Financial Health in 5 easy steps, for the youth. And How You Can Retire A Millionaire.

When it comes to youth and saving, you don’t need to have a lot of money, you just need to save frequently. Right now you have time on your side, so make this time count while you can. 

The years can slip by very quickly and before you know it, you’re middle aged and you won’t be able to employ these same techniques then. It’s much easier and costs a lot less to start now, while you are still young. 

There’s always going to be something to spend your money on. Society is geared that way. Don’t follow the crowd, who spend all their money thoughtlessly. Make better use of your hard-earned dollars. 

It’s in the seller’s best interest to help you buy their product. It’s their job to sell you the biggest brand and latest innovation, making themselves wealthy in the process. It’s in your best interest, to keep some of your money for your future financial stability, to make yourself wealthy. 

You buy things to impress people you don’t know and who don’t care. That doesn’t mean you can’t buy the big brand names. Just remember to keep a little of your own money for yourself, for your future and your financial security.

To retire a millionaire all you need is regular savings. If you start, while you’re young, it won’t cost very much at all.

Having said that…Here are the 5 easy steps, which will help get you started, to a future of sound financial health;

Step 1. 

Save $20 a week in a daily compound interest account. This doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it will grow over the years of a lifetime. With regularity, just $20 a week could see you retire a millionaire. 

A daily compound interest account will earn you more interest than a monthly interest account. There won’t appear to be a lot of difference when you first start out, but as your account grows, it will make a big difference.

Right now, if you are still young, you only need to save $20 a week. If you leave saving until you’re 50, it will take ten times that amount to end up with the same result. The earlier you start, the less you need to save and the better off you’ll be. And with inflation, by the time you retire, $20 will seem like nothing at all. 

Step 2. 

Open a direct debit savings account for your $20. That way you won’t even notice it. You work with what you have in your account each week and if that $20 is already taken out, you’ll work with what’s left.

If you find yourself spending all your money, work an extra hour or two a week and save that. Go back to earning pocket money and mow your parent’s lawn, or babysit the neighbour’s kids and make sure you save those dollars, not just spend more because you’re earning more. 

Step 3. 

If you want to be rich, do what the rich do. Instead of spending all your money on clothing and handbags, walk into an antique store and purchase something that will last. Wealthy people all buy antiques. They know about value and growth and don’t let an opportunity go by, if they think they can make a dollar, or two.

Get to know your antiques and buy the odd thing throughout your life. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. Again it’s just the little things you do, that can make big differences over time. Coin and stamp collecting doesn’t cost a lot and if you start young, can be worth quite a bit by the time you retire.

Spend one afternoon on the internet, or at your local library and you’ll soon see what antiques, coins, or stamps to look out for. It won’t take a lot of your time to learn this.

Step 4. 

Work yourself into a position where you get paid more money. Study hard, put in 10% more effort than the guy before you and you will be noticed and promoted. Work smarter, not harder! Unless you really love it, don’t stay at a job with a cranky boss and terrible pay. 

You pay peanuts, you’re going to get monkeys. A boss who pays peanuts will end up with monkeys working for him. All the good employees, those who value their time and their money, will leave for better paying work. Do the same. Leave the monkeys to collect the peanuts.

Step 5. 

Learn about investing. Buy just one book on the topic and read it. You’ll be surprised at how simple investing can be and how little it will cost you to get started. Noel Whittaker writes very good and easy to follow books, on investing for youth.  Or you could subscribe to one of the money, or investment magazines and for just a few dollars a month, you can learn about wealth creation.

And that’s it. It’s that simple.

Do you realize 90% of people struggle financially? The majority of people have never tried to learn the basic fundamentals of saving and investing. Break out of this trend. You owe it to yourself and those you care about, to become wealthy.

Spend your time having fun! Have a fun night out, or watch TV and chat to your friends on Facebook. But try to include just a small amount of time each week, on wealth creation. All it takes is just 10 minutes, once a week, to make a dramatic difference to your financial future. Invest in those 10 minutes of time. Do something to set yourself up for a comfortable lifestyle, instead of living on ‘struggle street’ for the whole of your life. 

         

Trust in God's Promises

Tomato flat bread and corn salad

Tomato flat bread, with corn salad

Serves 4. Preparation; 20 minutes. No cooking required.

 

Tomato mix

Ingredients;

4 Square flat bread, cut into 4 pieces

1 spring onion, finely sliced

2 tblsp cottage cheese

1 tblsp lemon juice

1 small red chilli, seeds removed (optional) and finely chopped

A dozen vine ripened cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters

Salt pepper to taste

Drizzle of olive oil, just a tablespoon, or two

A few sprigs of flat leaf parsley

Method;

Layer the flat bread pieces on each plate.

Toss tomato quarters, with chilli, salt, pepper, and olive oil and place on top of flat bread.

Mix spring onion, with cottage cheese and lemon juice and place in the centre of the tomatoes.

Garnish with parsley.

Corn salad

Ingredients;

Half a cup of sweet corn

Baby spinach, or chopped iceberg lettuce

1 spring onion, finely sliced

¼ cup grated cheese

2 tblsp Greek yogurt

1 tsp English mustard

½ teaspoon soy sauce

1 small red chilli, seeds removed (optional) and finely chopped

Method;

Toss sweet corn, with spring onion and spinach/lettuce.

Mix cheese, yogurt, mustard, chilli and soy, in a bowl and then mix this through the lettuce and corn.

It’s done and that simple. 😊

Chaotic mind, chaotic life.

What shows up in your environment, is a reflection of what’s going on in your mind. A chaotic mind equals a chaotic environment and every thought you have impacts your immune system. One minute of anger, robs your life of one minute of joy. 

Give more to yourself and your life will take on a whole new meaning. Yes, there will still be problems to overcome, but when you take charge of your life you will move into new horizons. Once you have focus and calmness in your mind, your life becomes a reflection of that. 

Most of us live in quiet desperation, unfulfilled and unhappy. We get up with no particular reason, outside making enough money to pay our bills. We are the walking dead and we don’t even know it. But bring purpose to your life and you can change its whole trajectory. 

We are all capable of greatness, we just don’t know where to start. Procrastination holds us back. Procrastination is a form of self-sabotage. Self-sabotage also robs you of your time to do what you really want and love.  When we take charge of our time, emotions, finances and relationships, when we really make the effort to stop procrastinating and sabotaging our efforts, life will become more joyous, peaceful and relaxed.

There’s never a perfect time, to start taking control. The best thing you can do, is start today. Who you hang out with, will determine your direction; drug users, alcoholics, people who put you down, all love it when you come to their their level. 

These people don’t consciously try to improve their own lives, they just complain about how hard done by they are, how the government should help, family should help, teachers, doctors, anyone else should do something, while they themselves, do nothing. 

These people don’t study, or read and are quite content in their little worlds. They also take you along with them and it’s up to you to want to step away and make your life the best it can be. No one’s going to do it for them, no one’s going to do it for you either. 

Many people are going through life, just waiting for the day to end. 

Wouldn’t you like to be different, your life to be different? You’ve only got one life. Make it count for something. Just remember; if you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything. Take a stand and make your life count for something. 

Work out what your expectations are; in life, relationships, business and finances. Form a plan that will move your forward, rather than take you backwards. Don’t stay where you are and stagnate. It’s up to you to pull yourself out of the rut.        

Stop allowing time wasters; people who aren’t backing you in your corner, tv, aimless activity, getting not much done and achieving nothing. Ask yourself where you want to go. If you want an exciting life, you don’t have the luxury of wasting time.

Examine your expectations against your wishes…are you gaining ground, or losing? If losing, what do you need to do, to turn your life in the direction you wish it to take? You can start by taking care of yourself; what you eat, how you exercise, removing negative people and adding positive, working on your spiritual life. 

Take time to really look at what you want out of life. Take a spiritual bath. Relax with soft music, candles, oils, flowers and give yourself a feeling of royalty. Get into the right mindset and take some time to think about where you are headed and where you would like to head. Do they synchronise, or are they worlds apart? 

While you are soaking, form a plan for what you’d like to see happen in your life. Without a plan, we just muddle along. A plan will keep you focused and push you towards your goals, so set goals and set out the steps to get yourself there. 

What issues are you facing and how can you get on top of them? Asking the right questions takes you in the right direction. Knowing where you are in life is a good start. Knowing how to fix what’s wrong, helps you deal with it. Take time to take care of you and your wants and needs and then you can take care of the rest. 

Remember you’ll never be perfect. Life will never be perfect, but things can always improve. Be true to yourself, know what you need and let others know what you need. Tell them; I need this, in order for that to work for me.

If you don’t take care of your needs, you’ll always have that nagging tone…what about me! When do I get mine? We’re taught not to speak up for ourselves, not to be selfish, but no one’s going to live your life except you, so make it a worthwhile life.

Do what you’ve fantasized about doing, even if you’re not good at it. Just enjoy. Stick with it long enough and you will be good at it. Draw the line. At some point you’ve got to draw the line and start being a little selfish. 

Draw the line with your weight, your finances, your relationships, just don’t permit it any longer. Don’t permit negative people. You can’t grow from negative people.

If you put a nail in a piece of wood, when you pull the nail out, the hole is still there. Don’t let someone call you names. Names leave scars, long after the moment they’re said.

Keep negative people out of your life. Negative people are way more powerful than positive and they’re insensitive. They leave you feeling bad about yourself and who you are. Over time, name callers erode the image you have of yourself. The longer you listen to name callers, the harder it is to believe in yourself and in your ability to achieve something worthwhile.  

Why are known hells preferable, to beautiful heavens? Miserable jobs, miserable relationships, being mean to each other, over joy, love and peace. Because it’s familiar. Life is rough and scary. It’s scary taking a chance. It’s scary acting on your intuition. It’s frightening and people are immobilized by fear.

To go against those you associate with every day, is the most difficult act of courage. The deep hidden fears, the shame you feel, for allowing others to treat you with disrespect, bubble to the surface and try to hold you back when you move to step out of your comfort zone. The fear of failure and more shame, if you don’t succeed first time, are barriers, barriers which you need to break through.

When you change the way you walk, talk, act and use your time, when you become busy doing what you want to do, your life will change.

If people can put you on a guilt trip they will. They might yell abuse at you and you have to have the strength and courage to draw the line. You are more powerful than you know. Your life is a replication of what you know, not who you think you are. You can allow it to destroy you, or use it to build you up. Do not allow someone to make you something you’re not. Not even yourself.

Whether you’re upset, nervous or tense, if it’s safe for you to do so, stand your ground. If it’s not safe, it’s time to get help. 

Stand up for what you want and go for it. And remember - you are stronger than you know!

Supermoon's out tonight

Cinnamon oats, with pear and pomegranate

Ingredients;

1 cup of oats

Pinch of salt

Milk to consistency of your liking

Greek yogurt

1 pear

2 tblsp crushed walnuts

2 tblsp pomegranate (optional)

1 tsp cinnamon

Drizzle of maple syrup

Method;

Place oats in separate bowls, 1 for each person and sprinkle each with salt.

Pour milk over oats and microwave 1 minute and 30 seconds. (For a lighter caloric meal, use water instead of milk). Stir.

Add a splash of extra milk, once oats are cooked and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt. 

Core and slice pear and place half quantities of each, over the oats.

Crown with pomegranate and crushed nuts, sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup.

Beautiful day for a good book

Beautiful day for working outside, or reading a good book. Strings in the Shadows; where the wolf of wall street meets biblical end times. Available online.... www.alexandragrose.com