Holidays abroad are expensive enough without the extra expense that comes from foreign exchange transactions. Here are just five tips to help you keep these costs at bay: Read More
I had the amazing privilege this week of attending a live interview with Sir Richard Branson. Having spent a number of years working for Virgin, I have long respected the man for his achievements and while his style may be a little controversial at times, there is no doubt that he really is an inspiration to many. Read More
If your life is anything like mine, it has never been busier since becoming a mum. Sometimes I wish I had another pair of arms and an extra eight hours every day to do the things I both need and want to do. Read More
Something I’ve been thinking about alot recently is the world view that tells us ‘whatever will be will be’. While there are certainly times when we cannot do anything to change the situation, it’s dangerous to broad brush our lives with this attitude. For if we do, we become subject to the perils of apathy. We begin to accept things in our own lives as they are and not as they should be or even as we want them to be, such as our health, career, financial situation, personal growth, etc.
No-one cares more about your money than you do. No-one. In my experience, there are three ways people reflect this personal priority. Firstly, there is the que sera sera approach. You know, the one where you just figure that what will be will be. You bury your head in the sand and hope for the best. Or you procrastinate, put off doing what you know you should about your financial situation because it will all work out as it should do in the end, right? Wrong. If you don’t take any action, nothing will improve. In fact, quite the converse will happen…at the absolute best you’ll land up with a lot less money than you could have done, but at worst, you could land up flat broke and having to rely on the charity of others to see you through the rest of your life. Now I know that this approach may be tempting if you just don’t know where to start. Perhaps you’ve never been shown what to do. This is where you need to take a leaf out of the book of the wealthy Read More
It’s true that money can’t buy you happiness but it does give you choices. Imagine for a moment that I came to you with the offer of a lifetime. I offer to pay all your essential living expenses for the rest of your life like your rent / mortgage payment, utilities and groceries. I might even throw in a bit of pocket money. No strings attached and no catch. Nice, very nice!
With your living expenses sorted, what would you choose to do with your time?
George Osborne announced the budget changes last month. I’m not going to summarise them as Which? has done a brilliant job (see budget 2011 highlights at www.which.co.uk). However, I do want to pick up on one point i.e. the changes in the rules surrounding pensions. Read More
To have the financial freedom to live the life you want, you’ve got to know how to make your money work for you. Many of you have heard me say time and time again that most people want far more than they will ever need, but because they don’t know how to make their money work for them, they end up with far less than they could have attained. To be honest, I’d like to take this one step further. Read More
Making New Year’s resolutions is not for everyone. In fact, research has shown that just less than half us make them. However, research has also shown that we are 10 times more likely to achieve our goals if we actually set explicit New Year’s resolutions than if we set none at all. While I’m not necessarily for or against having New Year’s resolutions, I am most certainly all for goal-setting, regardless of the time of year.
The only way to achieve those things that are important to us in life is by setting ourselves some goals. Read More