How easy is it to make MONEY?

For some people this question rings daily in thier head. How do I make my first million? How do I make more money? What business do I do?

Well, its really no big deal. All you need to realise is that there are lots of opportunities out there that you can take advantage of. All you need to do is to be aware of opportunities in your environment. Meet the needs of people and they will pay you for it. Its that simple!

Realize that you are in a world where there are lots of opportunities that you can take advantage of and make extra money for yourself.

Good Luck

How Real People Grow their Wealth (Series) - 3

Track Your Spending

Keeping tracking of your spending (even for 30 days) allows you to know exactly what you spend.

Have you ever gone to the ATM and two days later asked yourself, "I know I got N20, 000 on Tuesday -- where did it go?"

You may remember some of it, but you will not remember all of it. Tracking spending takes out the guesswork and puts you firmly in control of your finances.

From there, it's easy to determine what you can cut or, better yet, what you can save.

How Real People Grow their Wealth (Series) - 3

Set Limits and Stick to them

Yes, that true. For you to grow your wealth you must have set targets that you have to stick to. if you live on a Budget of N30, 000 you need to make sure you do not spend beyond that.

Gonig beyond your set limits could have devastating consequences if it is done without consideration for your set plan for the future because you are actually disrupting the flow of investments you have set up.

Remember, that you are in control of your destiny so from now on, whenever you set your limits make sure you stick to them.

How Real People Grow their Wealth (Series) - 2

Welcome to the continuation of our series. I will start right away.

Save 50% of every raise you get

That is true and a good way to grow your wealth gradually. If for instance you earn N70, 000;00 p/m and you save N30, 000:00 and spend the balance every month you would be accustomed to a lifestyle of N40, 000;00. your company then decides to give you a salary raise of N30, 000.

What do you do with the extra Cash?

You add a minimum of N15, 000;00 to your saving to raise it you N45, 000;00 and then add the balance to your spending money.

Remember you need a plan on how to invest whatever saving you are putting away.

Good luck.

Till next time

How Real People Grow their Wealth (Series) - 1

For most people, wealth does not come in a WINDFALL but it gathers gradually as a result of years of hard work and diligence. Therefore, how do real people grow their wealth to the point where they have enough to sustain themselves.

I will be offering tips here for the next five to seven weeks on this. You will not find playing the lottery, participating in shows here but they are all sensible suggestions for savings. Let's get started:

Grow your own food.

Ha! someone might yell but its one sure way of having quality inexpensive vegetables all year round. You dont need a big plot of land to do this, you might even just be using the soil in the backyard of your house. What you will gain overtime as you do this will be invaluable to your health and well being.

Imagine the kind of lessons / life skills you would be able to pass on to your children / loved ones as you constantly tend to your plants.

Try it today.

Brand New Financial Year

Yes that is what it is. Welcome to a brand new year where everything we will be doing, saying, buying etc will be a fallout of the kind of person we have trained ourself to be from last year.

I expect everyone to be alert financially this new year as the global financial meltdown is expected to hit us more in Nigeria this year (2009), never mind what Soludo & the CBN thinks.

Well I welcomw all once again and we will certainly get rich gradually this year as long as we follow proven guidelines.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.€€

What is the goal this Xmas?

In the midst of our rush to earn money, our scramble to save for retirement, our focus on frugality, it’s easy to lose sight of why we’re doing this. What is the goal? What is it we’re trying to accomplish by getting rich slowly? For me — and for many others — the answer is Financial Independence.

Your Money or Your Life defines Financial Independence as “having an income sufficient for your basic needs and comforts from [sources] other than paid employment”. Financial independence implies freedom. It’s the condition of having saved enough money that you can do whatever you choose. Whether you elect to keep working doesn’t matter — you have enough saved and invested to follow your dreams.

But is Financial Independence just a pipe dream? Is it something only for the lucky and the strong? No, says James Stowers in his book, Yes, You Can…Achieve Financial Independence. It’s a goal that anyone can fulfill as long as she’s armed with some basic knowledge, as long as she makes smart choices.

The keys to accumulating wealthStowers starts with the basics. The first chapter of his book covers the history of money. (A little like this, but with a different focus.) The next few chapters briefly cover sources and uses of money, the dangers of inflation, and the extraordinary power of compounding.

Some readers might argue that this information is too basic, but I disagree; a firm grasp of these fundamentals is the foundation upon which Financial Independence is built. Stowers ends this section by offering four keys to accumulating wealth:

1. Start investing as early as possible. It takes significantly less money to accomplish what you want, and you have more time working for you.
2. Be determined to save on a regular basis. It is an easy way to accumulate wealth.
3. Begin investing with the largest possible sum you can. You will have more money working for you over a longer period of time.
4. Reach for the highest rate of return you believe you can safely receive on your money over time. Each additional percent is important. The higher the rate, the less money it takes to accomplish what you want.

Financial Independence is built upon these four guidelines.Confronting your financial challenges“In order to save money, you must fight to keep from spending it,” writes Stowers in the book’s second section. He encourages readers to set goals, to prioritize wants. “Since money can be spend only once, you need to decide which wants are most important. To do this, it may be helpful to place a value on each of your want.”Exercise: Pull out a piece of paper and list your wants. These can range from a new house to a hot tub to a trip to London to a new blender for the kitchen. Next to each item, write why you want it. (You might want a hot tub, for example, because it would allow you to relax with family and friends.) When you’ve finished, take another piece of paper and re-order the list based on how important each want is to you. If a trip to London tops the list, are you still willing to delay it by spending N10000/month for that gym membership you rarely use?

The challenge is to balance the present and the future. “Money has no value unless one has time and good health to enjoy it,” Stowers writes. He asks readers to know themselves and to make decisions based on their temperament. “If you have to be poor,” he asks, “would you rather be poor now or at retirement?” By planning carefully and investing wisely, you shouldn’t have to make this choice.

Planning for Financial IndependenceAfter covering the basics of saving and estate planning, Stowers describes the path he recommends to Financial Independence. He believes readers ought to save early and often, making regular scheduled investments in the stock market through the use of mutual funds.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Give your children a Gift that will keep on Giving.

There are many occasions for giving gifts, especially to children. And one of the biggest occasions is coming up: Christmas. You might give clothes that the children can wear or some toys that will keep their attention, or you can gift them some shares of stock.

Buying them shares of stock might set a different course for their financial lives and get them interested in investing and personal finance at a young age. If presented as a fun game, kids will usually enjoy the experience and will want to learn more.

You can even download software for them to track their stocks or you can use a simple spreadsheet.

There are different ways to accomplish this. If you already use a stockbroker, there might be offerings available to help you, so check that out first. You can also use a service like http://www.investordelight.com/ to track their investments in all kinds of graphs and get them accustomed to online investing.

Once they have their shares, you can also introduce the children to fantasy stock markets where they have an imaginary amount of money to trade and compete with other children. There are many benefits to having children learn stock investing.

A good place to begin might be Young Money, where they can start with an imaginary $10,000 in fantasy money.

If you wish to give something more hands-on, consider Cash Flow for Kids, or the regular Cash Flow game if the children are older. Cash Flow makes it real and offers a fun way to learn the basics of personal finance.

Whichever gift you decide to give, make sure it’ll be something more than just a temporary moment of excitement and continue to pay dividends for a long time.

Have a plan for Christmas?

Wow, isn't it a bit early to start planning for Xmas? Well it isn't and if you do not start now December will be just a day away and you would have little cash on you that would be spent in a hurry to satisfy your loved ones.

Planning now makes the task easier because you have an edge in picking the est bargains in town before the Xmas buzz sets in fulltime.

Imagine all the gifts you would have to buy and trips you need to make. Get a pen and paper and break down the task to ease the building pressure on you, set out and achieve.

Remember year 2009 is just around the corner, dont overspend on non important items so you can have enough financial muscle to start the new year.

Be financially secure.