Your Golden Egg

There are many ways as to how you may increase your income, be it short-term or long-term, but it is of most importance to incorporate solutions/ideas that will increase your current income on a long-term basis. As with many aspects in life, working toward long-term goals is more significant and creates more impact in your life than short-term (instant gratification) goals.

Within these words you will find great wisdom and ultimately (if you follow the tasks asked of you here) you will achieve a certain level of financial success that will propel you to obtaining greater wealth.

The basic steps are simple, but first we will review 2 very important words that you must keep in mind at all times. Let’s think of these on a monthly time frame.

I. Fixed Expenses: These are your constant/fixed expenses. In other words, these are the expenses you have on a monthly basis that don’t change. They are the same amount month after month. Note: Sometimes if you own a home your association fee will change a little bit every year or so. But for purposes of maintaining things in a simplistic format we will keep this expense as a fixed one. Samples: Mortgage, rent, basic rate for cable, DSL, phone, cell phone, automobile, health insurance, car insurance, association fee.

II. Variable Expenses: These are expenses that change/vary month after month. Within these expenses there is much to work on! This is possible due to the fact that you have full control over them! Sample: Usage for water, phone, cell phone, Internet, shopping sprees (very important for you to control), electronics, décor, food, entertainment, beauty salons, going out to eat (this includes coffee etc.). Remember that many of these variable expenses will increase or decreases depending on the mood you are in. It is of most importance that you select other avenues (not spending your money too much) when it comes to being depressed or extremely optimistic. This is where most people deplete their income. It is crucial that your variable costs are kept in a budget (per category) based on the final number of your (Income – Expenses) calculation. I know this is difficult to do, but you need to do your best to only spend no more than 50% of what is left over that may be applied to your variable expenses. More on this subject in my next issue of LifestyleLounge. TV.

Your Monthly Net Income (income after taxes)
– Your Monthly Expenses
_____________________________________________
= Money left over for your Variable Expenses & Savings

Let us work on those Fixed Expenses so that once you reduce them, you will have
a guaranteed increase in your monthly income. Just follow these steps

1. Jot down all of your fixed expenses. Review them. Go down the list and see in which ways you may reduce them.

Here are some examples:

(a) I have Geico insurance for my automobile. I called them and asked them what I could possibly do to reduce my monthly payment because I needed to save the money and because I love to have them as my insurance carrier I did not want to look elsewhere for insurance. Yes, you should shop around, but I personally wanted to stay with them. After about ½ hour I was able to maintain needed coverage and reduce my payments at approximately $12.00 per month! This can be done with other companies too! If you let them know that you love being a part of their organization, they will help you as much as possible to reduce or work a deal out with you rather than to lose you.

(b) My mortgage payment was sort of higher than when it started. My dad said, (since it was my very first mortgage & he is a builder), check out your statement and see if they have included anything extra apart from the usual (PMI, mortgage payment and interest charge on loan). When I checked there was an extra charge of about $11.00 for some service I did not realized I had ordered when I cashed a check they had sent me! I called, complained about being “deceived” and got all the money back plus my overall payment was reduced. Sure, you may also refinance in order to reduce your monthly payments, but because my loan amount was only $30M it was not worth (according to my research) re-financing due to the fact that it would cost me a lot for closing costs etc.

(c) Do you really need the fanciest car? You can get a nice car that is used or is a demo for a great price after the cars for the New Year have come out. I am telling you this because I got my dream car in April and I know that I could have obtained it for less if I had waited until the dealership had received the new models at the later part of the year. Even though I made that mistake and learned from it. I was able to reduce the monthly payment of my car 2 times, YES twice! I was currently with Bank of America at 9% during the time I was leasing my dream car because I did not have good credit. Once my credit was restored to a better standing and the 3 year leasing period was over, I was able to go through PeopleFirst to finance the car @ about 7 1/2%. A small savings, but better than nothing, plus the car was now under my name and it made me look better for creditors that I was financing a car! A few years later rates were very low and I shopped around again to reduce my monthly expense. E-loan was more than happy to take my business and I refinanced the car for 5 years (in order to keep my payments low) at 5%. I will admit that I am paying more for my dream car than I should have, but the reality was that I did not have the credit for a while and purchasing a new car (after looking into it) would have cost me much more. I made sure I took care of the car, checked the oils every 2 weeks and took it religiously for its required check ups. I think that due to this I still have my dream car in great shape after 9 years! The car is not manufactured anymore and I know that when I sell it I will be able to get a small profit from it. Bottom line is that you should maintain your monthly expenses low while you are trying to move up in the world!

(d) Do you really need the mansion in order to look good to your friends? Stop fooling yourself and destroying your pocket. Trust me, you may have friends that seem to have a lot, but many of them probably have a lot of debt under their names! NOT GOOD! I purchased my first home with a grant from the city. It is just a one bedroom/1 bath/storage/ water & cable included place in a very nice area. It is best to live in a small apartment or home in a nice area than to have some large place in a so-so or very nice area while paying a big price on it. It is not worth it to work just to pay your debts. You may live in a nice petite place that is beautifully decorated. Hey, if you are saving money in the mortgage payments then you will have some extra money for the super décor that will make all your friends JEALOUS! And at the same time you will have extra money for your savings account so that the next time you speak to your buddies, you will tell them that you just booked a flight to Europe (because you had the extra money). GET IT! Check out your City Hall or another city’s City Hall for the Housing Department and request information about the grants that are available for first time home buyers (or buyers that have not owned a home for more than 3 years). It is free money! Yes, you don’t have to pay it back (with some basic minor conditions: You can’t rent the place or sell it before a certain amount of time).

2. Contact the following companies: Cell phone, cable and home phone company and tell them that you would like to stay with them, but you need to reduce your base rate. Ask them as to how you can accomplish this and make sure that you also shop around for better rates offered by other companies. Recently I contacted my cell phone company and obtained a much better plan based on the time I was constantly using. The plan was actually $10 more, but I was saving about $100 per month! Why? Because I just kept using extra minutes due to the fact that I got a new permanent side job that required me to use the phone more often. It’s funny; even though my income per month increased, I was depleting it with the incoming and outgoing calls I needed to make! Bottom line was that something needed to change immediately! So for just $10 more I got the minutes that were recommended to me by Cingular (remember that calls with other Cingular and AT & T phones are free) and based on my average usage. Up to date I have averaged a savings of $90 per month and I have performed my job correctly while not going over my minutes!

3. Reduce your health insurance costs! Whether you have insurance coverage through your employer or you have your own, it is important to find ways in which you may reduce these monthly costs especially if you are a fairly healthy individual. For many years I was not able to obtain coverage for myself due to my previous medical history. After 10 years of my operation I did not have to mention my previous problem and for the first time I was able to get my own coverage! I was happy because I was always interested in becoming my own employer which meant dealing with my own health coverage expenses. My monthly premium was $137 with BCBS and a $2500 deductible. (I take great care of myself, I don’t drink or smoke and I exercise. Guess what! Just recently BCBS sent me some “junk mail”, about a new plan which I almost tossed in the trash. I called and found out that by changing I would reduce my payments by $6 every month, keep the same PPO coverage and include prescription drugs (which I did not have before). So I made the change and I make sure that the $6 are placed into my savings account (I recommend that you take the savings and multiply them by 12 and deposit the full amount into your savings account or IRA/Roth account ASAP! $6 X 12 = $72. This way you don’t use it for “instant satisfaction” items.

It is possible that you can work on this in just one or two days. Get a pad and pen, jot down all the needed contact numbers and start calling. Tell them how you want to continue doing business with them but that you are in need of reducing your expenses (even if you have plenty of money to pay for them). Hey, the wealthy did not become wealthy by overspending! Don’t Forget!

Conclusion: Once you have decreased as many fixed costs as possible, calculate the difference (before and after fixed expenses). I can assure you that you will be amazed at the instant income you will have created which may be used for your regular savings account, retirement account, vacation, lap top (to make you a mobile entrepreneur) or even to start an emergency fund (something that my dad constantly reminds me to maintain).

	LifestyleLounge.tv
	Your Golden Egg: Steps To Increasing Your Long-Term Income! S.G. Lifestyle Lounge.tv / investor lounge
	There are many ways as to how you may increase your income, be it short-term or long-term, but it is of most importance to incorporate solutions/ideas that will increase your current income on a long-term basis. As with many aspects in life, working toward long-term goals is more significant and creates more impact in your life than short-term (instant gratification) goals. Within these words you will find great wisdom and ultimately (if you follow the tasks asked of you here) you will achieve a certain level of financial success that will propel you to obtaining greater wealth. The basic steps are simple, but first we will review 2 very important words that you must keep in mind at all times. Let’s think of these on a monthly time frame. I. Fixed Expenses: These are your constant/fixed expenses. In other words, these are the expenses you have on a monthly basis that don’t change. They are the same amount month after month. Note: Sometimes if you own a home your association fee will change a little bit every year or so. But for purposes of maintaining things in a simplistic format we will keep this expense as a fixed one. Samples: Mortgage, rent, basic rate for cable, DSL, phone, cell phone, automobile, health insurance, car insurance, association fee. II. Variable Expenses: These are expenses that change/vary month after month. Within these expenses there is much to work on! This is possible due to the fact that you have full control over them! Sample: Usage for water, phone, cell phone, Internet, shopping sprees (very important for you to control), electronics, décor, food, entertainment, beauty salons, going out to eat (this includes coffee etc.). Remember that many of these variable expenses will increase or decreases depending on the mood you are in. *It is of most importance that you select other avenues (not spending your money too much) when it comes to being depressed or extremely optimistic.* This is where most people deplete their income. It is crucial that your variable costs are kept in a budget (per category) based on the final number of your (Income – Expenses) calculation. I know this is difficult to do, but you need to do your best to only spend no more than 50% of what is left over that may be applied to your variable expenses. More on this subject in my next issue of LifestyleLounge. TV. Magic Formula Your Monthly Net Income (income after taxes) – Your Monthly Expenses _____________________________________________ = Money left over for your Variable Expenses & Savings Let us work on those Fixed Expenses so that once you reduce them, you will have a guaranteed increase in your monthly income. Just follow these steps 1. Jot down all of your fixed expenses. Review them. Go down the list and see in which ways you may reduce them. Here are some examples: (a) I have Geico insurance for my automobile. I called them and asked them what I could possibly do to reduce my monthly payment because I needed to save the money and because I love to have them as my insurance carrier I did not want to look elsewhere for insurance. Yes, you should shop around, but I personally wanted to stay with them. After about ½ hour I was able to maintain needed coverage and reduce my payments at approximately $12.00 per month! This can be done with other companies too! If you let them know that you love being a part of their organization, they will help you as much as possible to reduce or work a deal out with you rather than to lose you. (b) My mortgage payment was sort of higher than when it started. My dad said, (since it was my very first mortgage & he is a builder), check out your statement and see if they have included anything extra apart from the usual (PMI, mortgage payment and interest charge on loan). When I checked there was an extra charge of about $11.00 for some service I did not realized I had ordered when I cashed a check they had sent me! I called, complained about being “deceived” and got all the money back plus my overall payment was reduced. Sure, you may also refinance in order to reduce your monthly payments, but because my loan amount was only $30M it was not worth (according to my research) re-financing due to the fact that it would cost me a lot for closing costs etc. (c) Do you really need the fanciest car? You can get a nice car that is used or is a demo for a great price after the cars for the New Year have come out. I am telling you this because I got my dream car in April and I know that I could have obtained it for less if I had waited until the dealership had received the new models at the later part of the year. Even though I made that mistake and learned from it. I was able to reduce the monthly payment of my car 2 times, YES twice! I was currently with Bank of America at 9% during the time I was leasing my dream car because I did not have good credit. Once my credit was restored to a better standing and the 3 year leasing period was over, I was able to go through PeopleFirst to finance the car @ about 7 1/2%. A small savings, but better than nothing, plus the car was now under my name and it made me look better for creditors that I was financing a car! A few years later rates were very low and I shopped around again to reduce my monthly expense. E-loan was more than happy to take my business and I refinanced the car for 5 years (in order to keep my payments low) at 5%. I will admit that I am paying more for my dream car than I should have, but the reality was that I did not have the credit for a while and purchasing a new car (after looking into it) would have cost me much more. I made sure I took care of the car, checked the oils every 2 weeks and took it religiously for its required check ups. I think that due to this I still have my dream car in great shape after 9 years! The car is not manufactured anymore and I know that when I sell it I will be able to get a small profit from it. Bottom line is that you should maintain your monthly expenses low while you are trying to move up in the world! (d) Do you really need the mansion in order to look good to your friends? Stop fooling yourself and destroying your pocket. Trust me, you may have friends that seem to have a lot, but many of them probably have a lot of debt under their names! NOT GOOD! I purchased my first home with a grant from the city. It is just a one bedroom/1 bath/storage/ water & cable included place in a very nice area. It is best to live in a small apartment or home in a nice area than to have some large place in a so-so or very nice area while paying a big price on it. It is not worth it to work just to pay your debts. You may live in a nice petite place that is beautifully decorated. Hey, if you are saving money in the mortgage payments then you will have some extra money for the super décor that will make all your friends JEALOUS! And at the same time you will have extra money for your savings account so that the next time you speak to your buddies, you will tell them that you just booked a flight to Europe (because you had the extra money). GET IT! Check out your City Hall or another city’s City Hall for the Housing Department and request information about the grants that are available for first time home buyers (or buyers that have not owned a home for more than 3 years). It is free money! Yes, you don’t have to pay it back (with some basic minor conditions: You can’t rent the place or sell it before a certain amount of time). 2. Contact the following companies: Cell phone, cable and home phone company and tell them that you would like to stay with them, but you need to reduce your base rate. Ask them as to how you can accomplish this and make sure that you also shop around for better rates offered by other companies. Recently I contacted my cell phone company and obtained a much better plan based on the time I was constantly using. The plan was actually $10 more, but I was saving about $100 per month! Why? Because I just kept using extra minutes due to the fact that I got a new permanent side job that required me to use the phone more often. It’s funny; even though my income per month increased, I was depleting it with the incoming and outgoing calls I needed to make! Bottom line was that something needed to change immediately! So for just $10 more I got the minutes that were recommended to me by Cingular (remember that calls with other Cingular and AT & T phones are free) and based on my average usage. Up to date I have averaged a savings of $90 per month and I have performed my job correctly while not going over my minutes! 3. Reduce your health insurance costs! Whether you have insurance coverage through your employer or you have your own, it is important to find ways in which you may reduce these monthly costs especially if you are a fairly healthy individual. For many years I was not able to obtain coverage for myself due to my previous medical history. After 10 years of my operation I did not have to mention my previous problem and for the first time I was able to get my own coverage! I was happy because I was always interested in becoming my own employer which meant dealing with my own health coverage expenses. My monthly premium was $137 with BCBS and a $2500 deductible. (I take great care of myself, I don’t drink or smoke and I exercise. Guess what! Just recently BCBS sent me some “junk mail”, about a new plan which I almost tossed in the trash. I called and found out that by changing I would reduce my payments by $6 every month, keep the same PPO coverage and include prescription drugs (which I did not have before). So I made the change and I make sure that the $6 are placed into my savings account (I recommend that you take the savings and multiply them by 12 and deposit the full amount into your savings account or IRA/Roth account ASAP! $6 X 12 = $72. This way you don’t use it for “instant satisfaction” items. It is possible that you can work on this in just one or two days. Get a pad and pen, jot down all the needed contact numbers and start calling. Tell them how you want to continue doing business with them but that you are in need of reducing your expenses (even if you have plenty of money to pay for them). Hey, the wealthy did not become wealthy by overspending! Don’t Forget! Conclusion: Once you have decreased as many fixed costs as possible, calculate the difference (before and after fixed expenses). I can assure you that you will be amazed at the instant income you will have created which may be used for your regular savings account, retirement account, vacation, lap top (to make you a mobile entrepreneur) or even to start an emergency fund (something that my dad constantly reminds me to maintain).