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Sorting Out Personal Finances Sorts Out Your Life

September 24, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

When you ask people what their main issue in life is, they will probably tell you about money problems. Personal finance is such a crucial issue that it could derail a person’s life or lead them to financial prosperity. Once you have your finances in order, Motley Fool has many ideas on what you can do with the money. Sorting out your personal finances could help sort out a significant part of your life. The following are personal finance tips that could help you significantly improve your life:

Track Your Spending

The foremost thing you can do to sort out your personal finances is to track your spending. If you know where you are spending your money, you know what to do to improve your finances. Therefore, consider using money management or budgeting apps that will help you track your digital spending expenses. After a month, examine how you spend your money, and you will see areas where there is room for improvement. Remember, better money management always starts with spending awareness.

Create A Budget

Another excellent tip for sorting out your finances is to create a budget. Once you know where you are spending your money, you should create a plan for directing your spending. Consider how much you earn monthly, and create a realistic budget based on your net income. Avoid making drastic changes at first and cut back on frivolous expenses like eating at expensive restaurants or unnecessary entertainment events. Sticking to the budget will be difficult and will take incredible self-control. On the other hand, if you follow the budget, your personal financial situation will be fixed in no time.

Use Cash Not Credit

Whenever you have to make a purchase, it is always better to use cash rather than credit. Many people use credit cards for consumer spending but have no idea what else comes alongside credit. Credit cards and other credit programs have incredibly high interest rates, which inflate prices. By paying for goods and services with cash, you avoid all interest payments. You should only pay for goods and services with credit when inevitable, or it is to your advantage.

Save Money

It is always an excellent idea to have a backup plan, and that is exactly why a savings account is necessary. Savings can substantially help sort out your finances and your life. Savings can act as an emergency fund that caters to emergency expenses. It can also be a margin of safety you use whenever you financially overextend yourself. Saving money also prevents borrowing, which always comes at a high cost,which gets higher when you are desperate. Therefore, include savings in your budget, and you will be thankful in the long run.

Pay Your Bills

It is essential that you pay your bills on time to improve your credit score. Your payment history is one of the crucial determinants of a credit score. Many individuals and institutions will use a credit score as the primary metric to judge your financial health, hence it is best to improve it. Pay your bills on time and improve your credit score, as you never know when you need a line of credit.

If you apply the five tips above, your finances will be in excellent standing. Use the tips to sort out your personal finances and your life.

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Student Personal Finance Management

December 25, 2020 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Our college years are full of lessons, both inside and out of the classroom! A major part of why our college years are so formative is the sheer number of novel experiences to encounter. For many, these will be years of exploration and self-discovery. New friends, hobbies, and academic interests are part of the magic of student life!

For most students, this is the time when they first move out and get a taste of independent living. However, once we move on from high school and enter the world of higher education, there can also be many new and unfamiliar responsibilities for students to get used to. For many students, the most pressing of these new responsibilities will revolve around managing their finances. Thankfully, there are tonnes of effective tips and tricks out there to help students get to grip with personal finance management.

Here are some of the need-to-know insights into the world of personal finance management for students that’ll help you make the most of your education!

Student Personal Finance Management

Budget!

The first step in any plan for responsible money management is creating a solid and realistic personal budget! The best place to start is by simply noting down the total income and output of your personal finances. Begin by making a list of all your sources of income and tally up their total. Once you’ve done that, you can move on to making a list of all the regular expenses you encounter throughout the month.

These regular expenses typically include things like rent, tuition fees, and subscription payments. Once these have been accounted for, you can estimate how much you need for food, socializing, and extra costs that always crop up. It may sound obvious, but without a clear budget that you can easily visualize, it’s all too easy to spend beyond your means only to realize once it’s already too late!

Open a savings account!

Many students find themselves slipping into the habit of overspending. This is especially easy if all your money is sitting in one account. A top tip to avoid veering into overspending is to create a separate savings account in which you deposit the money you have not allocated as part of your budget. Keeping these funds separate from your disposable income will help train your saving skills and draw a clearer line between where you’re saving money and where you’re spending money.

Look for Student Grants

Check for student perks!

Many banks will offer students special perks when it comes to their personal financial management. Student checking accounts often offer their holders very low levels of interest rates for student loans, meaning that you can have peace of mind throughout your studies without constantly worrying about how you’re going to pay off your debt.

Student bank accounts also often offer their holders perks when it comes to spending. Banks often pair up with companies in order to offer their customers better deals in all areas of life. This can lead to savings in the form of supermarket loyalty programs, online shopping discounts, and air miles, and seasonal offers. Always keep up to date with what perks your bank is currently offering its customers in order to snap up the best deals!

Plan for the future

Making the most of your student years doesn’t have to mean forgetting about the future! While living the student life, it’s a great idea to look over the basics of what will arise in your future financial management. Things that seem unimportant while a student may become very important in the future.

Many people are not involved in life planning. But it helps a lot in making important decisions. This is what Eve Maygar, specialist of the PapersOwl Education Platform, says about it “The future is never just one choice. It’s a thousand. And they never stop. You will choose your future every day of your life. And should you wake up one day to find that you regret the choice you made the day before, and then make a new one. Don’t worry about whether you might be wrong someday. Worry about whether you’re right now. Tomorrow can wait. .”

Take credit, for example. Managing credit may seem like some distant problem that can wait for the future, but it’s best to have an idea of what lies ahead. Reckless spending from your checking account as a student could have a negative impact on your credit score later in life. Getting ahead of the curve when it comes to personal money management will help prevent you doing anything that could come back to bite you!

Look for Student Grants

While paying for tuition fees can prove burdensome, being a student does open the door to many opportunities for financial support. There are many grants and bursaries available to students at all levels of education, with a variety of different criteria. Some grants are made available on a merit basis, and with these, hard-working students can squeeze the most out of their top grades!

Other scholarships are made available on a needs basis, meaning that you’re eligible as long as you can prove the need for financial aid. For these, you don’t need to worry about being an ultra high-achiever, as they are intended to make sure no student has to worry about their personal tuition finances.

There are many other niche scholarships waiting to be found out there, for students of particular backgrounds, hobbies, or educational intentions. Whatever your profile, it’s always worth researching whether or not there are any financial support options for a student like yourself. Being awarded a bursary could make your student life a whole lot easier!

These are just a few of the most important things to bear in mind as you approach managing your personal finances as a student. Everybody’s financial situation is unique, but the basics of responsible personal money management remain the same for everyone. With these tips by your side, it’s up to you to begin creating effective financial goals that will get you on the path to saving money. Maintaining good personal finance as a student can act as the ticket that sets you up for life!

Filed Under: Personal Finance

Manage Your Finances as a Young Professional

November 5, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Financial Wisdom for Your Youthful Days

It’s always exciting to see your pay stub unless you have a list of debts and bills that leave you with nothing in your account. The worst is there are some bills and debts you can’t ignore, such as rent, a car loan, or a student loan.

You might not clear such debts immediately, but having a working plan can save you the trouble of too many expenses and little income.

Therefore, we want to look at how you can manage your finances better so that every payday isn’t doomsday.

Financial Wisdom for Your Youthful Days

The most obvious starting point is to immerse yourself in financial literature, podcasts, and videos that show you how to save, budget, and invest. Then,

Learn About Credit Options

For example, can you differentiate between a credit card and a line of credit? They’re both revolving credit accounts. With either, you can borrow within the credit limit, which depends on factors like your salary and credit history.

But how do you know if a credit card or line of credit suits you? Here are some differences.

Personal Line of Credit

You may need a line of credit when your salary or income isn’t meeting all your expenses. Therefore, it’s not the kind of loan you ask for to buy a house or car, as such assets have other, more practical, loan options.

Credit Card

Unlike a line of credit, you can still get a credit card even with a lower credit score. On top of that, there are rewards, such as cash-back and point rewards. Other benefits are that you can use a credit card almost anywhere, plus it comes in handy when you have unexpected expenses before payday.

Practice Frugality

Instead of impulse buying, try frugality. Limit your desires and forgo any materialistic standards society imposes on your finances.

Manage Your Finances as a Young Professional

Have a Spending Plan

There are many personal finance apps with spending plans (budgeting features). If you run out of money for one expense before payday, a spending plan shows you where to make cuts to cater to the uncovered expense.

Use Cash, Not Credit, More

Pay in cash if you’re having self-control issues with money. If you must have a card, get a debit card.

Discuss Finances with Your Significant Other

Financial strength will change as your needs or family grows, and you ought to be ready for such outcomes.

Pay Off Debts

Unpaid credit card balances accumulate interest and drain your income. Plus, your credit score goes lower. Consequently, see where you can chop your expenses to get extra money and pay off your debts.

Build an Emergency Fund

Calculate the total expenses for three to six months and see how much you can save monthly. This simple tool shows you how to start saving weekly and things to do to have more money to save.

Building an emergency fund might go so well that you change your goals and start saving for retirement.

Final Thoughts

Part of managing your money is looking at your cash flow. How much do you make, and how do you spend it? To manage your money better, create a plan to clear pending loans. Further, build an emergency fund even as you cater to loans and daily expenses.

Lastly, don’t get a credit card unless you can control your spending and your income can pay off the credit card balance.

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Get Motivated to Improve Your Credit Score: 3 Tips

March 25, 2023 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

In the modern age, a person’s credit score is immeasurably important. Good numbers can mean low interest rates on mortgages, car loans, and college loans. Weak scores can impede a borrower’s ability to rent an apartment, make a major retail purchase, or rent a car. There’s no doubt that when sorting out personal finances, credit is a huge factor. It is essential to pay attention to this universal measure of personal financial reliability. But how can individuals take direct action to help themselves?

Fortunately, there are dozens of hacks, tactics, and strategies for getting the job done. Many choose to apply for personal loans to eliminate high-interest debt. Other potent techniques include requesting free annual reports from each of the three bureaus, negotiating with creditors, immediately reporting all mistakes on reports to the agencies, getting a secured card to build a solid payment history, and keeping card usage as low as possible. Here are details about some of the most helpful approaches you can take.

Get a Personal Loan to Pay Off High-Interest Credit Cards

Taking out a personal loan can solve two problems at once. Not only does the move help you get access to funds that cover budget shortfalls, but paying the obligation back in a timely way can quickly raise your ratings with the three bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. When used correctly, loans can help consumers protect their personal assets from repossession, pay off high-interest balances, and cover emergency medical bills. It’s imperative to review an informative guide that discusses how to know whether to take out a personal loan or not. Get the facts and understand the process before applying.

Learn the Credit Usage Factor

Lenders who check applicants’ scores before making offers have many ways to measure creditworthiness. One is by looking at credit usage rates. When consumers’ cards are close to the maximum borrowing limit, that indicates a poor chance of repayment to the lender. Institutions are usually looking for credit usage rates of 30% or less than the limits. So, if your limit on your ABC card is $4,000, try to keep the balance below $1,200, which represents 30% of the total.

Leverage the Power of Secured Cards

If your score is lower than you want it to be, consider applying for a secured card to boost ratings with all three bureaus. How does the process work? Several legit institutions offer fully secured cards that are backed by your deposit of about $300. Whatever the amount, that’s your spending limit, but you’ll receive monthly statements and bills as if the obligation were a traditional credit obligation. Find an offer that reports to all bureaus, has a low minimum deposit, and comes with minimal usage fees.

Pay the balance to zero each month and continue to charge small items every so often. The advantage is that users get a boost in their scores because the lenders report to all three agencies. It’s a safe, low-risk way to do yourself a favor and ramp up your profile in the bureaus’ files. Be careful when shopping for offers because some charge high annual and monthly fees, or come with significant late penalties, and only report to one or two bureaus.

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Is Dave Ramsey Wrong? Pay Off Your Mortgage as Quickly as You Can?

November 29, 2021 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Sure, personal finance guru Dave Ramsey’s advice has encouraged thousands of devoted followers to get out of debt and stop living paycheck to paycheck. Yet, depending on your circumstances, he may be dead wrong on paying off your mortgage early.

A generation ago, mortgage rates were 6–10%. With interest rates that high, paying off your mortgage was a no-brainer. Today, however, interest rates are 2.5–4%, making a different story. You could pay off your mortgage quicker if you’d like. But with the low-interest rates today, you may want to consider investing instead of paying off the low-interest debt. The average stock market return for buy-and-hold investors over the long term is about 7% annually, even after considering inflation.

In sum, Dave Ramsey’s advice just doesn’t make as much sense today with how low-interest rates are comparatively.

But some nuance is in order: Ramsey promotes financial stability. He accepts the risk of missed investment returns in exchange for the guarantee of reduced financial obligations. On balance, investing in the market while carrying a mortgage is tantamount to leveraging debt.

Idea for Impact: Ramsey measures opportunity cost as the difference between paying down your mortgage and the worst-case stock market investment scenario. So, unless you’re extraordinarily risk-averse and can’t take the risk in the market, you shouldn’t pay off your mortgage early. Invest in a low-cost index fund, and don’t let short-term movements sway your decisions.

Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Personal Finance Tagged With: Balance, Decision-Making, Materialism, Money, Personal Finance

Inspirational Quotations #769

January 1, 2019 By Nagesh Belludi

He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge.
—The Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

Don’t look with your eyes, look with your feet. Don’t think with your head, think with your hands.
—Taiichi Ohno (Japanese Manufacturing Engineer)

Above all, the prophets remind us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible.
—Abraham Joshua Heschel (American Jewish Rabbi)

The most fundamental problem of politics, which is not the control of wickedness but the limitation of righteousness.
—Henry Kissinger (American Diplomat)

It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don’t have to run into the future in order to get more.
—Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Buddhist Religious Leader)

Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better, silence is deep as eternity; speech is shallow as time.
—Thomas Carlyle (Scottish Writer)

Always so act that the immediate motive of thy will may become a universal rule for all intelligent beings.
—Immanuel Kant (Prussian German Philosopher)

The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied … but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.
—John Berger (English Art Critic, Essayist, Novelist)

A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things.
—Herman Melville (American Novelist)

Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
—Martial (Ancient Roman Latin Poet)

With just enough of learning to misquote.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (English Romantic Poet)

Our only true course is to let the motive for action be in the action itself, never in its reward; not to be incited by the hope of the result, nor yet indulge a propensity for inertness.
—Helena Blavatsky (Ukrainian-born American Theosophist)

There are two different states of human existence: first, to live without thinking of death; second, to live with the thought that you approach death with every hour of your life.
—Leo Tolstoy (Russian Novelist)

But life is a battle: may we all be enabled to fight it well.
—Charlotte Bronte (English Novelist, Poet)

People who study psychology and the pitfalls of the human mind are no less prone to making errors of judgement and cognition than people who don’t know anything about it.
—Jason Zweig (American Personal Finance Columnist)

Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
—Plato (Ancient Greek Philosopher)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotations #751

August 26, 2018 By Nagesh Belludi

A conservative believes nothing should be done for the first time.
—Lynwood L. Giacomini (American Publisher, Bibliophile)

We have too many people who live without working, and we have altogether too many who work without living.
—Charles Reynolds Brown (American Congregational Clergyman, Educator)

To withdraw is not to run away, and to stay is no wise action when there is more reason to fear than to hope. ‘Tis the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs in one basket.
—Miguel de Cervantes (Spanish Novelist)

Be open to learning new lessons even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday.
—Ellen DeGeneres (American Comedian, Television Host)

You have two choices. You can keep running and hiding and blaming the world for your problems, or you can stand up for yourself and decide to be somebody important.
—Sidney Sheldon (American Novelist, Screenwriter)

The greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to feel the pain.
—Jennifer Aniston (American Actress)

The advice that sounds the best in the short run is always the most dangerous in the long run.
—Jason Zweig (American Personal Finance Columnist)

You must pray that the way be long, full of adventures and experiences.
—Constantine P. Cavafy (Egyptian Greek Poet, Journalist, Civil Servant)

Character is built into the spiritual fabric of personality hour by hour, day by day, year by year in much the same deliberate way that physical health is built into the body.
—E. Lamar Kincaid (American Protestant Minister)

It’s essentially impossible to become successful or well off doing a job that is described and measured by someone else. The only chance our country (your country, depends where you live), your economy and most of all, your family has to get ahead is this: make up new rules. People who make up new rules continue to be in very short supply.
—Seth Godin (American Entrepreneur)

Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.
—Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet)

If a man loves the labor of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish Novelist)

For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
—Nelson Mandela (South African Political leader)

No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.
—Madonna (American Pop Singer, Actress)

Seek those who find your road agreeable, your personality and mind stimulating, your philosophy acceptable, and your experiences helpful. Let those who do not, seek their own kind.
—Henri Fabre (French Aviator)

Filed Under: Inspirational Quotations

Books I Read in 2016 & Recommend

December 27, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Personal Finance: Thomas Stanley and William Danko’s The Millionaire Next Door summarizes anthropological research from the ’90s on the attributes of unassuming wealthy Americans. The authors discuss the fancy trappings of affluence and the high cost of maintaining social status. They explain that prosperous individuals prioritize financial independence over a high social status. Key takeaway: It’s easy to get rich by living below your means, efficiently allocating funds in ways that build wealth, and ignoring conspicuous consumption. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

'Taking Advice' by Dan Ciampa (ISBN 1591396689) Decision-Making / Problem-Solving: Dan Ciampa’s Taking Advice offers an excellent framework on the kind of advice network you need on strategic, operational, political, and personal elements of your work and your life. Taking Advice offers important insights into a seemingly obvious dimension of success, but one that’s often neglected, poorly understood, or taken for granted. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

Creativity / Decision-Making / Teamwork: Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats describes a powerful problem-solving approach that enriches mental flexibility by encouraging individuals and groups to attack an issue from six independent but complementary perspectives. Key takeaway: The ‘Six Thinking Hats’ method can remove mental blocks, organize ideas and information, foster cross-fertilization, and help conduct thinking sessions more productively than do other brainstorming methods. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

Presentation / Communication: Edward Tufte’s The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint argues that presentations reduce the analytical timbre of communication. In other words, presentation slides lack the resolution to effectively convey context, “weaken verbal and spatial reasoning, and almost always corrupt statistical analysis.” Tufte contends that, by forcibly condensing our ideas into bullet point-statements, phrases, and slides, we break up narrative flow and flatten the information we’re trying to convey. Key takeaway: Well-structured and succinct memos can convey ideas comprehensively, clearly, and meaningfully. {Read my synopsis in this article. Also, learn about Amazon’s ‘Mock Press Release’ discipline and Procter & Gamble’s ‘One-Page Memo’ practice to communicate ideas.}

Happiness / Relationships: Janice Kaplan’s The Gratitude Diaries. For one year, Kaplan maintained a gratitude journal and wrote down three things that she was thankful for each day. She also decided to “find one area to focus on each month—whether husband, family, friends, or work—and … see what happened when I developed an attitude of gratitude.” Key takeaway: A grateful heart is a happy heart. Stop whatever you’re doing, take stock of your blessings, and be grateful for everything you have in life. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

'Man's Search for Meaning' by Victor Frankl (ISBN 1846042844) Psychology: Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. When subject to brutal treatment at Nazi concentration camps in Germany, Frankl changed his initial reaction from ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why is this happening?’ to ‘What is life asking of me?’ Such profound shifts in thinking, Frankl argues, could help you find meaning in life, regardless of what is happening on the outside. Key takeaway: The one power you have at all times is the freedom to choose your response to any given set of circumstances. Uncover a sense of purpose in life and you can survive nearly anything. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

Psychology: John Tierney and Roy Baumeister’s Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. The book’s central theorem is the much-debated “muscle metaphor” of self-control, which states that willpower is like a muscle that tires out—or runs out of energy—as you use it, but can be replenished and purposely fortified through practice. Key takeaway: Budget your willpower and spend it where and when you need it the most. Eliminate distractions, temptations, and unnecessary choices. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

'Sam Walton: Made In America' by Sam Walton (ISBN 0553562835) Biography / Leadership: Sam Walton’s Made in America is the Walmart founder’s very educational, insightful, and stimulating autobiography. It’s teeming with Walton’s relentless search for better ideas learning from competitors, managing costs and prices to gain competitive advantage, asking incessant questions of day-to-day operations, listening to employees at all levels of Walmart, and inventing creative ways to foster an idea-driven culture. Takeaways: ten rules of management success, learning from failure, cost and price as a competitive advantage, and Walton’s ‘Ten-Foot Rule’ to become more likeable.

Biography / Leadership: Deborrah Himsel’s Beauty Queen: Inside the Reign of Avon’s Andrea Jung offers an insightful tale of the spectacular rise to the top and the tumultuous fall from grace of the former Avon CEO. Jung initially led six consecutive years of double-digit growth and then presided over a series of operational missteps that led to her resignation. “Her story is a cautionary tale, one that suggests the critical importance of being aware of your weaknesses and how they can sabotage you.” Key takeaway: Spectacular success, especially those attributable to external circumstances, can often conceal on organization’s or an individual’s flaws. When the tide turns, the deficiencies are exposed for all to see. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

'The HP Way' by David Packard (ISBN 0060845791) Biography / Leadership: David Packard’s The HP Way recalls how Bill Hewlett and David Packard built a company based on a framework of principles and the simplicity of management methods. In addition to their technical innovations, Bill and David established many progressive management practices that prevail even today. Starting in the initial days, the HP culture that Bill and David engendered was unlike the hierarchical and egalitarian management practices that existed at other corporations of their day. Key takeaway: The essence of the “HP Way” was a strong and clear set of values, and a culture of openness and respect for the individual. {Read my synopsis in this article. Also learn about management by walking around and Bill Hewlett’s ‘Hat-Wearing Process’ for decision-making.}

Leadership: Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas’s Geeks and Geezers. The authors posit that all potential leaders must pass through a “leadership crucible” that provides an intense, transformative experience. Only after they “organize the meaning” and draw significant lessons from their “crucible experiences” can they become leaders. Key takeaway: Find your “leadership voice” by reflecting on transformative experiences in your life and examining what you’ve learned from them. {Read my synopsis in this article.}

Look at my articles on how to process a pile of books that you can’t seem to finish, and on how self-help books bring hope that change is possible.

Also, see a list of books I read in 2015 and 2014 and recommend.

Filed Under: Belief and Spirituality, Leadership Reading Tagged With: Books

This Man Retired at 30 and is Ridiculously Happy

December 12, 2014 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
—Bob Dylan, American Musician

Early in my professional life, I pursued an ambition to attain wealth—not because I sought after luxury, but because I wanted to realize a financial foothold that could help me become financially independent and invest in a meaningful life. I’ve been “retired” for two years now, work very hard on my true pursuits, and live life on my own terms. I might fancy a change in the future; for now, I am living the dreams and I couldn’t be happier.

Money is a False God

Most people spend the better part of their adult lives chasing the almighty dollar in an ostensible pursuit of success and happiness. Wealth, characteristically manifested in the acquisition of things, becomes so defining of their success that it becomes their primary measure of accomplishment. Later in life, they wake up to the distressing fact that everything they’ve earned isn’t bringing them the wonderful life it was supposed to.

Pursuit of riches becomes such a trap because many people easily appraise life in terms that are defined by others.

Enjoy a Life of True Wealth

I admire anyone who is self-disciplined and is willing to live their life on their own terms. Last year, The Washington Post carried an interesting interview with a man who had retired at the age of 30, not caused by extreme wealth but by living with less. Mister Money Mustache realized early that the pursuit of material things could lead to a persistent sense of emptiness. Rather than being unfulfilled, his family’s live-with-less way of life has made them “ridiculously happy.” Here is an excerpt of the interview.

Q: You describe the typical middle-class life as an “exploding volcano of wastefulness.” Seems like lots of personal finance folks obsess about lattes. Are you just talking about the lattes here?

A: The latte is just the foamy figurehead of an entire spectrum of sloppy “I deserve it” luxury spending that consumes most of our gross domestic product these days. Among my favorite targets: commuting to an office job in an F-150 pickup truck, anything involving a drive-through, paying $100 per month for the privilege of wasting four hours a night watching cable TV and the whole yoga industry. There are better, and free, ways to meet these needs, but everyone always chooses the expensive ones and then complains that life is hard these days.

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: Materialism, Personal Finance, Simple Living

With Needs, Without Wants

December 2, 2014 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Contentment is worth more than riches. Having few desires and feeling satisfied with what you have is vital for happiness.

Be Happy with What You Have

In a This I Believe essay, Marianne Bachleder of San Francisco reminisces about consumerism and about being conscious of how much she already has:

We forget to be happy with what we have and in our forgetfulness we spread the infection of discontent. It’s a mistake easily made in a world where everyone is expected to pursue every want—the newest gadget, the latest update.

…

I may want shiny things, but I don’t need them. What I do desperately need is the peace of mind found in moments of contentment and gratitude. I need to identify each of my wildcat urges to purchase or possess as either “want” or “need.” My needs are basic, predictable, manageable. My wants are chaotic changelings, disturbers of the peace that can never be satisfied.

I will tend my needs, I will whittle my wants, and I will say often, “I’m happy with what I have.”

Thrift to Wealth

'The Little Book of Main Street Money' by Jonathan Clements (ISBN 0470473231) Jonathan Clements, personal finance columnist at Wall Street Journal and author of ‘The Little Book of Main Street Money’ and the forthcoming ‘Money Guide 2015’, spoke of thrift and the wealthy in an interview with Vanguard:

Over the years, I have met thousands of everyday Americans who have amassed seven-figure portfolios—and the one attribute shared by almost all of them is that they’re extremely frugal. When I was at Citi, I used to joke to the bankers that they would know a couple was wealthy if they pulled up to the branch in a second-hand Civic, wore clothes from J.C. Penney, and asked to have their parking ticket validated.

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Gyaana Prawas : Science/field trip for tribal kids in South India / Aapatsahaaya Foundation Dear readers, during this holiday season, if you succumb to the urge for the latest and the greatest or if you are shopping for gifts for friends and family, please consider shopping at Amazon.com using this link or clicking on a recommended book on the right sidebar of this website.

With no additional cost to you, 100% of the referral fees earned by this blog from the international Amazon Associates program support the education of underprivileged kids in South India. Our philanthropy partner is Aapatsahaaya Foundation, Bangalore. In 2013, your purchases funded part of a science/field trip for tribal kids.

Filed Under: Living the Good Life, Personal Finance Tagged With: Attitudes, Giving, Materialism, Personal Finance, Simple Living

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About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

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