- Recent
- Popular
- Tags (0)
- Subscribers (3)
- How to Stop Using a Crutch WordToday
-
Merriam - Webster knows a little something about words. They just released the word of the year for 2008 … beg.
No, wait a minute, that’s our word for their word! Their word is … bailout.
Oxford University also recently released their own list – the most irritating phrases of 2008.
___
___
Among them:
- "24/7" finished ninth on the list. Can we add 365 to it?
- "With all due respect" came in fifth. It made us think of one that irritates us. Why do people say, “I’m not trying to be rude” when they are getting ready to say something rude?
- And the phrase that the wonderful people at Oxford found most irritating – “at the end of the day.”
___
I love The Apprentice, but have you ever noticed how many contestants use that phrase ove - Starting from Scratch - Part 2Yesterday
-
Today on The Bigg Success Show, we continued our discussion with Adam Shepard. Adam is the author of the book Scratch Beginnings, which describes his year-long real-life experiment to see if the American Dream is still alive. Last time, Adam told us about the initial stages of his experiment and what it took to begin his path toward independence. Let’s get back to the conversation …
___
___
___
Adam, have you ever thought about becoming a Wall Street investment banker, losing all your money and turning to the government for help?
___
___
I have not.___
___
Maybe that would be an interesting - Starting from Scratch - Part 1December 3
-
We had a special guest today on The Bigg Success Show. Adam Shepard is the author of Scratch Beginnings. After graduating from college, he conducted a real-life experiment, by starting out homeless with only $25 and the clothes on his back, to see if the American Dream is still alive. His book chronicles his year-long journey. Here’s a summary of the conversation …
___
___
___
I loved your book, Adam. There were times when I couldn’t put it down because I was worried about you! I can’t imagine what your mom and your dad must have felt.
___
___
They definitely did not sleep much on that first night … that’s for sure.___
___
- 4 Secrets to Having All You Really WantDecember 2
-
Today we want to talk about the choices we make and the sacrifices that go along with them. Some people say that’s an outdated concept – choices and sacrifices. We disagree. As long as a person only has 24 hours in a day, trade-offs will continue to exist.
___
___
We have a friend who was talking about the choice she and her husband made to have kids. She said that she really wanted to stay home with them when they were young. So she suspended her career which meant that less money for her family.
You can’t have it all, but you can have all you really want.
It starts with a realistic assessment. To continue with the choice about having kids, you may choose to have kids and continue working. But there are still trade-offs – not as much time with your spouse, money spent on child-care, and less sleep to name a few.
When faced with an important decision, ask yourself these two questions:
- To get what you want, what will you have to give up?
- Are you willing to do that?
These two questions help you weigh the relative importance of your options. They will also help you later – when the reality of what you sacrificed comes to fruition – you can remind yourself
- How Long Do You Have To Work to Pay for What You Buy?December 1
-
In physics class, we learned about the law of inertia – an object in motion stays in motion. So it is with our money. We start spending and we keep spending!
Now we’re trying to slow down our spending and find ways to save money. Today, we want to discuss a new way to think about your purchasing decisions.
___
___
Getting to the numbers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks many things, including consumer finances. From their most recent study, we calculated how much the average wage earner makes a year.
We then did some more research to determine how much vacation we take and how many hours a week we work, on average. From all this data, we determined that the average earner made $19.38 per hour before taxes.
Next we looked at spending by category, according to the BLS study. We divided that amount by the $19.38 an hour to determine how long we have to work to pay for what we buy.
The numbers
The average American wage earner works for almost a month to pay for entertainment and dining out.
We work about a week and two days to pay for our vac