Tag Archives: Life Balance

Maximizing Your Lifestyle Responsibly

by

The following article was originally post as a guest post at Cashflow Sherpas, to view it in it’s original form, click here.  The following article is an updated and slightly improved version of the article, but updated enough to make both stories significantly different!

During my college years, I had a fun time, but even so, I think I could have had more fun while at the same time optimizing my finances.

While I was very frugal and did have some investments, I did so by living a fairly frugal existence in college.  Often times, my college roommates would find clever activities for us to do because nobody had money make then.  While I participated in some of the cheaper activities, I missed out on the ones that others would charge to their credit cards.  Today I look back and I believe I could have had a better mix of frugality and spending.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s okay to use credit cards and build up debt!  But if I had to do it over again, I definitely would have used some of the money from my investments.

In fact, if I had to do it all over again, I would have invested money that I made from working since I was sixteen into investment.  I would also invest all the money I got over the years from birthdays and Christmas, into investments that would yield dividends.

Next, I would have created a spreadsheet that tracks all my finances including the dividend stream from my dividend stocks.

The beauty of having such an income stream would be that I could have maximized the money to use to have more memorable experiences back then.  Many of these are age specific experiences that once you miss them, you really can’t go back!  So I would urge others to do such a thing, especially if you are too frugal like I was!

I was so frugal, that there was a point in my life where I wouldn’t even go on a date because I felt like I couldn’t afford it.  Luckily, I was still able to find a few girlfriends that I was able to go out with while staying on a frugal route!

The above is only part of the process though.  It’s the bean counting part that while crucial, in just part of the puzzle.  The other part is spending intelligently, and keeping your eyes open for opportunities to make money.  In fact, I think being aware is the most critical piece of the maximization puzzle.

While I don’t see any obvious, risk free opportunities that would have made me rich in college, there were definitely opportunities that may have made it happened if I tried!  If you don’t explore and try such things, you’ll never know.  You don’t have to start the next Microsoft, it could be a small money making venture, experiment!

While I have missed some life experiences, for my kids I’ve already creating an investment portfolio that will contain a portion that will have stocks invested in dividends, They will be able to use that money from the dividends for their potentially fun college fun expenses in the future.  That way they will get to experiences more than I did while going the college thing!

In the end, it’s about developing a financial balance that would maximize your life.

Bests,

MR

How To Live A Balanced Life

by

This guest post is by The Digerati Life, a financial site where you’ll find top credit card deals, investing resources and saving advice.

****

How do you put a value on something?  How do you measure one’s worth or success?  Some measure their success by the investments they own, some do so through career achievements, while some do so through the accumulation of material things.  Funny enough, I even know someone who measures their success by the number of points they collect in their rewards credit card accounts.

The problem with this manner of judging one’s success and worth is that it’s very shallow and superficial.  Who a person is cannot easily be measured by the money he has in his bank account.  Perhaps, it is this very disillusionment of materialism and consumerism that has led the Crafton family to liquidate all their assets and set sail for the seas… for seven whole years.

The Crafton Family isn’t your average family.  Husband and wife, Tom and Kathy Crafton were both successful in the medical field before they set sail.  Kathy was an ICU nurse, while Tom was a family psychologist.  They had all the trappings that came with their jobs: a big house, and all the material stuff that they could want… or buy.  But what was it that drove this high-income family to just abandon the mainland in favor of the high seas?  For seven whole years?  According to this Washington Post story, they embarked on their voyage because they had gotten disillusioned by their wealth: while they had the big house and the mountains of stuff, they saw that they did not need all this and they wanted to see their kids grow.  They didn’t want the alienation that came with acquiring more stuff but not being able to build a relationship with their kids; they knew that family was far more valuable than what they could acquire with their high-income careers.  And so, they liquidated all their assets in six months and set sail.

How about you? Are you feeling the ennui that comes with the same old routine, day in and day out: working, coming home, watching TV, sleeping, waking up and rushing to work once more, looking forward to the yearly vacations…  By now, you must be wondering if there’s something more to life than living it in a cycle, or a rat race, so to speak.

Now you don’t have to do something as drastic as the Craftons have done — and radically uproot your regular routine and your life in favor of 7 years at sea with your loved ones.  All you really need to do is to find balance.

Here are some tips to promote balance in your work and life:

  • Find some time to devote wholly to your family. Avoid the trap of letting work run your life.  When you’re able to consciously find time for family and relationships at home, there shouldn’t be any reason to want to cocoon yourselves at sea for 7 whole years.
  • Let your money work harder for you.  Try to establish sources of passive income.  Have a good amount of your financial assets invested in high interest accounts. Also, have a good percentage invested in high yielding investments in online stock brokerage accounts.  By letting your money work for you, this will allow you to work at a pace, and in a field that lets you live a more balanced life.
  • Understand that money is not everything.  If you get a job offer that will only kill your relationships with your spouse and kids, then rethink the offer.  Is it worth it?  Your income may not be worth it if, 5 years down the line, you suffer a divorce because you neglected to spend time with your family.
  • There are certain careers and jobs that are not as stressful but can pull in significant income.  Figure out what kind of job can work for you, do some research on it, and see if you can shift your career from stressful to sane.

Balance is key to living this life.  While most people go through life harassed, harried and enslaved by their jobs, you don’t have to live this way.  Take the time to figure out what will work for you, and always hold relationships and family as a higher priority over money.  Work on being content with what you have, and make the decision to live a balanced life.

MR, here.  As readers of my blog know, I’m a big proponent of a balanced lifestyle in practically every regard.

I’d like to thank the writer for Digerati Life for contributing such a great piece that fits so perfectly here at moneyreasons.com!!!

-MR