Turning a New Leaf

Turning a new leaf

This is the time for visions of a new year... turning over a new leaf. beginning anew. This is the time of year when money is foremost on almost everyone's mind.

Pretty soon, all those W-2's will begin to arrive in mailboxes all over. And it is time to start thinking about your taxes. Most people are not prepared. most of them couldn't find all thier records on a moment's notice.

January and February are financially the worst months of the year. most people have discovered they spent too much money at Christmas and are now trying to figure out how to compensate and pay their normal expenses.

It seems that no matter how much money we earn we can never get ahead. The outlay always equals or exceeds the income. Good financial planning is well within everyone's grasp... With a little time and effort anyone is capable of turning over a new financial leaf.

With a simple plan turning this new leaf, while will take some effort, will be simple and easy to accomplish. There are 7 basic guidelines for a lean bank account and will lead to financial security for the rest of your life.

Imagine not having to worry about how to pay the bills... AND having enough to buy that certain something that catches your eye without having to scheme or deprive yourself of the normal things we all enjoy.

Be skeptical.. I was.. everyone hears get rich quick schemes that never seem to work like they are promised. This is not a get rich quick scheme.. but if followed will lead to a comfortable life with all the amenities we just dream about.

This first guideline WILL be the hardest.. it requires us to break a habit they we acquired as a child. A habit acquired in childhood can be difficult to break.. but it can be done.

We work but yet we have nothing more then the food we eat and the bed we lay in each night.. are we any better off than the slaves of old??? It is not the fat wallet of a rich man that we need but that which keeps his wallet fat.

Income is the solution.. an income that continues to fill the wallet regardless of what we do. The rich are no more deserving, intelligent or honorable then you and I. Luck has nothing to do with it.

Fickle fate is a vicious goddess, who brings no permanent good to anyone. On the contrary, she brings ruin to almost anyone upon whom she showers unearned wealth. They either become wanton spenders or misers.

The only difference between the rich and you and I is that he has learned the secret of acquiring wealth and it begins with a dime.

All men earn money. No matter what your income, by the time you have reached the 30 you have earned enough money to retire. No matter what your occupation, be it slinging burgers or sitting behind a walnut desk.

The road to wealth starts when you decide that a part of all you earn is yours. Not the creditors, or your landlords, it is yours by the right of earning it.

What have you to show for all that you have earned in the last year??? You must pay everyone.. but do you pay yourself also???

If you saved 10% of all you earned in one year.. what would you have in 10 years? You answer one years income.. you are only half right. You forgot the magic of compound interest.

Go ahead.. ask the question that I know is on all your minds. How can I put 10% of what I earn in the bank when I can barely pay all my bills with everything I earn?

But how many times on payday do you go out and "treat" yourself?? A lunch out? A new book? How about treating yourself to a future instead? It won't show up immediately.. it will take some time for the result to manifest.

Go first to your savings account and deposit 10% of your paycheck each payday.. for the first six months DO NOT look at your savings account balance.. File it away sight unseen. In six months I guarantee the balance will bring a smile to your face and put dollar signs in your eyes. But WAIT! there is more..........

Now it is six months later.. you look at the statement for the savings account and immediately start planning what you will buy as a treat for your hard work. But if you spend this amount what have you done for yourself? You now have a new toy but are in the same situation you were six months ago.

You are not done yet. You haven't changed your life yet. You still have the same debts and the same income. Don't confuse necessity with desire. All men are burdened with more desires than they can gratify. Desires are a multitude and those that you can satisfy but a few.

Study carefully your habits of living. Within will be found most often certain accepted expenses that may be wisely reduced or eliminated. Let your motto be one hundred percent of appreciated value demanded for each coin spent.

Budget your expenses so that you have enough money to pay for the necessities, to pay for some enjoyments and to gratify a few worthwhile desires without spending more then nine-tenths of your earnings. Cross out the rest and consider them part of your desires that must wait.

Keep working with your budget, keep adjusting it to help you. Make it your first assistant in fattening your purse. It is not your enemy but your friend in establishing a comfortable life without financial worries.

Therefore, your second guideline for establishing the life you desire is " Control your expenditures and regret not now what desires you can not fulfill but use them as a reward for the future."

Your lean purse is now fatter. You have disciplined yourself and have made a habit of putting away 1/10 of all you earn. You have controlled your expenditures and now live within your means.

Next we will consider how to take your savings and put it to work for you. Increasing your income without you having to lift a finger to do so. The money you have earned so far is but a start to build your fortune.

A man's wealth is not in the coins he carries in his purse nor the size of his bank account, but the golden stream that continually flows and always keeps it bulging.

Investments are the simplest and easiest, usually requiring a phone call and perhaps an hour with those knowledgeable. Always remember "A fool and his money are soon parted"

Be VERY selective in who you choice to assist you in this manner. Would you go to a car dealership for jewels? No you would go to a jeweler. The same is to be said with this matter. Only trust those who make it their business to increase wealth.

Another danger will be friends and family who will use emotional tactics to relieve you of your hard earn future, for your own good of course. They will range from the subtle to the not so subtle. A friend who wishes to start a business he guarantees to thrive.

But what happens when the guaranteed opportunity blows away? Is it your friend who will have worked for nothing? And what of the friend or lover who entices you to spend now what you have earned instead of waiting? You are no better off then before you started. Broke and with the same debts.

This then is the third guideline, "Put each coin to work for you so that it can reproduce and provide the stream to bring you wealth."

Have you ever heard the phrase "There is a sucker born every minute."? Misfortune loves a shining "mark".

Research whoever you choose to help you invest your earnings. It is wise to learn to protect small amounts or money before the gods will entrust you with more.

The first sound principle of investment is security for the original monies invested (principal). Is it wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when your principal maybe lost? I say not.

The penalty of risk is probably loss. Study carefully, to make sure that your original investment may be safely reclaimed. High risk is just that and you stand a greater chance of losing what you have earned.

Better still it is to invest with a reputable company whose business it is to handle money for profit. Such advice gladdens their hearts and possesses a value equal or greater than the sum you invest. In truth it is greater since it will save your coins from loss.

Before you loan your money to anyone, assure yourself of their ability to repay and their reputation for doing so. So that you don't make a present to them of your hard earned future. Always demand collateral valued at least half of the amount loaned.

It takes great discipline to remove the money from easy reach. This will be difficult but remember the sooner you do so the easier your future becomes.

Would you willingly give your hard earned money to another to fatten his purse? Does not paying rent do just that? We pay another for the "privilege" of using their property for a limited amount of time.

Would it not be better to purchase the item for ourselves with a one time outlay rather then a never ending expense with no end in sight? Have you ever borrowed an item from another? You knew it was theirs and that someday it would have to be returned.

Any changes made to the item must be done with the owners consent. Any damage must be compensated for. If the item were yours, any changes you wished to make would depend on nothing but your own desire.

It is not beyond the ability of any well intentioned person to own their own home. Lenders will gladly consider the desires of anyone who seeks home and land for their family. Readily you may borrow to pay for your own home, if you can show a reasonable portion of the necessary sum has been provided by you.

Each payment reduces your indebtedness to the money lender, and in a few years his loan will be satisfied. Then you will be glad that you own your own property and the only cost will be the taxes due each year.

This will greatly reduce your cost of living, making available more of your earnings for pleasures and the gratification of your desires. This, then, is the fifth guideline for a lean purse "Own your own home."

The life of every person proceeds from Childhood to their old age. This is the path of life and no one may deviate from it unless the gods call him prematurely to the world beyond.

Therefore do I say that it behooves a person to make preparation for a suitable income in the days to come, when they are no longer young, and to make preparation for their family should they no longer be with them to comfort and support them.

This lesson shall instruct you in providing a full purse when the time has come that you can no longer achieve the things you did in your youth or when you are chosen to go beyond this world.

The longer these plans are put off, the harder and more expensive they become. One should plan certain investments or provision that may endure safely for many years, yet it will be available when the time arrives which one has so wisely anticipated.

There are diverse ways for a person to provide with safety for ones future. They may provide a hiding place and there bury secret treasure. Yet, no matter with what skill it be hidden, it may nevertheless become the loot for thieves. For this reason I do not recommend this plan.

A person may buy a house or lands for this purpose. If wisely chosen as to their usefulness and value in the future, they are permanent in their value and their earnings or their sale will provide well for this purpose.

Wise thinking people will devise a plan to insure against death whereby they pay in but a trifling sum regularly, the aggregate making a handsome sum for the family when they pass to the beyond. This can be done through 401K's, insurance, Social Security and other programs such as this.

This then is the sixth guideline for a lean purse. Provide in advance for the needs of your growing age and the protection of your family.
Not long ago a young man came to me seeking to borrow. When I asked him why he needed to borrow, he complained that his earnings were insufficient to pay his expenses. I explained to him, this being the case, he was a poor risk for a loan, as he had no way to repay the loan.

I told him what he needed was a way to earn more coins. He explained that he had requested a raise from his boss six times within two months and was turned down each time. Yet he possessed one of the vital requirements to increase his earnings. A strong desire to earn more.

Preceding accomplishments MUST BE desire. The desire must be strong and definite. General desires are nothing more then weak longings. For a person to wish to be rich is of little purpose unless one has a way to acquire the desire.

For a person to desire 5 gold pieces is a tangible desire which he can press to fulfillment. After they have backed their desire for the 5 gold pieces with strength of purpose to secure it, next they can find similar ways to obtain greater amounts and behold they have become rich.

In learning to secure your one definite small desire, you have trained yourself to secure a larger one. This is the process by which wealth is accumulated: first in small sums, then in larger ones as a man learns and becomes capable.

Desires must be simple and definite. The defeat their purpose if they are to many, too confusing, or beyond your training to accomplish.

As a person learns more in his training so does his ability to earn increase. More interest in your work, more concentration on the task, more persistence in your effort will be rewarded without the need to ask for the reward.

The more wisdom we know, the more we may earn. The affairs of people change and improve because keen-minded people seek greater skill in which to better serve those upon whose patronage they depend. Be in the front rank of progress and do not stand still, lest you be left behind.

Many things come to make a man's life rich with gainful experiences. Such things as the following, a person must do if he is to respect himself.

A person must pay his debts with all the promptness within his power, not purchasing that for which he is unable to pay.

A person must take care of their family that they may think and speak well of them.

A person must make a will of record that, in case the Gods call him, proper and honorable division of his property is accomplished.

A person must have compassion upon those who are injured or smitten by misfortune and aid them within reasonable limits. They must do deeds of thoughtfulness to those dear to him.

Therefore, the seventh guideline for a lean purse is to cultivate your own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect yourself.

Buy now pay later situations create one of the deadliest pitfalls when trying to secure your future. While useful in an emergency, everyday use of this kind of credit has one of the most debilitating effects on any budget. The interest quickly depletes any reserve you may have.

I am not suggesting cutting the credit cards up.. however take them out of easy reach.. place them in a ziploc bag with water in the back of the freezer... the card is still available but requires thought and more then simply reaching in your pocket to use it.

Impulse buying is one of the biggest drains on any budget. Control the impulse and you control the drain on your budget making your budget easier to follow and allowing your future to become easier to manage.

One of the first things we are taught as a witch is to control our powers... but no one ever teaches us to control our lives and our futures. By extending this control to every portion of our lives, we acquire the capability to control our future.

This provides us with the ability to acquire all we desire and to do so without worry or scheming. All the money spells in the world won't bring about the desired result without some additional effort.

This may seem like a strange class to be taught in a pagan forum.. but what pagan can worship and worry at the same time? Relieving some of the worry allows one to concentrate on other things.

If you would like to learn more please read The Richest man in Babylon by George S. Clason, ISBN 0-452-26725-0.