I sat down to write a new article earlier today and it didn’t quite work out that way. It’s now hours later and I have to get this one shipped. It seems like I used up every excuse in the book to delay writing but the good news is that it also started me thinking of other common excuses I’ve either used or I’ve heard other people use.

Do you recognize these common excuses?

Blogging Excuses

• I don’t feel like writing an article right now
• I just wrote a great article yesterday, can’t I take a day off?
• No one reads my stuff anyways, why bother?
• I have nothing original to say
• Everything has already been said by people who are better writers than me
• I’m not creative enough
• I’ll do it after this next tweet
• I have to read my RSS feeds to see what everyone else is talking about first
• I don’t have a good design and can’t afford to pay anyone
• I’m too old to learn all the new technologies needed for blogging
• I don’t know the first step in creating a blog
• Who would want to buy anything from me?
• I’m not smart enough to be successful
• It’s too late to have a #1 blog right now, I should have done this years ago
• Everyone is a scammer on the internet
• Everyone already knows all this, why would they listen to me?
• I have too much to do!
• I’m overwhelmed
• They’ll just tell me no if I send in a guest-post
• I don’t belong to the right network/forum/clique
• I’ll do it tomorrow
• I’m too old/young/pretty/ugly/dumb to blog
• I can’t type/write/speak English
• I don’t know SEO so can’t get a better ranking
• It costs too much money/time/commitment/energy

Career Excuses

• I’m doing okay and I don’t want to rock the boat
• It’s too risky to leave my job now
• It’s not the right time to start my own business, maybe I’ll do it next year
• No one would hire me for that!
• I don’t have the right education/credentials/degree/training for that job
• I don’t have any current or markable skills
• I don’t have time or the money to upgrade my skills and learn something new
• It’s not that bad, really
• Friday is only 5 days a week
• I get four weeks of vacation per year – I can’t give that up!
• The money is too good for me to pass up
• I need the health insurance too much to risk my job for a better one
• The people aren’t that bad to work with
• I’m too old to go back to school and it costs too much
• My wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/dog doesn’t want me to find a new job/start my own business
• They promised me a raise/promotion/new cubicle/better project/more training in six months
• There are no good jobs out there
• I won’t get a better job than I have now
• I get paid okay, why be greedy?
• Work is supposed to be hard, that’s why it’s called Work

Change Excuses

• It’s too hard
• I’m too old to change now
• What’s the use? I always fail anyways
• I’ve smoked all my life so why would I quit now?
• I know I should, but I just don’t want to right now
• It’s too risky right now, I’ll try again later
• It takes too long to see any effect, so why bother?
• It’s too scary to change
• I don’t have the time, I’m too busy
• I don’t need to change, I’m fine the way I am
• I have too much to change so why bother?
• I’ll change next Monday/next week/next month/next year, I promise!

Health And Exercise Excuses

• I’m too tired to exercise
• I’m too fat to go to the gym and everyone will stare at me
• It’s too late to exercise now
• I don’t like to sweat
• I have no one to exercise with
• I want to finish watching this TV show and then I’ll put in an exercise DVD
• It’s too hot/cold/rainy/snowy/windy/dark/sunny outside to exercise
• It costs too much to go to the dentist/doctor/optometrist/
• Gyms costs too much money
• I have too much to lose
• Exercising is boring
• I don’t have the right equipment and it costs too much
• I can’t find a doctor in this city!
• I’m in perfect health

Family and Friends Excuses

• I’ll call her back later, she’ll understand
• It’s her turn to email me back
• We’ll go out this weekend if the weather is nice
• We’ll do that someday when I’m less tired
• We’ll take that family road trip next summer
• I have enough friends. What’s wrong with the ones I have?
• I don’t feel like going out tonight
• I don’t have any money to go out
• I’m too shy to make new friends
• He/She knows that I love them, why do I have to say it?
• I’m too old to get married and have kids now
• We can’t get divorced, what would the neighbours say?
• I can’t afford to go home for the family wedding/funeral/christening/birthday party
• They’ll understand that I’m busy making a living for them

What excuses do you recognize that you use the most? What excuse is your favourite?

Related Posts:

1. Top 5 Reasons To Leave Your Job
2. My Top 5 Secret Success Factors
3. Invest In Your Most Important Asset – Yourself
4. 10 Things You Can Do Right Now To Improve Your Life
5. Warning: These Emotions May Be Affecting Your More Than You Think

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You have an emergency fund, right?

No? Hmmm. What are you going to do the next time your car breaks down and you need a new part to fix it so that you can get to work?

What’s your plan if you get laid off tomorrow and you can’t make the next mortgage payment?

Have you thought about what would you do if don’t have any money saved in an emergency fund? Borrow from your friends and family? Is that really what a responsible adult would do?

Are you planning to live off your credit cards? I don’t have to tell you how financially foolish that would be.

Why do any of that when you already have the money and means to start your emergency fund.

Here’s one sure-fire way you can start your emergency fund today.

Look at where you are already spending your money and instead of spending it on that, start saving it in an emergency fund instead. Pretty easy, eh? No one said that it had to be difficult to start saving for emergencies.

Starting an emergency fund or building onto one is so easy to do especially when you are already spending the money.

Unless you have plans to find a second job and use that money for an emergency fund (highly unlikely as your wants will increase as you see more money coming in) the easiest way to start saving for an emergency is use the money that you already have.

Where are you spending your money today? What can you cut out or cut back on, so that you can divert that money into an emergency fund?

Are you able to cut your cable bill for a few months? That will free up $50 or so a month. What about eating out for dinner twice a week, instead of three times a week? That will add up pretty fast, too, if you saved the money that you would have spent eating out and instead put it into your emergency fund.

Where else can you cut down, cut back, or eliminate money that you are currently spending?

Look through all of your current monthly bills and see if you can survive without the extra luxuries. Can you cut the landline and survive with just your cell phone? That will free up some money that you can gear towards an emergency. What about any magazine or DVD monthly subscription services? Can you eliminate those for a few months while you use that money towards starting your emergency fund?

Can you start bringing your lunch to work a few days a week so that you can save the money you would have spent eating out?

A few dollars every day adds up pretty quickly.

If you were spending $10 a day buying a couple of coffees and then eating out for lunch every day of the week, just cutting back twice a week can save you $80 a month. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount either, as $10 here, $25 there will add up quickly.

Also, cutting back or eliminating some luxuries from your life to build your emergency fund doesn’t have to last a lifetime. It just has to last until you have a healthy balance in your account. Then, you can go back to spending your money as you were before, if that’s what you want. At least you started building your emergency fund and have some cash in case of an unforeseen crisis.

How much should you save in your emergency fund?

The general wisdom is to save 3-6 months of living expenses.

Total all of your monthly bills and then times that amount by 3 for a minimum emergency fund. That may come out to a huge amount, which is okay. It doesn’t have to be saved all at once, you have time to build up to that amount. Divide that amount by 12 and see if the resulting amount is more manageable. Are you then able to save that amount per month and put it towards your emergency fund?

Start as small as you can, but the important part is to start. Once you see the money adding up each month, it will build momentum and you’ll have such a psychological rush knowing that you are prepared for an emergency if it happens.

Where should you put your emergency fund?

I use a high-interest savings account at ING Direct for my emergency fund, although you can use any high-interest savings account. I’ve built my emergency fund up over several months and keep adding to it.

It’s at a healthy level, but I know that it only takes one emergency for it to be wiped out. But, that’s okay, because that’s what it’s there for.

I work in IT and although positions are usually plentiful, there is a lot of competition for good positions. If I ever get laid off, I know that I have the means to live for a few months while I look for another position. I can’t tell you how much security this provides me.

ING Direct is a good choice, I think, because not only do they pay a higher interest rate so that your money grows, they are also an federally insured internet bank. This means that the money I put into my account is not part of my regular checking/savings accounts and is not connected to my debit card. So what, you say? The fact that I can’t as easily spend this money as I don’t have a debit card for the account means that the money stays where I put it.

Money is automatically withdrawn from my chequing account into the high-interest account and accumulates. It’s out of sight, out of mind. It will take a day or two to access the money, but I’ve never had any problems transferring funds back into my chequing account in cases of emergency. It’s very important that the account be one that you don’t use on a daily basis or one where you are easily tempted to spend the money on non-emergencies.

Contact me if you do end up opening an account with them, as both you and I would receive $25 each (you for opening the account and me for referring you). You would already be $25 ahead. How sweet is that?

Get started today with this one sure-fire way to start your emergency fund today. You will feel so much better knowing that you have some money available in case some unforeseen crisis happens.

You’ll be able to handle any emergency because you were prepared financially for it.  Don’t delay on this very important step in your financial freedom.

Where else can you find the money to start or build your emergency fund? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Thanks!

Related Posts:

1. Are Books Worth The Money?
2. What Dream Can You Cross Off Your Life List?
3. Book Review: 100 Ways To Improve Your Life
4. Invest In Your Most Important Asset – Yourself
5. How To Make Decisions That Move You Forward In Life

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to my feed to have all the future articles delivered to your feed reader. Thanks!

How much have you spent this week on gas for your car? How much have you spent this month on your cable bill? Is it more than $100?

Now, let me ask you something. How much have you spent (invested) in your most important asset this month? How much have you invested in yourself? Is it more or is it less than what you spent on your car or your cable bill? Aren’t you and your future worth the same amount as one of your bills?

We all spend so much of our hard-earned money on the luxuries of life, such as our car and watching television, but how many of us have a set amount that we spend on improving our skills so that we are able to earn more, do more and be more in life?

Are you worth 3%? I am!

A long time ago, I read somewhere (I think it was Brian Tracy) who said that we should be investing 3% of our yearly salary on ourselves in order to improve ourselves. I’ve taken this advice each year and have put aside money to invest in myself and increase my skills. Why increase my skills? So that I can earn more, of course! The money isn’t important, it’s what you can do with the money that is important, namely to have freedom.

Let’s say you are middle-class and make $50000 per year. Don’t you think that you and your future self is worth $1500? ($50000*0.03=1500) That only comes out to $125 per month ($1500/12). My cable and internet bill is more than that! If you make more or less than $50000, then adjust your investment threshold accordingly.

The stock market took a major dip in 2008/9. But, if you steadily invested a measly 3% in yourself to improve your marketable skills, you would have been able to weather the market slump quite well. But, it doesn’t help if you do it retroactively, you have to steadily and consistently invest in yourself so that when downturns in the economy happen (or when an amazing opportunity comes your way), you are able to decide without fear what’s best for you.

The best place to invest your money is in yourself.

What kind of investments, you ask? What about taking a night course to gain a credential to help you in your career? Can you take private lessons in an area that you’re weak in and where you know that if you improved, it would affect your work performance?

You can easily spend a fraction of the 3% on buying books that will open your mind and expose you to new ways of thinking and seeing the world. You can even set aside some of your investment money into getting business cards so that you are able to hand them out at the next networking event so that you are able to increase your network.

How about taking a financial planning course or a tax preparation course so that you can understand your finances and taxes. Once you have learned how to complete your own tax return, you will never have to pay anyone else to do it, plus you would have increased your skillset.

Are you weak in your communication skills? Why not enroll in a language course to further your language skills?

You don’t have to invest in only your marketable skills with your investment money. How about going to a spa or getting a massage once per week so that your mental health continues to be healthy?

Almost anything will fit the category of investing in yourself. Gym memberships, magazine subscriptions, books, online courses, seminars, night school, you get the idea. If one of the areas cost more than $125, then prioritize your investment budget. Some months you won’t be able to spend as much because there is this fantastic course that costs $500. Save your investment budget until you can afford to take the course.

Don’t go crazy and buy whatever you want and fool yourself into saying that it’s an investment, though. If I keep buying trashy romance novels with my investing budget but do nothing with them except use them for escapism, then that’s not an investment. If, however, I buy them and read them with the idea of analyzing what it takes to write them and break down the novels into their formulas, with the end result of becoming a romance writer, then that’s an investment in myself that will pay huge dividends down the road.

Personally, I’ve spent more than $1000 on this blog since I started it in October 2009. Buying the domain, the premium theme, paying for yearly hosting package, buying stock photos, buying ebooks relating to blogging, buying an online business forum membership, buying a blogging forum membership, not to mention buying more books, etc. I consider it a worthwhile investment in my self, even though I’ve only seen a $20 monetary return (so far).

I have no problem spending $1000 on something that I know will (and has) reaped major benefits to me personally and to my career. I have picked up so many new technical, social and communication skills in the last six months that $1000 is a very cheap price to pay.

Are you ready to invest in your most important asset?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to my feed to have all the future articles delivered to your feed reader. Thanks!

Not to toot my own horn, but some people think that I’m fairly successful. I don’t have everything figured out (that’s for sure!) but I do believe that I have some things figured out that a lot of people struggle with. As I think back over my life, there have been certain decisions (or success factors) that I’ve made that have made a huge impact on my present circumstances and I wanted to share them with you.

They’re not really secrets, unless you consider the secret of reflection. Did I know ahead of time that these factors would cause me to be successful? Not in every case, no. However, there have been decisions in my life that were made very consciously at the time in order to have success in my future.

Success Factor #1: Choosing to be Highly Educated

I firmly believe in higher education. There has been studies showing that the more education you receive, the more money you will make over the course of your working life. I remember reading a long time ago that even you are a shoe salesman, if you had a degree you would will earn considerably more than the salesman with just a high school education. All I knew when I was younger that I didn’t want to do manual labour or work a minimum wage job. I wanted options and that’s what an education provides you.

I’m the youngest of six children in my family and was the first person (on both sides of the family) to attend University and get a degree. I remember being in high school and getting good grades (they weren’t the highest, but they were good enough) and deciding that no matter what I had to do, I was going to University. None of my siblings had gone to University before me, although one sister did attend a secretarial college program.

That one decision – to go to university and get a degree – has made a major impact on my life.

It’s not just the exposure you receive to new ideas (although that’s huge) or the friends that you make during university (those gradually go away over time) or what you learn during university (how many of us are using the degree that we paid so much for?).

The biggest thing that I gained from my university days is the belief in myself and knowing that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Completing four years of higher education gave me the confidence I needed to be succesful later on in life. No matter what happens, no one can take away that degree from me. Believe me, having that in your pocket can make the difference between you being hired and the next person. In today’s competitive environment, why would you give yourself a handicap like not being educated?

After the four years of university, I also completed a 1 year after-degree certificate, 2 other certificates completed during night school, and a 3-year college diploma program. This is in addition to the various other certifications and courses I’ve taken over the years. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be in a classroom. Leaving home at 18 to attend a university in another province really opened my mind to new possibilities for my life.

It took me 7 years to pay off my student loans. I will never forget the last payment. Even though it was not fun making those monthly payments, the sacrifices were worth it. It set me on my path of success.

Take away: If a lack of knowledge is holding you back from your success, do what you have to do to gain that knowledge. If that means higher education, enroll. If it means taking a night course, sign up for it. If it means paying out of pocket for software or books, then buy what you need so that you can gain the necessary knowledge. Do what you have to do in order to succeed.

Success Factor #2: Reading a Lot of Books

Another one of my ‘secret’ success factors has been to read a lot of books. And, I mean A LOT. I’m an avid reader and am constantly buying books on a variety of topics.

I once read someone that you should be investing 3% of your salary into yourself and I have no problem justifying my buying of books. It’s an investment in myself and I’m worth it.

You never know what impact that one idea or that one tip will make on your life. Reading a variety of books exposes you to new information and new ways of thinking. There are reams and reams of information available – one person can’t know everything, so why would you not read and learn as much as you can?

I could never understand those people who say that they don’t read and don’t enjoy it. Maybe they haven’t found the right genre yet and need to explore more. If you are only reading blogs, you are missing out on so much. Yes, a lot of information is available online, but there are still plenty of information that is not available on the net. There is no substitute to reading a physical book, in my opinion.

Being able to read pretty fast is a corollary benefit to reading books and enjoying them. The faster you read, the more books you can read. The more books you read, the greater your pool of knowledge.

One book that I read, David Bach’s “Smart Women Finish Rich” resulted in a $20K increase in my salary. It opened my eye regarding money and how much I was settling for. I took action as a result of that book. Is reading worth the time, effort and money involved? I would say a resounding Yes!

“The only thing worse than not reading a book in the last ninety days is – not reading a book in the last ninety days and think that it doesn’t matter.” – Jim Rohn

Take away: Why are you not reading books? If you don’t like reading, then find a genre that you enjoy. Read a variety of different books so that you are gain exposure and can take advantage of all that is available to you.

Success Factor #3: Realizing That ‘No One Was Coming’

It’s sad how many little girls are brought up to believe in Prince Charming and are expecting to be taken care of when they grow up. When Prince Charming isn’t so princely or charming (or doesn’t even bother showing up to the ballroom!), the resulting crush of reality can be very hard. If you’ve been brought up in an environment to believe that you are not valued and you do not have any skills, then you had better gain the skills necessary to support yourself.

Consciously knowing that it was up to me, and no one else, to make any and all necessary changes in my life freed me in so many different ways.

You are not able to play the victim or have a pity party of one when you take full responsibility for your own life. All decisions that I make are decisions that I have to take ownership of and I also accept the consequences of them. Good or bad.

When you really believe that ‘No One Is Coming’ to save you from your current situation or that it’s not up to your parents, your siblings or anyone else, to better yourself, it motivates you to figure things out. You have to figure things out because you have no one else to rely on. It’s only you. There is no one else. Other people can try and offer their advice and guidance, but ultimately your happiness and success are up to you.

Realizing that it was up to me to make a better life for myself meant that I needed to 1) become educated in order to 2) have marketable skills and 3) become knowledgeable about finances so that I can 4) figure out how to do things (and pay for them) on my own which resulted in 5) the confidence and belief that even though I may not know everything, I can learn about any subject and figure it out as I go along. I do know some things that other people don’t. I’m able to share with you what I have learned so far in my life on this blog

Success Factor #4: Taking Calculated Risks

When I graduated from university, I couldn’t find a job as it was the height of the recession. At the time, I didn’t know that we were in a recession, all I knew was that I couldn’t find a job and that things seemed to be bad financially for many people.

A few of my friends found jobs and some were unemployed like me. After a while I got sick of being unemployed and realized that ‘No One Was Coming’ to rescue me and offer me a job. I made the decision to to back to school and picked a more marketable skill this time around. After another 3 years (on top of the first 4 year degree), I graduated and immediately was offered several positions.

I could have picked the safe position and stayed in my hometown. I could haved lived at home and be like everyone else in the family – safe and secure with everything that was familiar to me.

When I received the offer from Toronto (a major city far away from my hometown), I was really scared to accept it. After all, I only knew one person who lived there. How would I afford to move there? Where would I live? Could I do the job? What if I was mugged? It’s amazing the fears that cross your mind when you don’t know any differently

Living in Toronto wasn’t originally a possibility for me, it hadn’t even entered my head until I was offered the position. But once I was offered it, I knew one thing – if I passed on the job offer because I was too scared to take it, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

It’s easy to see now that taking this one calculated risk has led me to my current success. If I didn’t take the position in Toronto, then I wouldn’t have the confidence in myself and my abilities that I gained while working on Bay Street in the largest city in Toronto at two of the biggest financial companies in the country. If I hadn’t moved, I wouldn’t have been exposed to so many different people, situations and opportunities. I took a calculated risk and it made off. Taking this one risk has given me the confidence to take other risks in my life, as well. Things don’t seem so scary the more times you face your fears.

Take away: If you are scared to do something, that is no reason not to do it. Don’t let the fear of the unknown affect the decisions in your life. Take some calculated risks so that you don’t live with regret.

Success Factor #5: Educating Myself About Finances

Growing up as the youngest of six children meant that there wasn’t a lot of money to be spent on frivolous items, especially when only one parent worked outside the home. Having to wear hand-me-downs and not being able to afford the things that my friends didn’t think twice about buying made a huge impact on me when I was growing up.

When I finally graduated the second time with a marketable skill and started earning real money, I immediately knew that I had better get educated about my finances. I wanted to earn more (so that I could pay off my student loans) and I wanted to keep more of what I was making. After all, by this time, I knew that ‘No One Was Coming” so if I didn’t figure out what to do with my money, then I had no one to blame but myself. Reading that you need to pay yourself first and that women live longer for men resulted in me saving 12% of my salary. I made sacrifices in order to save this amount of money each year.

Luckily for me, the company where I worked had a mandatory retirement policy which automatically enrolled me in their group retirement fund. Once I started receiving statements and seeing the funds grow each month I made the connection – the more I saved, the more money I could put towards my retirement. I started reading books on finances and visiting financial blogs to gain the knowledge that I needed to learn the basics. Over time I took more advanced courses on finances, which meant that I was able to understand securities and the financial industry more.

The more I learned, the more actions I took with my money. I’m not intimidated about money anymore as I’ve seen the results from educating myself about my finances.

Take away: Learn the basics about money and your finances. It’s true that no one cares about your money as much as you do. The earlier you start taking care of your money, the earlier it can start to take care of you!

Thanks with sticking with me to the end of this post. I know that it turned out to be longer than I was expecting it to be, but I wanted to share with you the Top 5 Secret Factors that have resulted in my present-day success.

When you think back over your own life, what success factor or decision do you think has had the biggest impact on your life?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to my feed to have all the future articles delivered to your feed reader. Thanks!

It’s time to Save Your Money on the Just For Today Challenge – 31 Days To A Better You. It’s about time we talked about money, and particularly about saving it.

I intend to write many articles about finances later on for this blog - after all how can you have a meaningful existence if you are always worried about money?

But, the Challenge Just For Today will be not to spend any money at all. That’s right, for the entire day today, do not spend any money.

That means no buying coffee in the morning. You can feed your latte vice tomorow.

No buying the mid-morning snack or going out for lunch. Bring your lunch to work.

No spending money at the grocery store either. You have plenty of food in your cupboards – look through them and see what you can put together using the food you have already bought. Or have yesterday’s leftovers for dinner tonight.

No renting a movie for tonight because you’re bored. Turn off the TV and read a book, instead.

No filling the car up with gas. See if you can carpool with someone so that you don’t have to spend any money today.

Oh, and no ordering anything online using your credit cards either. That’s even worse than forking over your hard-earned paper money to someone.

Definitely do not buy any cigarettes today, either. Make today the day you quit.

The goal is to see how much money you will save if you don’t spend any money today. Believe me, it all adds up faster than you think. Especially if you are unconsciously spending.

When I worked in downtown Toronto, it wasn’t unusual to spent anywhere from $20 to $100 per day on frivolous items. Going for coffee on the way to work and again at 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Going out to one of the food courts with friends every single workday. We frequently went out to restaurants to take a break from the food courts. Any excuse would do. Going to the drugstore to pick up one item during lunch and then easily spending $50 just on Stuff that I thought I needed. Going to a clothing store and browsing around at lunch could cost me anywhere from $25 to $75 and more. Retail therapy at its worst. I was better off just staying at my desk instead of taking a lunch break. That’s all in the past however. I am so much better at saving my money. My wallet (and my waistline) has vastly improved

Let’s say you spent $5 per weekday on something frivolous like a coffee and muffin in the morning and maybe a snack in the afternoon. Do you realize that small amount adds up to $25 per week, $100 per month and $1200 per year! You can be funding your retirement or building your emergency fund with that kind of money.

Make 2010 the year you finally get out of debt. Start with the money you would have spent today to pay down one of your debts. I advocate paying off the debt with the lowest balance and psychologically it really make a difference.

If you have no debt, put today’s money into your emergency fund. Or add it to your investment account. You have both of those, right? If not, what’s your excuse? You have the money you would have spent today to start your emergency fund. So what if it’s only $5? You have to start somewhere and as I’ve shown, it all adds up pretty fast.

There are tons of financial resources out there, but I will highlight some of the sites that I read frequently and recommend that you check them out:

• Get Rich Slowly
• Making Money Make Sense 
• The Simple Dollar
• Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover book

These books have also made a huge difference in my life and are highly recommended (contains affiliate links):

• Your Money Or Your Life by Joe Domingo and Vicki Robin
• Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach (in fact, all of David Bach’s books are highly recommended)
• The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

How much were you able to save today by not spending any money at all today? Let us all know by leaving a comment. Thanks!

For a list of all of the Challenges, see the Just For Today Challenge page.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to my feed to have all the future articles delivered to your feed reader. Thanks!