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  • Added for You - What Household Budget Percentage Breakdown Is Typical?

    Edmonton Bankruptcy Series: Bankruptcy and the Impact on Credit
    There are many misconceptions about how a bankruptcy impacts one’s credit. The largest of which is the belief that by filing for bankruptcy in Canada you eliminate any future ability to borrow money. This is not the case. Realistically there is only one restriction on borrowing money that exists, and that is while you are in bankruptcy (i.e. prior to receiving a discharge) you are not eligible to borrow $500.00 or more without informing the lending institution that you have not been yet been discharged from bankruptcy.Now this doesn’t mean that every lender is required to loan you money, nor that loans will be easy to get after filing a bankruptcy but with a little effort loans are easier to obtain than most people initially a
    income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doi

    Feeling Caught in Negativity? Go Watch Water
    A great philosophy professor named Luke Barber once told me: “If you are feeling caught in negativity and are struggling--go watch water.” My first reaction to that advice was confusion. It was hard to understand how this would apply to work interactions. He continued: “If you watch a river you might notice that water just flows. When it hits a rock it doesn't struggle with the rock, it flows around it. And, if you could watch this water long enough you would see that the water eventually wears away the rock. So, the next time you are facing negativity—let your mind be still for a moment and ask yourself, ‘what would water do?’”Soon afterwards, I had a chance to try it. I was facilitating a senior management meeting and our topi
    The typical American household budget percentage breakdown looks like the list below. For most of the categories a range is shown. A range makes more sense to help you see where your personal budget fits (or doesn't fit.) If your budget doesn't fit the typical American household budget, rejoice! The average American household budget is jacked up - we carry too much debt and we just don't save enough. We're so worried about our neighbor's new pool, our co-worker's new car and our friend's new designer shoes that we spend more than we earn to try and keep up. But take heart! Review the percentages below, compare your household budget and then read on to find out how you can move yourself into the elite minority of Americans who have mastered where their money goes.

    Typical Household Budget Percentages

    33-38% Housing (59%-66% of this is on shelter - mortgage interest, property taxes, repairs, and rent, and other items)

    15-19% Transportation (38-48 of this is vehicle purchase - 2 cars per household average)

    13-14% Food Budget (55% at home, 45% away)

    0-2% Alcohol

    0-3% Tobacco and related products

    0-2% Caffeine related products

    4-5% On clothing and related services (drycleaning)

    4.5 - 6% on out of pocket Health Care

    9% Personal Insurance and Pensions (breakdown: 1% life and other personal insurance, 7.5% SS, .5% investment

    5% Entertainment

    2.5% Charitable Contributions

    2% Reading and Education

    1% Personal Care products and services

    2% Miscellaneous

    4% Credit Card, Consumer Loan Interest

    If your budget closely matches the above, here's what you can do to fix that. Do these in order. Do not proceed to the next step until you've addressed the current step:

    1. Stop using your @#!&*! credit cards!

    2. Make a down and dirty budget right away! Don't worry about it being right at first...you can perfect it over time. Just do it!

    3. Cut back on your easy to identify, frivolous spending habits (3 dollar lattes, magazines, 450 extra satellite channels, etc.) If you've got some expensive habits you've wanted to quit for some time, now's the time. For example, if you're a hard-drinkin', chain smokin', coffee drinkin' fool, you can reap a windfall of up to 7% or more of your income! Just cutting back to 2 drinks per day, only drinking coffee from home and quitting the cigarettes will net you a nice amount of extra cash and add years to your life! Refine your budget after eliminating what you can.

    4. Reduce your 401K and other investment payments (if you have any) to the minimum allowable to keep your 401K and/or other investment accounts open. If your employer has a stock matching plan, keep that in addition to the minimum to keep your investments accounts open (but only up to the minimum you need to get all the matching money.) You're going to reap a whole lot more return on paying off your debts than you can ever hope to reasonably get from traditional investments. If you're paying into a college fund for your kids - keep doing that - if you're not and you really want to, hold off until step 6. Refine your budget to reflect the extra income available, if any.

    5. Build an emergency fund equal to 2% of your gross annual income. It should be a little hard to get to (like a separate checking account or mutual fund), but not too difficult (Certificate of Deposit.) Work this into your budget - it's very important. You will not believe the amount of stress that will melt away when you do this.

    6. Pay off your debts - everything except mortgages. And don't just move your revolving debt into a second or third mortgage - that's bad. Pay them off using a rapid debt paydown system like the Debt Hammer™. Pay off any student loans (for future reference, these are a bad idea.) Pay off your car(s) too. If you're not upside down on a car loan (your car is worth more than you owe) you can sell it and get a cheaper, paid for car. Throw a small (inexpensive but fun) party for yourself and your loved ones every time you pay off a debt.

    7. Take all the money you WERE spending to pay off your non-mortgage debt and start putting it into those investment accounts you put on idle. Make sure you're investing at least 10% of your gross income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doin

    Choosing an Arizona Lender
    When you decide to move to Arizona, the first thing you want to begin doing is looking for a home and an Arizona lender to finance your new home. Some people choose to do this before they move in order to have everything in place when their move is final, but others want to wait until they arrive so that they can physically see the property they are buying. The problem with waiting is that you delegate yourself to an apartment or hotel until you find a home and an Arizona lender to finance it, thus you incur expenses for storage of your furniture and other belongings that won't fit into your temporary residence.Even if you are going to wait until you arrive to find a home, you can still choose an Arizona lender to finance the purc
    5% away)

    0-2% Alcohol

    0-3% Tobacco and related products

    0-2% Caffeine related products

    4-5% On clothing and related services (drycleaning)

    4.5 - 6% on out of pocket Health Care

    9% Personal Insurance and Pensions (breakdown: 1% life and other personal insurance, 7.5% SS, .5% investment

    5% Entertainment

    2.5% Charitable Contributions

    2% Reading and Education

    1% Personal Care products and services

    2% Miscellaneous

    4% Credit Card, Consumer Loan Interest

    If your budget closely matches the above, here's what you can do to fix that. Do these in order. Do not proceed to the next step until you've addressed the current step:

    1. Stop using your @#!&*! credit cards!

    2. Make a down and dirty budget right away! Don't worry about it being right at first...you can perfect it over time. Just do it!

    3. Cut back on your easy to identify, frivolous spending habits (3 dollar lattes, magazines, 450 extra satellite channels, etc.) If you've got some expensive habits you've wanted to quit for some time, now's the time. For example, if you're a hard-drinkin', chain smokin', coffee drinkin' fool, you can reap a windfall of up to 7% or more of your income! Just cutting back to 2 drinks per day, only drinking coffee from home and quitting the cigarettes will net you a nice amount of extra cash and add years to your life! Refine your budget after eliminating what you can.

    4. Reduce your 401K and other investment payments (if you have any) to the minimum allowable to keep your 401K and/or other investment accounts open. If your employer has a stock matching plan, keep that in addition to the minimum to keep your investments accounts open (but only up to the minimum you need to get all the matching money.) You're going to reap a whole lot more return on paying off your debts than you can ever hope to reasonably get from traditional investments. If you're paying into a college fund for your kids - keep doing that - if you're not and you really want to, hold off until step 6. Refine your budget to reflect the extra income available, if any.

    5. Build an emergency fund equal to 2% of your gross annual income. It should be a little hard to get to (like a separate checking account or mutual fund), but not too difficult (Certificate of Deposit.) Work this into your budget - it's very important. You will not believe the amount of stress that will melt away when you do this.

    6. Pay off your debts - everything except mortgages. And don't just move your revolving debt into a second or third mortgage - that's bad. Pay them off using a rapid debt paydown system like the Debt Hammer™. Pay off any student loans (for future reference, these are a bad idea.) Pay off your car(s) too. If you're not upside down on a car loan (your car is worth more than you owe) you can sell it and get a cheaper, paid for car. Throw a small (inexpensive but fun) party for yourself and your loved ones every time you pay off a debt.

    7. Take all the money you WERE spending to pay off your non-mortgage debt and start putting it into those investment accounts you put on idle. Make sure you're investing at least 10% of your gross income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doi

    Speakers - You'll Be Remembered By What You Do, Not By What You Say
    When called upon to speak to a group, it's more important to deliver on the audience's expectations than on yours. What does the audience want? What do you have to do to get invited back? Here is how three speakers on the same panel left three distinctly different impressions on their audience.At a recent industry event, every day was packed with breakout sessions along various specialized subjects. Each session had three speakers and a moderator.The moderator introduced each speaker with a shortened bio and called on each one of them in turn for a few minutes of comments.The agenda allowed each of the three experts fifteen minutes for their prepared statement - taking up about half of the ninety minutes allocated fo
    r some time, now's the time. For example, if you're a hard-drinkin', chain smokin', coffee drinkin' fool, you can reap a windfall of up to 7% or more of your income! Just cutting back to 2 drinks per day, only drinking coffee from home and quitting the cigarettes will net you a nice amount of extra cash and add years to your life! Refine your budget after eliminating what you can.

    4. Reduce your 401K and other investment payments (if you have any) to the minimum allowable to keep your 401K and/or other investment accounts open. If your employer has a stock matching plan, keep that in addition to the minimum to keep your investments accounts open (but only up to the minimum you need to get all the matching money.) You're going to reap a whole lot more return on paying off your debts than you can ever hope to reasonably get from traditional investments. If you're paying into a college fund for your kids - keep doing that - if you're not and you really want to, hold off until step 6. Refine your budget to reflect the extra income available, if any.

    5. Build an emergency fund equal to 2% of your gross annual income. It should be a little hard to get to (like a separate checking account or mutual fund), but not too difficult (Certificate of Deposit.) Work this into your budget - it's very important. You will not believe the amount of stress that will melt away when you do this.

    6. Pay off your debts - everything except mortgages. And don't just move your revolving debt into a second or third mortgage - that's bad. Pay them off using a rapid debt paydown system like the Debt Hammer™. Pay off any student loans (for future reference, these are a bad idea.) Pay off your car(s) too. If you're not upside down on a car loan (your car is worth more than you owe) you can sell it and get a cheaper, paid for car. Throw a small (inexpensive but fun) party for yourself and your loved ones every time you pay off a debt.

    7. Take all the money you WERE spending to pay off your non-mortgage debt and start putting it into those investment accounts you put on idle. Make sure you're investing at least 10% of your gross income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doi

    Efficient Business Presentations That Work Magic!
    Whether you're a salesperson or a corporate executive, business presentations to your target audiences are your stock in trade. An effective presentation can serve to communicate your message, enhance your credibility, and close the deal. On the other hand, a poor presentation can diminish even the most promising product or service. When it comes to a business presentation, procrastination won't serve you well. Preparation is key to successful business presentations. Whether you're preparing for a managing change presentation or business presentations to sell your company's services, always have answers to these basic questions: Who is your target audience? Gaining an understanding of the needs of your client - whet
    Build an emergency fund equal to 2% of your gross annual income. It should be a little hard to get to (like a separate checking account or mutual fund), but not too difficult (Certificate of Deposit.) Work this into your budget - it's very important. You will not believe the amount of stress that will melt away when you do this.

    6. Pay off your debts - everything except mortgages. And don't just move your revolving debt into a second or third mortgage - that's bad. Pay them off using a rapid debt paydown system like the Debt Hammer™. Pay off any student loans (for future reference, these are a bad idea.) Pay off your car(s) too. If you're not upside down on a car loan (your car is worth more than you owe) you can sell it and get a cheaper, paid for car. Throw a small (inexpensive but fun) party for yourself and your loved ones every time you pay off a debt.

    7. Take all the money you WERE spending to pay off your non-mortgage debt and start putting it into those investment accounts you put on idle. Make sure you're investing at least 10% of your gross income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doi

    Work-Life Balance - Working Smart is Working Right
    While it is true that staying late at work has developed into a culture in today's working society, most people tend to work longer hours for another important reason: job security. Regardless of race, age and gender, I believe this applies for workers around the world.Many think, especially in the last few years, that if they do not work late, their bosses might think them as lazy and replace them. This mindset needs to be changed.In my previous appointment, my boss expected me to work long hours on weekdays and even during weekends, despite having finished my work on time. My efficiency was exploited as a result.My new appointment allows me much-needed flexibility. I am allowed to take time off anytime I want as lo
    income. If you followed steps 1-4 exactly, you should have lots of breathing room in your budget now. If this is true and you want to invest more than 10%, go ahead, but be sure to reward yourself too and live a little. Grow your emergency fund to a level you're comfortable with (2 or more months of income is a good start.) If you have young kids and you want to send them to college, start putting money into a college fund of your choice for them, if you haven't already. Throw a bigger party than usual when this is done.

    8. Pay off your mortgage and throw your biggest party yet! You can start towards this by refinancing to a single fixed rate mortgage (your credit should be in pretty good shape having paid off all your other debts.) If it's a 30 year mortage, pay more than your monthly payment to dramatically lower the amount of interest you give to the bank. If it's a 15 year fixed - wow! That's excellent!

    9. When you're totally debt free, regularly give away whatever you think you can afford. It's good for the soul!

    Easy? Not. Worth it? Doing the above will pay dividends in your life in many more ways than just dollars and cents. You will assure yourself a dignified and financially secure retirement. Do this well and you will also build a way for your kids and your grandkids to enjoy prosperous lives, and they will remember you with fondness and respect long after you've moved on to the other side. Now get started!

    Millionaire 2020™ can help you cut through the nonsense and get you on the path quickly to good budgeting. Check it out at http://www.homerworks.com.

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