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Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich, believes that a person does not have to be a genius to become rich. Any person can become wealthy if he thinks positively and has a deep desire to achieve his goal.

Positive Thinking: You must see your financial dreams and know that you will be able to attain them. You must already own them.

If you begin making up every rationalization under the sun why you can’t succeed, pinch yourself. You have to discipline your body and mind to think positive thoughts. Teach yourself that those kind of thought patterns are unacceptable. You can obtain greatness, even if you are not the smartest, most talented, or best looking person in the world. Success is your if you’ll just allow it to come into your life. Don’t underestimate the power of your thoughts.

Burning Desire: Hill tells a true tale of a man named Edwin Barnes who desired to become Thomas Edison’s partner. Most of us would have scoffed at him had we lived back then. Edwin Barnes was a nobody. Nevertheless, he had a deep desire, a life dream, and he was determined. He went to Thomas Edison and convinced him to hire him. He did not instantly achieve his dream, but he worked hard and ultimately became Thomas Edison’s partner. This was a feat everyone thought was impossible.

Edwin Barnes followed these 7 steps to gain this great success:

1. Choose a definite dream.

2. Put all your energy into that dream.

3. Be willing to do menial work at first.

4. Visualize your dream.

5. Form a strategy.

6. Endure through the hard times.

7. Eliminate any way to retreat.

As you focus on obtaining your goals, answer these questions: What is the exact amount of money I want? What am I willing to sacrifice for it? What exact date do I want this money by? What is my strategy?

Don’t forget, to successful people, there is no such thing as defeat. What looks like defeat is no more than a great opportunity. Start creating opportunities out of failures and being successful today!

NOTE: Use of this article requires links to be intact.

To learn more about obtaining wealth visit our Rich Dad Poor Dad page. A college student herself, Elise Fisher enjoys writing articles to help college students learn more About-Student-Loans.com http://About-Student-Loans.com and other finance options.

AP - A Manchester man has been arrested after he allegedly strolled along Interstate 291 wearing nothing but a thong, fake breasts and a wig. Police say they received several calls about the man, which prompted an hour-long search over the weekend.

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I love to knit. Not discounting the occasional cuss word when perfect is not achieved, I have to say I find it relaxing and knitting brings me peace.

That said, there was “The Sweater”.

I had picked out a sweet cabled cardigan for my then four year old granddaughter. Ashley has soft brown hair and a pixie look about her. When I looked at that pattern, I pictured her romping through fields of wild flowers with a gentle breeze blowing through her tumbling locks….get the picture?

I picked a steel blue yarn and settled into my rocker for a decent session of knitting. Armed with a cup of tea, I cast on the back of “The Sweater”. I will not go into the detail of the trials and tribulations of completing a sweater I know originated in the depths of hell. When I was too far into the project to even consider frogging it, I had faced typos, pattern errors and instructions that skipped entire sections of needed directions.

I tensed every time I even looked at the knitting bag that held that sweater. I found any excuse to start and knit to completion many other projects while “The Sweater” lay in wait. Christmas loomed. I NEEDED to get on with Ashley’s sweater. At this point all my other grandchildren had a finished sweater.

One morning as I was complaining to my daughter, Lori, about my ordeal, she chastised me for knitting bad thoughts and vibes into her niece’s gift.

That conversation got me to thinking. Knitting a gift for someone we love is as close to hugging them as we can get without actually enveloping them in our arms. Generally, as I knit on something for someone I love, I am filled with warmth and feelings of joy. I think that’s why we get so passionate about knitting. We are literally sharing a piece of ourselves with the recipient.

After that chat with Lori I decided to change my attitude about Ashley’s sweater. As I knit on it, I thought about how beautifully the pieces were fitting together, I patted myself on the back for overcoming a very poorly written pattern and creating a lovely sweater.

When I wrapped that sweater in tissue I actually caressed it before putting the box cover on. I loved that sweater.

I will never knit harsh thoughts into another gift for a cherished loved one. I will, good naturedly, approach each difficult step with positive thoughts and I will frog the sucker immediately if I feel one iota of negativity flowing from my fingers to that yarn!

Holly Burnham is a self admitted yarn addict. The addiction will be life long and there is no hope of remission. Her constant knitting has put the cleanliness of her home in peril. Her yarn stashes are havens for generations of moths. At the risk of contracting this affliction, visit her at www.knittinghaven.com http://www.knittinghaven.com

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For many recent college graduates the repayment period on their student loans is about to begin due to the end of the six-month grace period. As many graduates find their student loan payment booklets in their mailboxes, which typically arrive approximately 30 to 60 days before the first due date for payment, it is important for graduates to make their payments on time. Some graduates may be in a position to make the scheduled “level repayment,” while others will find themselves in a burdensome financial situation.

Phoenix-based NextStudent, the premier education funding company offers free advice and a variety of repayment options for students. Repaying student loans ( www.nextstudent.com/student-loans/student-loans.asp http://www.nextstudent.com/student-loans/student-loans.asp ) is serious business. However, there are various options depending on a graduate’s situation, most repayments are set to “level repayment,” unless otherwise noted.

Not every college graduate is settled into life after college, and not every graduate is employed. Some graduates still are searching for a job while others have moved home to save money. Life immediately after college can be a little stressful. There are so many things to get in order along with a new job, such as a place to live and a vehicle to get you where you need to go.

By contacting NextStudent after receipt of their payment booklet, graduates can speak to Education Finance Advisers and receive free guidance about the other available repayment plans. Income-sensitive and extended repayment plans are available by directly contacting the lender. With graduated repayment plans, graduates agree initially to pay lower payments. However, the payment amount increases every two years. This is a good choice for those graduates who feel or know that their salary will increase over time.

Forbearance is an option that graduates can use for any given reason. Graduates can use forbearance for up to three years. However, it is important to note that interest continues to accrue throughout the forbearance period.

There are those graduates who opt to defer their student loan payments. With deferment, student loan payments are postponed for a maximum of three years. While in deferment, interest will not accrue on subsidized loans. Graduates must show economic hardship to be eligible.

There are many available options for student loan repayment. NextStudent knows that when a grace period ends, it not always is the best time for graduates to repay their student loans. The Education Finance Advisers are there to help students and graduates with all the questions they may have regarding repayment and the options available to help make life easier and more manageable including student loan consolidation ( www.nextstudent.com http://www.nextstudent.com ).

About NextStudent

NextStudent, www.nextstudent.com/ http://www.nextstudent.com/ , federal lender code 834051, is dedicated to helping students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education finance counseling and has a portfolio of highly competitive education finance products and services including a free online scholarship search engine, federally guaranteed parent and student loans, private student loans, both federal and private student loan consolidation ( www.nextstudent.com http://www.nextstudent.com ) programs, and college savings plans.

The NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, one of the nation’s oldest and largest scholarship search engines, is updated daily, available free of charge, completely private - and represents 2.4 million scholarships worth $3.4 billion.

For more information about NextStudent and its student loan programs, please visit the company’s Web site at www.nextstudent.com/ http://www.nextstudent.com/ .

Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.

AP - Kurt Busch had strategy and luck on his side. Tony Stewart had neither.

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As a real estate mom, juggling goals between work and kids can be difficult on its own. Fitting in some all important time for dad can often seem overwhelming, and can easily get lost in the shuffle. With today’s hectic lifestyles of combining careers with family, it may seem impossible to pencil in those additional precious minutes necessary for dad. With some forethought, not only can it be done, but in doing so, you will strengthen the bonds that make up your family. Below, you will find five easy to plan steps to add dad to your schedule:

1. Get up early! Maybe the last thing you want to hear, but a couple of mornings per week try to carve out an extra thirty minutes to share breakfast with your honey. The house will be quiet for you and dad to share coffee and converse.

2. Combine errands! Meet dad at the grocery store to do the weekly shopping. Sound mundane to you? It doesn’t have to be - without the kids along, it can be a way to get a necessary job completed, and still spend time with dad.

3. Meet for Lunch! You know how to make lunch appointments - so schedule one with dad. It will almost feel like a date with no kids in tow. You can even attach a “no work, no kids” discussion rule over these lunches, if you want. It’s personal, so keep it that way!

4. Plan a Date Night! Whether once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month - plan one night that is for you and dad to go out. It can be for a movie, for dinner, or even an outside evening picnic. Once you make the dates, don’t break them!

5. Plan Stay at Home Dates! Once a week, plan a night for you and dad at home. Cook dinner together, rent a movie, curl up on the couch, play a game - whatever you want! You can start the evening with family time to include the kids, but once they’re in bed, spend the remainder of the evening with each other.

The End Result

As a real estate mom, you completely understand how important communication is within your business. Don’t forget it is as important in your personal relationships. Keeping the channels of communication open with dad is one of the first, and possibly most vital, steps in assuring the backbone of your family remains strong.

Yes, focusing on your business is necessary to the growth of your career, but you don’t need to take anything away from that to also focus on your family, including dad. Making the effort to find spaces of time to devote to this relationship will assist in keeping every part of your family strong. Also, don’t forget that these little moments will serve to recharge your own batteries, so you can keep forging ahead in your career.

Busy people, especially real-estate moms, often set their own personal needs aside to fulfill everyone else’s. This can only lead to energy burn-out. Finding the proper balance in all areas of your life - from yourself, to dad, to your kids, and to your business will result in the perfect blend of success.

Real Estate and Life Coach Cheri Alguire has partnered with hundreds of Real Estate Professionals to help them become more successful in business and in life. Coach Cheri offers Group Coaching for Moms, Working Mothers and Pregnant Women in Real Estate, on how to balance careers with family responsibility. Learn more at www.realestatemoms.com http://www.realestatemoms.com , and visit Coach Cheri’s Real Estate Moms blog at www.realestatemoms.com/blog http://www.realestatemoms.com/blog .

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Working at home and being able to quit a 9-to-5 job is probably one of the greatest dreams for most American families. Slowly, but surely, many people are making that dream come true. But before you quit your day job, take a moment to review all of the benefits and costs, especially as it relates to your family and household.

The major benefit of working at home is being your own boss! Nothing is more rewarding then working at something that interests you and sharing it with your family! It may take some time, but the rewards are life changing. Read Marsha Sinetar’s book, Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow to help develop your interests.

Being available for your children when they come home from school is a great home-business perk. Think about all the time that’s missed with your kids when you’re tied to the 9-to-5 routine. How wonderful to be able to share some time with them, especially in their formative years.

Another benefit - the household expenses of a home business are tax deductible. You can deduct part of your monthly bills. Consult with your accountant or tax preparer for all of the benefits. Be sure to keep accurate records and a daily journal. Take a look at Quicken Home and Business for tracking all of your home office and household expenses.

But working at home is not always the ideal situation. There are many issues that will affect your family and household. First and foremost are the financial issues. If you’re currently employed, will you be able to handle the reduced income - initially, at least - when you don’t have a steady paycheck? You may want to consider working your business part time while holding down a full time job.

Are you truly a self-starter? Don’t kid yourself - it takes a very dedicated and disciplined person to work from home and still make time for family. There’s always a joy to share and distractions to overcome, especially when it involves your family.

Can you set boundaries for the family? Working at home can be confusing to kids. Set some basic rules for them to follow. Let them know your work hours and tell them you expect not to be disturbed. (As the boss, though, you still reserve the right to surprise them on occassion by quitting early and doing something fun!)

Some basic rules that will help you and your family handle the new work at home environment:

* Prepare a work schedule at the beginning of every week. Post your schedule in a prominent location so family members can check it to see when you’re available.

* Keep a business phone separate from your home phone. You’ll be sure to always get your messages, and you’ll create a more professional business image when you personally answer your business phone.

* Keep office supplies separate from home and school supplies. Give the kids their own office supply center elsewhere in the house.

Though these issues can and probably will arise, working from home is still the greatest dream for most American families. Learning to set, and more importantly, enforce boundaries for your family will make your business a bit less complicated and a lot more fun.

Seth Townsend writes for Work at Home Parents in Marietta, GA. Visit www.wah-parents.com http://www.wah-parents.com for inspirational articles and to learn more about working at home.

AP - A 14-year-old girl riding in a mountain bike race was attacked in the dark of night by a bear Sunday and severely injured, but she was able to make a brief 911 call that eventually resulted in her rescue.

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You have probably witnessed that eating a healthy breakfast can save you from cravings later during the day and can actually assist your effort in loosing the excess weight you have been carrying around for some time now. But, as time has lately been considered a luxury not many people have during the day and especially during a busy weekday morning, starting the day off with eating a healthy breakfast is now a lost nutritional practice. Between battling work problems and prepare ourselves for another demanding day, we have forgotten to pay attention to the most important meal of the day and usually try to find time to squeeze in a cup of milk or in best cases a whole bowl of cereals. The contemporary fast-paced world has directed people to become superheroes, managing double of even triple careers, but forgetting to manage their own daily food intake. If you think that your body is the only instrument you have to continue performing all the tasks you want, perhaps it is time to pay attention to its nutritional needs and fulfill them accordingly.

But it is more convincing to start our argument from the beginning. Millions of people who skip breakfast and have never invested time in researching the consequences of their act, usually wonder why do experts regard breakfast as the most important meal of the day and how come it is still the most important meal of the day, surpassing the nutritional value of a healthy lunch or even dinner. However, for millions others who do eat a healthy breakfast, their secret to good health lies within this first day’s meal. So, it is vital for you to understand why eating breakfast is crucial for your overall heath. While you are sleeping, your body continues to perform its functions and thus consuming resources, but in a lower rate than when you are awake since your metabolism slows down to compensate for the decreased energy needs. After waking up in the morning, because your body does not have enough time to return to its normal state is still experiencing the decreased metabolism state which can be ceased with eating a healthy breakfast. That is actually why it has this particular name break the fasting process. Thus, a healthy breakfast will end the calorie conservation period and will allow your metabolism to increase to its normal levels. This is why when you actually eat in the morning you feel that your energy levels have increased and you are ready to begin your day’s tasks. Moreover, for those of you who are dieting in order to loose weight, you should know that skipping breakfast will not save you from the calories you are trying to avoid. By deciding not to begin your day with a healthy intake, you are not allowing your body’s metabolism to go back to its normal state and you actually loose a protein called leptin that has been discovered to keep your body working efficiently and thus loosing weight.

Since now you are familiar with the basics on metabolism and overnight fasting, you should concentrate on what your healthy breakfast should include. Avoid simple carbs and concentrate on consuming complex carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats. Whole wheat bread, cereals, white meats, eggs, low-fat dairy products, vegetables and fruits are excellent breakfast choices. Remember to eat small portions throughout the day, but not to exclude breakfast from your daily nutritional plan. Soon you will be grateful for waking up ten minutes earlier but at the end of the day you will have much more energy to spare and you will feel fitter and healthier all day long.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for inutritioncentral.com/ http://inutritioncentral.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for wonderfulworldoffood.com// http://wonderfulworldoffood.com// and healthandourworld.com/ http://healthandourworld.com/ .

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Comfort Of Strangers is the latest Pop CD put out by the highly talented Beth Orton who once again has delivered a brilliant collection of tracks. I’m confident Beth Orton fans, and Pop fans alike will be pleased with this one.

I wish it weren,t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Comfort Of Strangers. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Comfort Of Strangers is a pleasantly varied, mix of 14 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly outstanding artist. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Seemingly drawing from what I can only imagine are her own personal experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions like love, heartbreak, pain, failed relationships and unattainable romance. They’re all here.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you’ve got one of Beth Orton’s most impressive releases ever.

This is a first rate CD, delivering a little something for everyone. I give it my highest recommendation. It’s quite simply great listening. A must buy if you’re even mildly into Pop music.

If you’re a Beth Orton fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you don’t even have to be a fan of Orton, or even Pop to know is good. It’s just good music. Period.

While this entire album is really very good the truly standout tunes are track 3 - Heartland Truckstop, track 5 - Comfort Of Strangers, and track 10 - Safe In Your Arms.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore […as in Stuck On REpeat ] is track 6 - Shadow Of A Doubt. Outstanding!

Comfort Of Strangers Release Notes:

Beth Orton originally released Comfort Of Strangers on Feb 7, 2006 on the Astralwerks label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Worms 2. Countenance 3. Heartland Truckstop 4. Rectify 5. Comfort Of Strangers 6. Shadow Of A Doubt 7. Conceived 8. Absinthe 9. A Place Aside 10. Safe In Your Arms 11. Shopping Trolley 12. Feral 13. Heart Of Soul 14. Pieces Of Sky

Personnel: Beth Orton; TJ Doherty, Tim B.. Recording information: Sear Sound Studio, New York, New York (2005).

Clyde Lee Dennis a life long music enthusiast, writes CD reviews and is also the Real Estate Editor at Tampa.eNewsBriefs.com http://Tampa.eNewsBriefs.com covering topics like Tampa Florida Real Estate and more. Visit Tampa eNewsBriefs for the latest Tampa News

AP - Leonard Pennario, a Grammy-winning pianist and best-selling classical recording artist, has died. He was 83.

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How many times have you been tempted to complain about other people? How many times have you ridiculed, complained at or been hurt by another person’s actions? Surely we all have dealt with these types of situations.

What is the best way to handle these situations in a God pleasing manner?

E.E. Jenkins has written a book that will help you deal with some of these destructive circumstances that you find yourself in. Don’t Hate Your Enemies Just Step on Them will have you looking at these situations differently. Is it really the person who you hate or is it their words and actions? It’s not really the individuals that are treating you this poorly.

There is only one to blame: Satan. Blaming certainly has been around since the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God has his reasons for putting these type of people in our lives for His purpose. In Romans 8:28 it is written and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

It sounds like a strange idea to actually love your enemies, doesn’t it? But do you realize that God tells us to do exactly that. It is written in I John 4:7-8: Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God - for God is love.

Don’t Hate Your Enemies Just Step on Them takes a look at not judging others. It talks about making checks on yourself on how you handle these things. Complaining and its destructive damage is looked at in two chapters. The power of anger is given a chapter of its own. Looking at forgiveness and how forgiving you really are and what should motivate you to forgive others, this book has many great points.

One of the most helpful parts of this book that I found is the chapter entitled The Power of Agreement. E.E Jenkins gives the reader suggestions as to how to agree. Disagreement is one of the key stumbling blocks that the enemy uses to perpetuate division. E.E. Jenkins shares his acronym for AGREE which is definitely something that is worth remembering when involved in a relational dispute. He also gives you a chart of different oppositions and solutions which will help you look to the Word to help you develop a God-pleasing solution to dealing with angry and complaining people.

When being faced with destructive criticism or wondering why I must endure these type of people, I will certainly remember this book. I enjoy the way that E.E. Jenkins uses appropriate Scripture verses to get his point across. I would have to say this is a must-read for every Christian, from young to old. You too can love others rather than hating your enemies or circumstances!

E.E. Jenkins
Published by Milestones International Publishers (2006)
ISBN 0924748702
Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (4/07)

Bishop Jenkins is the senior pastor and founder of the True Servant Worship & Praise Church, located in Trenton, New Jersey. He invites you to visit his site www.donthateyourenemies.com http://www.donthateyourenemies.com .

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For Seniors This Does Compute

Probably the most prevalent, and perhaps least costly of any training anywhere are computer courses. In fact, computer courses are about the most important courses offered, as they provide skills needed for personal as well as business acumen.

Community colleges, senior centers, community centers, non-profit organizations, high schools, colleges, universities and private for-profit firms all offer computer courses. Many retails and office supply stores, as well as e-merchants, offer computer courses by e-book, POD (print on demand), Web-based training and CD or DVD.

For seniors especially the choice in computer courses is diverse, plentiful and generally low cost. One of the perks of growing old is the right to become part of what is fast becoming a commonplace college affiliated organization - Creative Retirement centers. These are typically cropping up on the campuses of community colleges and state universities and offer computer courses, discounts on standard college courses, senior computer centers, events, trips and get togethers such as meetings, dances and dinners.

The impetus behind these creative retirement facilities and organizations and their computer centers and computer courses was the University of North Carolina and its Asheville campus. The home of the Center for Creative Retirement, UNC Ashville each Memorial Weekend hosts a weekend get-together for seniors or about-to-be-retirees, with a look at the various facilities and housing available locally, the various courses including computer courses offered at the UNC campus club, and a tour of the local area.

The College for Seniors is a program of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, established in 1988. With full access to the resources of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, College for Seniors members keep mentally and physically fit through participation in classes and possibly even teaching a class or two.

College for Seniors draws from members’ experiences and professional expertise as well as from the UNCA faculty to offer four terms each year. Courses range from Chaucer to computers, foreign affairs to opera, yoga to history. Held on the UNCA campus and at community locations, courses are non-credit, with no tests or grades, open to all interested adults. Members collaborate with staff to teach, learn, design curricula and arrange special events. Educational travel opportunities are available. Term-renewable registration entitles members to as many courses as schedules permit.

All College for Seniors students are required to be members of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement. This membership allows participation in all Center for Creative Retirement programs and provides a UNCA parking permit, a UNCA identification card, and UNCA library privileges. There are no age limits for College for Seniors courses or Center for Creative Retirement membership.

Examples of computer courses offered as part of College for Seniors include a basic Getting Started with Computers course, Advanced Home Computer, Basic e-mail and Internet access, MS Word training, Excel Spreadsheet basics, and Power Point basics. The only prerequisites for the more advanced of these computer courses are knowledge of the keyboard and mouse, and comfort with the use of both. A basic knowledge of either Windows or Macintosh jargon and menu bar items such as filing, editing, viewing and inserting functions. You should also know commands such as copying, cutting and pasting, and standard and formatting toolbars.

For the beginning computer courses, you don’t even need these rudimentary understandings, though. The computer starter course assumed you’ve never used a computer before, and teaches the senior student how to navigate around the Internet, and how to conduct searches. Windows applications are taught as well in these basic courses. Here the retirees learn how to use word processing to save files, and to create folders. They also learn the basics of sending and receiving e-mail.

Robert Michael is a writer for Computer Courses which is an excellent place to find computer courses links, resources and articles. For more information go to: www.nhmxservers.com/cc http://www.nhmxservers.com/cc .

AP - Fresh-faced cadet candidates arrive Monday for buzz cuts, measurements for gray uniforms and a crash course in toeing the line, West Point style.

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The Basics

As I outlined in my previous article on budgeting ( www.cars-and-money.co.uk/tips/debt-management/debt-management.html http://www.cars-and-money.co.uk/tips/debt-management/debt-management.html ), setting the budget is relatively easy, sticking to the budget is the tough stuff.

It is a bit like going on a diet I suppose. The thing about being on a diet is you are always thinking about the things you cannot have rather than the things you can have. So it is not surprising that most people go off the rails when dieting - that cream cake was just too tempting this time.

In just the same way, if you have set a budget and put some cash in the bank to pay for it later, it will always be tempting to spend next month’s money today i.e. to go off the rails. Sticking to budgets is hard when you have been loose with money to date, but you have to do it - there is no choice.

Think of it this way. If you stick to the budget, things will steadily get better; if you do not then things will quickly get a lot worse. It is one incentive at least.

The principle is outlined clearly by Mr Micawber in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield:

“if a man had twenty pounds a-year for his income, and spent nineteen pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence, he would be happy, but .. if he spent twenty pounds one he would be miserable”

The quote is famous, what is not so famous is that having said this Micawber then borrows money off David Copperfield for a drink then gives him an IOU in his wife’s name.

So just knowing what to do is not enough - the principles have to be followed.

Planning for Success

The principle here is very simple: failure to plan is planning to fail.

Clearly, you can deduce from this, the one thing that blows the budget time and time again is thoughtless, or unplanned, shopping. If it is food shopping then going to the shop without a plan, without a pre-established list is a recipe for failure.

Recent reports have suggested that one in six people now discards more than 10 per cent of their average weekly groceries shopping because the goods are either past their sell-by date or are no longer fresh. Salad and fresh vegetables are the most likely items to be thrown away. This is of course the result of not thinking through your weekly purchases and planning to use what you buy before you need to throw it out.

For example, when putting together your weekly food shopping list, plan the list around daily meals for the coming week and involve everyone. If you live with a family, or just a partner, everyone implicated in the budget has to be involved. It then becomes much less of a fight and strangely enough can be a very positive experience being something that you can all do together - not to mention a subject of much heated debate.

You need to know the price of things in the shop. Do not buy on the basis of it looking nice, look at the price and assess the value for money: the value to you. Get to know the prices of things so you can estimate spending before you go in the shop.

The key is in fact value for money, this is not necessarily about buying the cheapest option it is about value to you and if buying two food items today reduces your overall spend over two weeks - then spend more today and buy two to save money for next week.

Enough about food shopping, I will be covering it again in a later article along with another on assessing the value of purchases.

Focussed Shopping (not grazing)

The other substantial risk to budget adherence is of course non food shopping. The advice here is simple - give it up. This is very much a man / woman thing. Men generally will not take too much persuading to give up shopping, for women however browsing in shopping malls is a pleasant pass time and a good opportunity to pick up some great bargains in the sales (because we are cutting back aren’t we?).

Unfortunately the truth is that even the best bargain is expenditure nonetheless. If you have run up debt as a result of past spending sprees you may not need to spend money on clothes for at least a year. So don’t! Buy what you ‘need’ only and go directly to the shop you need to buy it from, buy it, then leave the shop and the mall (if applicable).

Do Something Else

There are pastimes, other than shopping, which do not require expenditure and you should look them up - they will keep you occupied, stop you thinking about all of the things you do not have and save you a fortune.

I will be covering this in more detail in a later article, but consider this: if you live near the seaside (in the UK you are never more than 75 miles from the sea), taking the kids to the seaside for a picnic will cost next to nothing, but will keep the whole family occupied for a day. However, make sure you pre-plan the day and take everything you need with you, bought at supermarket prices - not at local tourist shop rates.

Review & Revise

Another general principle in all of this is to be constantly aware of the budget that has been set and to constantly review set figures and performance. If you have changed insurance providers to reduce costs make sure you review it again next time it comes up for renewal (normally every year). Equally gas and electric consumption can be reduced and you should resist the siren call of direct debit and standing orders. Sometimes discounts can be obtained by using direct debit and it is difficult to argue against that, but service providers (e.g. gas / electric) can make mistakes and with direct debits you then have to get the money back after they have made the mistake and the money is with them. Remember 9 tenths of the civil law is possession.

In particular, not using automatic payments will stop you going overdrawn by mistake and will make you focus every month on each individual item of expenditure and make you think about ways of reducing it further. Discuss this with your partner at least once a month and maintain a continual focus on your money and where it is going. An annoying and painful process I know, but one of the secrets of successfully sticking to your budget nonetheless.

Reward

This is all very miserable stuff really. It is like outlining a manifesto to be miserable, a new stoic philosophy along the lines of some of the more extreme religious philosophies. Spontaneity is spurned and it seems you will never be happy again. If it seems that way, then it will fail; you will fail.

Just going back to the diet analogy, the successful dieters set themselves short term targets and provide themselves with rewards when they hit those targets. They also have a long term objective they are working towards with a big reward in the end.

If you are dealing with debt, a long term target may be simply to be debt free. A worthy target with a wonderful reward in the end: perhaps you should sweeten the deal with an affordable holiday to celebrate what could be years of careful budgeting.

Equally you may be working towards a house purchase - a mountain to climb for many people these days. You need to set yourself some success staging posts along the way.

For example, in dealing with the food budget problem, always aim to under spend on your target budget amount. Put at least some of the saving to one side. This under spend could now be used for trips to the pub etc. This will make you think twice about over indulging during a normal week as it will jeopardise a treat later in the week or (more likely) later in the month.

You can get a great deal of leverage from this by careful spending - that drink, meal or trip to the cinema will be so much sweeter when you have worked extra hard to earn it.

Better still make the reward some time off, or new clothes - something with lasting value. You need to decide what will turn you on.

With respect to the long term objective, never lose sight of this. If it is a new house - hang a picture of your ideal home on the wall or put a small picture above the TV to keep it fresh in your mind always.

Never forget your objective and last, but not least:

never ever give up.

For more tips on budgeting and financial management, see:
www.cars-and-money.co.uk/tips http://www.cars-and-money.co.uk/tips

For low cost vehicle loans and cheap cars see:
www.cash-drive.co.uk http://www.cash-drive.co.uk
Keith Wallis is a freelance writer on the subjects of debt management and personal finance in the UK.

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