Ted’s Blog

April 28, 2011

Last week, I talked about the Rules of Money, and where there is money there is SPENDING. We couldn’t get through Financial Literacy Month without talking about how we spend our hard earned cash. If you want to do well financially, there is a sure-fire way to do it. Spend your money wisely. Remember, one of my Money Rules says it all: It really isn’t about how much you make, but what you do with it that counts.

In my book about personal money management, Money Smart, I share the 10 Rules of Spending Wisely. Over the next few days I will share three of the rules for getting the most from the money you spend.

Spending Rule: Know Your Priorities and Stick to Them

A great way to make this rule a reality is to take a couple of minutes and make a simple list of every immediate smaller purchase you want or need to make. I’m talking everything except normal weekly food purchases. New underwear, dishwashing liquid, toothpaste—you name it. Add to this list any larger purchases that are now at the top of your priority list (a new couch, TV, etc). Then just keep updating this little list whenever there’s something to add or delete and whenever your priority sequence has changed. Doing this, I almost never have to make a special trip because I ran out of something. Most importantly, I know what I want and what my priorities are when I walk into any store.

When you are out shopping and see something you want to buy other than normal food or household supplies, and it’s not on your list, don’t buy it! You especially need to avoid such impulse purchases when the item is more than $25. If you still want the item after you’ve left the store, sleep on it. If you still want to buy it when you wake up, and it involves a significant amount of money, look at your priority list and decide what you’re willing to trade to get it. If you like the trade, then fine, go buy it.

Now that you have your list, you know what you are about to buy and what you will be purchasing fairly soon. When you’re out shopping and feel like it, take a look at the various offerings for your next purchase(s). Think about the exact item you’ll buy when the time comes. I have come to love what this pre-shopping does for me. I end up buying so much smarter and being so much happier with my purchases. This simple strategy also greatly reduces buying again too soon because I bought what I really wanted.

by Ted Hunter

April 27, 2011

Once again I want to offer a huge thank you to Gena and Jeff over at Ha Nui Loa for volunteering to review Money Smart, my personal finance book, and for inviting me to guest post on their blog.

I connect strongly with their message of living simply and I also participate in the slow-living way of life. While there may appear to be a discrepancy between the topic of money and simplifying your life, I can guarantee you that there’s a very strong relationship between the two.

Money isn’t the most important thing in life—living the life you truly desire is. I wrote Money Smart to give people tools to manage their money, create their own financial freedom, and build the life they want to live now. Living simply often plays a vital role in focusing on what is most important in life and creating financial freedom.

Take a moment to visit Gena and Jeff, and check out my post, Creating Financial Freedom and Living the Life of Your Dreams.

You can also find Gena and Jeff on Facebook and Twitter.

by Ted Hunter

April 25, 2011

April is Financial Literacy Month and I started the month talking about defining financial literacy and how to begin. Then I started to talk about the money rules. There are nine rules to the game of money that I describe in my book, Money Smart. They are absolutely critical to your success with money and its role in your life as you work to create financial freedom. Follow them and you will quickly see a positive change when it comes to money. Break them often enough and you will almost certainly insure that money ends up subtracting from your happiness rather than adding to it. So here is the second of three of the nine Rules of Money that I am sharing:

Money Rule: Be Disciplined

Discipline simply means being committed to doing what you need to do to get the things you said you wanted. To be successful with money and to be successful in life, you need to be disciplined. If you are not, you are unlikely to achieve anything like the life you wish. With a positive attitude and good discipline, your chances for success with money and in life are very good. You will find that this money rule will have an especially large impact on your chances for success. In Money Smart, I discuss strategies for boosting discipline, because it is a challenge for everyone.

I provide nine Money Rules in Money Smart; and three great money rules here to get you going on your road to success with money. The Rules are a road map to success, follow them and find your way to financial freedom. Financial Literacy Month is a great time to start.

by Ted Hunter

April 22, 2011

April is Financial Literacy Month and I started the month talking about defining financial literacy and how to begin. Then I started to talk about the money rules. There are nine rules to the game of money that I describe in my book, Money Smart. They are absolutely critical to your success with money and its role in your life as you work to create financial freedom. Follow them and you will quickly see a positive change when it comes to money. Break them often enough and you will almost certainly insure that money ends up subtracting from your happiness rather than adding to it. So here is the second of three of the nine Rules of Money that I am sharing:

Money Rule: Have a Written Financial Plan and Follow It

You must have a written financial plan that identifies what you want and how you’re going to get it. If you do not, you will have created a very high probability that you will never achieve the kind of financial freedom you desire. Your written financial plan is the map of how you will spend and save your money and reach your destination. Over the years, through talking and working with a lot of people about their personal money management, I have been stunned that most people do not really know where their money goes. Plus, half of the people who believe they live within their means do not. They just don’t know it. If you do nothing else, you absolutely must know how you actually spend your money and its impact on your life. Write down your plan and follow it. My book, Money Smart, walks you step by step through the process of creating a personal money management plan that is simple to follow. All the tools you need are there and electronic versions of the worksheets and calculators are free on www.moneysmartonline.com for your convenience.

by Ted Hunter

April 21, 2011

April is Financial Literacy Month and in the past two blogs I’ve talked about defining financial literacy and how to begin. Now I would like to talk a little bit about the rules. There are nine rules to the game of money that I describe in my book, M oney Smart. They are absolutely critical to your success with money and its role in your life. Follow them and you will quickly see a positive change when it comes to money. Break them often enough and you will almost certainly insure that money ends up subtracting from your happiness rather than adding to it. So let’s talk about the first of three of the nine Rules of Money that I will share over the next few days:

Money Rule: It Isn’t How Much You Make, But What You Do With It That Counts
There are two roads to success with money. The first is to make more money; the second is to spend more wisely. Most people focus on the first road while downplaying or outright ignoring the importance of spending wisely. However, study after study shows that for most people the overwhelming majority of financial success in their lives comes from being smart about how they spend their money. I am not suggesting that you don’t try to make more money or that you live like a pauper. I’m just asking you to recognize which purchases or expenses will really end up adding to your happiness in the long run, and which will not. I’m asking you to be reflective about your spending and make smart spending choices. If you do that and spend your money wisely, it will pretty much insure you will end up being financially successful. If you make a lot more money in the future, that’s great, but the second road, spending wisely, is pretty much a sure thing if you work at it.

by Ted Hunter

April 19, 2011

First of all, a huge thank you goes out to slow-living bloggers Gena and Jeff over at Ha Nui Lao for their terrific and detailed review of my book, Money Smart. I am honored that mine is the first print book that they’ve reviewed on their site! Jeff and Gena are a happily married, reformed type A duo, who have embraced simpler living and slower traveling, and gratefully call the South Pacific home.

Not only did they volunteer to review Money Smart, but in their true spirit of sharing they’re running a contest where the winner will win a copy of my book and some “Hawaiian goodies”. Here are the contest details, taken directly from their site: “Proceed directly to the comments and leave us your best smart money tip. If you learned this tip via a more minimalist or simpler way of living and want to explain that all the better! Again, we’ll announce the winner of Money Smart on April 27th when Ted shares his guest post.”

Jeff and Gena also do a great job of addressing an important topic in the lead-up to their review. They point out the apparent discrepancy between their slow-living blog and money by summarizing it beautifully: “If money is out of order in your life, if finances and/or the lack of them drive your decisions, if debt is dragging you down at every turn you and your family, your dreams and hopes for a different way of life are going to get back-burnered over and again until you deal with what is out of order in your life… money.”

I can’t agree with them more.

For anyone interested in participating in the contest (link to review), saving time and money with the minimalist lifestyle—or those who just want to slow down—visit Jeff and Gena’s blog. Also, visit their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter.

The Rules of Spending Wisely: Financial Literacy Essentials (1 of 3)

Creating Financial Freedom and Living the Life of Your Dreams Guest Blog Post

The Rules of Money, A Road Map to Financial Literacy (3 of 3)

The Rules of Money, A Road Map to Financial Literacy (2 of 3)

The Rules of Money, A Road Map to Financial Literacy (1 of 3)

Money Smart Book Review and Contest