Achieve Financial Freedom

I realize that I can’t finish this task unless I offer up a few goals or at least a few milestones to tell me that I’m on track towards “achieving financial freedom”. My measurement will be based on my monthly budget.

If I can

Afford major, periodic expenses
Have something left over for…
retirement savings
my “rainy day” fund
my kids’ college fund
for philanthropy

without spilling into credit cards or dipping into my emergency savings fund, I know I will have mastered my expenses to the point where my salary can comfortably cover it.

The next thing is cutting back even more spending so that each month yields positive cash flow.

At that point I’ll know that I have reached my immediate objectives and that I’m well on the road towards riches and achieving “financial freedom”!!!

The recent downturn in the economy has hit us hard at where I work. Our unit was faced with a tough situation, which resulted in layoffs for some and mandatory salary cuts + furlough days for the survivors.

At first I grumbled a lot thinking of how much less that I could afford with the much smaller salary. But then I got to thinking… exactly what was I spending my money on?

Sure, there are esentials such as housing, utilities, food, etc. but then again I have to look closer at how these expenses are manifested. i.e., for food, am I buying a lot of junk and convenience foods or foods at regular/marked up price? For utilities, do I leave the computer on even when I am not using it? How about lights?

Even after scrutinizing the essentials, you then can attack the non-essentials… for me, that’s a certain measure of toys, gadgets and technology devices that fill my expenditures. These, most certainly can not only be reduced, but cut out entirely from my expenditures… or at least deferred over a longer period of time so that I can save up to buy them.

Then there’s the issue of credit. How much of my future salary is tied up in credit card payments? If you’re spending on a credit card (not that it’s all bad or anything) it means that your current income is not enough and that you have to borrow against future income in order to make ends meet. I do not have to repeat myself when I say that no credit means you are ahead in the salary game.

Suddenly I’m no longer playing the salary game the same way or in the same rut. Learning to live on less means that in turn, I NEED less to live on. This reduced need increases my options with what I can do with my career and time, and also opens up my salary requirements for a comfortable but lean lifestyle.

Picked up from the library: “The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Guide…” By Jeff Yeager. It’s an entertaining read and is a very convincing guide to the mindset needed to tap into one’s “inner money miser”. The book’s challenge is that even if you don’t agree with everything contained in it, you should still give it a try… even a half-hearted approach is better than none and may yield a good benefit to one’s bottom line.

This one represents a long, long term goal of mine, but I think it is more achievable than I think. I just need to break things down into smaller, achievable chunks. I’ll post my latest accomplishments in my personal blog at: http://thinkcheap.spaces.live.com

Ability to care for my family in a superabundant way, with freedom of time to choose spending life with them as I would like, and to do good in serving others and society!!!

Well this will be the second time in twelve years that I’ve had to claim bankruptcym, I just need tips on budgeting and investing my money and so on

My objective for this month, is to earn enough in finder’s fees to cover my least expensive recurring expense, my storage fees; which are $55 per month.

In medical school we learn about deferred gratification. Four years of college followed by four years of medical school and then another four years of residency (and sometimes another year of research) only to start a career deeply in debt after most of our peers have already been earning a living and (hopefully) saving. The magic of compound interest doesn’t work as well when you are 40 and still paying medical school loans. At least, it doesn’t work very well for me (the banks seem to be doing well enough as I am paying my loans). Now with a 15 month old daughter I will at least try to put aside something every month in her 529 plan but saving for my own eventual retirement has been a challenge.

The past 5 years have been a struggle for me, towards financial freedom. During this time, my whole being has been consumed with making ends meet and making sure my family was taken care of and happy… Meanwhile – I didn’t live life, I survived… barely. Every time I think I’m getting ahead, something happens to point me in another direction. I can’t give up because too many people depend on me… Being a single Mom is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had.

Certainly not close to achieving this goal, i think that is years off but i think i am doing better than i was a couple of months ago. Mind you moving out is going to bring its own expenses so it will be interesting to see the effects of that! Well got to think positive :)