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New Year’s Resolutions
January 3, 2011
Do you make New Year’s resolutions each year? Many of us like to make resolutions or set new goals starting January 1. Most of us start with good intentions.
The New Year is a good time to start out with a clean plate so to speak. It is a new beginning.
The beginning of the New Year can certainly be a good time to observe your life and figure out what is going on and where you are at. It is a good time to review what is working and what isn’t working.
Unfortunately, we know that New Year’s resolutions don’t really stick for most people. After a little time, most of us go back to doing whatever we were doing and we don’t get the real change that we were seeking.
If you didn’t or don’t make New Year’s resolutions, remember that any time that you want or need to make a change can be a good time to get started. If you really want to make something happen you have to get started – whenever that is. And then you have to stay at it to make the change stick.
Do you have some things that you want to change or accomplish in 2011? What are you willing to do in order to achieve these things?
Best wishes for a happy and successful 2011.
Copyright Kevin Drum 2011
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Really! Test It!
December 27, 2010
Are you really living within your means? Are you sure? Following is a simple test for you to try.
Make an accurate comparison of your monthly income versus your monthly expenses. This is a very important number. Of course you already know what this number is, don’t you?
Once you’ve finished, take another look at your expenses. Did you include everything? This is an area where a lot of well intentioned people get tripped up.
I call it “painting the picture” of where you are at. It sounds simple. But for many it isn’t.
My observation is that the hard part is to completely list all of your expenses. As the expenses get closer to equaling and even exceeding the income level, there is a tendency to go into denial mode.
In the denial mode, we decide that not every expense really counts. For example, we decide that gifts (regardless of how much we spend on them), subscriptions, trips to the specialty coffee shop, or some other things don’t really count – even though we spend money on them.
Everything counts if you are really spending money on it. If you aren’t sure what your average monthly expenses are, track them for a period of time until you know what they are. Just make sure that you do an accurate job.
Clearly “paint the picture” of your current financial situation – even if it makes your current situation look worse that you thought that it was. Why is this so important? Because if you don’t have a clear picture of where you are (and then combine this with where you want to be) how do you know what steps to take next?
I believe that once you get to this point, you will find hopefulness and encouragement. Because now you have a clear picture and you can generate your alternatives and make your plan.
Question: What is your average monthly income versus your average monthly expenses?
A lot of people don’t know the answer to this. Generally they simply don’t know where their money went. They made money but it is gone now with nothing to show for it.
Solution step: If your monthly expenses exceed your monthly income, ask yourself the following questions. Am I/are we actually borrowing money to pay for this item? Am I/are we going into debt in order to support our lifestyle (even if our lifestyle involves living beyond our means)?
Am I willing to keep borrowing money and going further into debt for this _______? Fill in the blank with whatever it is in your situation. For example, am I borrowing money to eat out tonight?
Finally, think about these questions. If I/we keep going further into debt and living beyond my/our means, what are the consequences of doing this? Is it worth it? If not, what am I willing to do about it starting right now?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Merry Christmas
December 23, 2010
Merry Christmas! Have a safe and wonderful holiday season.
Knowing Versus Doing
December 20, 2010
I speak with a lot of people that struggle with their personal finances. Unfortunately these struggles lead to difficulties in all areas of life.
One problem is getting in debt and getting overwhelmed. This leads to lots of stress and worry. In marriages, financial problems can lead to marital struggles as well.
Some struggle because they truly don’t understand how to manage their money. For them it is a lack of knowledge that leads to their problems. More knowledge and more understanding can be very valuable to them.
But there is another category of people that struggle financially beyond those that don’t understand. This is the category that knows what to do but doesn’t do it. I don’t have a scientific count on this but I suspect that this may be the larger group.
They struggle financially because of the choices that they make. Getting more knowledge and information probably won’t help this group very much. They don’t act on the knowledge that they have now.
Do you or someone that you know fall into this category? Do you have all of the knowledge that you need but you struggle to do what you need to do?
If so, are you willing to do some things differently in order to get the results that you want? Also, if you don’t do something different and take the right actions steps, what will it cost you?
Would you like to be the person who not only knows what to do but who actually follows through and does what needs to be done? If so, what steps will you take today to become this person?
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC
Diligence
December 16, 2010
Proverbs 22:29 – “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”
Diligence is an important virtue. To me diligence is staying on the right track and doing the right things. This applies to all areas of life and it is important whether it is easy or difficult to remain diligent.
If you are trying to put your finances in order, it is important to remain diligent. If you are trying to get a business going, it is important to remain diligent.
In difficult times, remaining diligent can be challenging due to frustrations, lack of results, discouragement, etc. I’ve talked with many who now are finding that achieving good business results is difficult in the current economic environment. More are working harder for lesser results.
Unfortunately, this can bring about the temptation to say “what’s the use?” and to even cause us to quit trying and to give up. We hear examples of this when the government reports the unemployment numbers and talks about the percentage of the population that isn’t counted anymore because they got discouraged and gave up.
We need to consider what end result we really desire. Then we need to decide if this end result is really important to us or not. If it is important and we view it as something that we MUST achieve, then giving up isn’t really our option. It is important to remain diligent
In good times, distractions, leisure pursuits, and apathy can keep us from remaining diligent. We can easily get off course if we lose our way on other things.
The book of Proverbs provides great lessons on how to go about our daily lives and our business. Proverbs 22:29 in particular is one of my favorite verses. It applies to our personal as well as our professional business lives.
Every so often consider asking yourself the following question – Am I currently remaining diligent in all areas of life
In good times and in bad times we need to remain diligent if we want to succeed.
Copyright Kevin Drum 2010
Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety including this copyright information and it is attributed to
Kevin Drum
Titan Solutions, LLC