Comments on: Six Ways to Fight Back When You Lose Financial Focus

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:50:04 +0000

Keep your focus. Except for the diamon ring you talked about–most things end up at garage sales or the Good Will. It is just not worth it. Your family is your most important treasure.

By: Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course

Computer Consulting Kit Home Study Course — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:04:17 +0000

Keeping financial focus is always difficult, whether you are talking about personal finances or business-focused things. The biggest thing I try to do (and advise the small business computer consultants with whom I work to do as well) is write everything down on paper. Writing a budget and a plan down on paper tends to make it “real,” not only because it forces you to take accountability for all your spending and decisions, but also because it presents an opportunity to regularly re-visit decisions and also re-confirm goals and stick to them.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:39:05 +0000

Good for you! When I see my friends and others that have material objects I would love to have for the moment I think to myself “Big Hat, No Cattle”. I’d rather have the cattle aka savings/investments than brand new SUV’s, huge house, and be in debt up to my eyeballs aka as the Big Hats!

By: John

John — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:25:03 +0000

Very informative. I let the Thanksgiving holiday and family interactions cheer me up. It help.

By: partgypsy

partgypsy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:37:44 +0000

Aw c’mon, give her the diamond ring. What I mean by this, is that it is great that you have a long term goal you are working towards. I personally think it is good to have shorter term goals as well. It is good to have as part of your budget some “discretionary money” for yourself or your loved ones on the way to that long term goal, so there is something to look forward to that is not completely abstract and rewards one’s good behavior. It is part of the reward of being disciplined with one’s money. It may not be a diamond ring, but for the family, etc. Anways it works well for our family because we save but we don’t feel deprived either.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:11:50 +0000

great stuff…..money doesn’t buy happiness…it buys freedom. If you lost your house and belongings in a fire what would you have left…the most valuable things of all, you and your family.

By: Erick

Erick — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:18:50 +0000

Thanks to all that replied. It makes more sense now.

By: Shevy

Shevy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:46:40 +0000

@ Clicker Trainer

I was confused by the following two comments.

You said:
(2) I stay out of stores, and buy gifts online instead. I have them shipped directly and avoid post office toxicity.

(3) Since I wouldn’t get any gift at all unless I provide it (no family), I let myself go shopping at 4pm on Christmas eve. Any store I want. Sales are unbelievable. It is my “all about me” time.

So you *send* gifts to people in other cities who aren’t family members, since you don’t have family, and who presumably aren’t people like the postman or milkman or paperboy because they live elsewhere. But they don’t reciprocate, so they don’t sound like close friends.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I wouldn’t continue to spend money on them unless you’re sending gifts for underprivileged children or something similar.

Most non-profits will send cards in exchange for a minimum donation of $10 or so (per card). If your animal shelter does this, you could increase your donation and have them send cards that say something along the lines of “A donation has been made in your honour to the Animal Shelter. Thinking of you during this holiday season…”

By: justin

justin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:56:59 +0000

@Erick

financial independence is when your passive incomes exceeds your monthly expenses. Then you never have to work again if you don’t want to.

By: justin

justin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:48:25 +0000

@Erick

Financial independence is when your passive income exceeds your mouthly expenses.
Example, you make $3,000 a month on rental properties and paper assets, but your monthly expenses are only $2,000. You could live the rest of your life without working if you wanted to. Financial independence is very simple, some people just like to make it complicated.

By: Oswegan

Oswegan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:47:54 +0000

That’s funny cause Summer time is when I feel like I lose the most focus. By this time of year I usually feel like I have better control over the budget.

That’s probably the key thing. Having a budget, and sticking to it.

~Oswegan

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:13:13 +0000

These are all good suggestions. I would add: keep a gratitude journal. Jot down 5 things every day that you are grateful for. This makes you appreciate what you have, and lessens all the ‘longing for more’ kinds of feelings. And focus on your passion and makes sure you are allocating enough $ for it. This makes you willing to cut back in other areas because you know the $ needed for your passion is there for you. –very important–

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:10:34 +0000

Might want to check your dictionary. I don’t think
“levity” means what you think it means. In fact, I think you’re using when you actually mean the opposite. From Merriam-Webster:

LEVITY
1: excessive or unseemly frivolity
2: lack of steadiness

Is your wife really a source of levity?

By: George

George — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:57:34 +0000

@Erick

A reasonable MINIMUM estimate for FI is when 4-5% of your cash investments would be above the Federal poverty level income. For two people, that’s about $20k, so 20x$20k = $400k minimum pile of cash in today’s world.

A comfortable estimate for FI would be twice the poverty level and anything above that would be sweet!

By: FinanceAndFat

FinanceAndFat — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:38:24 +0000

I found great inspiration for staying focused this morning, after the long weekend, when I had to get up early to go back to work. This isn’t what I want to be doing for the rest of my life and continuing to spend money is going to keep me here.

By: Cloud

Cloud — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 19:01:57 +0000

“a complex Norwegian food”???

How mysterious!

Do tell.

By: BigRed

BigRed — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:23:35 +0000

Trent–hope your complex Norwegian dish isn’t rolpeltz (not sure of the spelling)–it involves saltpeter and juniper berries (this was a specialty of my husband’s 97-year-old grandfather, and we had to go to Annapolis to get the saltpeter from the black-powder musket shop). ANd none of the men in the family would touch it :)

By: LC

LC — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:15:11 +0000

@Erick
You’re right – it varies a lot on your standard of living as well as your definition of financial independence.

But I think that the article was saying until you are living your dream life and don’t have to worry about the future, there is always another goal that is likely more important than whatever object you want at the moment. This means you:

-have no debt, including a mortgage
-have a nest egg big enough to live off the interest alone, taking into account your desired lifestyle
-have saved for your kids college or other applicable savings goals

Although people say that $1M isn’t enough to retire on anymore, I think it’s enough for a modest retirement for the rest of your life regardless of your age. If you are wondering about how your net worth/savings compares to other people your age or how much you need to retire on, there are many calculators on the internet.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:46:57 +0000

What dish from Norway were you making? Can’t wait to see your cooking site!

By: ClickerTrainer

ClickerTrainer — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:38:43 +0000

While your article isn’t specifically about holiday spending…
Here is what I do to avoid holiday overspending:

(1) I pick ONE charity and donate generously to it. Mine’s the local animal shelter.

(2) I stay out of stores, and buy gifts online instead. I have them shipped directly and avoid post office toxicity.