Organize Your Money: Can You Make Money Without Money?

Organize Your Money!

Organization is the key to a balanced life! Organization saves you time, energy, frustration, and confusion. To be organized means to be efficient in the way separate elements are arranged into a consistent structure. In other words, everything has its place, find the place, and when you're done put it back. In all my years of counseling people in the area of personal finances, one of the biggest issues that cause money woes is the lack of organization.

When you are not organized life feels chaotic, excruciating, and out of control. You can actually feel your sanity slipping away. But like everything else in life -- you need to admit that you have organization issues, and that you want to change. Next, you need to make a commitment to get organized, and get your life in order. Then come up with a plan. If you're too overwhelmed to get started, have a friend or a professional help you get organized. Your life and financial future depends on it.

Organize your time -- Use a calendar, palm pilot, or organizer to manage your time. Think of your time as money. When you waste your time you are throwing away money, so plan and schedule your time.

Organize your files -- Start a paper filing system. Get manila folders to organize statements, bills, letters, and other important papers. If it's important it should have a place to go.

Track your money -- Know exactly how much money comes in and out of your household each month and year. Whether it's regular salaries, bonuses, part-time, or business income keep track. What are you spending your hard-earned money on? Track all your outgoing expenses for 30 days by keeping receipts and writing down expenses. Put the receipts in an envelope and label it by the month. Categorize your receipts and add each category up to get a total. This will give you a good idea how you use your money each month.

Pay your bills on time -- Keep all your bills in one place, separate bills by due dates, come up with 2-3 days of the month to write out and mail bills, and pay bills 4-5 days before due date.

Automate your savings/investments -- Organize your time and money by having a certain amount taken out each month, and put the amount in certain savings/investment accounts. This accomplishes three things: a) eliminates time on your part, b) you don't have to see, feel, or touch the money, and c) you are being consistent in saving.

File your taxes -- If your files are organized it will make it easier when tax time comes around to get your numbers together. You won't have to be scatter-brained trying to find old tax forms, pay-stubs, or documents. Every document will have a place.

Organizing your life will help grow your money. Organizing cuts down on duplicating inventory, supplies, clothes, products, food, information, and time! Do you want more money? Start getting organized!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Can You Make Money Without Money?

When I ask why you don't start your own business, I always hear, "I don't have money to start a business."

This is a common excuse people give for not starting their own business.

There is truth in the statement. You actually need money to make money or to start a business. But the question is "Do you need a lot of money or little to start a business?" and "Whose money do you use?"

Yes, I admit that it does take money to make money but it doesn't need to be your money!

Recently, one of my friends closed his restaurant business due to staff problems. But he quickly jumped to another business opportunity.

The business idea is so good that I want to share with you.

He is now running a training company. He focuses on corporate training. Basically, what he needs to do is to bring in famous trainers to his workshops. Market and promote the workshops and get people sign up for the workshops.

How much money do you think he needs to invest to organize one workshop? From getting the speaker to marketing, from selling tickets to renting a venue?

It will definitely cost a lot of money! Even if you only talk about marketing.

You know how much money my friend put in to organize a workshop? Close to zero!

How could that happen? How on earth that he doesn't use his own money to organize a workshop but all the profits go into his pocket…

Here is how.

He got the idea to look for sponsors for his workshop. After a few rounds of searching and corresponding, he managed to get big companies to be the sponsors for his workshop.

For companies to become my friend's sponsors, they need to contribute money to promote the workshop. This single idea helps my friend to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing.

Not only that, his sponsors also help him to market and sell tickets for his workshops. He also can leverage on the sponsors' client databases.

Of course, my friend doesn't mind to give some commissions to the sponsors from the sales of tickets. It's only a small fraction of the whole profit.

By making such an arrangement, a lot of work is off-loaded from my friend. It's like having a well-oiled machine working for you without much of your involvement.

My friend doesn't need to invest a big sum of money for his workshops. Someone else will pay for his workshop expenses.

Does this sound like an excellent business idea? Of course, it does.

This is what I call ideas at work. Making money does not necessarily require huge capital, it's all about coming up with ideas that other people are willing to invest in.

As Napoleon Hill once said, "One sound idea is all that you need to achieve success." And also stressed by Robert Kiyosaki "Money is an idea."

Abel Cheng offers small and medium enterprises exclusive global profits insider tips in his free publication, Abel Cheng's Business Diary. To officiate a bi-weekly subscription, please go to http://www.abelcheng.com/diary.html

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Organize Your Money