steps, baby steps, to achieve it.  Don’t make it to large, such as I am going to get my finances straight. That is very broad because you are dealing with, saving, spending, getting out of debt, paying off the mortgage, retirement, college etc.  That can overwhelm you when the Christmas bill comes in and it will make you want to quit on your resolution.   Start in one area, if all of the areas overwhelm you. Start with just a budget. Write down everything you will spend and try to trim those numbers. The big thing is to try and stick to the number you determine to spend and track it. A budget takes about 3 months to begin to work right, so stick to it. Make sure you spend what you save wisely, savings or applying it to debt.   Sit down at least once a week and see how much you have actually spent vs. what you have written down.  Depending on your personality, you can either live on the bare necessities or trim things slowly but surely.  The more you sacrifice the faster you reach your goal. But if you don’t like the idea of going too fast you may sabotage yourself and quit before it works.  Go at a speed you can handle.  You did not get into the financial shape you are in overnight and you will not get out overnight.  Be patient and take one step at a time.  Let me know if you want my help.

     Let me know if I can help!

Tim West

Go West Coaching 1-11-14

Avoiding the Christmas spending High

Avoiding the Christmas spending High

12-7-13

Well its Christmas time again. Wow it got here fast as usual and if you did not save throughout the year you will be hopefully working it into your budget. Here are just a few tips to help you keep within your budget and not get carried away. It is easy to get into the mindset of its Christmas everyone is spending a lot, it won’t hurt if I do also. I have done it and come January I regretted it. You do not want to be paying for Christmas when it is time to go on vacation in the summer.

Remember these things when buying a gift: 1. If the only reason you buy someone a gift is because they bought you one that is not a good reason. I know you may think it will make them mad if you don’t, but if all they wanted was to manipulate you into giving them a gift they are not much of a friend anyway. 2. Make a gift list, of who you want to buy for and how much you can spend. 3. Don’t overspend that amount! If you have a hard time determining how much to spend look back at what you spent last year. 4. Get creative, make gifts, set a smaller amount that normal and challenge others to stick to it. Remember time spent with others is the most valuable of all. Give out daddy daughter date night cards etc. 5. If you do use a credit card pay it off ASAP! Don’t let it hang around like a stray cat.

Just remember we are able to celebrate Christmas because of Christ. God gave us the gift of reconciliation with Him through Christ. Give Him thanks and love on others, that is better than any stuff we can buy!

Have a Mary Christmas!

Saving just start somewhere

Saving – just start somewhere

 We don’t save like we use to for many different reasons. Here are a few statistics to help show where we are as a nation: 38% of American adults have an emergency fund. 41% save something regularly, $ 35,000 is the average amount saved for retirement in America. Out of people who do save for retirement only 18% feel they have enough saved when they do retire.  Now I can try to make you feel bad and list all of the other countries that do better at savings than us, or tell you how the generations past always saved better than we save.  Or I can fill you with fear, doom and gloom to scare you into saving more, but you can watch the news or go online and get that.  I don’t want to beat people up, it never works, I just want you to start somewhere so you don’t have to depend on someone else when you need money. We will all have financial emergencies in our life; saving helps us have a plan for them.  I have had one for the last three months and figured out I need to save more! (I am not perfect; I hope I don’t try to sound like I am.)  Let’s identify what keeps us in America from saving more besides being taxed more.  The more we make the more we spend. The first thing we think when we make more money in America is what can I buy next?  We are endlessly advertised to by T.V., radio, internet, magazines, billboards, mail, cars wrapped with ads, clothes, and everything else.  All of the advertisements tend to make us feel like we are lacking something and their product will fill that void and we spend our hard earned money on the product.  Once we have it we will find out that that thing is not the thing to fix our lives and make us happy forever and we look for something else to buy to fill that void. We can stay in this cycle for decades and spend what we could have saved and retire or enjoy life more. Basically we turn these things into idols, and an idol is something we look to, to bring us joy and satisfaction. We make it an ultimate thing. Be careful that we do not make an idol with money also. Money is a tool, not a god.  Enjoy your stuff don’t look for it you make you eternally happy.  Another problem is that we are in a microwave society, we want it and we want it now.  We are used to getting what we want instantly from, cooking to information.  If there is something we don’t know we Google it with our phones.  How many of you remember waiting for an hour or two while one of your brothers or sisters was on the phone!?  I was the younger one and had the joy of bothering my sister while she was on the phone.  A whole generation will miss out because everyone has a phone now! So, don’t panic they make more than one of the things you want and you will have time to buy it!  The next reason we spend and don’t save is because we want to keep up with everyone else buying stuff.  We are always trying to impress people we may never see again, or don’t even like.   Also, it is easier to spend more when we do not use cash.  I myself can keep hitting the “add” to cart button while online shopping and not realize how full the cart is when checking out on Amazon! Use cash when possible and set an amount in your budget when you are shopping.  Lastly don’t get to the point where you think you are too far gone that you say, what is the use of keeping up with what you spend, there is no hope, just enjoy life. Usually there is a lot more life left when we think this way and guess what, it requires money!  Don’t give up hope.  There is always hope because you can start doing things differently with a plan for your money.  Not everyone can save 10-20% with their each pay check.  Don’t panic, start somewhere whether it is $5 a week or a $100 a week.  Get in the habit of paying yourself first before paying others and budget some blow money so you can buy some stuff for fun! 

     Let me know if I can help!

Tim West

Go West Coaching 6-9-13

You might need a financial coach if

You might need a financial coach if…. Most of us have heard the “you might be a redneck if…” jokes from Jeff Foxworthy. I have always enjoyed them and have been accused of being a redneck myself, many times. So, what gave me this idea? I was listening to the radio the other day and heard a lottery commercial. After that I heard the commercial for getting help if you are addicted to gambling. Hey I guess it was a public service announcement to “help” us with a problem. Just a thought don’t pass the lottery to get people addicted to gambling and you may prevent a gambling problem that way, just a thought. Anyway here is my you might need a financial coach if- Your retirement plan is your local state lottery. Hey jack it’s not what you make its how much you keep. The average American family makes 40,000 a year. Over a 30 year working life that is 1.2 million dollars going through your hands. Save some of it and get a plan before you make the money and tell it where to go. Just like the commercial says you have a better chance of getting attacked by a grizzly bear and a polar bear in the same day than winning the lottery. You might need a financial coach if- you are paying for Christmas in July. If I have learned one thing Christmas rolls around the same time every year and if I don’t save money for Christmas I don’t have any to spend. Start saving now if you have not and stick to the budget. You are not a bad person if you don’t buy everything that your kids want. If you haven’t noticed kids have a endless desire for stuff. You might need a financial coach if- you think the words “budget” and “no” are cuss words. Telling you money what to do before you get it is what a budget does. When you live on a budget you actually get a raise most of the time because your managed money does more than money that is not managed. Saying no will save you time, energy, effort and money. You might need a financial coach if- you say I will save money when I make more. If you do not start saving when you make a small amount you will not save money when you make a lot. Look at NFL players; 80% of them are broke after being out of the NFL for 10 years. Finally, you might need a financial coach if- you talk to your creditor on the phone more than your family and friends. The answer to getting out of debt is not borrowing more money. Hey if you are in a hole stop digging. Creditors can be a pain to deal with. Get a plan and get them out of your life. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching You're getting emails from me either b/c you signed up for them or we interacted on-line and I thought you'd like to get some insight from me. You can unsubscribe and it won't hurt my feelings. Just reply stop to this email. Or you can stay subscribed and help my self-esteem. Totally up to you.

Marketing Season

Marketing Season Here in America we are the best in the world in this category, marketing! An American will see, hear, or be exposed somehow to 3000-4000 advertisements per day. An American child will see as many as 40,000 television ads per year. Marketers have trained us in this country to chase happiness with stuff, and it robs us of our money and peace because we are trained to get the latest and greatest product. China knows how to make money in the U.S., make a bunch of cheap junk and sell it to Americans. Now they have our money and we are borrowing it back from them to buy more of their goods. There is not a product we do not want if we hear about it enough. We need to wise up when it comes to marketing. Marketers want to do everything to get your money and your vote in the political arena. Since Christmas is just a little over 2 months away the marketers will be getting geared up for the season. They start with Halloween in August, and I have already seen Christmas stuff on the shelves. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with marketing, but we need to not spend all we have because we think we need something. We need marketers to find out what is out there, but we also need control over our money. Here are a few tips for you to get control of your finances. 1. Just learn to say no. Sometimes you may get a pushy sales person and you say yes to shut them up. Then you realize after you have bought something that you didn’t really need it after all. Say no and walk away. Develop a power over purchase. 2. Wait overnight before you purchase something, especially if it is a want. You will cool off and think more rational about the purchase when it is not staring you in the face. 3. Never buy anything you don’t really understand. Don’t just get the highlights but study the fine print, especially on insurance and financial products and services. 4. Consider the opportunity cost of your purchase. What will spending the money now cost you in the future. Could you wait a few months to get the latest greatest Apple product when the frenzy and cost may come down? And yes they make more products after they are sold out the first day. 5. Always ask someone’s advice who has purchased the product you want to buy before you purchase it. Buy wisdom as cheap as possible! 6. Men, listen to your wife! They have that woman thing going on that tells them no, don’t ignore it! We don’t have that ability. 7. Women never tell your husband you want it in front of the sales person, they know your husband has to buy it then and you lose your negotiating power. 8. Know what you want to buy when you go into the store and use cash so you don’t get something extra! Have a great week!! I will be doing a free budgeting class, Checkbook checkup on October 6th. Let me know if you are interested. Let me know if I can help! Tim West Go West Coaching

Money Savings Ideas

Money Saving Ideas Last week I talked about creating a plan to save money. We need to learn to make it a habit that we continually do the rest of our lives. Today I want to give you some tips on how to save money when you spend it. It sounds weird, but I want you to, as Clark Howard says, spend less avoid getting ripped off! So here are a few suggestions for you. I may have to do this a couple of times, there is a lot we can do to keep more of our money. Here we go: 1. It is not a bargain if you don't need it! If you don't need something don't buy it. This could be anything from a soda to a house. Don't get me wrong, it is okay to buy something if it is in your budget ,but check your motives. Sometimes we buy things just to get that quick high, of getting something. Getting a bargain is good if you need something, not if you want it. Just thing if you buy lunch everyday at work at a great price of $5.00, that is 1300.00 a year. In a some households that is three months worth of groceries. 2. Ask for a deal. This is a lost art in America. We never ask for a deal, we see the price and think we don't have an option. What if it embarrasses your spouse or kids, as Dave Ramsey says that is just a bonus! There is a lot of competition out there for your money, make them earn it the way you do. Don't just show up and give it to them. Also ask them what they can throw in the deal if they don't want to come off of the price. We need to train the retailers. Besides what is the worst thing they can say, no. 3. When you go out to eat, do you really have to pay over a dollar for soda or tea? Ask for water! Not only is it better for you it will keep the calories and sugar from piling that bulge up on you waste line. I know if refills are free, I will drink more soda. 4. Go generic when you can. I know some things don't taste the same, but the generic is not bad either. You can save a lot when you buy the store brand, try different ones until you find the best fit for you. Also, if you get prescriptions, go generic all you can. Name brand is outrageously priced. 5. Tag team on the big items. Women like the thrill of the hunt, or shopping. Men usually like to just buy it and leaving the store. Ladies if you have to buy a big ticket item find it and let him do the negotiating, unless you are the negotiator. Ladies if he is the one doing the negotiating, and you want it bad, let him negotiate by himself. If the sales person knows you want it all he has to do is say no on the offered price and wait. When momma wants it, they have you hooked! 6. Here is an honorable mention: if you shop at Kroger for groceries and use the points for discounted fuel. Start buying the fuel cards for Shell from Kroger and get more taken off for your gas. Shell now takes Kroger cards for discounts also. You can also find gift cards from places you may normally shop at also and get more points earned. Feel free to share any tips with me. I will probably blog on them from time to time. It helps me to save and I hope it helps you! Tim West Go West Coaching