Setting Small Goals to Get things Accomplished

You can accomplish almost anything just by setting small goals. The smallest goals can lead to success. For example if I set a small goal like: getting two followers on this blog. I think I will be able to accomplish it within a year or two of constant posting. When I accomplish that simple goal I can move on. I will feel more confident and a lot closer to my goal of making this a successful blog.

I don't just set a small goal, I set a large goal too. The small goals will be grouped under the large one. I could have the goal of learning a language at the top. Let's say Mandarin. My goal is to learn Mandarin. My first stepping stone goal would be to learn one hundred words. After that five hundred and so on. I could also have the goal of knowing enough to read my first Mandarin book. The goals help me stay on track and doing things I had never thought I could do before.

Here is a summary of how you can accomplish a difficult thing with simple goals.

1. Ask yourself what is it that you want to do. Make this your ultimate goal.
2. Figure out what the first thing you need to do to accomplish you ultimate goal is.
   
3. Set a very simple goal for accomplishing that first task.
   
4. Once that is accomplished, set another goal. Done? Another. This will continue until one day you realize you have almost accomplished your ultimate goal.

An example of this happening in my life was my quest to get perfect marks in one of my high school classes. I tried hard, I found an understanding of the topic and figured out that if you truly understand how something works you know almost everything about that topic. My first goal was to get perfect on a test, easy, done. Then I decided I needed to aim higher, I started helping others in class when I realized I was the most knowledgeable on the topic. I also aced my next tests. Whenever there was an assignment I was able to complete it with ease. The topic had become very interesting to me and I was realizing how important knowledge is. I finally completed my ultimate goal of getting perfect in the class. How rewarding it was.

Anyone is able to complete any goal they want to complete if they put their mind to it.

Keeping a Price Journal

Keeping a price journal is a great way to save money and keep track of you spending.

The price journal itself doesn't save you money, but its tracking of your spending does.
To start your very own price journal all you have to do is find a small notebook or buy one.

The layout of your book should have a number at the top of the page. This number is your spending budget. Below that there should be some white space, it will allow you to jot down the prices of things at different stores.

The most important part of the journal is the spending chart below the white space.
It should have 3 columns; one for the name of your transaction, another for the price and the last one for the subtotal of what you have spent that month. So a good price journal would look like this (just not typed):



As you can see: I spent too much (even though this isn't my spending journal). I also spent a considerable amount on coffee that is prepared at a store. Unless I am financially stable I should not be buying that much coffee. Also if my rent didn't include utilities I would have to be much more frugal. It would be good to have a certain amount of money going to a savings account or something like that.

Remember that you are the one putting everything in the journal so you have to stay on top of it or your budget could go out the door.

Saving Hundreds by Fixing an Old Laptop

Looking to buy a new laptop? Look no more.

Unless you plan on using your laptop for heavy duty gaming you can make do with an old fashioned laptop with a little bit of modern software.

You can either buy a very cheap and old laptop from a site like Craigslist or eBay or you could buy a relatively newer one at a discount.

For example I am able to find a computer worth $2500 for only $1100. I could invest the saved money or put it towards something important.

The best idea is to buy an old computer such as this one:
Then retrofit the computer by adding a new, leaner operating system to it. Chances are you are only going to use your computer for internet browsing, email and music. Ubuntu linux should be a great operating system to run on that laptop.

To set this up you should:

1. At the Ubuntu website download the image file for Ubuntu Home 32 bit.
2. Once it is downloaded you should burn Ubuntu to a DVD. If you don't have DVD drive, use UNetbootin.
3. When you insert the CD, the Ubuntu installer will guide you through the installation.
   
4. You now have a fast and speedy computer, enjoy it even more by installing the programs you like or ones like it.

If you have your own laptop you should follow this guide from The Simple Dollar.

Making More Money by Selling What You Don't Need

Many people have buildups of things they don't need. These collections can include things such as:

• Perfectly good toasters
• Waffle Irons
• Video Games
• Computers
• Beds
• Cribs
• Televisions they don't use
• Baby clothing

Many people try to sell these things to stores that will sell it for them.

This is all fine and dandy, except these stores won't give you your moneys worth.

An example is Gamestop, this store gives you $5 or less for your video games then they go and sell it for $40. You should sell your video games on your own with video games such as eBay or Craigslist and get what you deserve.

We had some baby stuff left over and were able to make hundreds of dollars.

Saving Money by NOT Buying What You Don't Need

A smart consumer knows what they actually need and what they just want.

A smart consumer knows that they don't actually need a new phone every time the models are updated nevertheless many people do buy new phones every month.

Here are some tips to not wasting your money on something you already have:

• If your phone works, don't buy a new one.
• If your car is fine don't buy a new one unless the new one is more fuel efficient and saves you money in the long run.
• Don't waste your money on expensive TV channels you watch once a year.
• Remember that for every dollar you spend from your savings account is possibly $10 after many years.
• If you are wondering if you need something, just wait a month and if you still "need" it you can buy it.

Remember this money is your money earned through your hard work.

Getting Recession Deals on Appliances

Lifehacker recently had an article about how you can get great deals on appliances right now because of the recession.

It got me thinking, what a good time to buy energy efficient and high quality appliances that you were eventually going to get.

Cars too are dropping down in price rapidly, and Canadians can get good deals like American pricing.

Televisions are also very low priced, even the new models. Recently I was able to buy a 40" LCD TV for only $500. It was a good deal and some are even better.

Make sure you also check out the prices between stores, there is stiff competition for your business. Price matching may get you a deal with some perks.

Don't buy things you know are low quality, try to see how expensive of an item you can get because of price drops. Things that used to be expensive may now be "budget" priced.

Always find reviews and see if your friends have any recommendations.

Just because we're in a recession doesn't mean you can't find deals.

5 Easy Ways to Make Money Grow

We all know money is hard to make, so we want to make the most of it.
There are many simple ways to do so, here are some:

1. Keep your money in a high interest savings account. Times are tough, but you can still find a decent interest rate if you shop around.
   
2. Have your employer automatically deduct a portion of your pay into a high interest redeemable savings bond (or GIC) or a separate savings account for emergencies.
3. Once you have over $10,000 you should consider setting aside $5000 to buy shares in a few well performing or well priced companies. Tips: High dividends is nice.
4. Buy things with value that will increase overtime. If you have enough money to buy and maintain an antique vehicle this could pay off well.
5. Follow Wain Roy's advice and open a money market savings account.

Is Nintendo all Gimmicks Now?

I previously was an avid Nintendo fan. I thought the Wii had it going and would be the most innovative console in the history of gaming. I was wrong. Not only were there very few good (story, action, non-linear) games for it at first, but after a year nothing had improved.

In my mind I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to let that ruin my gaming experience. After around year and a half I started to pay attention to my friends with Xbox 360's. They were talking about the games they played together and all the fun they were having. Meanwhile I had played out everything on the Wii that I was interested in. The Wii hadn't been used. There were only a few titles that could compare in quality with the titles available on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

My Wii slowly became a dust collector and eventually was placed in the box pictured above. I intended to keep it there until something interested me. I have since decided to sell it.

Here is why I left the Wii:

• All the new games are what seems to me like Wii Sports Rehashes.
• A new gimmick comes out every month it seems.
• There is nothing you can do with these add-ons that you can't do without.
• The Wii is overpriced (it costs more than a system with four times the power).
• Online just isn't fun on the Wii.
• There are too many Wii Fanboys blind to the slow destruction of their favourite brand.
• All the good games are Mario, Zelda and Metroid.
• Everyone knows all of this, but some won't admit it.

Below is a picture of 18 different Wii Gimmicky controller add-ons:














Some related posts include:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/04/nintendo-promises-very-creative-ideas-for-vitality-sensor-dec/
http://joshrobi.blogspot.com/2008/02/is-nintendo-wii-just-gimmick.html

Why Books are better than Kindle

I have always liked to have some sort of physical representation of my belongings be it a bookshelf full of books or a notebook full of my thoughts. I can pay a tiny price for a quality book and it will most likely last longer than me.

On the other hand I could pay a high price for an eBook reader such as the Kindle. If I went this way I would have to buy my eBooks from restricted dealers at the prices they set.

In almost every city there are used book stores where you can resell, trade or buy books from, and in the process support local business. An eBook reader is usually sold by a massive company such as Amazon. Amazon isn't bad, but the Kindle is.

An eBook bought for the kindle isn't yours. You are essentially being given the permission to have this book on your device at the same expense as owning the actual thing.

This chart from Gawker sums up the story:

As you can see; the kindle is expensive, limited, un-editable, silly and a pain to deal with in foreign countries.

Another very important thing to point out is just how ugly the Kindle is. It is a big ugly white brick with a boring screen made of eInk. In fact the whole thing is so over-rated that you can buy a computer with much more ability as a much lower price.

Financially it would be irresponsible to buy a Kindle, unless you really want one.

People will say it is important to brace the future, but I know nothing will ever replace a real, solid, physical book for a long time.

Here are some related articles from other bloggers:

http://blog.customscoop.com/customscoop/2007/11/the-kindle-vs-b.html
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/07/book-vs-kindle

An Article that is undecided:
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/07/15/20-most-worthless-pieces-of-junk-10-books-in-a-kindle-world/

Using a Notebook to be Smart

Many people agree that taking notes improves the retention of thoughts. I use notebooks for everything. When things are written down they seem so much more logical. Using a notepad is also a good idea for remembering specific details of day's events and what you were thinking when you came up with something.

Aside from personal uses, the notebook is great for studying and planning your day. It is an inexpensive and essential tool in the life of an organized person. It doesn't matter what you're doing because a notebook can always help.

If you hear a good song and aren't near a computer to download it, write it down. If you come across a good idea, write it down. If you see something you like write it down. Also notebooks are good for keeping quotes. Quotes will definately improve your usefulness in dinner conversations.

The way I use a note book is to usually have a table, for example if I am learning a mandarin word I will have the Chinese Character on the left, the English meaning in the middle and the Pīnyīn on the right. This works for all languages and even some other uses.

A typical page in a notebook could contain some new Chinese words I have learned, a quote or two, a plan with a friend, a deal I saw on something I need in a flyer or a good idea.

1. How to Save Money on a Minimum Wage for the Future

Everyone knows that minimum wage isn't a lot of money. The average minimum wage in Canada is around $8 and hour and similar to that in the United States. But that doesn't mean that you can't use it to build up a good savings.

Most people earning minimum wage are teenagers that want quick money. I have worked with some of these people and they spend their money as soon as they get it. This is a bad idea. Just one dollar a day saved can add up to $365.25. That's a start for starting a successful savings account.

By working just one hour a week someone making minimum wage can save $365.25 granted they don't spend on anything. Remember wages are taxed too, so I left out the extra dollar for taxes and very small spending.

The average person who makes minimum wage works around sixteen to twenty hours a week with vacation pay. That means someone could potentially save $8 x 16hours x 52 weeks which is $6,656.

The average job's vacation pay is 4% of the pay so multiply $6,656 by 4% and you get $266.24 in vacation pay to add to your savings account. This is now a lot of money.

A little, tiny bit of work adds up and with the proper tax returns and steps taken, someone can save a massive amount of money over a few years.

A teenager whom is 15 years old can have $20,766 by the time they are 18. That is a lot of money at just a minimum wage.

Wage increases also occur along the way and someone who started making $8 an hour could be making $11 an hour by the time they were 18.

So you see it is actually very possible to have large amounts of safety money when you are young.

LINKS TO SIMILAR ARTICLES:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/20/teds-dilemma-planning-for-the-future-on-minimum-wage/

http://tightfistedmiser.com/2007/10/13/saving-on-minimum-wage/