Money 101

“Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people that they don't like.” ― Will Rogers

Many of us grew up earning money performing small jobs around the house or mowing a neighbor's lawn. You might have even earned that money by spending Saturday evenings babysitting for your parents friends or delivering newspapers on Sunday mornings.

It turns out that many of us were never taught how to handle that money.

This lack of education happens for a myriad of reasons. In preparatory school, the basics of math, english and history are taught. There is a level of budgeting concepts taught but at that age, budgeting is the furthest thing from young minds.

As we get into our college years and or early job years, these things called budgets, credit, bills and savings are words we have heard. But do we really understand how handle the implications of each? Are we truly prepared for it?

Yes, the reality of money suddenly hits.

For a lot of kids turning into young adults and even older, the struggles to learn and pull out of money issues consumes much of their lives. A capitalistic system is a good thing. It fuels the economies of many countries. It creates opportunities to work hard, get ahead and earn more money. With those better paying jobs, the promise of better schools, roads and lots of things in the stores to buy. But what fuels it?

You and I spending money, lots of it!

The billboards, magazine ads, television commercials and even product placements in the movies we watch. We are bombarded by these things and more, all in of effort to get you to spend your money and to keep the economy flowing. It preys upon our nature to WANT things more than what we actually NEED.

Yet all of this spending short changes us individually with higher debt, less savings and a shorter distance to fall when something major happens effecting our income. Never fear though, you can learn how to handle money now. This is for all ages and it begins by reading.

Take it upon yourself to learn.

There is a great series at CNNMoney which provides a "Money 101" set of 23 lessons on the various aspects of our financial lives. It is simple but it is a place to start getting you on a great financial track.

Some of the lessons covered are;

- Setting Priorities
- Making a Budget
- Basics of Banking and Saving
- Controlling Debt

And others which take you into growing your money.

Start now, improve your finances and your life will improve.

Remember its not about the money. It is about you and how you handle money. Even the richest of us can be miserable and the poorest amongst us happiest. Handling what money we do have in a smart and sensible way makes life much better.

Get your finances in order and bring more balance into your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Who Is Calling Please?

“Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we do not experience it.” ― Rollo May

Think about the last time you sat down with family or friends at a dinner.

Maybe you were in a coffee shop or out on the back porch enjoying the spring air with others. If you looked around, how many others including yourself had a cell phone in hand. Occasionally glancing at email, Facebook or even Twitter.

How surprising that technology has become a necessity in everything.

I am probably just as bad as the next person when it comes to this modern day occurrence. If I go back to my days growing up, I remember the phone being attached to the wall in our house. It was in the kitchen and the handset had a three-foot cord.

An interesting fact is that before mobile phones, no one asked where you were when calling. This is because phones were tied to a physical location and if someone were calling you, that is where you had to be.

When people sat down to eat dinner, if the phone rang there were some who rushed to answer it. In some households you did not get up and answer the phone. Dinner was a time for family, or friends and conversation.

Dinner time was not completely pure as televisions were usually blaring the nightly news in the background. Yet for all the good things technology brings to the table (pun intended), we also allow a bit more to be taken away from us.

What if we declared meals together cell phone free?
What if we turned off our tablets while on vacation?
What if we talked more instead of updating our status?

On a vacation my wife and I had taken, work weighed heavy on my mind. I constantly checked my emails and allowed the stress to eat into personal time with my wife. Two days into our vacation, a thunderstorm damaged a nearby cell phone tower. Cell service was gone and it forced me to set the phone down and stop thinking about work.

It made me concentrate on us and that was a very fulfilling experience.

Find time to walk away from the every day, to walk away from the technology that ties you down. I am not saying these technological wonders are a bad thing. Great tools have made our lives much easier, but there is a time to walk away from them and just be you.

Enjoy some time off and we'll call or text you later. With location services turned on, we'll know where you are any way!

Stay inspired my friends.

Against The Wind

Two Trees Diptych by Christina Goodman

“Rise up, warriors! Take your stand at one another’s sides with your feet set wide and rooted like oaks in the ground.”” - King Leonidas I of Sparta

Each of us go through seasons in our life. The good ones which spring forth promise of joy and great things. All that happens is good and we seem to float along without a care.

There are cold and wintery times when we want to crawl under a blanket and shiver from the seemingly bad which encompasses us. We long for greater things but the darkness of winter never seems to abate.

It is during both the good and bad that we should never stand alone.

As different as we are from one another, we can stand firm for someone in need. And while we might wilt against the bad, someone will be there for us.

Women have a very intense understanding of this. But men have a built in belief it makes them less of a man not to stand alone. We fail to see other men are going through the same types of issues. We fail to see it is okay to lean on a brother.

One who stands alone is easy prey while ones which stand together are an imposing force.

The ancient Spartans knew this lesson and used it very effectively. When being attacked, they stood together in close formation and their shields became one impenetrable shield. Then as one they moved against the enemy, one unbroken force that no enemy could stand against. They accomplished more than one single man could do alone, shoulder to shoulder, brother to brother.

Each of us are different as the trees in a forest. But together we can become a wall which breaks the force of the wind. A wind that would try to bend and break us individually. A wind that can be beaten back if we stand together.

Stand with your brother through both the good and bad.

Stand in support of others when the winds try to break us apart.

And stay inspired my friends!

As It Turns Out

"Pile up too many tomorrows and you’ll find that you have collected nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays." - The Music Man

I believe that each of us as individuals have the ability to impact and inspire others. It can be a kind word, a simple gesture or helping in a major way, a person get through a troubling time. But many times we wonder if the timing is right to get involved.

It turns out that now is the perfect time.

It is interesting that one can find wisdom and inspiration from many unexpected sources. I've always believed that each of us as individuals have the ability to impact and inspire others. Throughout my day, I look for small bits of inspiration which push me to be a better person.

One such bit is a saying I heard quite some time ago. It is tied to a piece of old artwork that belongs to singer Lucinda Williams and on it says "as it turns out, now is the moment you've been waiting for." I have been searching for an image of that artwork to no avail to find the context of words and art together. It could be the artwork is not something I am meant to find.

Maybe we are meant to only find meaning in the words.

So without having first hand knowledge of the artwork or background to the quote, I can only decide for myself what the words mean. For me it is the idea that we are always waiting for things to happen for us. We wait for the time to be just right, the right place, the right conditions. The waiting is what prevents us from accomplishing our goals.

To make change or move forward in life, "as it turns out, now is that moment you've been waiting for." Go now and make movement in your life.

And stay inspired my friends.