Money is something for which you trade your life energy

Have you ever wondered when are you going to die? Sounds strange, Isn't it? Today I visited one of the site which actually predicted my year, month and day of death. Though I never believe in these things still just for fun I wanted to see how many more days I am alive. How can a website estimate how much life you have left. That is not at all possible.

But the question is what this have to do with personal finance? It is actually very much related because that can help us in revealing what we think of our money?

What is Money according to u? As per me it is :

A medium or an exchange involved for the payments of your debts. Money is power, it is a source of luxurious living, a source of comfort and security. The best definition that I have come a crossed about money is : "Money is Something for which you trade your life energy"

Give a deep thought on this. Majority of people in this world get money by giving up some part of our lives. Just imagine you go for work, work hard, earn some money and by this time your death clock is ticking down. No doubt when you are young, you are more energetic and can convert some of this excess into money. But the saddest part is that it only a conversion not a storehouse.

Our life is traded for money and once it is done, it cannot be changed back to original. The only goal that would left with us would be of striking a balance to convert the sufficient life energy into the money that you will need for enjoying rest of your life.

Cost Counting

To apply this principle you need to find out your hourly wage. This will help you in providing the information on how much your life energy is actually worth of. This is how you will be able to measure the cost of money spent equivalent of value of life energy lost. Why not you try some eye opening conversions i.e. take general examples from your daily life. Like:

Calculate how much energy do you spend at your work? Check if you spend less energy and still you can be happy or not? how much energy you are using to buy any new things for your family and many more such examples.

I am not saying that you should never spend money, but you should find a point where you are spending more and still being happy and joyful. You have to learn to say " I have enough and I dont need more... ".

So always remember that when ever next time you spend enough money do nos forget to ask yourself how many hours all these purchases costing you, not only this, is it really worth or not? Do come back and share your views with us.

Romance on a Budget

With Valentines Day just round the corner its once again time for a pleasant surprise for your beloved. Valentine's day is a symbol of love, cupids, roses and of course hearts. Several days before the love holiday begins, the stores are lined up with an assortment of expensive gifts for your partners. As the day approaches, you may find the your thoughts have begun to turn to finding the best gift for your partner, for that special someone in your life.




Expensive gifts often proves to your loved ones that how much you love them, but they will also make a pretty hefty dent in your wallet. So what can a frugal minded person plan for the valentines day? Giving an expensive gift always will not help your love boost, but giving something special to your loved ones will definitely arouse that feeling of love in them.

Let me share some of my ideas with all of you on what you should gift him or her on this day of love and romance.

Some cheap Valentine's gifts for her

No doubt girls love flowers, chocolates, soft toys and also sweet things whispered into their ears. I have seen many of you gift your partner traditional fourteen roses in a bunch on valentines day. Rather what you can do is gift her one rose everyday starting from 1st February to 14th February. The best thing is one rose per day will be less expensive for you. The prices of the flowers are inflated on the V-day.

I agree that women love roses but roses now days have become very boring and moreover the prices of roses are extremely high on v-day. Now you will think of giving carnations to her instead of roses. Please do not do that. Carnations are cheap alternatives to roses. A bouquet of daisies is a better choice.

Time is the best gift you can give to your partner. Women love spending time with their partners. I would advice you not to waste your money on restaurant bills, rather spend the day in opting something she loves.

If you really want to surprise her then learn cooking a month before v-day and prepare the dish she loves. Trust me cooking is a very seductive way of celebrating this love day.

If she loves reading, then spend sometime with her in any book store, buy her the most recent novel. Pamper her with some sandwiches and coffee as she enjoys a good read.

If your partner is a sports freak, then spend sometime in afternoon teaching her favorite sport, maybe watching some games with her or maybe take her out for a live match.




Some cheap Valentine's gifts for him

A women should not gather information from various means of media and decide the gift for his partner. Rather she should create a gift which she thinks will be unique for his man.

If your partner loves sports, then you should give him a treat by surprising him with chilled beer and nachos and by watching with him a non-interrupted game of his choice.

If you guy is an Art lover, then surprise him by taking him to a candle light dinner and visit a local art exhibition with him. If you want you can buy him a painting which is usually at a lower cost.

If he is into music, then download all his favorite songs and gift him a CD. Both of you can enjoy a perfect dinner with a perfect music of his choice and then a perfect long drive. Keep a few dollars with yourself aside so that you can buy him a CD pack of his favorite band.

If he loves photography then take him out to the country side for the best photograph sessions.

Love an be expressed in many ways. Gifts can be many but the only special gift which you can give him or her is togetherness. That is an ultimate gift for your partner and that is the ultimate deceleration of your love on Valentine's day.

Understanding your finances:1st step to controlling your debt

If you don't really understand your finances, you're bound to find it harder to get / keep them under control. It's true of anything, but it's particularly true of personal finance matters - that's one reason there are so many companies, charities and government organizations which exist to help people get to grips with their money and control their debts.

Understanding your finances: income and expenditure

1. How much do you earn?
2. How much do you spend?

These two questions are right at the heart of your personal finances. When you know exactly where your money is coming from and exactly where it's going, you'll know:

1. How much you can afford to put towards your debts every month.
2. Where you can cut back on your spending so you can put more towards your debts and get 'back in the black' faster.
3. When your situation is serious and you need to look for debt help.

So, start by writing down everything you receive in a month:

• Wages, child benefit, income support, tax credits, Jobseeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, etc.

Add it all up to get your Total income.

Next, write down everything you need to spend in a month:

• Rent/mortgage, secured loan payments, council tax, utility bills, pension contributions, phone bills, TV licence, housekeeping, child care, the cost of essential transport, clothing and food, etc.

(Please note that this list includes payments to your priority debts but not payments to your non-priority debts (see below).)

Add it all up to get your Total expenditure.

Take your Total expenditure away from your Total income and you'll get your Disposable income. This is the money that's available for:

• Making payments to your non-priority debts.
• Spending on non-essential goods and services.
• Saving.

Understanding debt

• Priority debts

Your priority debts are the most important ones, with the most serious consequences if you don't keep up with them.

If you fall behind on your payments, you could have your possessions removed by bailiffs, or have your gas / electricity supply cut off. If the worst comes to the worst, you could be evicted - or even imprisoned! (Having said that, you should have plenty of warning if any of your creditors were thinking about taking action against you, giving you the opportunity to get some debt advice and sort out your problems before things got so far.)

• Non-priority debts

Unsecured loans. Credit cards. Store cards. Catalogue debts. Overdrafts. Some Hire Purchase agreements (for non-essential goods).

These are your non-priority debts - but that doesn't mean you don't have to repay them! It just means they're less important than your priority debts, since the consequences of non-payment aren't as serious.

So staying on top of your non-priority debts is important - but staying on top of your priority debts is vital. That's why your priority debt payments make up part of your Total expenditure. Your non-priority debt payments will have to come out of your Disposable income.

If your Disposable income isn't enough to cover your payments to your non-priority lenders, your creditors may agree to accept lower payments if you ask them - and show them that this is the best way for you to clear your debts. Just bear in mind:

1. They won't know you need help unless you tell them.
2. You need to take action as soon as possible, before your creditors decide that they need to.
3. You don't have to do it alone. Click here for help with managing debt.