Undercover Millionaires

What is a millionaire? Well, you might not know it, but they are all around you. Some of them you might know very well actually. A millionaire is someone that has a net worth over $1 million. Maybe I should back it up a bit.
Net worth is just a term used in the financial world that means a persons assets minus their liabilities. For example, let us assume that you have a paid off home worth $200,000, but on the side you have a truck worth $30,000, a corvette worth $60,000 and a total of other debts totaling $50,000. the truck, corvette and other debts are your liabilities. We are assuming that you still owe on the car and truck. That would mean that you have $200,000 in assets and $140,000 in liabilities or debts. When we subtract the liabilities from your assets you have your net worth of $60,000. Understand?
Now back to the our previous discussion of millionaires, particularly the millionaire you possibly live right by. This probably shocks you, unless you live in some uptown community. But let's make an analysis. What signs are associated with millionaires? Most will assume that a person driving a corvette, in a fancy black suit who lives uptown fits such a description. But as we discussed earlier, does that fit the description of such an individual. Probably not. Why not?
A millionaire has a net worth of $1 million. Remember what net worth means? A person's assets minus their liabilities. This person may look rich, but are they rich? Let us assume that this person does in fact make $150,000 a year, a modest salary. (nudge nudge, wink wink) I am going to make a very crude rough estimate of about $9,000 a month. Along with this estimate, I will make other assumptions. His home mortgage is $2300 a month, his car payments total $1200 a month, $600 for one car, and $600 for another. Along with that he has student loan debt of $100,000, and credit card debt of $50,000. On this modest income, does it necessarily mean that he is wealthy. Sure, according to society he has everything he could ever dream of, but overall, he possibly has negative net worth with all of that debt and nothing else to show for it.
This brings us to the possible millionaire among you in your life. For further understanding of net worth, and all of the ways that real millionaires make it to where they are, check out the book "The millionaire next door". It is a fascinating read. In this book they take data from 100s of millionaires throughout the nation, and compare the data. They find outrageous stuff. Millionaires are not who we believe them to be.
I won't go into much detail, but I would like to take a few examples. First, let's look at cars. Cars are wonderful pieces of machinery. No man in the world will detest my statement. The sound of a roaring sports car, or the massive lift and tires on a gorgeous truck make a man shiver with envy. But of course, with want, comes a price. These cars can be quite expensive, and lead often to large loans at high interest rates.

The value of these cars is also important to remember. Many of us do not realize or even think about the value of these vehicles until it is too late. How many of us have bought a vehicle, and later when we wanted to upgrade, found ourselves owing more than the sell value? I believe that most of us have been in that situation a time or two. The reason for this is depreciation. Depreciation is simple enough to understand. Over time, many things that we own lose value. A car is one of the worst things we can buy. Cars lose value quickly. Why? Because we drive them. A car only has so much life before major repairs are needed. Basic supply and demand dictate that an individual will only buy a vehicle if the pros exceed the cons. Why would an individual buy a 2005 Ferrari for $120,000, if they could buy a 2007 for the same price? The answer, they wouldn't at least most people.
As you drive your car, it loses value. As it sits, it loses value. In all, it loses value. That is why, when buying a vehicle, it is important to remember that cars go down in value. Some faster than others. One particular thing I would like to discuss is buy used vs new. Why would anyone buy used when they could buy new? Because of depreciation.
It is said that buying a new vehicle loses 3-4 thousand dollars, the minute it pulls off the lot. This is true. A new car gaining the used car status, even if it only has 1/2 mile on it, is detrimental on its value. Why do this, when you can get a steal of a deal on a perfectly good and sufficient 2 year old car?  You might as well carry $100 in your dashboard to throw out the window every time you drive it. So, in conclusion, statistically speaking, millionaires buy used and not new!
Millionaires also are not quite as fond to the idea of debt as much of America seems to be. They also did not get to where they were by the use of credit cards, nor loans. They used the common sense of saving to get what they want. Really? Yes really! This old fashion train of thought comes into play quite often with millionaires. Save to buy what you want. Budget your income. Save for a rainy day. All of these often times, old fashioned beliefs, are used by almost 90% of millionaires in today's society.
Many believe millionaires to be big spenders, but in reality, they are light spenders and heavy savers. Remember what we stated at the beginning. Net worth is your assets minus your liabilities. What does this mean? If you want to increase your net worth, you do so by minimizing your liabilities (paying off debts), and increasing your assets (saving). Wow, serious? That is it? I thought that the only way I could be a millionaire is by winning the lottery, or being a doctor or NBA star. No. Many of today's millionaires generally earn between $45,000 and $150,000. Can you believe that? Becoming a millionaire is more about behavior and less about income. Learn to control your money, and you will find yourself a millionaire in the long run. Notice I said the long run. This blog is not a quick and easy way of becoming rich. It is a simple, but long process that always has a good track record!
In conclusion, who is a millionaire? Not who you think. How do I become one? Simply save your money and reduce your debt. Bet that was the simplest way to become a millionaire you have ever heard.

A chocolate stock market!

Let us assume that you are looking to retire some day. Wow, imagine that... A lot of people believe that this day will never come, and therefore never prepare for it. Recently, I said that preparation is how one with anticipated risk, organizes their current situation to eliminate this upcoming risk. Well, simply put, retirement is an anticipated risk, and therefore needs preparation.
Saving for retirement is quite easy. I can already hear the sighs all around. This guy is a joke. No really, it is a simple process. But understanding the process can be complex, and therefore needs explanations.
We will keep it simple for now, but I need to start somewhere. The best place that I can start is with stocks. What is a stock? When I say the word stock, I'm sure many of you are already diverting your attention to Youtube, or Facebook, but stick with me. I will keep this simple, and try my best to keep it interesting.
A stock is simply ownership in a company. Let's say that you bought a candy bar. This chocolaty delight has 10 easily breakable squares. After you buy the candy bar, you return to school and begin to break up those pieces. While you are examining this brown gold, people around you begin to eye your source of wealth. You watch this, and being the nice person you are, you tell everyone around that you are willing to share. You begin to think in your head of the price of the candy bar, let's say it was $1.00. According to this, you decide that each piece is worth 10 cents.
You still with me? $1.00 divided by 10 is 10 cents, therefore each piece you break off should be worth 10 cents. Everyone that is hungry for chocolate must pay 10 cents for that chocolate. Understand? Now let's back off for a minute. This same process is followed by companies. Every company is always in need of money. There are a couple ways that a company can obtain this money. First, they can take out a loan with a bank or a bond. Another, is to sell ownership in the company, or pieces of the chocolate, to investors. The benefits of selling stock in a company are that these funds never need to be repaid. This provides the company with free money in a sense to expand their business and hopefully make it more profitable. The disadvantages are that the company will lose it's primary ownership. Those who purchase stock, gain a percentage share of whatever the company is worth.
Lets analyze this for a moment. Back to the chocolate bar. You have decided that you will sell each piece of chocolate for 10 cents. But you also decide that you will keep 1/2 of the bar for yourself, because in fact you are hungry. Inside your head, you decided that by selling half of the squares you will get 50 cents and then buy a can of Pepsi to wash down the chocolate. Those around you have each gained a piece of chocolate, and each enjoy those benefits.
Let's expand a little bit. So these 5 people who purchased a piece of chocolate each decided to save that piece of chocolate til lunch time. Meanwhile, a very hot sunny day has melted all chocolate candy bars within miles of the school. What implications does this have on the people who purchased a piece of chocolate from you?
I want to take a side step to briefly explain how supply and demand works. Most of us understand it intuitively since we perhaps live it daily. The theory of supply and demand dictates prices. We will keep it simple so that each of us may stay tuned into our chocolate example. Let's suppose that before the crazy meltdown of March 2011, there were 100 candy bars within 2 miles of the school. In this example each price was $1.00. After the meltdown, only 10 candy bars remain intact. What affect will this have on prices?
Each individual candy bar holder will understand the situation. Out of the usual demand of 100 candy bars, only 10 remain intact. The chocaholics nearby will need their fix of chocolate but only 10 of them will be able to fully satisfy it. This creates a dilema. In order to get a candy bar, you will have to be willing to pay more for that candy bar then the other person. This creates a universal price increase on all candy bars. The opposite will follow accordingly in an increase of the supply of candy bars.
Back to our situation. So the chocolate piece holders, who had sense enough to place their candy bars in the refrigerator, now each hold one piece of chocolate. Originally, they bought it for 10 cents, but now everyone who knows they have the chocolate wants to buy their pieces. The supply and demand theory explains that these pieces of chocolate will sell for much more than they bought them for. Let's say that now, each piece is worth $1. That would be an increase of 900%. Or in other words, each person that purchased a piece of chocolate will make 900% off of their 10 cent investment.
This same thing follows in real life. One purchases stock in a company, which contains a valued portion of the whole. That stock will be a small portion of the entire cost of the company, just as the piece of chocolate valued at 10 cents is 1/10 of the entire value of the chocolate bar which is $1. A person buys a stock with the anticipation that that company will increase in value. A company increases in value when they gain new bids, hire more people, build new factories etc. But there is a trick. You need to understand the theory behind buying low and selling high. A lot of people do not understand this theory.
Let's say that when you sold the pieces of chocolate, you were quite creedy and crafty. You decided that you were going to sell the pieces of chocolate for 50 cents each rather than 10 cents (which is the actual worth of each piece). Let's say that you did this, and later when the pieces were selling for $1.00 they sell the same way as before. Their gain will only be 100%. That is a huge difference in return. Rather than making 900% they make 100%. Which would you rather have?
When purchasing stock it can be quite complex. A lot of analyzing can be done to determine the exact value or worth of a stock, and whether or not that stock is selling above or below it's value. Understanding this is key to making a gain. This is exactly how people lose their money. They jump on the rollercoaster when it is at the top, and then, hoping that it will continue to rise, realize that it was over valued and ride it all the way to the bottom. If stocks are overvalued, eventually someone will notice and supply and demand effects will rearrange this inefficiency to the real value.
Let's do an overview. Stocks are nothing more than ownership in a company. In order to gain a return, you must invest in companies that you believe will be profitable in the future. At the same time, remember to analyze the value of a company and the equivalent value per stock. Only purchase those stocks which you believe are at value or below value. These stocks, will generally be the ones that increase in value, consequently increasing the return you receive from purchasing them.
Remember that this is a simple overview of the what a stock is. There are many different types of investments in the market that you can invest in, along with other ways to purchase or sell them. I will go into these details later, but only after you have the general idea behind what a stock is.
PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS WITH WHAT I CAN DO BETTER TO SERVE YOU!

Velociraptors Kill!

So, you are walking down the road, minding your own business, when out of nowhere a velociraptor enters your line of sight. Now, this seems quite unusual to you. Why on earth would a raptor be in these parts. Course it is night, and the walk that you thought would be relaxing suddenly turns into a chaotic nightmare. your skin begins to crawl when the raptor crane's it's neck in your direction. It's teeth, large and razor sharp, drip saliva in anticipation of its next meal, you.
Now, generally, your first thought would be to run. But, for some reason, running doesn't seem like the best plan. It's weird because, you just watched Jurassic Park the other day, but never thought that you would be living it. You can't quite remember whether they said that raptors sensed motion, or was that T-Rex. "Oh darn, I knew should have stayed awake during that informational section!", you think to yourself. Either way, running is not the right idea. You are a gonner and you know it.
Your life then passes before you very own eyes with a flash. All of the moments you had with your children, all the time you spent just sitting with your wife chatting about your future. But now, your future is over. It will never come to pass. Quickly, you begin to process your successes and failures. One by one you count them and finally you realize something traumatic. You have failed in one sense that you will never be forgiven for. Something so huge, but so small, you wonder how you could have neglected it. You never purchased life insurance.
Now, don't get me wrong, you will probably never run into a Velociraptor in your life time. But other incidents will indeed happen. I do not wish to discuss all the possible methods of our dear friend Death, but I do wish to discuss the prevention steps that we can take. Death is a depressing subject, which I will treat very lightly. I like to add a little zing to a dull and daunt principal. Please forgive me if you are offended in anyway.
Death comes at anytime or place. No one knows exactly when it is going to happen. For this reason, we must be prepared before hand. Preparation is a means by which we as individuals with anticipated risk, may avoid the destructive causes of a future event. This can be anything from emergency funds, food storage or our topic today, life insurance.
A life insurance policy is bought from a financial adviser, or insurance agent, and protects against the consequences of death. These consequences come in many styles. They can be any of the following.

• Loss of income
• Medical Expenses
• Debt
• Funeral Costs
• Business

When you die, your loved ones will "hopefully" mourn your loss. You may not be able to ease their pain, but you will be able to provide a more comfortable environment for them. I do not know anyone who wishes to leave their family in a mess. If such a person exists, I condone them. You love your family and wish the best for them. But in these situations, a mess is created. Your death leaves your family vulnerable to medical expenses and debts that they will have trouble paying. This will only be worse if you are the primary income provider in your home. Leaving your family with the means to pay off the home, medical expenses, funeral costs and other debts will help them stay on their feet til the waves subside. At which time, they will be able to slowly process the next steps to follow.
There are many types of life insurance, but mainly the most used and purchased are term and whole life. A term life insurance policy has a set limit of coverage. For example, a 20 year term life insurance policy will grant you, the purchaser, a determined amount of life insurance upon your death. Meanwhile, you pay a small fee each month to hold the policy current.
If you happen to run into T-Rex during those 20 years, you will receive that determined amount. When I say determined amount, I mean an amount you decide is feasible for your means. This can be $100,000, $400,000, $15,000. or even millions. There are many amounts that you can choose, but I will leave them at these simple at these numbers.
On the other hand, if you do not die during those 20 years, heaven forbid, your policy will end and you will either have to renew at a new rate, or drop it all together. The amount lost is minor, but the amount that could have been gained both in dollars and the security of knowing your loved ones are taken care of is tremendous.
The other common type is Whole Life. Whole life holds true to term in certain aspects. The unique part of this type is its investment characteristics. A person may purchase this policy, making equal payments throughout their whole life. Meanwhile, a part of their payment will go to cover actual insurance costs, and another will be placed in a savings account where it will accumulate more wealth. During this time, if a person happens to kick the can, a determined amount will be awarded to the beneficiary or generally family member. Along with this, an individual may be allowed to borrow against or withdraw part of those funds. If you do not die, then at the end you will be able to withdraw the amount in the account.
These are the two most common types that I will discuss. There are drawbacks and benefits to both of them. The drawback for term is that it will eventually end, and premiums paid into it will be lost by the payer. On the other hand, term is quite in expensive and allows an individual the right to invest more of their income into sound investments, thereby increasing their wealth. The drawbacks of whole life include how expensive it is, and softly put, the amount of profit that a company makes off of your money. Of course, the benefits are the return on some of the money invested in the account, and a longer term of coverage.
I do not wish to discuss the pros and cons to either, because I have a very biased opinion. I leave this up to you guys to decide. I am but the means of knowledge.
Determining the amount of life insurance to buy is done by determining the life style by which you or your spouse wish to live. A general rule, is to have the ability to pay off the home, and other debts, leaving them debt free, along with the ability to pay off medical costs and funeral costs.
Another factor to remember when purchasing insurance, is who it is for. For example, my wife is a stay at home mom. If she were to pass away my life would be hard. But income-wise I would be no worse off. For her, I would factor in my debts and future costs of her funeral. $50,000 would be enough to cover that for her. If I were to pass away, she would be without income. Therefore, my policy might be a lot higher than hers. You get the picture. Along the way, your life will change. Make sure that when these changes occur, you meet with your adviser to adjust the amount that you have. Purchases such as homes or income rises or drops are such factors to keep in mind. I do not mean 50 cent raises, but major increases in salary or even major drops in income from taking that dream job you wish to have! Keep these in mind!
I have gone over only a small percentage of the big picture, but I believe that this will suffice a lot of the common public. If you have any further questions, please send me either an email or comment, and I will get right back to you.
If you take anything away from this, I hope it is that life insurance is important, and that dinosaurs don't really exist!   

Pay me in TVs!

Here is a deep question for you. What in the world is money? Have you ever held that green dollar bill in your hand (I say dollar because the possibility of me holding a $20 in my hands is very slim), and thought to yourself why it is so valuable to everyone around you? After all, it is just paper. If that were the case I have plenty of paper at my house and consider myself wealthy.

Money today is quite different than it was centuries ago. Currently, most of us hold plastic cards, that if traced, only have numbers to back it. The bigger the number recorded in the computer, the richer that individual. How has society become so withdrawn from the physicality of money? Why does green paper with a number in the corner hold a value to another? This is a big question to consider, but I find it fascinating.

Imagine for a moment. When you arrive at a bank to deposit a check from work, what happens to that “paper”? They run it through a machine which identifies the account from which the money should be withdrawn (or shall I say, they minus numbers off of the account), then they add numbers to the account of the person who is “cashing” the check. If you do not find this strange, then maybe you were not paying attention.

Let’s talk history. Anciently, it was common for individuals to barter, or trade goods with another. I’ll make a modern day example. Let’s say that you need milk for your cereal in the morning. In order to obtain this milk from the local market, you must bring something of value to the person whom you wish to trade with. Let’s assume that you heard that John (the milk salesman) has wanted an LCD tv to watch March Madeness. Now depending on how desperate you are for that milk in your cereal, which for me is a must, you will take the TV in your living room down to the market and begin the bartering process. In reality, no one in their right mind would trade a TV for a gallon of milk. But of course, you could possibly set a future determined amount of milk you wish to receive over the next 2 yrs from John.  The deal is made if both individuals determine that they will gain from this trade. Hope you enjoy that milk in your cereal.

Now you understand that bartering is two individuals trading ownership of items which both consider to hold a determined value.

Eventually people determined that currency could hold this notion of value. These were anything from cowry, rocks, and eventually the use of silver and gold. Understanding that a measure of value must be obtained, it became common belief that all members of certain societies deduced value from these coins. Today we believe the same. Although the dollar bills in your pocket are just paper, society as a whole believes that this paper can be exchanged for goods at your local grocery store. No longer is there a need to carry your LCD tv down to the grocery store and work out a deal for a supply of milk 2 or even 3 years in the future. Instead, that grocer has calculated the price of milk using dollars.

Although this seems simple, it still boggles my mind. Everyone in the world believes that the dollar contains a determined value. Who determined this? How did they determine it? These are question that I may answer in some future blog. But for now let’s move on to the most modern way of exchange, digital money.

When I say digital money, it is hard to grasp. How can something digital be of value to another? It is simple in our minds to determine that the larger the number, the larger the amount of purchasable goods. Yes, indeed the higher the number, the more you can buy. But why does a number determine a value to society.

It would be easy to add six zeros to the end of my accounting balance. Wouldn’t that allow me to buy more than I could possibly dream? How does society control how this system works? Banks seem to be fairly responsible with this aspect of their functions. When money is deposited in a bank, that bank increases the amount in your account by the same amount deposited with them. By using your card to buy a TV, the merchant believes that those numbers in your account will transfer over into their account, thereby increasing their buying power as well.

Why does this work? Because, once more, society as a whole believes that more numbers in their bank account results in a larger buying power. If everyone in society understands and believes that something has a value, it can be used as a medium of exchange, or currency.

Let’s assume that everyone believed that LCD TVs were valuable, and again assume that they converted each LCD tv into $100. Then, simply put, everyone would be walking around with LCD tvs in their pockets to purchase the things they need. Value is determined by society. When an item is believed to be valuable, it will have a medium of exchange.

Now, we all understand the reality of everyone walking around town with TVs in their back pocket would be absolutely chaotic. But it would lower pick pocketing crimes. Could you imagine the effort it would take to slyly steal a 60 inch TV from someone’s back pocket?

Money has been determined a valuable medium of exchange. If that someday changes, we as a society would determine a new medium of exchange. All I can say is that I hope it will not be TVs.

Millionaire of the Week: Dave Ramsey

"We give you the same advice your grandmother would, only we keep our teeth in!" Who else do you believe that I would start with? Dave Ramsey is my inspiration, and my hero. Not only because he is a Millionaire but because of the way that he arrived there.

Dave Ramsey is currently one of today's most popular radio hosts. He hosts the "Dave Ramsey Show", "where debt is dumb and the paid off mortgage has taken the place of the BMW, as the status symbol of choice." If you have not heard of him, then you are missing out on an experience of a lifetime. 

Dave Ramsey has made his money by helping others on their quest to financial freedom. But he wasn't always so save savy. As he has said multiple times, he has made it to the top twice. The only way that you do that is by falling back down at least once.

He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1982. By the time he was 26, he owned a portfolio worth more than $4 million. All good things come to a close though. After the Tax reform Act of 1986, the real estate market fell dramatically. Ramsey was then forced to repay $1.2 million with 90 days. This of course led him to the inevitable, bankruptcy. 

The dramatic part of the story begins after, when he decided that enough was enough. Debt was not the way to success, and he was going to prove to the world that he could succeed without borrowing a single cent. 

He slowly began to counsel others at his local church, which then was followed by private counseling sessions. Seminars and workshops began, sending his name and fame throughout. As the seminars continued, he was able to put together some simple rules and solutions that would turn out to be nothing more than what your grandmother might tell you. Bizarre things like, save your pennies, buy everything with cash, spend less than you make, invest for the future. Really, how dare he?

With his fame increasing, it seemed logical for him to start his own local radio program which first aired in 1992. Also in 1992, he founded his company, the Lampo Group. This company mainly focused on one-on-one financial advice. Between 1999 and 2004 the company grew from 18 to 105 team members. Currently they employee 300 strong, and have been voted "best place to work" mulitple times in Nashville, TN. 

Along with being a sucessful businessman and radio host, he has written many noteworthy bestsellers. The most popular being "Total Money makeover". Note, that all these things did not come about with debt of any sort. He built his enterprise for himself, with hard work, patience and a love for helping others gain freedom. 

After he began raking in the dough, he decided that it was time for him to return the joy of his life, but this time taking risk out of the picture. He now owns countless homes, which he purchased with cash and rents. 

This debt-free empire has inspired millions of people throughout the nation back to the traditional views of money. These traditional and conservative views on money are simple. That is why they have suceeded. It isn't complicated, nor a quick way to success. Real success is plain and reachable.

When thinking of how you want to reach your goals of success, keep it simple. Life never likes complex systems or goals. The transparent ones are the ones that succeed.

Keep it simple stupid!

Recently, I went about asking people financial questions. I was quite surprised to find that most people did not understand the same language that I have come to know in recent years. Words such as liquidity, assets, revenue, capital, net worth etc are not used on a daily basis by the regular Joe. I considered myself a geek for even knowing it. Many might confess that when it comes to financial terms there is need for a dummy's guide. I even find myself lost in conversations about vesting, and life insurance premium regulations. 

For that reason, this blog will be the dummy's guide to financial security. I will keep it simple! Each week, I will post terms such as those described above, with simple explanations for those of you who find finances to be boring and complicated. 

Anyone who has questions may ask them. I am always available to take questions and even encourage that you help me find topics that you may not understand in your personal life. This will both help me understand what the general public understands about finances, and give me a pointer as to where I need to go with this.

Please send questions that you have! I am completely serious! My personal goal is to be an informer. Please allow me to be that for you!

For now, we will talk about the meaning behind an asset. I pulled the following from Investopedia. A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit. 

Okay...do not panic. We will walk through this nice and slow. Let's talk a little bit about what I consider to be an asset in simple terms. I am an avid gamer! Seriously, I can tell you most anything you would like to know about the current gaming generation. My Xbox is an asset. Why might my Xbox be an asset to me? Well, I bought my Xbox with the intent that it would allow me the excitement and bliss of game playing throughout the next 10 yrs. (That is if it doesn't blow up like the majority of others seem to find a way to do) 

To me, this is an asset. To others, it is a useless waste of time. That is why an asset does not have to be anything specifically set aside by some great and almighty committee. If you own something outright, and find that it "will provide future benefit" than it is an asset. Now technically, according to the law, assets are a little more complicated than this. I am sure that the government will not have me include my Xbox as an asset on any of their documents. But we are going to keep this simple with easy to understand examples. 

In your lives, your assets will be anything from a home to a car. Your current retirement savings can also be considered an asset. Anything of worth or value that has a future expected return is an asset.

Is that simple enough? At first I believed that it was, but toward the end I could hear snoring and the fate noise of someone clicking the tiny "x" in the corner of the internet tab.
Keep it simple stupid!

Name Brand V.S. Generic

We all have been to the store, with a budget of course, but often find it difficult to leave on that budgeted amount. A great way to do this is by buying generic items rather than name brand. Sure, I know that most believe that brand matters. In some cases I believe them to be correct. But for example, sugar is sugar, flour is flour, and milk is milk. Basic ingredients such as these are very similar in quality.
Let me make an example. I currently am in school, but work part time for a cheese factory. I know, I know, how can a cheese factory employee know anything about finances. Well, for starters, college students have very little money, and therefore must save money in all places and times. Gossner's Foods is one of the leading producers of Swiss Cheese in the US. You will find our cheese both being sold by name brand companies, and your generic Wal-Mart brands. There is no difference between them, just price and the "shiny" packaging on the expensive brand.
Take my advice, generic is no different. It is worth the money you save, and with that money you save you will begin to make more money. Remember, money amassed can make more money. So when you're shopping next time, remember that Kraft mac and cheese and Western Family mac and cheese are great substitutes. Live cheap, and extend that budgeted money a little further!

Save and Behave

Save and behave. These seem to contain the exact opposite meaning in America today. Why is that? Modern America has become known as the biggest consumer on the planet. We, as Americans, have a tendency to pursue shiny objects. Anything that has bling, sparkle or dazzle catches our eye, drawing ourselves and our pockets into a black hole of debt.
Debt- is defined in my opinion as enslaving an individuals dollars, services and overall person to another. Why would anyone want to become a slave? What causes this bondage to occur voluntarily? I can honestly tell you that I do not understand behaviorism nor social interacts. Nor am I the perfect example of a saver and behaver. I have fallen victim to slavery myself, and am currently working with this ball and chain on my ankle. All of my current dollars are tied to another. My personal worth is nothing short of zero. But I am here to describe a process by which others may follow that will help us escape this bondage, catch hold of OUR own dollars, and turn them into our own benefit.
Money is your best tool to make more money. Many will say that it is easier for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer, but this is due to the fact that sometimes the rich understand that ones wishes and wants do not always need to be obtained in one day. The Jones are only the Jones. I don't want to be a Jones, I don't need that shiny new boat, I don't need that big new shiny house, and I don't need that shiny new car. (Note: shiny in every want) I want freedom, I want security and I want my money back! For after all, it is MY money!
Join me here, and decide for yourself, that YOUR money is YOUR money!