Welcome to our campfire! A new monthly series with contributors introduced below.
Close your eyes and imagine the warmth of the fire radiating into the cool night air. Do this now. The heat feels good, warm and penetrating. The orange glow gently flickers and you hear the crackling of the wood and embers.
Now imagine yourself unfolding your camp chair and sitting down among a circle of friends. Look around at your friends. These are friends and bloggers from our wonderful little online community. They come from across the globe to join us around a campfire. Continue Reading >>
Thanks to everyone who entered this weeks contest the Excuses Begone Book Giveaway. This was the first contest ever on PFN and I appreciate all those who took a few moments to enter.
The competition closed on Wednesday night and the winners were numbered according to the time they entered the competition (via Facebook and Twitter). The winners were then chosen by a random number generator.
So, without further adieu, I announce to you the winners of the book Excuses BeGone: Continue Reading >>
On Friday, I announced the very first giveaway happening here on PFN…The “Excuses Begone” Book Giveaway! If you missed it, you still have an opportunity to enter.
Over the weekend, I gave some thought to our financial excuses: why we have them and how we let them affect our lives. Seth Godin calls these excuses, The Lizard Brain. Eckhart Tolle calls them, Voices in the Head. No matter what we call these excuses, we allow them to stunt our growth and keep us from achieving all that life has to offer us.
I can remember saying in my early 20’s as a college student, “When I start making lot’s of money, I won’t have problems managing it.” I could not have been more wrong. I’d never heard the concept, “The more you make, the more you spend.”
An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame. – Bo Bennett Continue Reading >>
Hello Readers and Friends,
Well, this day marks the start of the very first giveaway here on Personal Finance Notebook. Needless to say, I am very excited!
The prize is one of the latest books written by best selling author Dr. Wayne Dyer entitled – Excuses Begone. This book is very transformational in that he reveals 18 self thinking habits that are keeping us from reaching our full potential and how to overcome them.
Even though you may know what to think, actually changing those thinking habits that have been with you since childhood might be somewhat challenging. – Dr. Wayne Dyer
I have the hardcover and audio versions of the book and refer to both frequently. After gaining so much inspiration from them, I have decided to give away not one, but TWO copies of this book to TWO lucky people. Continue Reading >>
This is a given: theft and forgetfulness.
Each and everyday, millions of us are subjected to one of or both of these casualties leaving our credit and debit cards to fall into the hands of those who are not honest enough to return them to us.
Our bank accounts can be wiped clean and credit cards charged to the max before we’ve even realized what’s happened.
I can’t make this experience totally stress free, but I will provide some tips that will keep you from becoming a helpless victim of circumstance. I’d rather be proactive now than reactive later. Let’s get started.
Things You Need To Do Now:
- Make a list. Compile a list of all credit, debit, rewards, and insurance cards, etc. in your wallet only listing the name of the card and the phone number to customer service. There is no need to include account numbers in your list. Your providers will be able to access your accounts with the personal information to supply to them verbally. Continue Reading >>
Financial Contentment. I’ve thought a lot about this concept over the last few years. What does it really mean? And how does it relate to our lives?
Contentment is defined as satisfaction or ease of mind. So, we can say that Financial Contentment is being satisfied or having an ease of mind about our current financial status.
There are many thoughts that have been shared in reference to the concept of contentment.
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. – Buddha Continue Reading >>
Hello All,
This is a photo taken in my city of one of our lottery billboards. It’s been a permanent fixture over the last few years and is a nice “enticement” for our state lottery.
Sometimes I pass this billboard and wonder how different life would probably be if I won the lottery. Would it be a change for the better or a change for the worse? I’ve told myself that since I’m better at managing my money, it would be for the better. But most of the lottery stories I’ve heard have been for the worse.
Now, I don’t play the lottery, so I don’t expect to win anytime soon 
. And I also don’t lust for things I don’t have, but each time I pass this sign, I do wonder, “What If?”.
Though not realistic, a girl can have a dream, can’t she?
Have you ever dreamed of or had hopes of being given a fresh start with a large amount of money?
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Have you heard about my new special report? Sign up to receive your copy today. Thank you so much for reading and I really appreciate the time you spend here. Be sure you are subscribed by Email or RSS so that you can be a part of the very first giveaway that will be happening next week!!!
Hello friends and readers,
Today, I present to you your own copy of a special report I’ve created entitled, 10 Easy Tips to Save Money Now!
If you have been a regular reader or have had a chance to read a little about my story, you know that my husband and I were able to pay off about $93,000 on November 14, 2008. No, it didn’t happen all in one day. It was a process that took us about three and a half years to complete.
During that tedious process, we often reviewed our financial state and looked for ways that we could cut a few corners thereby allowing us to apply more funds towards our debt. We were very successful in that we found ways to save ourselves about $5000 per year.
In this special report, I give in detail those big and little wins that helped us to accomplish our goals. Are these tips the new and cutting edge “secrets” that we invented? No, they are not. But they are the successful tips we used which also happen to be very simple and practical for immediate application to your life. Continue Reading >>
Loan Officer: “Ma’am (or Sir), your application to borrow $5000 unsecured has been approved. Your payment is going to be $xxx.xx for 2 years at a rate of 11%. I’ll just need your signature and you’ll receive your funds. Thank you so much for doing business with us.”
Customer (like a deer in headlights): “11%?!?! I thought the lowest rate was 9.5%? Why so high? I always pay my bills on time.”
Every one of us have had or will have to cross this path to get access to funds we need, but don’t have readily available. Whether it be through loans obtained at banks/credit unions or by using credit cards, our goal should be to get approved and pay the lowest interest possible. That way we keep the cost of doing business down to a minimum getting the best possible deal and saving money for other uses.
Let’s go ahead and discuss some of the major reasons why our cost of doing business becomes expensive. Last week, I asked the question – “Why Do You Think We Pay High Interest?” I’m happy to share the great responses I received along with my elaborations and additional reasons. Continue Reading >>
Greetings friends! TGIF!!! I have spent the majority of my time today with a class full of rambunctious 3rd graders. Needless to say, it’s been a very interesting one
. But now I have a quick little Q & A that I would like for you to participate in. Let me give you the details.
Over the next few days here on Personal Finance Notebook, I’ll be exploring the topic of “interest rates” and why they are low for some and extremely high for others. I know we all want to default to the fact that those who get stuck with the high rates are the one’s that don’t pay their bills, but there are additional factors to consider as well.
I’ve identified a few reasons that I’ll be communicating later, but I do want to open the floor for everyone to list their own. This is a community of learning and sharing any ideas related to Personal Finance. Continue Reading >>
Welcome to our campfire! A new monthly series with contributors introduced below.
