We Get Money

We all have ambitions, even if they be so humble as to see another day. Yet regardless of the hand life dealt us we all seem to share the same desires. Of course we have to take care of our baser needs first, food, shelter and clothing in that order. When that’s taken care of we start to think about what we want. We want to stunt! Man, women or child we want to be seen heard and feel important. The easiest way to do that is to be paid. Then you can floss, have all the fly clothes, a clean whip, and not have to take anyone’s shit. Money equals power so with it you can make your own rules, even help others out if you want. And most importantly everyone will know who you are and what you’ve done. You could be a god.

  Now I know I’m not the only one who’s entertained this wicked train of thought. Hell we’re only human and while we tend to start with the best intentions our greed can often lead us astray. Our lust isn’t just over money but the power over others it represents. Because we were made in the image of the almighty we tend to want praise.  And you know what I don’t find anything wrong with that. As hard as we work we should be recognized and compensated accordingly. But the problem is when we start to believe we deserve things we haven’t earned.

  In the past this has gotten me into a lot of trouble. I saw nice things and wanted them, thought I deserved them, I just didn’t necessarily want to put in the work to get them. So at 18 I got my first credit card and acted like I was spending free money. I also wanted a car but it was either sacrifice new clothes, hairstyles, or partying with my friends to buy a clunker that I’d be embarrassed to drive in or get a loan. So I made the easy choice. What can I say? I’m a product of my generation. I once read someone call my age group the generation of entitlement. And I must admit it’s true, me included.

Even the most unfortunate of this generation has had it easy compared to what our forefathers had to go through. Less than one hundred years ago some people still had to hunt for clean water and famine was an ever present threat. Now a days we gorge ourselves on McDonalds and sue when we become obese. So while I’m hardly an expert and still have a lot to learn I can say for certain that the key to success is the same as your grandma told you, hard work and patience sprinkled with a little humility. No one should be too good for an honest paycheck. My mother told me if I’m not doing anything with my life but mopping floors I should make sure those floors sparkle like diamonds.

  It’s important to take pride in what you do no matter what you do and people will take notice so opportunities will eventually come to you. Once you do start making a little cheddar you can’t try to keep up with the jones and that is true no matter how much money you have. There will always be someone with more money, a prettier wife and smarter kids. Don’t worry about them and what they can afford. Make a budget based on how much money you make and how many bills you have to pay. Like myself as a youngster many want to reap the benefits but not pay the price. If you enjoy electricity, water, and living indoors make sure your bills are paid before you even think about wants like cable and internet.

   Lots of financial planners recommend the 60/20/20 budget which states that no more to 60 percent of your income after taxes and deduction should go to bills. Then you can designate 20 percent to saving and still have 20 percent for fun. Preferably less than 60 percent of all your money will have to go to bills but that’s harder than it sounds when you have to pay rent or mortgage, a car note, home and auto insurance, utilities, food and gas. What I had to learn was not to take on more responsibility than I could handle. So if your bills take up more than 60 percent, which is more than half of all your money, than you in deep doo, doo. That’s means it’s time to cut back. Instead of cable and internet lots of people have opted for just internet and use a plug in device like a Roku to watch Netflix and Hulu. This can save hundreds of dollars a month. Or if you just can’t find it in your budget to put money in your savings account then you can make 300 dollars your first month donating plasma and 260 dollars every month after that at a center like Biotest. Find a location near you at www.biotest.com

Then watch your money. Yeah I know you put your money in the bank to keep it safe but it’s still your money therefore your responsibility to watch it. If you fail to do so don’t be looking crazy when it’s gone. Even if you have fraud protection with your bank there are time limits on getting your money back. Plus you shouldn’t be trusting anyone to count your money without double checking yourself because they’re your ends.


  I'll tell you what happened to me so you understand. At 17 my father opened a highschool checking account for me that he put an allowance in. At 18 I got a job at Burger King and opened my own account with the same bank. It took a while for my direct deposit to be transferred from my old account to my new one so in the mean time I used the old account. No big deal right? Wrong I'd made several purchases on my old account buying food on my break at Burger King. None of these purchases were over a dollar so I didn't notice that I was never charged for them but Burger King noticed.
  
  They finally put their charges through three months later when my direct deposit had already transferred and I was no longer using the account causing me almost 400.00 in overdraft fees and they would only waive half. I went to my mother expecting her to take my side and blame the bank or Burger King but she explained to me that no matter how small the purchase if I took the food I was supposed to make sure Burger King got paid. Once I spent that dollar on burger and ate it then it was no longer my dollar to spend again. Therefore the money should have still been in my account when Burger King decided to charge me. The bank doesn't follow me around to know what I bought. I was supposed to know what I bought and make sure the money was in the account or I would get an overdraft fee. It was a hard lesson to learn a week before my senior trip to Mexico but it was the truth.
    My point is common sense should be applied to dealing with your finances. When it comes to investing think back to the old adages like, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Investment is a risk and no matter how great the investment there’s always the chance of losing everything you invested. For this you can apply what my grandmother told me and not loan out what you can’t afford to give way.
  
    When you invest in a company you are loaning them your money to build their business. So if you can’t afford to lose it don’t loan it. I know we’ve come far as a society but some old values ring true so waste not want not. There are no short cuts or such a thing as easy money. Sorry to tell you but I learned the hard way that everyone must pay their dues.