I don’t mean to set a pompous tone, like Stephan King’s On Writing. Seriously, though, why should you read my words about money? What have I accomplished? What makes me a credible source of information?
Financial success is subjective. Allow me some wordsmith to share my successes, lending itself to my reason for advising you about finances:
1) I am Debt Free
Yes, I went to school. Yes, I have a bachelor of education from the University of Alberta. Yes, like many other students out there, I took out student loans. I paid off my loans before I left university. How did I do it?
I took advantage of opportunities. On a bi-semester basis, the University of Alberta would host a huge for its apparel. Hoodies were going for 20 bucks a size. I purchased several hoodies, of different sizes and colours, and posted them on Kijji for a little higher than the price of the University of Alberta’s bookstore. I kind of sold each hoodie. I kind of made bank on this investment.
How else did I become debt free? I started working when I was 12 years old at Tim Hortons. Too young to wield a knife, but still old enough to pour a cup of coffee, Tim Hortons taught me essential life skills. And I was able to save money (and later crash a nice sports care. Visit the Annex for this story here).
During my expensive- piece-of-toilet-paper education, I also had the opportunity to study Chinese abroad in Taiwan for 8 months. My program offered a 2000 dollar scholarship and a student visa. Though I wasn’t supposed to “work” on this type of visa, I took up tutoring jobs, where I was paid upwards of 200-400 dollars.
Through tutoring one individual, I met another man who was wealthy, and he paid me loads of cash to speak English to him. All I had to do was talk to him. He was a big guru manager of some Taiwanese hotels in China. I remember him handing me thick stacks of cash.
In the end, I never spent the scholarship money, and because I ran into the right opportunities, I was able to pay for my entire trip and another semester of studying in Taiwan. When I returned to Canada, I put a significant chunk of cash towards my student loans– by that point I was at around 20000 in debt.
2) In the Past, I was very frugal
I basically followed these tips to the letter when I was enrolled in university. Today, however, I live very comfortably. I would recommend following these frugal tips until you have paid down all your debt.
3) I Never Spend more than I make
I cannot remember the last time I ever dipped into my savings account, except when I was paying off my student loans. My salary is enough to cover my expenses, even with inflation costs factored in. And I don’t make very much! My excel spreadsheet coins my salary at 36000USD a year tax free.
With this salary, I do not have to be frugal; I live very comfortably today. I save approximately 50% of my paycheck every month.
4) I have a budgeting system
Monitoring spending is essential to saving in my opinion. I utilize an excel spreadsheet to save my funds. Want more details about my spreadsheet? Click here for some depth.
When creating a system for budgeting, is it important to habitualize using whatever system you are comfortable with. Without it becoming a habit, you will lose the importance and system behind your creation.
Eventually you will find that budgeting helps show where you are spending too much money (or, lord bless you, not enough money), and then you can allocate and make adjustments the following month. Having a monthly budget is useful, but building in a networth calculator is also imperative.
5) I know my networth
I think many people look over this important word: networth. Your networth is how much cash you are worth, with all your assets calculated into the total. Calculating your networth also allows people to make choices on their funds based on a yearly perspective, it makes you feel like your money is working towards something bigger. For example, if I have my milestones (budget) set for each month, then I can see how much money I will make that will contribute to my total networth.
It also provides a good snapshot of which parts of your capital are working for you (IE: invested in other assets, such as stocks, or rental properties), and shows how your money is constantly growing.
None of these accomplishments above make me a qualified financial advisor, but I do know how to save money, prosper, and hopefully impact this earth one day with my dollars (what is my end goal anyway)?
Perhaps following my advice is worth it to you, because in the end, all you lose is a few minutes of your day just to read my words.
