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Behaviors that Cost You Money

Written on June 22, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Money

thinking_money Forbes recently published an article on fifteen ways that your laziness is costing you money. It’s an interesting list and well worth your time to check it out.

One of their examples is not sending in rebate offers. We must confess to missing out on this opportunity before. But how long does it really take to fill out the form and send it in?

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Manufacturers know that a lot of us will figure that rebate into the price when we buy the item. However, we’ll never actually get around to sending in the form.

It’s a promotion without a deal!

One behavior may look like another

Have you ever noticed that people who are shy often get labeled “stuck up”? The two can look very similar on the surface.

The author of the article blames this on laziness. We wonder if it could be something else. Using the rebate example, what really caused you to miss out on that rebate?

Was it laziness or disorganization?
Maybe you got home, set down the rebate form and then it got buried underneath a pile of papers. It wasn’t laziness that caused you to miss out, it was lack of organization.

Was it laziness or different priorities?
Maybe there were fifteen other things on your to-do list. The next thing you knew, the rebate period had expired. It wasn’t laziness; it was that other things were more important.

Was it laziness or inertia?
Perhaps you have a routine and filing this rebate in a timely manner doesn’t fit it. Or you’re not good at following up on things in general. The ebb and flow of your daily activities doesn’t allow time for these intermittent events.

Was it laziness or a lack of understanding?
Could it be that you haven’t translated that $50 rebate into dinner out? You don’t see the benefit of filling out the form. If we were talking about something more complex, maybe you just don’t understand the task at hand.

Was it laziness or too much ambition?
It’s interesting that the reason you didn’t fill out the rebate form and mail it in could be the opposite of laziness. You may be so busy pursuing your goals that you really don’t have time for anything else.

You have to diagnose properly to find the right prescription.

Seek to discover the real underlying reason why you aren’t accomplishing something. Be careful with labels. When you come up with a label, ask yourself if it could be something else in disguise.

Price isn’t the only factor

“Getting the best rate on your savings account” was first on their list. To get the best rate, they advise you to check with online banks because they often pay better rates than local banks.

It’s reasonable advice, except it strikes us that this article was written for entrepreneurs. It makes price (or in this case, return) the only issue.

What about that local bank that supports your local community which supports you?

Doesn’t that count for anything?

Our advice is to build a relationship with a banker so, when you need money to grow your business, you’ll have a place to go.

We understand this mindset of maximizing returns. But you have to be careful not to see the world too simplistically. There are more factors at play.

This doesn’t just apply to local banks. How about local stores and local restaurants? We have nothing against chains, many of which are franchises with local owners.

Local business supports local communities. Shouldn’t that be part of your buying decision?

We’re coming out of a period of time where we put profit above people. Isn’t it time that we all think about our community along with commerce?

If you’re a local business person or just an engaged member of your community, that’s a part of bigg success!

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Please join us next time when we’ll discuss charging more for your services. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Making Change Count

Written on March 3, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Financial Freedom, Money

piggy_bank Last time, we talked about the lost art of making change. As we prepared for that show, we remembered another little tidbit about change:

You can save your change for a change.

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Listen while you read! Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show. Click the purple player: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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If you find that you’re running out of money before the month runs out, this is one of the easiest ways to get started saving. Give yourself an allowance. Pay for everything with that cash. At the end of the day, put all of your change in a jar or a piggy bank.

Did you ever have one of those cool banks where you get to see the coin going down into the bank? It made saving fun and is a great way to encourage kids to save. Or adults for that matter … why should the kids have all the fun?

It’s amazing how much you can save with this simple little technique. Ever so often, say at the end of the month, go to the bank and deposit your change. Once you get your money in a savings account at a bank, you can start earning interest on it. Your money making money on your money … that’s what you want.

The five little piggy banks

Richard Jenkins, editor-in-chief of MSN Money and author of A simpler way to save: the 60% solution, has an outstanding idea:

Spend sixty percent of all you make!

We know what you’re thinking – you’re having a tough time getting by on 100 percent. It’s ludicrous to think anyone could get by on only sixty percent!

But hear us out. You just might like this program …

Set up five piggy banks (or envelopes, accounts, or any other way that works for you). The key thing is to segment your money right upfront. Here’s what the five piggy banks are for:

Piggy Bank #1 – This little piggy stays home. This piggy bank gets sixty percent of your gross income. You’ll use it to buy the basics – things like food, clothing, household expenses, taxes, insurance, donations, and the like.

Piggy Bank #2 – This little piggy goes to the market. This piggy bank gets ten percent of your gross income to invest in long-term assets, like the stock market. Most likely, your investment vehicle will be a tax-advantaged account, like a 401(k) through your employer.

Piggy Bank #3 – This little piggy gets the beef. Set aside ten percent in this piggy bank to beef up your long-term savings even more. You’ll also invest this in long-term assets, but you’ll want to maintain enough liquidity so the money is available for an extreme emergency.

Piggy Bank #4 – This little piggy gets none. The ten percent that goes into this account is for irregular expenses. So you won’t get any long-term benefit from this piggy bank. What you will get is the ability to pay for large expenses upfront instead of with a credit card. So from this account, you’ll pay for your vacations, major repairs, replacement of appliances, gifts and the like.

Piggy Bank #5 – This little piggy cries “Wee, wee, wee” all the way home!
This ten percent is your fun money. It’s your reward for setting aside the money in the other piggy banks the way you planned to.

Think about it this way – If you meet your goals, you get to spend an extra ten percent!

Managing your finances with these five little piggy banks will help you live bigg now and retire bigg later!

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Thanks so much for reading our post today. Join us next time as we wrap up this series. We’ll discuss making change work. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes.

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00342-030309.mp3

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(Image in today's post by woodsy)