Household Spending Plans

Much of the time it is up to the woman of a household to take care of the spending plan (AKA Budget) and immediate finances. The task of determining the monthly cost allocation for activities as well as cooking, cleaning, and food shopping. In other instances a women with children has to take care of these duties while also working part of full time. 

For a household that is not financially planned, this situation can create chaos if not managed. When kids are involved in the mix, the need for a spending plan is much more greater as resources tend to become depleted quite easily. By setting easy and comfortable money targets for your family, which can save you both time and money. This will enable the family household to run easier and smoother, therefore planning ahead of time is essential. For example grocery shopping in bulk will not only save you time and money, but it will also save you in terms of preparation. You will be able to make meals in large batches, then freeze them for whenever you need a quick meal. This allows you a piece of mind that you can always have something ready for last minute occasions. 

Another large impact of a family's costs is the entertainment expense. When you have kids they have a need to be stimulated all the time. Instead of spending money on going to the movies, buying them unnecessary toys, and expensive fun parks, enroll them in sports teams or some type of lesson that they are interested in. Go to the library and borrow books on core life skills. Yes, this will cost some money but in the long run it is much less than the other types of entertainment. Your kids will learn a new skill that will enable them to keep preoccupied & content even they are not at their actual lesson or team practice. They will be able to practice on their own and get better at something not involving a video game or TV. 

Setting a spending plan for your family needs to be customised to the amount of money that is going in and out of your household every month. If you are trying to save up for something then something else must be given up. This really allows you to weigh what is important to you, short-term satisfaction or long-term goals. 

If we know some of these tips, this will set up a household to be the most efficient as possible. When a household is efficient, it opens up the much-needed time for family and friends to enjoy each other's company. Creating successful habits can allow your family to become closer knit because you will value the time you can spend with each other.

What can we learn from wealthy people?

The truth is, everyone craves to be wealthy. We secretly wish we could be like the wealthy. We look at them with a combination of admiration, envy and wonder. What exactly did they do to be so blessed? 

Yes, the super-wealthy rule the world. They live in the biggest mansions and own the choicest properties. They ride the most luxurious cars and marry the most beautiful women. When they speak, their words are carried by news media around the globe. 

The super-wealthy are abound in commerce, politics, entertainment, sports, IT, finance, oil and gas, to mention a few. In short, they abound in every sphere of human endeavour. 

The following names, not in any particular order, readily come to mind when we talk about the super-wealthy: Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Jay Z, Beyonce, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos. 

Among the super-wealthy you can count Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, non-believers, Blacks, Whites, Browns, mixed races, men, women, and people from all continents. 

What exactly then separates the super-wealthy from the poor? If not some undue advantage in opportunities, skin color, religion, intellect, industry, talent, place and time of birth, what?

Here they are: 

Focus their Attention

The wealthy pay undivided attention to nurturing and multiplying their wealth. For instance, Bill Gates attributes his wealth not so much to what he makes as Microsoft's co-founder, but to the excellent work of his portfolio manager, Michael Larson. On the other hand non wealthy spend their money on trying to look rich. In short, the poor tries to copy the "Millionaire Next Door." To be wealthy, be wealth conscious and focus attention to not just making money but how to grow it and make your money work harder for you. 

Productive with their Time 

Time is the most precious and scarcest resource. As economists say, its supply is inelastic. You can't store or delay it, you can't stop it, and you can't increase it. Effective use of time requires a mindset that is productive. The super-wealthy use time well. While time is an abstract, how you use it is a mindset. Regardless of wealth, we all have the same amount of this most invaluable resource? From birth until death we have equal amount of time daily: 24 hours. You will be wealthy to the extent to which you judiciously use this limited resource. 

Focus On One Thing

To be wealthy, develop FOCUS. Focus on one thing at a time. While the wealthy focus on one thing at a time. Whenever the wealthy pursues an end, he burns his boat and never looks back. Take for an example, Jeff Bezos. He focused on ECommerce, Bill Gate on computer coding, and Jay Z on entertainment.

Think Big 

If you look closely, all the wealthy think big. Jeff Bezos is not just building an E-Commerce company, but the most customer centric company on the planet. Bill Gates did not just go out to build Microsoft, but the biggest software company in the world. Not to be outdone, Mark Zuckerberg's empire now includes Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger. Thinking big is about being methodical, seeing the bigger picture of "what could be." It's about having an uncanny vision of the future and setting your sail accordingly in the direction of that vision without being distracted by other "opportunities" along the way. It's about saying "No" to a thousand things so that you can say "Yes" to the "one thing" that matters to you. So thinking BIG is one of the hallmarks of the wealthy. Really, why think small if you can think BIG by focusing on one grandiose end at a time? 

Proximity 

Don King, the boxing promoter, once told Dennis P. Kimbro, the co-author of Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, his plan for becoming a billionaire was "by hanging around billionaires, learning all they know." So hatch a plan and find a way to rub shoulders with the wealthy. By so doing, you'll be sucked into the world of the wealthy. This will reprogram your mind. Hanging around the wealthy is not just about networking, but it's about getting close enough to be mentored by the wealthy. What can you do to enter the radar of the wealthy? Write a book, start a podcast or a YouTube Channel to mention three. You can't be wealthy unless you reprogram your mind to think like the wealthy. The easiest way to do that is to enter into the world of the wealthy through the back door - through what you do. 

Work Hard and Smart 

Most of the time, the things associated with the wealthy are Gulf Stream Jets, Super Yachts, Golf Courses, Ocean Blue Islands, Hot Air Balloons and mansions designed in heaven. These are what you see at the front end. But peel the curtain a little and what you'll see at the back end is hard work. Many believe hard work does not matter in today's digital world where you can "set everything up to work on autopilot." Beware; nothing could be further from the truth. Do you know that Jeff Bezos used to kneel to sort parcels when Amazon first started in 1995? Till date he exhorts his people "It's Always Day One", meaning maintaining the spirit of entrepreneurship of a start up. If you're not willing to work hard, then perish the thought of getting wealthy. In his Good to Great, author Jim Collins wrote about the concept of the "flywheel." That's what hard work is all about. No wealth is ever created by standing with hands akimbo. 

Keeps Learning and Growing

Learning in this context is not about amassing many PhDs and MBAs in assorted disciplines. Learning is not about endless webinars. It's about getting personal coaches to make you better and performing at your peak in all dimensions of life. It may interest you to know some super-wealthy started out with no to little money but through a dint of hard work, learnt to overcome the bad hand that fate dealt them at birth. One well documented example is John H. Johnson of Ebony Magazine fame who in his day rose to become the 400th richest American. 

In his book, Succeeding Against the Odds, he stated that his family was not only poor, but they were the "poorest of the poor." John H. Johnson learnt to speak despite being born with a stammer; he learnt to believe in himself despite being born into extreme poverty, he learnt to sell and ended up buying the insurance company that employed him. 

So don't blame your start in life, just keep learning and wealth will be within your grasp. 

Source: Paul Uduck

Women and Money: The Reality Today

• 55% of  women over 65 will find themselves in poverty when they retire
• 40% of unmarried women have saved less than $1,000
• 37% of women spend retirement alone 

Startling statistics ladies. 

Most women will look at these statistics and think, that's not going to be me! 

Then go right ahead and plan the next girlfriends lunch or dinner date without looking at the bank account or the credit card balance. There is very little thought of how to ensure you do not find yourself included in the above statistics. So random incessant spending will continue without thought of the consequences, down the road, looking through the long lens. These statistical groupings are placing women in poverty every day, and few know what to do about it. 

What can be done? 

Any number of actions can change these statistics and the quality of life for all women. Ask any woman and I'll bet none of them would choose any of these girlfriend groups! Talking to girlfriends is one of the first (best) things that can be done to change the destiny of their girlfriends and which statistical group they may find themselves in. Girlfriends are a powerful group. Women will share with girlfriends they have now and the ones they have not yet been fortunate enough to meet yet. 

Women are smart and sassy. They also bond together when one of their sisters is in trouble. By opening this dialogue you may find that those closest to you, may not know the facts you now know. They may not know what to do about it either. Women share information freely and impress upon their friends what no man can. Women are naturally caregivers. This sharing with each other is at the heart of women care giving.

Planning will cause you to place yourself in situations where you won't be a statistic, part of a scary stat. How, you ask? Join our community at Femvestorsglobal for free daily information, alternatively you can join our book clubs (we offer 4 different geographical time zones- so there are no excuses ladies!). We also run virtual events or private 1:1 courses. You learn more, not just about finances. 

The very person you need for the best possible information will be sent to you. As long as learning takes place and actions are taken to change the numbers, both in the financial arena and then the stats, women don't have to find themselves in poverty. 

Invest in the knowledge and wisdom of wealth. We have heard that knowledge is power. For women, learning new vocabulary, words like monetising will bring you power and wealth. Learn now how to eliminate debt forever. Your today purchase can change the purchasing power you have in the future. Wouldn't it be awesome to know how? What do you have to do to acquire enough wealth for your future? Figure out how to share your prosperity and set some aside for those you love. It will come back to you multiplied more than you know. 

Girlfriend road trips are the best!! Memories forever! This is one road trip all the girlfriends cannot miss. This incredible ride could save them more than just the cost of gas. Investing in yourself will prove to bring increase to every aspect of your life. Finding wisdom about money can keep all women from becoming a scary statistic. Within the wealth side of these statistics lies comfort, ease, pampering and peace, which is why we do not record our group events so you have a safe space to talk. 

You will be so glad you did, sooner rather than later. 

Article Source for statistics: wiserwomen.org. 2016 retirement confidence survey, EPI.org 

Financial Success Habits and Our Old Beliefs

Are you struggling with your money goals and your finance goals? I think a lot of people are these days, especially with the current economic climate right? Why do we all struggle with these goals to achieve in life? Why do we grapple with issues around accomplishing a goal in terms of our finances? In my experience, this is all deep in our subconscious and goes back to our childhood and throughout our teen and adult life. 

In the past couple of years, I have been blessed to see some of the most successful business men and women in the world. I have sat for hours as they speak about how they struggled to overcome their own struggles with their money goals and finance goals. I have listened to speakers who slept on the streets, slept in train stations etc... to conquer their money goals and finally learn how to set life goals! I have seen the pain in their eyes and the emotional attachment that this period still has with them. 

Why do people go through periods of struggle with their money and finance goals? Well, when you think about it, as kids we are very much subjected to a lot of "myths" about money and how it is viewed by society. Have you ever heard some of these common myths before... 

• Money is the root of all evil 
• Getting rich is a matter of luck or fate 
• Having a lot of money will make me less spiritual or pure 
• Money will change me 
• Money won't make me happy 
• I'm too young to be rich
• I'm too old to start making money
• I don't deserve or not worthy of money 
• I'm already quite comfortable
• I don't need to push myself 

I bet these sayings are familiar to the majority of you? We struggle with our money goals and finance goals because we have been so conditioned by phrases like "I'm not made of money" or "Money doesn't grow on trees", that it is inherent in our subconscious. It is almost like a disease and we don't even realize it! I have been very lucky to attend various seminars on this subject that have really brought this to my conscious mind. When something is conscious, we can train the brain so that success in our money goals and finance goals becomes habitual. 

After attending seminars, reading books and being more aware of these myths and negative stories we have all heard about, I began to realise that this severely impacts our goals to achieve in life, in such a negative way. I then started to see things differently and made an observation that many people I have spoken to lately, have agreed with. What we watch on TV has a big impact on our money goals and finance goals! 

I grew up in the "Disney" era, where my beliefs on money stemmed from my childhood and romantic movies and books. I would live happily ever after, Prince Charming would always look after me. My childhood toys were Barbie having a fabulous life with Ken. Outside of Barbie dolls, I had toys such as a pram to push my kids in, a toy cooker, plastic tea set and a toy convertible car and caravan that Ken bought me. I had make-up, shoes and princess dress-up outfits, a plastic girl's head for practicing hairstyles.

Growing older, I continue to buy these "so called toys" into my adult life- clothes, shoes, handbags, expensive cars, designer make-up, frequent holidays and high self maintenance activities. I spiralled into a lot of debt.

Fast forward paying off the credit cards, loans and eventually getting myself out of debt, I started to then seriously focus on my financial habits and following others. Once you start to model and try to replicate successful people, you see things with new eyes. I often speak so highly of the seminars and the business speakers that I have been privileged to see live. After spending three full days at an event on "money goals" 3 years ago, someone once remarked that I was in a "cult". It made me think, perhaps I have been in a "cult" with my money goals and finance goals before I began to see the light that the successful gurus have shown me. 

So I guess its time to debunk some of the myths above and leave you with some new belief systems to mull over: 

1) Making money doesn't restrict freedom, it PROMOTES freedom 

2) To master money, I must MANAGE money 

3) Wealthy and successful people aren't smarter than me, they just have better money management Financial HABITS 

Some people think that the concept of changing your mindset is all "mumbo jumbo". 

I beg to differ. I think that if we begin to look at things with new eyes, that we can really start to focus on our money goals and finance goals. In fact, you can focus on new ways to achieve your goals in life! So what are your new money associations? 

Fill in the blank: Money is__________ 

Only 20% of people set goals. 

The other 80% think they have goals... but these are only wishes! 

Are you open to some different perspectives on how to set and achieve goals?

If so, check out Femvestorsglobal.com

We support you with goal setting, getting clarity on a vision for your life and turning your dreams into reality. We give you the GPS to your "Moneymoon Destination".