Tips on how to save money easily

I was once a part of the majority of Filipino who had a problem when it comes to saving my disposable income. Many people right now is experiencing a lot of difficulties keeping up with their savings account .I once heard that  some Filipinos are good spenders but very bad moneysavers .So if you are experiencing trouble saving money I have some tips for you on how can track.

Tip # 1. Write down your goals and focus on it- As a human being we keep being swayed by many things, let us all admit we are always prone to distraction. Knowing where you are right now and understanding the reason behind why you are in that position will help us immediately to create an action. If you want to buy a house or a car someday make it as a goal and motivation. Money without a name is waste money.


Tip # 2. Change the formula- I have been doing this since last year and it truly works. When you got your salary either on the 15th or on the 30th of the month because that’s the normal payday we got here in the Phil. I would recommend you to follow this formula. Salary minus 30% (10% for Tithes + 20% savings) is equals to expenses. Right now, Filipinos usually follow this formula: Salary minus expenses is like earning but not saving.


Tip # 3. Budget- It is not enough that you take out the 30% and let the 70% of your money go down the drain.I am encouraging you to learn how to plan, write it down, analyze where your money is going plus look where to cut cost and put your savings in a really good investment vehicle which can beat the inflation . If you were addicted to food and expensive coffe learn how to minimize it so you can save some money and not just impress everybody. Stick to the plan but always make some necessary adjustments.

Tip # 4. Join a community of savers, investors, and financial mentors – Like the old saying goes "Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are" . If you are determined on saving money and you want to succeed on your financial goals I would rather mingle with a group of people who can assist me instead of me spending my hard earned money just to please a lot of people that I realy don't like. The idea of going out on a Friday night  with a friend is good but if it will stops you from reaching your goals then better leave it behind or drop it.

There are  lot of ways in saving money but starting from the basic will simply help us avoid wrong financial decisions in the future.

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained quickly will dwindle away, but the one who gathers it little by little will become rich.

if you have questions and suggestions please feel free to leave a comment.

If you have questions send me an email at david_angway@yahoo.com

David Isaiah Angway is a Registered Financial Planner and a Financial Evangelist

Basics of Stock Markets: The A-Z Quick Sheet for a Beginner-Level Investor

Several individuals wish to engage themselves in stock market and invest their money in stocks, but they don’t have an idea about Stock markets and how they work. In fact, there may be lot of info available to you, but they may all seem confusing without actually knowing the basics. This post aims at educating the beginners about the basics of stocks market. Read on to enlighten yourself about the A-Z of stock market. 

Getting a Better Picture

First of all, it is important to get a clear picture of what stocks are! Literally, a share of stock is the ownership of a firm. When you purchase a share of stock, you are eligible for a small fraction of the earnings and assets of that company. The assets here include everything owned by the company (trademarks, equipment, buildings) and earnings refer to all the money the firm gets in from trading its services and products.

As a beginner, it is quite evident that you may wonder why a firm would want to share its earnings and assets with the public. This is because the company needs money. Firms have just two ways to raise money to expand the business or cover start up. It can either sell stock (called equity financing) or borrow money (called debt financing).

Generating Funds with Stock Selling

The downside of borrowing funds is that the firm has to repay the loan with interest. However, fewer strings are attached with stock selling. The company need not pay interest or there is no need to repay the money. Equity financing gives out the risk of its business to a large group of stock holders (the investors). If the company loses, the owner does not lose all his money, but rather loses many smaller parts of other individuals’ money.

Understanding the Fluctuations

When you plan to enter the stock market and start observing things, you may often hear the work stock prices. This is one thing that you need to know about before investing in the stock market. Stock price refers to the price that a particular stock sells for and it is fixed by many market factors like trading trends, economy condition, technical or financial reports of a company, and spending trends.

Knowing the Market Capitalization

Next, you need to stay aware of what market capitalization is. It is the value of the stock or the company that is being offered. If you want to assess the market capitalization of a specific stock or company, use the formula: number of outstanding shares X the stock price

Once you are thorough with the basics, you need to know how to buy or sell shares. In order to purchase a stock, you need to set up some type of investment account. In several cases, you need to open a new investment account with a stock broker or open an online investment account if you want to proceed without a stock broker’s assistance.

Before You Start Trading

Once an account is established, you have to fund it before making a purchase. After funding, you can enter your stock purchase order. Once you are ready to trade shares, you will have to enter the sell order through your online account or tell the stock broker that you wish to sell few shares.

Learning how the stock market works is just the beginning and experience is what will teach you practical things in due course of time.


About the author: Tobias Wilhelm is the owner of a stock market website, where he tries to educate the stock investors about stock markets and how they work.

3 Broken-Record Excuses of Not Having A Business

Let's face it. There are many ways to be financially-free but by far the best is to have a business. In terms of flexibility, income potential and mobility, having one's business truly outweighs the benefits of being a 9-5 dayjob employee. But whats boggling for some time is the inability to start. Here are the most famous excuses of not having a business.

NO CAPITAL

This is on top of the list. Ask everyone and this will be their number one response. This sounds stupid, for me. I would ask that person again for a follow-up question, "So how much do you need to start?"

To my amusement, the reply goes, "I don't really know. Maybe $25,000 is enough, isn't it?" And then silence follows.

As much as I wanted to talk argumentatively, I just control my emotions and keep it to myself thinking that he would realize someday that he's wrong and I don't want to sound like a know-it-all business expert. But hey, do you really need (BIG) money to make money? Not really.

Years before, I was not convinced with this idea. It sounded so confusing. Coz what I've learned in my Marketing subject, you need to have a capital - Owner's Equity. If you don't have a cash outlay, how would you start?

In a tradional business, this premise is valid. You couldn't start a grocery store unless you have a physical store, goods, staff and equipment. But with the Microbusiness evolution, anyone can start a business immediately. Even now! (More on this in my Microbusiness blog) Here are few businesses that I know that you could start with little or no capital at all:

Ebook

You can write about almost anything and sell it through a pdf file. Unlike before that you must publish your book to be physically sold, now you can sell it as an information product with no cost at all, just sweat.

Affiliate Marketing

Promote other people's product and earn commissions every time you refer someone. Before, you have to have a physical handle of a certain product for you to sell to someone.

Thus, additional channel is created and more delays take place. Now you can just place a link on your own website or social media sites to promote an offer and  earn if someone ends up buying a product/service through that link.

Dropshipping

This is a new concept of being an intermediary between the vendor and ultimate consumers. With this, you will act as a vendor selling products globally to consumers. But the twist is that, you don't manufacture or make your products.

You are just selling someone else's product to consumers at a profit. Got it? The best part of this is that the consumers you referred will have no idea where the product came from as soon as they receive the package.

Now that I have presented some business ideas with no capital at all, would it be valid to consider the first excuse as a myth? :)

NO BUSINESS IDEA

This excuse may be in some point of time valid or not. I can see someone who's quite determined to become an entrepreneur yet hasn't started.

The reason anyone could not come up with a business idea is because they tend to overcomplicate things and think of extravagant innovations. It's like wondering how they could be like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. That's really hard, I tell you. 

And I could not even think of things like that either. Why not think instead of a specific, simple product to a chosen niche? Microbusiness.

How about a solution to people with warts? Asthma? Or maybe related to your interests like art supplies? Nothing could go wrong with your product/service as long as it provides real value to your clients.

This second excuse is still not valid. There are lots of opportunities. It's just a matter of mindwork, research and scouting.

NO EXPERIENCE

Still some find it hard to start a business due to the fact that they don't have an experience or something.

They reasoned out that they need to immerse themselves more on that specific interest through research, studies and surveys before taking the plunge. I would say this is acceptable but not really the best thing to do. There are 3 reasons:

a. Business idea will be delayed.

Money loves speed. As soon as you start to act money starts flowing in. Every time you skip on something someone else might have figured it out and start before you do.

b. There is no perfect timing.

I was a firm-believer that everything has its own time. But not until I realized that the best time is NOW. Starting little is better than delaying. It is because you will just learn along the way, differentiate a little and you don't need to be an expert to start doing your thing.

c. Opportunity Loss.

As soon as you start your business, you will capture all the market possibilities and it is awkwardly wide. But to postpone something narrows the chances and competition may exist. Business is time-sensitive. So it really matters to be heads up than never.

Thus, the third excuse is still not valid.

You and I know that there could be another SPECIFIC reasons. Don't you? More on this on my next blog :)

Image courtesy of timsackett.com

Microbusiness: Usefulness Not Innovation

We've all heard about business titans - Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Cuban, etc. You will be astounded with their net worth - more than a billion USD! That's too much, you might say.

The most common problem we then face after knowing such is the inability to act. Why? Because we get overwhelmed as to HOW they started and HOW they earn such wealth. Little do we realize that ALL of them started SMALL. Yes, the "snail" way.

With the evolution of E-commerce - Webinar, Dropshipping and Self-Publishing, people can do business a whole lot more in a different way. Before, we could not trade items without a physical store or shop and the physical handling of money as payment.


Well, today, not anymore. Before, publishing a book is way too HARDER than writing the book itself as you have to persuade publishers and get approved first before your book is printed and distributed. Now, that is just a second option because of Self-Publishing. 

What I am trying to say is that, business revolution makes it EASIER for us to start our own businesses. As I read along a book of Chris Guillebeau's $100 Startup, I found several case studies of accidental and determined entrepreneurs.

The requisites are simple, Chris surveyed a lot of entrepreneurs with a little or no capital at all in starting their businesses. Inspiring. And he even stresses Microbusiness that it is the usefulness of the product/service that matters, not the innovation itself.

Take this as an example. A woman might have problems about relationship with her husband. And she needs someone who can give her a sound and effective solution/advice.

While she's on Facebook, she happened to bumped a page where it offers professional marriage counseling. Lightbulb flashed.

She immediately messaged the page owner and agreed to have a schedule with her husband. The price she paid, $500 for 4 sessions a month! Take note that the counseling service is no rocket science and not technically scary. But it's a simple counseling that any psychology majors can handle.

It is not something like a discovery of a new gadget, new tool or a breakthrough in health or medicine. You see, a business is just a matter of solving other people's problems in a definite and easy way.

While Steve Jobs invented the first touch-screen phone, this may not be the case to other business owners. There are several business opportunities. There is yet to be found. It's just a matter of segmentation and differentiation.

Another example: You want to start your own blog for free with no cost at all. You tried to search on this one but you haven't found anything. Instead, you happened to be in a bogus website but the instructions were vague and NOT newbie-friendly.

You were already exasperated. Desperate. But not until you found a helpful e-book entitled, "15 Minutes No COST Blog Set-up with Google Adsense Approval in 5 Days!"

Wouldn't you buy this product? Of course you will! But since you're one of the cynics that don't believe easily on anything, you read reviews about this offer.

And boom, 98% positive feedback! Now this is the best example of a Microbusiness. The author sells information product with no physical store, no publishing and no staff at all.

The solution is simple - how to set-up a blog for FREE in just 15 minutes of your time, with Adsense approval in 5 days! Spectacular, right? Now this is the best solution that you could have.

Image courtesy of swellpath.com

4 Things to Ask Yourself before Purchasing Anything on Finance

Finance is a tempting option when faced with a purchase you might not normally be able to afford, however it comes with a few serious consequences. While it will definitely appeal to your impulsive side and tempt even the savviest shopper, it pays to be aware of the risks. Here are 4 important things to ask yourself before purchasing anything on finance.

Why Finance?

Before you go any further, ask yourself why you would need finance to complete your purchase. If it is a large item which you have planned to buy for a while, finding a good finance package can be great. However if you’re turning to finance because it is an impulse buy and you can’t quite afford it, you could be leaving yourself open to difficulties with debt down the track.

What About the Interest?

Always take the time to consider the interest offered with the finance, and calculate how much you will be repaying in total if the loan runs to the full term. High interest rates that kick in after an initial ‘interest free’ period can become crippling to your finances, so it pays to be aware of exactly what you are up for.

What Are the Fees and Charges?

Important parts of any finance package are the fees and charges. Always read the fine print, and take into account any administration fees, late payment charges, early payout fees and anything else that could apply to your loan.

Could There Be Long Term Consequences?

While buying on finance often seems like a very attractive short term solution, it can have devastating repercussions in the long term. Never commit to any finance that is more than you can comfortably repay, and always consider what would happen should you suffer from a loss of income. Being unable to meet your repayments can leave you with an ever increasing debt, as well as serious damage to your credit rating.

Asking for Advice

If you feel like you are struggling financially, or are tempted to resort to finance to purchase the things you need, it might be time to seek some professional advice. Before making any big decisions, why not consider consulting with a professional company such as Fox Symes debt solutions. You may be able to rework your budget or find other strategies that help you to strengthen your financial position and achieve your goals through savings, rather than slipping further into debt by purchasing anything on finance. 

It’s important to consider these important questions before making any big decisions regarding purchases on finance. While it might seem tempting at the time, you always need to keep in mind the long term consequences of relying on credit, and the possibility that you could find yourself in more debt than you can comfortably handle. After considering all of these points, you should be in a well informed and clear frame of mind to decide whether or not purchasing on finance is truly the right option for your financial situation.

Why do you need to be Financially Literate

It will empower you to get what you need and what you want. You can dream and it will happen, just imagine that! Look at those Rich people they can play golf and go to Disneyland anytime they WANT.

Time for us to change the future of the next Filipinos. Do it for yourself and for them. Don't be selfish, c'mon bless other people with what you have. Those who are faithful with small things will be given more . We are designed to be lender and not just a borrower. We were program to be excellent and great not only as a nation but God’s will for us is prosper as a nation and not forever slave Jeremiah 29:11

We are here to maximize what God gave us. Life is full of joy and challenges. Money is important from the very beginning but the more we know the purpose of it, we can easily make a decision especially when it comes to preparing for the retirement stage. Most of the Filipino parents right now who are now retired  are relying on their kids and it is a really bad training and it will be a terrible cycle. Time to stop that now especially to our generation.

When the time You get  back to the Lord you will be able to pass this legacy to your kids or love ones. In reality most of the time Filipinos will just leave 3 things to their  children or wives the most common are borrowed money from anyone (utang) Surname, sickness or disease e.g. Diabetes Hypertension

David Isaiah Angway is a Financial Evangelist