Set Yourself Up For Success

Good Tuesday morning. I hope this week you get more from my blogs than I do. I have always held back from talking about money in my posts, but now finally found the way that I want to talk about it. You see, so many people are looking at money, and their situation with money, and using that to describe themselves as successful or not. I still believe most people do not have money problems, instead, they have idea problems. I now realize, in all those years I sat and wished I had more money, that if I had spent more time back then looking for more ideas, instead of chasing to make a sale where I was, my life would be more of a success money wise today.

Yesterday we covered how many of us have money drains in life. I asked you to list ten places where you could plug holes in your spending. If we would each go through our life and see how much we actually spend on things we don’t need or use, it would give us better spending power.

I have received a few emails stating how credit cards and other forms of debt are the biggest money drain people have and I’ve been asked if I would write on that. Well that is tomorrow, I promise. Today, I want to take the step from yesterday and help with more of the money drains in life. Let’s talk how we could set ourselves up for success, so as our days and weeks go by, we will be better with our money as we get rid of the drains and get ready to make more.

The concept of setting up for success is another thing I learned while working at Starbucks. We were trained to set up those who had to come to work after us, whether it be later that day, or prepare for those who would work in the morning after we close the store for the night. To set up for success meant they came into work with less work to do to have their day work for the better. Basically, we made sure the store was completely ready to go for the incoming shift. I want to talk about that same concept in our lives.

In our lives, to set ourselves up for success, we need to look ahead to what’s coming up. For example, I learned how much I spent on personal items each month. When I was single, I learned to plan ahead for things in my life. I knew I could get more shopping done at WalMart at 11 pm when they were stocking shelves. I would not go down the many aisles filled with pallets of things to be put up. I never ran out of things at home like bath soap, toilet paper, shampoo, razors, etc. I would always have a reserve and when I was down to my last three of a particular item, it would go on the list for next shopping trip. I learned exactly how much I would spend on items each month. If I had an expense that would cost me $26 dollars a month, I would set aside $30 each month for it. At the end of each month I always had extra cash because I was spending less than planned.

I learned to build a back-up system, to have a savings plan where you had first your back-up cash; then you built up a savings plan for long term purchases; then you would have your investments. Each step up in the savings would be harder to get at the money. If I was going through a month of hard times and had to break into back-up expense money, then into savings, it was at this point I had to learn there was a problem so I could fix the money leaks.

You have to get your life where you have a comfort zone in your money to take money worries out. You must follow this plan to get to a point where your cash is not making you worry. When I was starting life over and working at Starbucks, I had no car, only a borrowed bike. As winter was coming on, I realized it was going to get cold on that bike. So I started to put money aside to buy a car. At the time I was bringing home about $40 a week in cash money from tips and side work. That’s not much in today’s world, but I decided to put away just $5 a week in a savings cup I had towards a car.

It’s not much, but at the time I was reading one of Joel Osteen’s books. I read a part that said pray about something then do your part, start moving to the half way part and let God do the rest. It was then that I was loaned a car to use for two months. I still kept putting that $5 away each week. I looked one day and noticed I had $60. That week a man who worked in the same shopping center asked me if I found a car yet. He then told me he had this old station wagon at his home and asked if I wanted it make him an offer. I said, “I have $50.” He said, “It’s yours.” Another friend gave me the tires needed to drive it, and yet another friend paid to have the oil changed and services done. Every little bit with faith will get you to where you want to go.

Start setting yourself up for success by putting money aside to have a back-up for your income. Ideally, you want to be able to pay 90 days worth of your bills. Then put money into your investments such as 401k, or your company stock programs, or an IRA. Learn to give yourself room for expenses like the extra few dollars I set aside for personal items. You will find that over time you will live a less stressed life about money. You will develop faith in yourself, and a self-confidence as well. For more money tips come back tomorrow when we talk about debt.

I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you always wanted, to love what you do and those you share life with. Let us help you become a RockStar in your world