The 1st Step to money mastery is know your current financial position
And this makes sense, right?
If you were driving and you weren’t certain of the directions you might do what I’d do which is use Google Maps. What’s the first thing Google Maps asks you after you’ve entered your destination?
Do you want to leave from your current location!
Why does it do that?
Because if it doesn’t know you are it’s really hard to plan an effective route to where you want to go.
And the same applies to your financial journey…
If you want to get from A to B financially you’re got to know where A is So, how do you figure out your current financial position?
Well here’s a simple and effective way strategy…
Make a list of everything that you own and the corresponding dollar value if you sold it.
Then make a list of everything that you owe and how much is outstanding. In accounting terms this is known as your Balance Sheet and it’s a great snap shot about how things are for you currently. So there it is… really straight forward. All you need to do is figure out how much you own and how much you owe.
And to make it even easier I’ve created for you a FREE Own vs Owe resource right here on the website that you can download.
http://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.png00zagleveragehttp://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.pngzagleverage2014-12-06 05:33:582014-12-08 06:34:56Your Current Position
The 2nd Step to money mastery is – Track your Spending
Track your spending or what you put on your credit card. Here’s where we figure out exactly what you’re spending.
In my experience, many people who’re struggling financially have no idea about how much they’re spending. However pretty much every successful person I know is tracking how much they make and how much they spend.
There’s an old saying that ‘success leaves clues’ – well that gives us a big clue right there! Everyone who wants to be successful needs to track what they’re spending. Remember to include credit cards, charge cards, store cards and automatic payments
‘Well how do you do it then?’ Ok, I hear you! Again keep it really simple. If you’ve got a smart phone and are ok with technology – download an app to track each purchase you make. Or if you want to go low tech but still be effective you can just keep a notepad and pencil in your pocket and make a note of everything you purchase.
Or if you like can download your free resources Track Your Spending right here on the site
Simply start by tracking your spending for one month. Now there’ll probably be other bills that come up once every 2 or 3 months that won’t be captured in the month you’re tracking although it’ll give you a good sense of how much you’re spending and where your money is going.
Cool fact – most people who track their spending find that they’re spending patterns change just because they’re tracking it. Interesting!
http://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.png00zagleveragehttp://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.pngzagleverage2014-12-06 05:33:362014-12-08 07:33:18Track Your Spending
The 3rd Step to money mastery is – Spend and charge less than you make.
This is where we’re going to focus on spending only on your essential expenses so you have more of the money you make each week, left over.
Now for most of us, if we accidentally cut our hand and can see it bleeding we’d apply pressure and put a bandaid on it to stop the bleeding right? Of course! It’s common sense. If we don’t stop the bleeding and our blood for some reason wouldn’t clot then we’re going to be in big trouble!
Well the average person in most of the first world countries is actually spending more than they make. This is financial insanity! It’s like they’re bleeding financially and they most probably know it and what’s worse , they’re not doing anything to stop it.
Go ahead and do your own research and check out how many people in the country you live in went bankrupt last year. There are thousands and probably hundreds of thousands of people around the world who now have to have someone from the government look after their money because they’ve been unable to do it effectively for themselves. Not to mention the widespread stigma and embarrassment of bankruptcy and most bankrupts haven’t even got the freedom to go overseas on a holiday!
Let’s make sure that’s not you!
Now that you’ve tracked your spending you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re spending your money on ask yourself whether it is a need or a want? If you know your $5 a day on coffee is a want but you’re struggling to give it up then think how much does it cost you across a year? If you still think it’s worth $1825 then figure out how much it will cost you for the remainder of your working career? For example of you are 45 and have 20 years more at work then your $5 coffee actually costs you $36,500. Actually it costs you even more! Try $41,484 because that $5 a day could have been invested at 5%.
Are you ready now to give up that coffee a day and drink some water?
I trust so!
This is absolutely one area of your finances that you’re going to need to figure out because great wealth will never come to those who spend more than they make.
http://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.png00zagleveragehttp://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.pngzagleverage2014-12-06 05:33:132014-12-08 07:42:54Spend Less Than You Make
The 4th Step to money mastery is – Invest to increase your wealth!
Ok now that you’ve handled step 3 you’re ready to really move your financial position forward. This is WAAAAAY exciting and it’s your pay off for handling steps 1, 2 and 3 – because now you get to step 4 – ‘invest to increase your wealth’.
Think about this concept for a minute. Each dollar you earn is a ‘new servant’ in your household – ready to go out into the world and do great things for you – building your assets even bigger & stronger. It’s a great mental picture that can help you keep focused on your effective investment strategies. Your money – or your servants will protect you if bad times come along. And your servants will also help you grow your empire by discovering new pristine uninhabited lands.
Most people back in step 3 are spending all they make and effectively ‘eating’ their servants! If you eat all your servants how can they help you grow your empire or protect you from disaster
However, that’s not you! Now you know better…
Now you can put your servants to work and invest your left over money from step 3 so YOUR money is literally making YOU money.
Ok this is where research and confidence are important…
You’re going to need to start researching possible options and up-skill yourself in the area of investments. Now this is going to take some time and information-gathering so you’re clear on the best investment options that suit your goals and match your comfort level with relative risk.
In most cases the greater the return an investment offers, the greater the risk. There are a number of factors that you’ll need to balance personally to assess what’s called your ‘risk profile’.
If you’re interested to know what levels of risk are suitable for you and your situation you can click here.
Things like your age can make a difference to how much risk you want in your investments – because if you’re younger you have more time to recoup any losses from a negative investment. Whereas the closer you are to retirement the less time you have to recover and so the more prudent you’re likely to be.
This is a big area and there’s too much detail to cover in this blog, so what we’ll do is get you started on your very own, simple investment strategy.
This investment strategy is called your ‘Cash Reserve’.
I’ve found that many people manage to handle step 1, 2 and 3 – HOWEVER they’ve said they’ve come unstuck financially when they lost their job or their business went under or they were sideswiped by some other major bill.
So how do you protect yourself from unknown upcoming factors that may threaten your finances?
Fortunately, it’s very straight forward!
Firstly figure out the difference between what you make and what you earn and put it aside into the best account you can find at your local bank, By best account I mean one that that gives you the highest interest rate possible. Keep saving into that account until you’ve saved what I call a ‘cushion’ of 3 months’ worth of your regular monthly expenses. Now your servants are protecting you from any possible financial challenge in the future. In the meantime, you take the next 3 months to get another income stream up and running.
What this means, literally, is that once you’ve completed step 4 you’ll be better organised in your financial affairs than most people on the planet!
It’s Step 5 to money mastery. This is where you find out how to make more.
Most of my clients report that more and more money making opportunities started to appear once they got their financial picture sorted. And it’s SO true!
The way I think of it, is that we need to show we can effectively manage the money we have before opportunities will show up that can help us to grow even more.
For some of you, what I’m going to say next will sound strange. If you’re already running a small business and you want to make more money – put your prices up by 10%. Most small business owners under charge for their services and prefer not to put their prices up because they think they’ll lose customers. However, for most, a 10% price increase isn’t even noticed by their customers. Instead, there is one place where you will notice it – your bottom line.
Let me tell you a story…
When my wife and I first looked at putting our prices up in our health clinic we debated it for ages because we were concerned a lot of our clients would stop coming. Well when we did put our prices up our clients hardly even noticed and that 10% went straight to our bottom line.
To help you see how many customers you’d need to lose before it affects your bottom line click here
Now if you’re an employee, what can you do?
Find another job that pays more thatn the one you’ve got or find a second job that you can do in your spare time. Or even find a way to add more value to your company and ask for a pay rise!
If you’d like some ideas on how to add value to your company and get a pay rise I’ve got some suggestions for you in your free resources
Another option would be to start a small business from home that you run in your spare time to bring in some extra cash. There are handy added tax benefits for most employees when they start a business from home and it’s actually an effective and legitimate way to keep more of the money that you make at your job.
If you’re not familiar with business and don’t have a clear strategy on how to set themselves up in a business or even how to select a business so they don’t put their time into a dud, then let’s have a chat or you can join me in my next ‘Home Business Boot Camp’ where I teach YOU everything you need to know to get a viable business up and running – right from your own home.
So!
You now have all 5 steps to YOUR money mastery to start you on your own path to financial security and ultimate independence.
Now what’s your next step?
Well your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to complete step 1 now and then move to step 2 until you’ve completed all 5 steps.
Here’s to your next steps! I’m looking forward to hearing about YOUR success!
And remember to use the free resources; I put them there for you 🙂
http://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.png00zagleveragehttp://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.pngzagleverage2014-12-06 05:32:322014-12-08 07:44:42Make More Money
Understand your current worth to the company. A good company knows how much you’re contributing to the company’s profit at the end of the year. It’s equally important that you understand how much your role contributes to the company bottom line as well.
Check around your industry and find out how much other similar companies pay for similar work.
Figure out whether you’re under paid currently for your role.
If you’re under paid and you’d love a change how about you look around at your options. One way to change your pay is to change companies. Register yourself with a personnel company and get interviewing. Or you could apply for a role one rung higher on the corporate ladder than you currently have. Go on growth is good!
If you’re keen to stay in your current job then commit to mastering it. Start by mapping out the flow of the work and all the tasks that need to be done by you or in conjunction with someone else. Use this overview to look for bottle necks that you can remove and improve your performance.
Focus your time only on the work that gives you and your company it’s biggest returns.
Now that you’re more effective and can get more done than you previously did put up your hand for more work.
Track your results so you have a before and after picture for your boss when you’re negotiating a pay increase.
Understand your bosses role and what they get measured on to look good. When you understand what you can do to improve your performance and what your boss needs to also look good you’re going to be noticed for advancement or have a strong argument for better pay.
Decide to get better at sales. Pretty much every role in an organisation depends on communication and the better you get at communicating and influencing others the more you can help your company and your own cause. And it’s going to come in handy when you ask for a pay rise as well.
http://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.png00zagleveragehttp://www.chriswfolland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/zagleverage_white64.pngzagleverage2014-12-06 05:32:122014-12-08 07:45:1410 Tips To Increase Value At Work
Your Current Position
by zagleverageThe 1st Step to money mastery is know your current financial position
And this makes sense, right?
If you were driving and you weren’t certain of the directions you might do what I’d do which is use Google Maps. What’s the first thing Google Maps asks you after you’ve entered your destination?
Do you want to leave from your current location!
Why does it do that?
Because if it doesn’t know you are it’s really hard to plan an effective route to where you want to go.
And the same applies to your financial journey…
If you want to get from A to B financially you’re got to know where A is So, how do you figure out your current financial position?
Well here’s a simple and effective way strategy…
Make a list of everything that you own and the corresponding dollar value if you sold it.
Then make a list of everything that you owe and how much is outstanding. In accounting terms this is known as your Balance Sheet and it’s a great snap shot about how things are for you currently. So there it is… really straight forward. All you need to do is figure out how much you own and how much you owe.
And to make it even easier I’ve created for you a FREE Own vs Owe resource right here on the website that you can download.
Track Your Spending
by zagleverageThe 2nd Step to money mastery is – Track your Spending
Track your spending or what you put on your credit card. Here’s where we figure out exactly what you’re spending.
In my experience, many people who’re struggling financially have no idea about how much they’re spending. However pretty much every successful person I know is tracking how much they make and how much they spend.
There’s an old saying that ‘success leaves clues’ – well that gives us a big clue right there! Everyone who wants to be successful needs to track what they’re spending. Remember to include credit cards, charge cards, store cards and automatic payments
‘Well how do you do it then?’ Ok, I hear you! Again keep it really simple. If you’ve got a smart phone and are ok with technology – download an app to track each purchase you make. Or if you want to go low tech but still be effective you can just keep a notepad and pencil in your pocket and make a note of everything you purchase.
Or if you like can download your free resources Track Your Spending right here on the site
Simply start by tracking your spending for one month. Now there’ll probably be other bills that come up once every 2 or 3 months that won’t be captured in the month you’re tracking although it’ll give you a good sense of how much you’re spending and where your money is going.
Cool fact – most people who track their spending find that they’re spending patterns change just because they’re tracking it. Interesting!
Spend Less Than You Make
by zagleverageThe 3rd Step to money mastery is – Spend and charge less than you make.
This is where we’re going to focus on spending only on your essential expenses so you have more of the money you make each week, left over.
Now for most of us, if we accidentally cut our hand and can see it bleeding we’d apply pressure and put a bandaid on it to stop the bleeding right? Of course! It’s common sense. If we don’t stop the bleeding and our blood for some reason wouldn’t clot then we’re going to be in big trouble!
Well the average person in most of the first world countries is actually spending more than they make. This is financial insanity! It’s like they’re bleeding financially and they most probably know it and what’s worse , they’re not doing anything to stop it.
Go ahead and do your own research and check out how many people in the country you live in went bankrupt last year. There are thousands and probably hundreds of thousands of people around the world who now have to have someone from the government look after their money because they’ve been unable to do it effectively for themselves. Not to mention the widespread stigma and embarrassment of bankruptcy and most bankrupts haven’t even got the freedom to go overseas on a holiday!
Let’s make sure that’s not you!
Now that you’ve tracked your spending you’ll have a clear idea of what you’re spending your money on ask yourself whether it is a need or a want? If you know your $5 a day on coffee is a want but you’re struggling to give it up then think how much does it cost you across a year? If you still think it’s worth $1825 then figure out how much it will cost you for the remainder of your working career? For example of you are 45 and have 20 years more at work then your $5 coffee actually costs you $36,500. Actually it costs you even more! Try $41,484 because that $5 a day could have been invested at 5%.
Are you ready now to give up that coffee a day and drink some water?
I trust so!
This is absolutely one area of your finances that you’re going to need to figure out because great wealth will never come to those who spend more than they make.
Invest
by zagleverageThe 4th Step to money mastery is – Invest to increase your wealth!
Ok now that you’ve handled step 3 you’re ready to really move your financial position forward. This is WAAAAAY exciting and it’s your pay off for handling steps 1, 2 and 3 – because now you get to step 4 – ‘invest to increase your wealth’.
Think about this concept for a minute. Each dollar you earn is a ‘new servant’ in your household – ready to go out into the world and do great things for you – building your assets even bigger & stronger. It’s a great mental picture that can help you keep focused on your effective investment strategies. Your money – or your servants will protect you if bad times come along. And your servants will also help you grow your empire by discovering new pristine uninhabited lands.
Most people back in step 3 are spending all they make and effectively ‘eating’ their servants! If you eat all your servants how can they help you grow your empire or protect you from disaster
However, that’s not you! Now you know better…
Now you can put your servants to work and invest your left over money from step 3 so YOUR money is literally making YOU money.
Ok this is where research and confidence are important…
You’re going to need to start researching possible options and up-skill yourself in the area of investments. Now this is going to take some time and information-gathering so you’re clear on the best investment options that suit your goals and match your comfort level with relative risk.
In most cases the greater the return an investment offers, the greater the risk. There are a number of factors that you’ll need to balance personally to assess what’s called your ‘risk profile’.
If you’re interested to know what levels of risk are suitable for you and your situation you can click here.
Things like your age can make a difference to how much risk you want in your investments – because if you’re younger you have more time to recoup any losses from a negative investment. Whereas the closer you are to retirement the less time you have to recover and so the more prudent you’re likely to be.
This is a big area and there’s too much detail to cover in this blog, so what we’ll do is get you started on your very own, simple investment strategy.
This investment strategy is called your ‘Cash Reserve’.
I’ve found that many people manage to handle step 1, 2 and 3 – HOWEVER they’ve said they’ve come unstuck financially when they lost their job or their business went under or they were sideswiped by some other major bill.
So how do you protect yourself from unknown upcoming factors that may threaten your finances?
Fortunately, it’s very straight forward!
Firstly figure out the difference between what you make and what you earn and put it aside into the best account you can find at your local bank, By best account I mean one that that gives you the highest interest rate possible. Keep saving into that account until you’ve saved what I call a ‘cushion’ of 3 months’ worth of your regular monthly expenses. Now your servants are protecting you from any possible financial challenge in the future. In the meantime, you take the next 3 months to get another income stream up and running.
What this means, literally, is that once you’ve completed step 4 you’ll be better organised in your financial affairs than most people on the planet!
Make More Money
by zagleverageIt’s Step 5 to money mastery. This is where you find out how to make more.
Most of my clients report that more and more money making opportunities started to appear once they got their financial picture sorted. And it’s SO true!
The way I think of it, is that we need to show we can effectively manage the money we have before opportunities will show up that can help us to grow even more.
For some of you, what I’m going to say next will sound strange. If you’re already running a small business and you want to make more money – put your prices up by 10%. Most small business owners under charge for their services and prefer not to put their prices up because they think they’ll lose customers. However, for most, a 10% price increase isn’t even noticed by their customers. Instead, there is one place where you will notice it – your bottom line.
Let me tell you a story…
When my wife and I first looked at putting our prices up in our health clinic we debated it for ages because we were concerned a lot of our clients would stop coming. Well when we did put our prices up our clients hardly even noticed and that 10% went straight to our bottom line.
To help you see how many customers you’d need to lose before it affects your bottom line click here
Now if you’re an employee, what can you do?
Find another job that pays more thatn the one you’ve got or find a second job that you can do in your spare time. Or even find a way to add more value to your company and ask for a pay rise!
If you’d like some ideas on how to add value to your company and get a pay rise I’ve got some suggestions for you in your free resources
Another option would be to start a small business from home that you run in your spare time to bring in some extra cash. There are handy added tax benefits for most employees when they start a business from home and it’s actually an effective and legitimate way to keep more of the money that you make at your job.
If you’re not familiar with business and don’t have a clear strategy on how to set themselves up in a business or even how to select a business so they don’t put their time into a dud, then let’s have a chat or you can join me in my next ‘Home Business Boot Camp’ where I teach YOU everything you need to know to get a viable business up and running – right from your own home.
So!
You now have all 5 steps to YOUR money mastery to start you on your own path to financial security and ultimate independence.
Now what’s your next step?
Well your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to complete step 1 now and then move to step 2 until you’ve completed all 5 steps.
And after step 5? It’s time for you to set up your free ‘discovery session’. This is where you get to find out exactly how to move closer to your financial goals. So, just email me now to book your personal session – at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”>chris@zagleverage.com.
Here’s to your next steps! I’m looking forward to hearing about YOUR success!
And remember to use the free resources; I put them there for you 🙂
10 Tips To Increase Value At Work
by zagleverage