Financially Elite Blog - Achieve Financial Freedom

Total Life Freedom by Achieving Financial Freedom

Dwight Anthony — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:38:00 +0000

Let me go ahead and ask you a quick question. What would YOU do if you have almost total lifestyle freedom by Achieving Financial Freedom and ridding yourself of Debt?

Really just take a few minutes and reflect and answer that question by pulling what you know from within. Your answer might vary from what others believe life freedom should be when you’re debt free, but all answers should end up as a complement to yourself.

In other words, what you gain when you achieve Financial Freedom is priceless. You will have vast amounts of time / more income and cash flow when you don’t have to sit there and on spend so much money on debt.
Benefits of Achieving Financial Freedom

Here are some great benefits of finally becoming financially independent and getting rid of debt:

Live more Freely
Cash Flow Improves drastically
Better Lifestyle living
Better Retirement plan
Improves Financial situations
Financial Education progresses
Be in Position to Give More Freely (Philanthropist)

These are some of the main reasons that I write on Financial Freedom as not only is it a great way of tracking my own progress, but because I get to help others, such as yourself, achieve their own Financial Freedom.

How much better would life feel and be right now if you have that level of financial independence in your life? My guess is that it could change people’s lives and outlook overnight. Those caught up in the consumerism of the day are actually the ones that are usually the most trapped.

Planning Out Your Financial Freedom

Some of the best ways to get out of the financial mess that you may have created for yourself would be to first take ownership. In other words, start to realize it was you why you might be in debt and why it will be you that will get yourself out of it.

Come up with a plan to get out of debt and stick by it. The first thing you need to do is start living by a budget if you haven’t already done so. The second thing is to set achievable Financial Goals!

In other words, let’s say you were on a sail boat in the vast ocean and you had no sight of land, how would you get to steer your boat to where you would like to arrive? Working your financial plan is no different. It’s something you stick by for the long term so that you reap the sensational rewards later.

Two Great Ways Of Getting Rid of Debt

My favourite ways of getting out of debt aren’t easy, but they are doable with a little discipline. They are:

1. Cutting your expenses to find new ways to saving money.

2. Increasing your earnings / income by learning how to increase cash flow through other supplemental income.

Those two above are great, but there is a 3^rd option that I apply to myself that the financial gurus such as Suze Orman e.t.c. don’t touch on. That 3^rd option that I use is Increasing my Value to the World.

I was once told that you will be paid according to the value you bring to the marketplace, but it’s also true that if you can affect thousands or millions of lives, you can in turn be handsomely rewarded for it.

So, start working the plan that you put in place for yourself and I hope that you will become a successful case study someday of why you live with total lifestyle freedom.

What’s Your reasons for Achieving Financial Freedom? Let us know below.

dEcIpHeRiNg | Wants vs. Needs

Dwight Anthony — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:54:03 +0000

We live in a society that is bent on consumerism and consumables and stuff that we really don’t need. Really, the media marketing messages have to share a lot of blame in this as they portray products and services that make you believe that you can’t live without.

Having said that, it also comes down to personalities and a person’s will power to just say no to consumerism and stuff that they ‘just have to have’.

Nothing will destroy your wealth quicker and dash your dreams of financial independence, than succumbing to the message of consumerism.

It’s been said in some circles and fact sheets, that we as a people can be bombarded with many thousands of marketing messages in a day!

Having said that it’s going to imperative that you start to decipher wants vs. needs.
Giving up to the temptation of what we want can many times put us in more desperate financial situations as well as make us end up with a lot of useless stuff. Do we really need six televisions, a thousand dollar massage chair and 400 channels on cable?

I implore that you ask yourself those questions and meditate and visualize on them deeply. This method of self exploration will force you to possibly make better financial decisions in the future so you don’t end up with a bunch of crap and instead get closer to your goals of Financial Freedom.

Applying the 7 Day Oprah Principle

Something that I know will ultimately help curb and even eliminate unwanted spending is what I refer to as the “7 Day Oprah Principle”. As you may already know, Oprah Winfrey is consistently on the list of being one of the world’s richest women. This lady and media mogul is worth upwards of a billion dollars and counting. So, wouldn’t it make sense to apply her own wants vs. needs principle to your own life?

Here’s how it works, let’s say you walk by a department store and you see a mannequin dressed in a suit of clothes that you just have to have.

Applying the Oprah 7 day principle, you would wait 7 days and see if you really feel that you need the item after 7 days. Most of the time and for most people, the feeling subsides or they start to question if it’s a good financial decision.

As you can see, you really want to curb spending and obtaining more of your wants. Stick to what you really need and splurge on wants just occasionally as a reward, rather than every time a ‘feeling’ comes up.

Family Income Benefit Insurance: It’s how and why

Dwight Anthony — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 01:59:37 +0000

As a potential insurance seeker, you must be aware of the existence of the family income benefit insurance in the market. It is a kind of a policy which pays out the benefits in the form of fixed monthly incomes instead of a lump sum.

What ‘Ari Gold’ from Entourage Could Teach YOU About Staying Alive

Dwight Anthony — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 15:30:26 +0000

Image by HBO

I’m talking about health today as enough people don’t put enough emphasis on this aspect of their living. Being healthy and staying fit with a weekly dose of exercise ties right in with keeping your net worth and building your wealth.

Ok, so to track back a few years, I remember watching an older episode of ‘Entourage’, Season 3, Episode 1 and basically wise crack, super tv agent – Ari Gold’ is doing a plethora of weird, but quick exercises in his personal office when his assistant Lloyd walks in (Lloyd takes substantial verbal abuse from Ari by the way).

Long story short, Lloyd basically asks Ari what’s he’s doing in his office as he feels his time would be better served on an urgent day to day task of his business. To which Ari gives the sharp and whitty reply to Lloyd, “It’s pretty urgent that in the 15 minutes a day I have free, I take the time to keep this body fit. And not just so you have a great a** to look at, I want to live! “

So, as you can see, even fictual character knows the importance of exercising at least 15-20 mins. a day for better health. I talk about it in my Greatest Investment I’ve ever Made post and you really should aim to get a minimum of 20 mins. exercise per day for at least 3-5 days a week. Work on nutrition and eating healthy while you’re at it and you’ll start to see a lot of positive results in your life!

Want to share on this? Please comment below and share this post through social media (Facebook e.t.c.) and help others as well !

“It’s pretty urgent that in the 15 minutes a day I have free, I take the time to keep this body fit. And not just so you have a great a** to look at, I want to live! “

10 Ways to Make An Extra $1000 a Month

Dwight Anthony — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:24:10 +0000

Ok, before you start thinking that this is going to be some easy get rich scheme by simply pushing a button to make money, think again. In fact, there will be a decent amount of work involved to get you earning that extra $1000 a month, but the rewards can be generous.

Not to mention, that’s why most people don’t do it. Using just a few of the methods below can net you that amount, also you may have to combine a few of the methods to finally getting that extra source of income to build your wealth.
So, here’s 10 great ways you can make Extra $1000 a month starting today.

1. Sell Items on EBAY or Craigslist Starting out, sell all of your extras lying around the house / basement / attic on Craigslist or EBAY. This is great to start getting the ball rolling and making some quick cash. A more sustainable model, is finding deals such as low priced wholesale items and list as a mark up on the sites mentioned.

2. Mow Lawns / Misc. Labor Got a mower / lawn accessories? You could get around some of the lawns that need a little more manicuring that don’t have a gardener service. Price the lawn a little lower than a lawn service and you could easily make $35 and up per lawn. 5 lawns for the day at $50 could net you $250 for the day. How about other forms of small labor you’re good at? Maybe you’re a great gardener and could setup a vegetable garden for others? Thinking outside the box could really set you up with a nice re-occuring income in terms of maintenance e.t.c.

3. Painting / Pressure Washing Again, this falls in line with a specialty you might possess. Maybe you’re a good room painter or you own your own pressure washer. You could paint a room for someone and make good dollars doing so. You could pressure wash driveways for say $50 and up.

4. Become a Tutor in Your Best Subject If you’ve got great book smarts or even excelled in a subject in school, why not tutor those that have no clue on the subject or just need supplemental help to get their grades up? It’s a win-win. They pay you per hour and you get to help someone in the process. Easily charge $25 and up per ½ hour or hour.

5. Take on a Second Job
Ok, this is actually a legit source of a 2^nd income and I only endorse this method to get yourself out of debt or if you’re a single parent or other shortfalls in income. If you do go down this route, just try to keep it as a short term approach if possible. Nice thing about a 2^nd job is the income is usually predictable.

6. Become a Freelancer / Sell Skills online
If you’ve got good writing skills or even great at web design / graphics and similar projects online, consider being a freelancer. Freelancers can usually bid on their work as small projects getting paid in full once work is completed. Check out Freelancer or even E-Lance to get started.

7. Become an Affiliate of Online Goods
You could make a very good monthly income by simply being an affiliate of a high converting product on marketplaces like ClickBank, Commission Junction or PayDotCom and other sites. Getting paid 50% or even higher on high ticket items can be the norm, in fact, my first affiliate sale on a 97$ product (50% paid), was some of the easiest money i’ve made online. Have a look at Dennis Becker’s Earn 1K a Day program if you’re just starting out – there’s a load of easy learning resources there.

8. Host Your Own Garage Sales
This a spin on the old notion of having your own garage sales, but why not use the EBAY model from above. This may include getting some vintage or nostalgia on the cheap from another source (garage sale, wholesale discounter e.t.c.) and end up selling at a premium to make some tidy profits. It may take a few go around times at this to get it right, but could be the right fit for your $1000 a month strategy.

9. Become an InfoProduct Creator
This notion is similar to becoming an affiliate from above. However, this time you actually become a product creator, selling information to the masses that can be distributed on platforms such as ClickBank e.t.c. Instead of making a commission, you could actually have affiliates help drive sales for your own products. This can be a gold mine if done right. Again, check out the resources at Earn 1K a Day or better yet, Jason Fladlien’s 48 Hour Report.

10. Be a Professional Organizer
Know anyone that could use some great tips to maximize their home organization to free up space and declutter their home. This might just be in the cards for you if you have this unique skillset. Garages, laundry rooms, kids rooms and so on can be a staple to bring you in steady income month after month. You could also get a swarm of referrals this way and build up business this way.

I hope you got alot out of the different ways presented here to make more supplemental income. Notice this is a guide and thinking outside the box could make you build your monthly income even quicker. Good luck!

What’s on My IPOD Playlist….When I’m Jogging

Dwight Anthony — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:42:16 +0000

Everyone that works out, does some sort of exercise or just plans to get fit or stay fit needs some sort of kick in the pants.

A form of self motivation or even some ambition is required to kick yourself into high gear and get the ball rolling.

For some people, that may require meditation, for others it may be getting into some sort of pre-exercise ritual. For me, I get my most ambition and pumped up to exercise with some of my favourite tunes. I have my playlists all organized on my IPOD and ready to go at a moment.

I felt I’d just share one of them that I use for getting out for a quick or medium distance jog. Fresh off my ‘Greatest Investment I’ve Ever Made‘ post, I felt it was really fitting and hope that it will inspire you to stay active as well. So, without further adieu, here’s my current jog playlist below.

David Guetta Feat. Sia -‘Titanium’
OneRepublic-‘Feel Again’
Gym Class Heroes-‘The Fighter’
Afrojack-‘Thief (original)’
Chromatics – ‘Tick Of The Clock’
Summer Party Mix 2012 – Various
TDK – ‘Progressive House – Various’
Foster the People – ‘Pumped Up Kicks’
KID CUDI – ‘PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (STEVE AOKI REMIX)’
Rita Ora – ‘R.I.P.’ ft. Tinie Tempah

Now that you’ve got some inspiration, don the sweats, lace up the old running shoes and get out there. If you get one step out the front door, I promise the rest will follow. Hopefully, you’ll thank me for helping you get in gear vs. eating that full bag of Chips and latest tv marathon re-run.

Want to share on this? Please comment below and share this post through social media (Facebook e.t.c.) and help others as well ! I’d be interested in what you listen to in terms of music if you have your own playlists.

Investing vs. No Debt – Which One is Better?

Dwight Anthony — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:39:30 +0000

In today’s world, everyone wants instant gratification and a sure thing. However, when dealing with money, neither is usually easy. When trying to navigate financial waters, one many times has to wonder which is better — good investments or living debt free? Personally, I choose to be debt free. I base my decision on many factors. Read on for more insight on my financial wisdom

Less Debt = Less Stress
Many people live paycheck to paycheck. They have NO room for change in their financial decisions or work choices at all, due to the fact that there is a certain amount of money that must go out each month to cover their debt. They could never quit or change jobs or do another line of work that might be riskier or bring in less money, as their debt dictates their life. If you’re lucky enough that this isn’t you, remember this as you make big decisions regarding your finances.

Do what you can to avoid this fate. Begin to pay off debt and live without the added burden of paying off bills, and see how free your life feels. You will be able to make decisions based on what brings you peace and happiness, instead of what brings you the ability to open the mailbox and not sweat. If you get out of debt, eventually you can strive to save money for investments. However, if you drop dead tomorrow from worry and stress, those investments won’t mean much.

Unknown Timeclock
Every human on the planet gets a limited amount of time to make something of their life. The only catch is we don’t know how much time we have. So we strive to plan out a way to live our last days conveniently and comfortably, but what if those last days are light years before what we thought they would be?

How would you feel if you planned, scrimped, sacrificed and did without, only to invest money in something that we might never see come to fruition, like retirement? Living debt-free guarantees one a more worry-free, financially stable lifestyle, which is what saving for retirement and investing in a good portfolio is suppose to give us. Why not have it every day instead of during our “golden” years that no one is promised anyway? Debt free is worry-free, today and tomorrow. If tomorrow doesn’t come, then the stress-free feeling you had today was well worth it!

Loved Ones
By the same token as above, you might leave the planet earlier than anticipated. While some good investments might make the loved ones we leave behind well off, if the same loved ones inherit a mound of debt to go along with it, then investments, death taxes, etc will eat up any profits the investments may have resulted in.

If the beneficiaries of your will have houses to pay off, funerals to pay for, taxes to pay, and so forth, your good intentions may be eaten away and you won’t even know it or be here to help.

If you live debt-free, then by the time you are no longer here, the house you have paid for, the cars that are paid for, the charge card bills and creditors that don’t have to be paid off will aid in leaving your loved ones with no stress to deal with. If you have life insurance, they will have money in the bank to boot! Investments are a great idea, but a debt-free inheritance is even better.
Our society gears us up to thinking that if we don’t have a diversified portfolio, the world will somehow come crashing down on us in our old age. Don’t buy into that.

Do all you can to pay your bills, establish a great credit score, and get out of as much debt as you can. See how peacefully you sleep at night knowing that no bill collectors will knock on your door, now or later. Debt-free has the word “free” in it for a reason, as that is how you will live knowing you have no debt!

Saul Graham writes about finance, investment and education. His best work discusses the top business degrees in the US.

Living a Life Worth Living

Dwight Anthony — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:26:10 +0000

It’s recently come to my attention a while back that most people just coast through life just “trying to make a living”.

I’m also aware of the fact that life can be like a puff of smoke in the whole scheme of things. I expose this truth not to make you feel depressed, but instead to offer a real wake up call to you.

Life can be what we make of it and it all comes down to our belief systems and how we link what’s called our neurolinguistic associations to pleasure and pain. I once heard Anthony Robbins once say that we all react to things in life based on how much pleasure and pain we associate with that action.

For example, if you hate to be in a large crowd of people, it’s because some time ago, your brain linked more pain to being in a large crowd than pleasure. Changing your association to this and other phenomena will only make you a stronger person.

So, this could be why most people end up living a very unfulfilling life. Like Seth Godin calls Living a Life of Mediocrity. I’m here to expose that we are all here to live a life of abundance and fulfilment.

Frankly, if you believe you are a failure of a success, guess what – You’re absolutely right! It’s time to change your way of thinking and your belief system to begin supporting all that you do.

For this reason alone, doesn’t it make more sense to find you calling and life purpose?

Most people’s life can be summed up as working from early till knock off time, spending a little time with the family and watching TV till time to go to bed. Then start all over again.

Einstein’s definition of Insanity is to do the same things over and over again and expecting different results. This is how the majority of the world goes through life. I’m here to challenge the status quo and ask what could be done differently in your life to give you an edge. Here’s the kicker, “You already know what you should doing in life, but you aren’t taking the necessary actions to get you there.

I want to send out a challenge to you to get out of your comfort zone and instead start looking at how you can grow in your life and what could give you more lasting fulfilment. It’s not an easy road, but the most fulfilled people on the planet didn’t travel the easy road. Either they or their descendants before them took massive action and attracted a life worth living.

As you go about your day this week, I want to challenge you to take a few steps toward the kind of life worth living. Want to share on this? Please comment below and share this post through social media (Facebook e.t.c.) and help others as well !

Dont Loan People Money – Get RICH in the Process

Dwight Anthony — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:49:50 +0000

I might take a lot of bad feedback for this post, but I want to seriously take a look at people that loan people money. It’s one of the sure fire ways to stop that money working for you and I’ll show you why in a minute or so.

In any case, let me ask you a very frank question – “Have YOU ever lost money to someone that you loaned money to?” If the answer is ‘Yes’, then you know the tree I’m climbing to make my point is totally true. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that if you loan money to people and you lose it, it actually affects your wealth building.

As someone that’s lost hundreds to even thousands of dollars over the years to so called good people, I might be one of the best people to identify losing money by ‘helping’ someone out. So Listen up! It’s in your best endeavour to put down your foot from this day forward and operate on a no lending money policy. There’s a reason why big financial gurus such as Suze Orman constantly preach not to lend money.

It’s one of the single most stupid mistakes you can make financially and can devastate your net worth over time with enough defaults on your lending.

So, I feel you might be asking, “What’s the big deal about lending someone a few bucks?” Be careful, if you’re willing to let a few bucks go, you’ll also lend hundreds and even thousands of dollars to that same person. Many times the person being loaned to – will actually justify that you are a good person to borrow money from. Let me say this to wake you up – “YOU ARE NOT A FINANCING INSTITUTION !”.

Reasons Why It’s Generally a Bad Idea to Loan Money

· Defaults on personal loans can be very high

· Those borrowing the money sometimes mean well, but fall into other financial difficulties making it difficult to repay

· Lending money to people leads to killing your own cash flow

· If you set a proper budget, this can definitely screw your budget over if you work on a zero balance budget where all dollars should be accounted for.

· Lending and borrowers not repaying can lead to severed relationships, better to say no the first time.

· Lending without repayment helps to destroy your wealth building and messes with your financial future.

What to Do to Fend Off Lending

First off, when someone makes a request to loan you money, find out the amount they would like to borrow. Next, determine just how badly they need the money and their relationship to you. Ask yourself some real questions – like, “if this person is my family, how long would they take to repay?” Also, a smaller amount to lend is much less risky than a larger amount for defaults.

If for whatever reason you actually do feel it’s safe to loan this person money, get it in writing when they will repay and get a 3^rd party to witness the loan. Also, look the borrower in the eyes and let them know that if it’s not repaid, you will have to get the money back through other means (legal-if worth it or otherwise). Consider having them put up some collateral the same value of the loan – is there any wonder why financial institutions do this?

The above terms are almost enough to turn most people off from borrowing from you, tell them what you need to tell them to get them off your back and have them forget borrowing from you and simply look for a weaker candidate.

Remember, in this life, you’re here to build a life worth living and build wealth on your own terms. Lending without repayment ruins every dollar that you can have working for you.

It’s not an easy road, but it’s worth it when you finally achieve financial freedom and can live smart like top earners and have the lifestyle to back it.

How the Hobby of a Dollar Stretcher Can Lead to a Bigger Paycheck

Dwight Anthony — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:52:27 +0000

Saving money and making ends meet between pay check’s has become a way of life for many people and while you may make some cutbacks or savings through necessity, you might also enjoy the satisfaction achieved from some penny pinching ideas. Learning how to make the most of your money and stretching the value of your dollars will make it feel like you have got a bigger paycheck at the end of the month.

Working out your finances

The first thing you need to do as a priority is to actually sit down and work out where all your money goes by making a list of all your outgoings and what bills you have to pay. You have to be completely honest with yourself and list every item that you spend money on because that treat of a take away pizza or a donut and coffee can all add up over a month.

Once you have an accurate picture of how much you have to spend and how much you “waste”, you can get to work on stretching the dollars you earn as efficiently as possible.

Immediate ways of saving money

We are all creatures of habit and what we spend money on regularly becomes part of our routine, so a ruthless appraisal of where all your money goes will hopefully shock you into changing or even ditching a few wasteful financial habits, so that your money is used more efficiently.

Frugal living does mean making sacrifices and compromises but basic money saving tactics such as using coupons when you shop and switching to re-usable from disposable on items where possible are sound economics that will help you save money with very little extra effort.

Saving

The concept of actually saving any money from your income when you are trying to stretch your dollars as it is does seem like a distant dream, but having a small amount of savings in an emergency fund will actually save you money.

The reason this works is that if you get an unexpected car repair bill or say the boiler needs repairing, if you don’t have some spare cash stashed away for life’s emergencies, you are probably going to borrow on your credit card or even from a payday loan company at heft interest rates, meaning that the repair could cost you a lot more once you have repaid the total amount than if you used your emergency savings to pay the bill.

Turn a hobby into a habit

Saving money and finding ways of reducing your costs can be hobby for some and even if you start through necessity, your dollar stretching ideas can quickly become a habit that will save you money and help you to put some spare cash away for emergencies.

There are literally thousands of money saving tips and ideas available on the internet from small savings such as making your own sauces rather than buying more expensive readymade ones – all the way to extreme couponing where some very resourceful people seem to be able to almost get their entire shopping for almost nothing. This is usually done by taking advantage of the various offers across a number of shops.

Not every idea will work for you and you’re best starting point when you are looking to save money is by working out what you currently spend your money on and seeing if you can find cheaper alternatives that do the same job.

Dollar stretching does not have to be hard work and can also sometimes be fun if you like a challenge, but whatever way you approach the idea, it soon seems to make the length of time that passes between each pay check just that little bit shorter.

Author Bio:

Guest post contributed by Sarah Rawson. Sarah tutors various online Masters in Finance online programs. Sarah also has a deep love for freelance writing and her articles mainly appear on higher education blogs.

Financially Elite Blog - Achieve Financial Freedom

Total Life Freedom by Achieving Financial Freedom

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