Enjoy!

See, we do need to know where our money is going if we want to improve our financial situation. If you haven’t started yet, make sure you start TODAY tracking all your expenses. Then get yourself a software program to help you keep track of your expenses. It could be Quicken, or Microsoft Money, or one of the free ones like AceMoney Lite (Available at http://www.mechcad.net/products/acemoney/index_lite.shtml)

Then every month, analyze your expenses and see which ones you can eliminate or reduce. Pay especial attention to your recurring expenses, like your cable TV, car insurance, even your cell phone plan. If there are certain features you don’t use, consider downgrading if you can save some money. In the case of your car insurance, call 2 or 3 companies and get quotes.

A couple of months ago, I got a call from my cable company offering HBO and STARZ (some people couldn’t believe I didn’t have HBO!) for $10 a month for 3 months. I said yes, and it was an impulse decision. Now, almost 2 months later, I decided to cancel it for two reasons: one, I almost never watch them; 2- after the third month, it will be $22 a month. Now, keep in mind that successful people don’t look at the monthly payment; they look at the whole picture: $22 a month is $264 a year of my after-taxes money (which means I will have to earn $325 so I can pay Cox Cable $264 after I pay Uncle Sam). Thanks, but no thanks.

Budgeting is as tedious as it is powerful. Nobody enjoys doing it (maybe accountants I guess but I’m still not sure) but once you start doing it on a regular basis, it can transform your life and the way you look at your expenses.

Make sure you read the eBook Get Out Of Debt 101 for more ideas and a simple but powerful step-by-step plan to get out of debt in record time (available at http://www.GetOutOfDebt101.com)

I opened the envelope and I did what I always do when I get these offers: I looked at the fine print to see if it contained the disclaimer all credit card offers (as far as I know) have: ”We reserve the right to change the terms of your account (including the APRs) at any time, for any reason…”

Just in case you didn’t know, I wanted to point it out. Next time you get another offer (and it doesn’t matter how low the APR they offer you is), check out the fine print. It is very straightforward. They can increase the APR just because they feel like it, and they don’t have to give you any explanation about it.

By signing their offer, however, we are giving them permission to do whatever they want with our APR. We have seen numerous cases of people whose APRs went from 7% to 35% from one month to the next, even when they were paying their statements on time.

Do you want to do business with companies that treat you like that? You work hard for your money, don’t you? Don’t let them pick your pockets.

Please, make sure you tell all your friends about these tactics. Refer them to this blog so they can become aware of what they are doing to us.

I realized I had several decisions I wanted to make about money, but have not been making them. “I’ll do it tomorrow” was the typical excuse. Does it sound familiar? If it does, then NOW is a good time to make those decisions.

 Ask yourself, “What are the five most important decisions you can make right now about money?”

For me, one of them is to start tracking all the money I spend, whether with a credit card, check or cash. Cash expenses are always the hardest ones to track and they add up very quickly. It is usually the small expenses that are the easiest to forget about.

So I prepared a Word document that I printed on business card paper with a simple graph where I can write down all my cash expenses for the day. Then I stapled together 6 business cards (printed on both sides with the graph I prepared) like a small booklet, so I can use one a week. At the end of the week, all I need to do is enter those expenses in Quicken. If you print it on both sides of the business card paper (I used Avery # 8371, but you can use even plain paper) and put 6 together, stapled in the middle, you will have a small booklet you can use for seven days.

If you would like a copy of the file, you can download it here (PC Right-click and select “save target as” to download)
Cash Purchases word document  Once you save it to your computer, print it on both sides of the paper and cut them out.

I strongly recommend you start tracking your expenses. When we started doing it some time ago, we had all our expenses tracked to the penny and it was incredibly useful for our finances. I slowly stopped doing it after a few months (it does take some work, but it is worthwile). I am starting tracking our expenses again, and I will keep you posted on my results.

It was a magical experience to be surrounded by such powerful people. I am blessed and grateful that many of them contributed an article to my eBook. Below you will see a picture of me with Steven E, the creator of the Wake Up… Live book series (http://www.WakeUpLive.com) and another with Charles “Tremendous” Jones (www.TremendousJones.com)

Tremendous Jones taught me something that made a HUGE difference in my life: to feel grateful for everything I have, no matter what is going on in my life, all the time.  This is another way of focusing on the positive instead of the negative. I realized that as I was feeling grateful for what I had, I was feeling happier!

It really does work wonders. Try it for 2 full days: Feel grateful, truly grateful for what you have in your life. Think about things to feel grateful for, and feel it deep inside you. Think of more things to feel grateful for. Once you are done, think of even more things to feel grateful for. Feel the gratitude. Think about anything you can feel grateful for (your car, even if its old, your toaster, your job, your spouse, your kids, your parents, keep going! It does not matter how big or how small they are.

 Let me give you an example. The other day I was feeling dissappointed for something that had happened that day, when I opened the door to go to my car and suddenly felt the sun in my face. I immediately noticed it, stood still feeling that warmth in my face, and felt grateful for such a beautiful day. I felt so much gratitude inside of me for a few seconds, that when I got to my car I was feeling incredibly happy. It completely changed the way I felt that day. If that dissappointment had happened to me a few years ago, I would have been angry for days!

You have to start managing your emotions. Make it a habit to read for 15 or 30 minutes every night. Start surrounding yourself with the right people, people who are successful at what you do or what you want to do. Focus on prosperity, not lack. Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want. Attend seminars. Listen to positive CDs in your car instead of music. Once your life starts to change, shoot me an email and let me know (or post a comment here). I would love to hear from you!

I took me a long time to find out what the real reason is. Once I did, boy, what a discovery!

One of the main reasons some people struggle financially while others thrive (even in the same economy)  is because they have different mindsets and beliefs about money (and about life for that matter).

Let me give you an example. When I was growing up in Argentina, money was always tight in my family. My father lost his job when I was 8 years old and could never (to this day) get a job that paid him enough. I grew up in an environment of lack, of there is never “enough money”. I “learned” that “money is in short supply and it belongs to the rich people” (these were some of my limiting beliefs). I remember one day when my parents were explaining me why we didn’t have money, they said it was because “we were middle class”, which I accepted as a fact that could not be changed. After all, my parents knew everything and I was just a kid.

Every time I wanted something, my parents would tell me that they didn’t have the money to pay for it. We always had clothes and food on the table, but money was always tight. How do you think this belief system affected my financial life? I was sabotaging myself all the time. My self esteem was very low.

It took me quite a few years to learn the truth. The moment I did, a whole universe opened up for me! I discovered (I admit that it was like a revelation, I couldn’t believe I had been so blind all my life) that the main differences between a rich person and a poor person are their mindset about money and their beliefs. When you hold something as “true”, you don’t question it and you act accordingly.

Let me give you a specific example of a great mindset and an even better belief system.

A couple of days ago I was listening to Joe Vitale (from www.MrFire.com) interviewing David Ledoux from www.DidYouSmellThat.com (by they way, I am very grateful to David because I learned so much from him) and they were talking about how David gets things done, and he said matter-of-factly “I think up an idea and I just believe I can do it”. I stopped the cd player and as I repeated the phrase over and over in my mind, as I said to myself, “this is another example of somebody that will always achieve whatever he desires, because his beliefs are aligned with his goals”. Successful people focus on the end result already accomplished, and they do it naturally. They focus on what they can do, not what they cannot do.

People who struggle (and I do know what struggling is like, I’ve been there) have a different set of beliefs. A common one is “I don’t think I can do it” whenever a good opportunity shows up. Some of my old beliefs were “I could never be a successful person since I was not born one”, “I could never make a lot of money because I am middle class”, etc. The moment I changed my beliefs and my mindset about money, my life changed.

One habit that I urge you to develop right away is the habit of reading a positive, inspiring book just before going to sleep. Read for about 30 minutes (more if you can) so you can plant a positive seed in your mind and you will slowly but surely be changing your mindset for the better. I cannot stress this enough. Stop watching the news (PLEASE!)  and start reading every night. Your life will change, I promise you.

The process of changing your mindset and changing your beliefs about money (and about life in general, for that matter) is explained in detail in my eBook, Get Out of Debt 101 (available at www.GetOutOfDebt101.com)

Thank you Joe and David because I learned so much from both of you.

You may want to read more about them by visiting their sites now.

If you are in debt, I want you to konw that you can fight back and win if you set your mind to it. You can overcome debt and live a debt-free life with some persistance and dedication.

What would be the very first thing you need to do to get out of debt?

Assuming you already made the decision to get out of debt, what you need to do is to stop charging your credit cards, ASAP. You need to stop borrowing money no matter what. This may sound obvious, but it amazes me how many people want to get out of debt but refuse to stop using their credit cards. They are like a “mental safety net”, they probably won’t feel secure without them. The fact of the matter is, they only put you deeper in debt.

When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you need to do is STOP DIGGING!

I talk a lot about the mental aspect of getting out of debt in my eBook, Get Out of Debt 101 (www.GetOutofDebt101.com) since it’s an integral part of getting out of debt but more importantly, STAYING out of debt FOREVER. You need to change your mindset about what money means to you if you want to become debt-free.

I know it is not easy, but you have to commit yourself to stop charging your cards. Cut them up, (keep one in case you need to rent a car, etc) and start operating 100% in cash.

Check back often for ideas, tips and resources. I can guarantee you, you CAN get out of debt with the right strategy and dedication.