How to develop your PLAN

Missed this thread .. Speed to Russ for running a good exercise in here.

Russ,

If I've done the first few exercises and I'm now tracking my expenses religiously, is there something else I can do? I feel like I should be doing something else concurrent with tracking my expenses.

I feel like there is gold at the end of this rainbow. I'd like to get there as soon as I can.

Thanks again.

SeanS-

I truly appreciate your passion for this.

You could read a bit.

Have you already read Rich Dad Poor Dad?

-Russ H.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

Russ,
Thanks again for leading this exercise.

I've already read RDPD, but I could always re-read.

I'm also reading The Real Estate Game and Berges' books on How to Buy and Sell Apartments right now, but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself and should re-read RDPD and start from the beginning when thinking re my plan.

A re-read of RDPD is always good. I find I learn new things each time.

The other book I read that really affected my way of looking at things was "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez/Vicki Robin.

YMOYL is definitely not "fastlane", but it's not slowlane, either.

The take away I got from it was how to make your money work for you.

And how much of your life energy you devote to things that are not worth it.

A bit of a radical read-- many on these forums would have nothing but problems w/it.

Hmm . . . sounds like I should be doing a book review on this

-Russ H.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

Takes time my friend. Being patient is part of this process. Saving everyday and watching your money is just a partial part of going to the fastlane. This is controlling your outgoing to be used in better things important in life such as expenses that may come ahead. Excess later on to be used on money making things like you buy low and sell high etc... Your next process is to build your asset part incoming from excess money and business, stocks etc... Im not rich yet but will be as i dont want money to be always the reason on a lot of things. Im finally figuring out my trigger thats making me move. This is important as this is the drive within yourself. Im in the same boat as you and almost same location since im just 1 1/2 hours away form you.

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"You only live once, have fun and challenge yourself" -Talkintoy-

Great suggestion. I'm almost done with my re-read and I can't tell you how many small points I've picked up, even though this is my 3rd read of the book!

Our only big expense was a mini-vacation to my cousin's wedding in Chicago. Although I don't know if spending time with family really constitutes a vacation!

Whenever your away from home to getaway is always a vacation, unless otherwise you dont get along with the family, relatives you stayed in then its not? You can never replace memories and fun with money but then again it always easier to create memories with money.

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"You only live once, have fun and challenge yourself" -Talkintoy-

Just curious is more going to be added to this or is it just about the two exercises mentioned?

so far it has been GREAT


I will add my contributions shortly


-Andrew

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Lots more.

Most are working on the 30 day expense tracking exercise right now.

It's not too late to start!

-Russ H.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

I try to avoid staying in relatives. Just makes things awkward.


Russ- Quick hijacking question here:

Knowing that my core values are to own my own time and to live to my fullest potential- and do this within a customer service field- coupled with my new found belief in doing things the fastlane way, should I:
1. Revamp my cabin plan to try to make it fastlane.
2. Stay with the cabin plan even though it isn't fastlane.
3. Start a new plan altogether.

I know I need to focus- but I just want to make sure I am focusing on the right target. Any input? (This is posted in another area of the forum, but I thought it would be better here.)

yves-

Focus, focus, focus . . .

(sorry, I just like teasing you every once in a while . . . )

Some of the best advice I *ever* got was from a friend who, when asked about the secret of his success, said, "Do a simple thing, well."

He attributed every single success in his life to this.

Since then, I've been able to take on some real intimidating projects.

And I did each one starting with something simple-- and learning how to do it well.

Once I achieved mastery at it (and could do it well, with lots less effort), I took on another element of the project. One simple thing.

Rinse, and repeat.

I hope this is not too vague.

I'll add a post about conscious and unconscious competence in the next day or so-- that may make things a bit more clear.

As a short answer to your question, why not look at what it is about your cabin rental that makes it slowlane? Or not fastlane?

And start a separate thread on this.

ping me on this thread if I miss it.

-Russ H.

PS:

One of the big "Ahas" for us w/the B&B was the LOW LOW occupancy in the off season

Occupancy was, like, 16% in January the first year we took over.

Wanna guess what our occupancy was this past January?

67.38%

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

Are we also tracking monthly expenses such as mortgage, electric, etc?

Yes. Every penny that goes into and (most important) out of your life.

-Russ H.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

I'm on it Russ! Like stink on a monkey, I'm on it! ...Will post everything 11/16.

...Made a new post on opening up the conversation about turning a slowlane idea into a fastlane one. Can't wait for input!

Cool.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

The bad news: I've spent almost $2,500 since 10/15.

The good news: I now realize I'm probably spending way too much. I'll stay consistent until the end of the exercise to see how bad it actually gets.

Sean-

Whatever you do, try NOT to change your spending habits during this period (since you're writing things down).

IF you do, you won't get a clear picture of what is happening!!

Keep on it.

-Russ H.

__________________
"Control everything. Own nothing." -John D. Rockefeller

"Don't confuse motion with action" -Ernest Hemingway

Here's my list:


Values

Learning
Comfort
Personal Development
Health
God/Faith/Religion
Family
Friends
Privacy
Peace and Quiet
Organization
An Environment inductive to creativity
Feeling Good
Feeling Productive
Exercise
Rest
Nature (Going to the Beach, Camping)
Respect for People, things, ideas, and animals
Intelligence
Ability to get along
Connection
Practice
Acceptance
Adaptability
Good Decision Making
Action
Honesty
Humor
Dedication/commitment
Cleanliness
Responsibility
Patience


Anti-Values (I figured I'd throw somethings in that make me cringe at the core)



Winter
Poor Decision Making/taking too long to decide
Racism
Selfishness
Impatience
Impulsiveness
Depressed/Negative thought patterns
Making things harder than they are
Un empathetic
Jealousy/Envious
Self Consciousness
Overweight/Unfit
Do-it-myself-id-ness
Repeating myself
Listening to others repeat themselves



Things I like to Be Around

Good Food
Good People
Movies
Music
Musical Instruments
Music Festivals
Women
Books
Humor/Comedy
Water (Fish Tanks, Running Water, The Ocean)
Sunshine
Comfy Bed
Rainstorms
Clear Star lit nights
Full Moon
Autumn Air
Spring
Positive People
People that like to learn and teach


Things I like to do (activities):


Writing Songs & Lyrics
Producing Music
Going to the theater
Going to the Opera
Going to the Movies/Watching Movies
Going to Music Festivals
BBQ’s
Cooking/Eating
Reading
Driving
Camping
Fishing
Travel
Drinking Wine

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