7 Advantages of Paying Yourself First

When you pay yourself first every month you are paying your way towards financial freedom. Paying yourself first is a wonderful thing to do in personal finance.


1. The savings habit: The earlier you start to save the more you will be able to save. Time and compound interest work wonder for you. This is the best habit as far as money is concerned.

2. Free from debt: The most important thing is that when you can pay yourself you are spending less than your income. It means you will stay out of debt. Debt is the most dreadful thing in matter matters

3. Emergency fund: Life is unpredictable, that is why it is necessary to save for an emergency fund in case you are out of work or in serious illness. The fund will be able to take care of your expenses for a couple of months

4. Big-ticket item: Isn’t it good to get a big-ticket such as a flat-screen TV without paying extra. Save enough and pay for it in cash by shopping around to get the best deal.

5. Down payment: You can get your dream car or your dream house when you have saved enough to pay for the down payment.

6. Education and retirement: It is a farsighted move to save and invest so that you can send your children to higher education. It is also a great way to save early for a care-free retirement.

7. Wealth building: The starting point to build your wealth is when you can pay yourself first. The amount will snowball over time and you can maximize your return by prudent investment to make your money grow.


When you pay yourself first you get paid by yourself forever.

10 Tips for the Working Poor

According to Wikipedia, working poor is a term used to describe individuals and families who maintain regular employment but remain in relative poverty due to low levels of pay and dependent expenses. They are busy working but they are getting poorer. How can they help themselves to raise their standard of living?


1. Marketable skills: Without a skill, they usually hold more than one low-paying part-time job to make ends meet. The only effective solution is to acquire a skill which is in demand to get better pay and better working conditions.

2. A habit to save: The amount is not important but the habit is. Open an account just to deposit and not to withdraw. Save the balance from shopping or any other extra sources of income.

3. Purchase only the essential: Avoid impulsive buying to get what you want. Do not be seduced by TV and newspaper advertisements

4. Effective shopping: Do shopping according to your shopping list. Get you usual items when they are on promotion or on special offer. Use coupons and shop on days when sales are on. Always check online to compare prices of goods.

5. Park your deposit with a financial institution with the highest interest rate: Get the most out of your savings.

6. Things which are free and better: Go online to watch online TV for entertainment and read newspapers; connect and communicate with others at social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook instead of using your mobile phone. Go to the nearest library to get the books instead of buying.

7. Save for the big-ticket items: Set aside an amount to buy essential big-ticket items instead of getting a loan and paying interest

8. Look after your health: Be healthy and fit to avoid incurring medical expenses and also not getting paid because you are sick and not working.

9. Frugal habits: Eat at home more often, wash the car yourself, avoid TV subscription and walk more and use your car less.

10. Be hopeful: Be happy and smile often. Expect things to be better and take a positive outlook on life.


The best investment is to educate yourself and be equipped with marketable skills. This is the best way to avoid being one of the working poor.

S.H.A.R.P Way to Treat People at the Workplace

Treating the staff right is a win-win situation in any establishment. The workers are proud to be associated with a caring company and in turn, the workers will do their best to achieve the objectives of the company. This is the S.H.A.R.P. way to manage staff and the most effective way as well:


• Sincere: Share with the staff information about the development, progress and financial situation of the company; treat the staff as if they are owners of the company. Hiding the facts and figures from the staff can only create anxiety, uncertainty among the staff. The more they know about the company the more positive they will react to changing situations within the company.

• Helpful: Facilitate the staff to do a better job, create a conducive working condition and provide an avenue for them to release their power of creativity and innovation. Show clearly the way for the staff to advance their career within the company.

• Appreciative: One way to motivate the staff is to catch them doing something right and praise them. Recognition of a job done well is a plus factor in getting job satisfaction and happiness among the workers.

• Responsive: As an example, when you solicit suggestions from the staff, be sure to implement good ideas from them. You will get more feedback from the staff as they feel that they are part of family members in the establishment. They are delighted that you are listening to them.

• Polite: Courtesy is a way of life. Treat everyone as a human being and as a person to be treated just the way you want to be treated. Respect begets respect. A harmonious working condition promotes efficiency, effectiveness and productivity.


Human relationship is about looking after the interest of the workers. When you care, people will in turn care for you and your business.

10 Ways to Build Confidence

It is necessary to build confidence when doing something new like public speaking. It is the same for a senior citizen to use the PC for the first time or for an American to learn Chinese. You can take the following tips to build confidence and bring you success in doing something you have not done before


1. Do it now: According to Dale Carnegie, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Taking action is the only way to build self- confidence. Just do it.

2. Take the first small step: The first small step is a giant steep and a critical step. Congratulate yourself that you have taken the courage to take the first attempt to learn something new.

3. Do it daily and do it often: The next thing is to continue learning it so that it becomes a habit. The more often you do it, like learning a foreign language, it will become easier.

4. Nothing can replace personal experience: Expect to fail but learn from it. Personal experiences are the best lesson in life. You will learn a lot more from your own personal encounters rather than learning from others their mistakes and failures.

5. Find out more about the nitty-gritty of the things that you are learning: Learn more about the subject to understand the working mechanism of it. The more you know, the more you will understand and the easier it is for you to learn and master.

6. Be interested: It is easier to learn something which is beneficial to you and you are also interested in. Don’t try to pick up something just because your friends are doing it. Do something that you are passionate about.

7. Think of your past achievements: Your previous successes will motivate you to be confident of yourself in doing new things

8. High self-esteem: Believe in yourself that you can do it and feel good about yourself as what you are with all your strengths and weaknesses.

9. Positive emotions: Generate positive thoughts and be cheerful, joyful, hopeful and optimistic. Positive emotions promote confidence.

10. Preparation: As an example, you are about to do a presentation. You have done your homework and you have also done a mock presentation several times before the actual day. By being well-prepared you will be sure of yourself because preparation is the key to build self-confidence.


Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

10 Tips to Get Peace of Mind

Peace of mind is a state in which your mind is blank and there is nothing to bother you except that you are concentrating on the task at hand. How do you develop such a calm and peaceful state? Here are ten ways to do it:


1. Do Tai Chi: It is a form of meditation in motion. The best time is to do it in the early morning. In order to do it correctly, you need to have full concentration of your mind. The moment you think of something else you will miss a step and you have to do it all over again. The slow and graceful movements of Tai Chi are good training for focus and concentration. Do it regularly to promote calmness and serenity in your mind.

2. Deep breathing: Inhale slowly and deeply right through your abdomen at a count of five and exhale just as slowly at a count of 20. This is an excellent form of exercise to induce peace of mind and calmness. I usually do it in the morning together with Tai Chi to enhance a good feeling in me.

3. Mindful: Work with concentration to promote peace of mind. Mindfulness is a state of flow in which you forget about the passage of time. You just enjoy doing what you are doing in the moment

4. Avoid negative influences: Avoid reading newspapers or TV news with too much negative news. Avoid people with pessimistic outlook in life.

5. A conducive environment: Do your work or meditate at a place without noise and disturbances. The only connection you have is with nature.

6. Avoid negative aspect of things: Don’t hold grudges, forgive and forget to get peace of mind. The thought of revenge will disturb your calmness like throwing stones into a still lake. Don’t regret about things of the past or worry about the future. Don’t envy or feel jealous of others.

7. Exercise: Aerobic exercise such as jogging is a great way to send oxygen to every part of your organs, such as your brain. You get a feeling of well-being and calmness after each session. You will feel cool, calm and collected.

8. Sleep: Your concentration and calmness will suffer if you get insufficient sleep. A good night’s sleep is essential to rejuvenate your body and repair damages done to your body after a hard day's work.

9. Positive emotions: Generate positive emotions such as cheerfulness, optimism, hopefulness to promote calmness and peace of mind.

10. Solve problems: Life is full of problems. Don’t dwell on a problem but find a way to overcome it quickly, if not, your calm mind will be disturbed. Learn to live with a situation in which you cannot change.


According to Remez Sasson, the mind is like a room that is always full with all sorts of stuff. There is no free space there. When it is emptied, it becomes filled with peace of mind.

7 ways to enjoy your freedom

You enjoy total freedom when you are free from all the negative aspects of things and able to do things positively and freely.


1. Free from negative emotions: The most worrisome negative emotion is worry itself. It saps your energy, stresses your mind, and makes you behave irrationally. Do the best you can now which is within your power and stop thinking about the negative outcome in the future which is not within your control. You can’t change the past and you will not know what is going to happen in the future. Do what you can now to shape a positive outcome in the future. Be cheerful and optimistic about life. The most important thing is to live in the moment.

2. Free from financial woes: Financial freedom is to avoid overspending and getting into debt and paying interest. Debt can be out of control and lead to bankruptcy and your freedom will be curtailed.

3. Free from ill-health: Move more often to shape up your body and stay fit and healthy. Feel good about yourself inside out and be full of energy to live life to the fullest. When you are healthy you are free to do anything and everything in life.

4. Free from emptiness: The only way to find meaning in life is to follow your aspiration and pursue your interest and passion. Life will be hopeful and there will be always something to look forward to.

5. Free from isolation: Don’t shut yourself from others. Get connected and communicate with others to share your insights and learn from others as well. Life is about sharing. Care and be cared so that you will appreciate the value of companionship and relationships

6. Free to learn and explore: Open up your mind to accept new ideas and ready to make changes in life for the better. Explore and learn new things and stimulate your mind to be resourceful and intelligent.

7. Free to create and innovate: Release the power of your mind and allows it to roam freely to conceive new ideas. Creativity and innovation are your passports to move and stay ahead of the competitions


Enjoy your freedom is to enjoy your happiness, health, and success in life.

10 Tips to Avoid Getting Angry

Effective anger management is to commence well before it has started, not after. Here are 10 ways to prevent an eruption of anger:

1. Positive emotions: Right from the moment you wake up, think of happy thoughts, and feel good about yourself. Welcome a new day with delightfulness by listening to the chirping birds and admiring the rising morning sun. 
2. Communicate, communicate and communicate: If your think that someone is doing something to tease you or make you angry, don’t assume and don’t jump to conclusion that the person is doing it on purpose. Talk to the person and find out why. Perhaps he or she is not aware of it and it is not done intentionally. The issue can then be resolved easily and quickly. Or else you will find fault with the person angrily.
3. A positive reaction to negative events: Life is not a bed of roses. When there is a problem, don’t go into a rage. Take a creative approach and think of a way to overcome the problem.
4. Forgive and forget: Do not harbor thoughts of revenge. When your mind is not at ease, you will not behave rationally. The angry feeling will get the better of you and you will act aggressively which is not good for those who are involved. When you forgive, you behave calmly and your mind is at peace and your thoughts and feelings will make sense.
5. Talk in a friendly manner about other people’s mistakes: When you are aggravated by someone who did you wrong, you don’t have to be angry. Just point out the error to the person concerned  calmly and ask him or her to correct the mistake
6. Don’t allow negative emotions to enter your mind: Replace your ill feelings with positive thoughts to stop the angry feeling to brew.
7. Accept the fact that people are different: People behave differently and it may irritate you. Do remember that they don’t mean to belittle or insult you and you don’t have to get angry about it.
8. Face setbacks in life positively: Do not curse, swear, and be angry over a failed attempt. It is a valuable lesson to be learned and you should go on trying until you are successful.
9. Don’t aggravate the situation: As an example, people who are involved in a vehicle accident are usually angry. Even a minor accident can lead to a heated argument and end tragically. Be cool, calm, and collected in such unfortunate situations.
10. Learn to relax: Working life is stressful. An unfavorable event can trigger an angry feeling to develop and become out of control. Learn to unwind and relax your mind.

An outburst of anger is a senseless and regrettable thing to do.  Avoidance is the best policy.