FOMO.

Following up.

I talked a bit last week, about what society has done and how we are self sabotaging viewing riches through fancy cars and homes, but I wanted to talk about something relevant to a lot of people my age. This can apply really to any age. Something that probably effects your money spend without you realizing just what the exact cost is. Or maybe you’re very aware of the cost.

Friends.

Friends are great, and a very important part of life. They are the one’s who are there when you need them, give you a deep belly laugh and provide your soul fulfillment. It’s all great and fantastic until you look in your wallet, realize your credit card is missing in action, you have leftover McDonald’s wraps on your dresser and see your bank account.

Yep, once again. You somehow have spent over $200 between dinners, drinks, that late night McDonald’s Big Mac and you still have plans for a hangover brunch with the girls in 4 hours . All that in one weekend.

Sometimes, that just can’t fly.

If you’re in a tight money situation, it can be hard to keep up with everyone and their weekly Insta pics, hanging around at your local pub into the early morning. Night’s out although fun, add up, and fast. Unfortunately, fear of missing out (FOMO) is something that seems to be more and more prevalent in people my generation. I’m sure it has always been this way, but now with social media, it seems like this is to the extreme.

If you find yourself in a situation where your friends are going out drinking all the time in University or weekend rituals of girls night outs, it might be time to try a different strategy.

It can be hard to feel like you’re missing out, but sometimes quality over quantity is better. Unless you’re talking about money, because then really quantity is what matters ! (See what I did there?)

If you’re struggling to make ends meet month to month, this might be an area where you can cut back. You don’t have to go telling your friends you are broke, or really anything about your financial situation but you can try and come up with some new things to do. Maybe it’s binge watching that new show on Netflix and sipping on a glass of wine, or just simply doing brunch at home. Going for a walk with a coffee you brought from home or even having people over to bake cookies for whatever holiday is around the corner!

These are simple things that can spare you a few twenty’s and you still get the quality time with your friends. If you can exchange some of these moments, that frankly are more quality time with a friend anyway, over the loud club scene, it’s going to give you and your wallet a sigh of relief. If none of those are really an option and your friends have to go out, then maybe it’s the time to skip out.

It is okay to say no everyone once in a while.

Tell your brain it’s okay to simply say, I can’t afford it. Not this time. 

Do a self pampering routine rather than giving in to going out. You will feel a lot less stressed not only staying in and taking care of yourself (so so important by the way). You’ll also be taking care of yourself by not stressing about your financial situation !

Sure, there might be Insta photos that get a couple hundred likes that you’re not in.

Sure, they may have had a good time.

Your own sanity and happiness is more important than those likes. In all honesty, when you like a photo on Instagram are you even paying that much attention to it? Probably not. The person who posted it is paying way more attention to what’s happening with that photo than anyone else, so take a breath. Your self worth is not based on likes and looking like you’re always having a good time and frankly you will feel better with a higher net worth because you said no for one night. (Sorry I had to. Hehe.)

Not everyone might be into this, but that’s fine. The people who are really your friend, are just going to care about spending time with you.

Give it a try, for one night. You will be surprised, how easy it eventually is to start saying no to some activities that you really weren’t that into anyway. Simply because you can’t afford it. Soon you will find that you really only say yes to doing the things do want to.

I’m not saying don’t ever go out, just go out when it feels good to you. If you’re stressing looking at your bank account wondering how you can afford hangover brunch with the girls and that OSAP loan, I think you know what you need to do.

KB.

Know Your Value

We’re about to get real uncomfortable. Assuming you are uncomfortable with facing your current financial situation down to the digital pennies in your bank account.

Grab your coffee, pens and paper. Today, we need to sit down for the run down.

I’m assuming you already have your computer, since you are reading this – but hey, you could be mobile. Excel spreadsheets will work for this exercise too, excuse me for being old fashioned at 25.

The last few blog posts have been more introspective, taking a look into you as a person and what makes you tick. Maybe some of you are working on making some changes based off the last posts, and maybe you aren’t.

But if you’re reading this, it means you want to make a change to your financial situation, and that’s all I’m looking to help do.

We need to get real and raw about your finances, and so we need you to open and view that paycheck slip, those bills you pay and your online banking statements because we’re looking at net worth. I was curious, and tried to Google how many Canadian’s don’t know their net worth – and there was nothing I could find online. I wondered if that’s a question that anyone has bothered to ask before, as the rate of debt is somehow rising at the same time as the average net worth (mostly due to the current real estate market, sorry millennials, many of us aren’t that lucky)*. So we need to be smarter about what we’re doing with out money. It also occurred to me, it might be the case that many Canadians and fellow millennial don’t even know what net worth is ! Or why is net worth important ? All I care about is the paycheck I get from my employer.

Well, I used to only care about that paycheck too… the issue is, that paycheck is one factor in your overall finances. If you’re making a lot of money, great ! Honestly, good for you. You could have the highest paying job of all of your friend group (more on that topic later) but if you aren’t aware of your financial standing, if you don’t know how your income is coming in compared to debt, life expenses, etc. the rug might come right out from under your feet.

To be clear – I just care about ensuring you are on the right path to becoming rich, financially free, out of debt – whatever it is you want.

But, just to double check though – you may not be as ahead as you’d like to think you are. (Or maybe you are, maybe you know your finances better than I do, but hey – this article is to help people who don’t). So prove me wrong and do this exercise anyway.

So what is net worth anyway ? Net worth is a combination of two things. Simple grade 3 math ? (It’s been a long time since I’ve been in elementary school, maybe kids are smarter than me and it’s done in Grade 1).

To get your total net worth, you need to add up all of your nice fancy or not so fancy assets and put all of those numbers together to show the nice big wad of cash you would get if you sold everything (aka liquidating your assets). WOO. I’m rich. If only that was all that net worth was. I don’t want you looking down to the bare bones of  your close and clothes that you own or the extra gift card you have laying around somewhere. Look at the bigger things, your cars, your house or condo, any type of investments you have, your RRSP’s, what’s in your actual bank account. All of those things that you have lined up, add that number together, even if it’s a rough estimate for your house or car, try and get to a number you think is as close to right as possible without actually selling your stuff.

Great, that seems positive! Now we need to do the same thing, except, well, for your debt.

Well this is less fun.

When it comes to debt, the only way to get through it is, well through it. You’re really not getting out of it without paying attention to it so we have no choice but to pay attention now. We’re going to add up those ugly numbers that give you stress to see where exactly you’re at. Things like student loans, car loans, mortgages, credit card balances, lines of credits… ya, alllllllllll of thoseeeee.

Now go away and come back when you’ve got those two numbers for me.

Did you double check them ?

Yes?

Okay, good. Now we need to subtract your not so nice number (debt), from your nice number (assets).

Net Worth = Assets – Debt

Now that we have that number, what do we do with it ? Well. Two things, your number is either positive (yay!) or negative. Not so yay. But we needed to see this number, written in pen or in your nice excel spreadsheet to really see it.

Has that number sunk in yet? Good. Now we can only go up from here, and I want to help you do that.

There are two things I want you to do, one I will explain now, the other will come in an upcoming article. I think you’ve done enough for this blog post, so it’s simple what you need to do next before we tackle it.

Track your net income. No matter what your number is right now, I want you to write it somewhere so in three months you can look at it again. Every quarter we are going to go back, and do this whole process again because that will lead us to work on your debt. It will be encouraging to see the changes that have been made in only three months, it will help you see results and get you motivated.

That is if you start working towards it. You can’t just do this exercise and then believe that it’s going to happen. You need to take action. So this is Step 1, to start know your value.

Or Step 3 if you’ve read my other two blog posts !

Did you store your net worth somewhere you’ll remember ?

KB.

 

*https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/net-worth-rising-but-higher-debt-stings-canadian-consumers-analysis-1.4097092

Coffee Talk – BYOC

Grab a nice hot mug because we’re about to talk about coffee.

What do you mean, this is a blog about finance and stuff… (please hold).

One of my favourite things in the world is waking up to the smell of a fresh pot of coffee wafting through the air, hot and ready to drink. It didn’t used to be though. 7 :45 AM pulling into the parking lot and ordering a Tim’s coffee, truly Canadian, medium, two milk. $1.75. I gladly would hand over the loose change, or sometimes the twenty dollar bill in exchange for that comfort and went on my way. I loved, loved, loved coming to my desk with a fresh hot coffee to sip as I started to skim through all the e-mails that came in post 4 PM clock out.

Sip.

Scroll.

Sip.

Scroll.

You get the point. I’m sure you’ve heard it a lot, about the difference bringing in your own coffee can make on your wallet. And unfortunately, I am not here to tell you otherwise.

Bring Your Own Coffee (BYOC). Is something that is going to make a difference. I read an article recently of some millionaire stating that the money you save from your daily latte or coffee isn’t going to make you rich. I don’t really believe a word he says.

Will it make you a millionaire ? No, probably not. Will it get you that much closer to your financial freedom and retirement ?

Yes, it can if you let it.

I’m not one to tell you how to spend your money (well that’s kind of not true, I am stating a bunch of different things you SHOULD do with your money but anyway). I want to put in perspective of crunching the numbers because millennials, that is what makes me tick and makes you react.

Let’s take a look.

My daily coffee indulgence at Tim Horton’s cost me a total of $1.75 a morning.

$1.75 x 5 = $8.75

$8.75 x 52 = $455

Give or take a little for holidays, we’re sticking with $455 because that’s the calculation for the year.

If you’re not a little stunned by that, this next one might get you.

One of my favourite things on the internet is the compound calculator. There are a few online if you Google. You can pick any link and they will all do the same thing. Play around with it, it will give you a general idea of what your money can do for you. I generally use Money Chimp because it’s the first return result on Google.

Here’s the question I had the other morning at 5 :30 AM revolving around coffee.

What would be the outcome of my daily coffee cash if I invested it instead of indulged?

Pulls out phone to money chimp site.

If we put the current principal as $0 for the sake of this example.

Annual addition : $455 – coffee

Years to Grow : 40 – because lets be real retirement is a ways away for a lot of us.

Interest Rate : 7% – Just a guess.

Compounds 1x annually at the start of the year.

Calculate.

Future Value : $97, 192.35

Compound interest is one of the most beautiful things in this world. If you use it right, it will repay you. Crazy, a mere $1.75 a day can go a heck of a lot further than your morning pick me up.

That being said, you don’t have to invest that $455 into a future that is decades from now (although smart) it’s important you move that money where you see the value. Maybe it is investing and leaving it for 40 years, maybe it’s putting it towards a plane ticket to get out of a cold winter and to a nice beach, or buying yourself a new car OR paying off that student debt, mortgage, credit card…

No matter what it is, coffee, teas, lunches with coworkers – check out your weekly spending on those types of things and re-evaluate a little. If you can’t give up all of your Tim’s coffee’s in a week, can you cut it to 3 ? 2 ? Maybe in time, you’ll be making it yourself and having a thankful wallet for it.

Just my coffee thoughts.

KB.

Rich with Fancy Cars?

Which would you rather, look rich or be rich? The obvious answer, be rich, right?

How many times have you passed a lambo or BMW and thought dang that person must be riiiiiichhhh. I want their life.

Or done that with those million dollar homes in gated neighbourhoods ? Maybe spent a little too much time on MLS only to begin questioning how there are houses available for 7 million dollars not 20 minutes from where you work…

Don’t we all.

The thing is, we need to re-evaluate what it actually means to be wealthy. Does wealth mean driving the fanciest cars, having the biggest house in the neighbourhood, constantly updating your wardrobe with the latest trends ? Technically, by definition yes… and this is what is sabotaging us.

What we should be focusing on is the abundant possession of money not things. Not because money is everything, but because money will help you get to where you want to be. It also is what will continue to make the world go round, not your 2018 BMW that’s already depreciated by at least a third of its value. (I know, I’ve made this mistake too – though not a BMW – and I still love my SUV so 20 years, here I come).

Often times, those people that you see driving around in fancy cars or who have the biggest houses aren’t actually rich at all. The one’s that you’re dreaming to be, they are wishing they were too because they are just playing the part. (Although not always, there are some really rich people in the world). Often though, the everyday people driving those fancy cars also have the huge houses too, and of course they need the backyards with the pools, the sixty thousand dollar kitchen reno, and the three hundred dollar Tiffany bowl just to keep up the appearance. How do all of those people make those ends meet? The answer, not all of them do. People get themselves in situations they can’t crawl out of because of the attention we put on things. So people buy, buy, buy. Even when they can’t afford it.

We all want to look rich and that is exactly what is keeping us from actually becoming rich! What a shocker.

It’s an issue within ourselves – we associate wealth with the latest gadgets and trinkets when these types of items (yes that BMW you’re dying to have every time you drive by it) we buy and are knowingly putting ourselves into debt!  Why do we do this!? It is almost impulsive. It is so engraved into our brains that this is what success is when it’s not! It’s proven that material things will not make you happy. Yet we keep doing it. We associate fancy things with success – the accomplishment of an aim or purpose – but ‘owning’ fancy things isn’t success. I say owning with quotations because you don’t own what you haven’t paid for. Sorry, that should be no surprise. And it isn’t happiness. So what is it? It’s a waste of your money, it’s not success. Learn to live below your means, and your life will be much more fulfilling than stressing to make ends meet. That’s another blog though.

To be successful and accomplished, that’s a feeling that lasts.

I encourage you to think about what success means to you. Do you find you’re looking at life wishing to be rich? What are you doing to help get yourself there. Are you just paying to look the part? Why don’t you put action to get yourself there? Success should be something that you put your whole heart into and achieve. Maybe it is that promotion at work, maybe it is successfully running your own business and being your own boss. The thing is, these things are experiences, and experiences make you feel something, and you look back on those achievements and still get those butterflies or happy feels when you think about them.

The feelings you have for that stuff, although at first they make your heart race and you smile widely at it, that all eventually fades, doesn’t it. And then what?

You replace it with the newest version.

Replace with the newest version.

Replace with the newest version.

You get the point.

KB.

 

Make Your Thoughts Make $ense

What you believe, you will achieve… I want to take this back a step, and reverse this.

What you don’t believe, you will never achieve.

Does that sound a little harsh? It is because it’s true.

The first blog post that is so integral to achieving financial freedom is you need to start by looking inward and analyzing your own thoughts. If the saying “the world is your oyster’” doesn’t seem like it resonates with you, then you need to take a step back and look at your mentality.

Give me a second to explain here before you think I am completely loonie. (Pun$ are always intended).

Everyone makes their own concept or view of the world. What happens outside, you then internalize and make meaning out of it. There are generally two ways that people view the world that are polar opposites. Positive, and negative.

If you see the world positively, congrats, you are on the right track. If you see the world negatively, then you need to start considering why you see the world this way. The thing is, everything in the world is what you are projecting onto it. The world can work in your favour, or it won’t it all depends on what you focus on.

You see, your thoughts lead to your feelings and actions. If you always are feeling like the world is against you, how is that going to affect what actions you attempt to take in your life? You are constantly going to be reiterating this negative mindset and everything will continue to seem like it’s against you. The world only brings forward what you think, and if you constantly think you’re never going to get out of that debt what is that going to do for you? I can tell you what it won’t do. It won’t get you out of debt for two reasons. One, you won’t ever get yourself to take the action to get out of debt and won’t make a plan. Two, it will cause you to continue doing exactly what you’re doing now… which will only put you further in debt.

Do you see what I mean with that?

So, for the first step to getting yourself to get your finances, I am asking you to do a simple task that has really nothing to do with your finance, funnily enough.

I want you to take a pen and some paper, and write down all of the feelings you have about the world, your finances or your life in general. Then, take a look at what’s there. Are you positive? Are you negative? What can you change? If you want to start attracting the rich and financially free life that you’re probably on this blog for… start thinking about what it is you want in your life, and start thinking positively about it. Start being grateful for what you have, and begin thinking about the positive things and reacting positively to things – once this mindset starts to change, we can look at starting a plan to get you in action and on your way to being worry free when it comes to your finances. Because what you believe, you will achieve.

KB

Find Your Wealth

Hi There,

Out of curiosity. How many of you got out of high school into University, college, a job and wondered, how do you actually adult?

Yeah, me too.

I’m now 25, have graduated University and been in a job for 2 and a half years and think to myself, am I successfully “adulting” yet? I think the truth is, that everyone at every stage of life wonders how they’re doing. Are they successful by some standard, whether their own or someone’s they feel put on them, parents maybe, friends? Are they successful at all? It’s hard to believe you are when you’re in debt, running after children, trying to find time for your significant other? Focusing when you only had half a tuna sandwich for lunch because that’s all the cafeteria at work had even though you’re not supposed to be eating bread because you’re on the keto diet and managing to finish up those e-mails right before 5 PM when you’re supposed to be clocked out. People are overworked because they are trying to make sense of money and make ends meet.

It’s tough. At 25, I have started to notice how little we are taught about the one thing that makes this world go around, money. More specifically, personal finance.

I started this blog, partly because I love finance, but also partly because I see a serious lack of education in schools.

This is the education you need. This is the type of stuff that can make or break relationships, can create happiness or frustration, the difference between debt and wealth. This is the stuff you use daily.

In hopes to educate people of all ages, I want to reach out to those who are still in school, public school, high school, drop outs, whatever it may be. If you want a quick place for tips and financial knowledge – this is be the place for you.

If you want to start figuring out your finances, education is the place to start. Even if you only read this home page, go find a book to read about it.

It will change your life.

KB