When you understand the real value of money then it can buy you time, and money is neither good nor bad it's just what you make of it what matters.
Now is the time to learn how to handle money to serve our better goals and spend you time as you want.
When you save money it's like you are borrowing it to the bank and it will pay you interests, this is positive interest working for you.
The opposite is asking for credits and loans, then negative interest are working against you.
Which way will you choose?
You can read the rest of this post I wrote in BadCredit.org

Did you figure out what to put in your budget for Christmas?
As every year we are submerged into a new wave of consumerism, shopping madness and uncontrolled expenses. Some times you have a hard time just finding out what you are going to offer as a gift.
Because a simple, full of love and meaningful gift doesn't have to be expensive. But, would it be appreciated?

We are stuffed ourselves with things. How many things did you buy, then you used it only once and is forever kept in a box?
The other night we went to one of the most fantastic restaurant in Paris, food was great and servers were kind, and even prices were quite affordable!
But reading comments on the forums later, there was someone who said: they don't even have any live music on!
As you can see some people always find a reason to complain, but when you go to a concert you don't get invited to dinner by the musicians, do you?

People are already stuffed with things but Christmas time and consumerism go together well, so people get stuffed up with even more things for fear of lack.
But it is the perception of lack that blocks abundance. Those needs are not real, but the belief of lack and loss are a real thing that make unwanted needs to come true.
We create it.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We've got all an automatic reaction towards lack and need. It provokes a permanent dissatisfaction and marketing and publicity people know about it so they are trying to make us believe that with this or that object this feeling of need is going to stop to allow us step on a life of plenitude.
But promises are only for those who listen to them.

We live in an abundant world

In the very ancient times we had to hunt and fight for our lives in order to survive, but today you do not have to kill a bear who is trying to kill you, so you can get rid of it and go and kill a rabbit for your breakfast. Those were hard times, times of survival.

Today we must take a step forward and realize that we've got more than plenty, in opportunities and in values.
I think that that is the mind of a millionaire, the spirit of somebody who sees abundance, who appreciates what he's already got and only get new things when he knows that is going to be enjoyed and used, or just because he likes it and not to fill up a hole of unreal lack.

A millionaire doesn't fall into the trap of Christmas time and consumerism, that is an unreal feeling of lack that will enslave you more into debt, and you are looking for financial freedom, remember?

So, what do you think?
Enjoy

You have surely heard it said: save money for the lean times, save for the bad days, or save for the rainy
days.
Even I myself have written enough about creating an emergency fund to deal with any problems or immediate
needs.
But in this way we are turning the act of saving in a projection of loss, I mean that it is like saying, Save
now to lose it all later.

While it is prudent to start a savings plan for prevention, this should not be the only goal.
The road to financial freedom has to be a way that makes you enjoy, that changes your scheme of scarcity by a

State of abundance, is a way of learning and training yourself and is very exciting to know that every dollar that you save or invest works for your freedom.

Save to create money

To win you need to take some risk, provided that it is a smart and calculated risk, obviously.
A part of your income or your savings could be for a risk's controlled project as shares in stock market (if

you know what you are doing and do not invest money that you can not loose).
Because I think that the more constructive thing you can do to generate revenue is to take action.

Just think, what can I do to create money today?
Just focus on the only thing that you have in hand: the present moment. Do not sink with concerns about the future when the only thing you can change is today, think on what actions you can take today.

Save for a project

The most important project is to save for your financial freedom, this is what will help you to manage all the other projects in your life, because when you have financial independence then you can decide for yourself about what is really important.

Don't forget that biggest investment it's yourself, you are the potential you're most interested to build
already by learning or implementing your projects. This positive attitude will make you believe in you,
because you are the source of your money.

If your action today is to save for financial freedom, study the financial product you have chosen,
performance, taxation, availability, cost, etc.. And if you find something better, please do not hesitate to
change it soon.
In short, it is all about saving to build, create, or for any project that motivates you and do not think of
saving as a cure for disaster.
It is important to rectify the intention and that is positive from the beginning, as it is the only way to
harvest good fruit later.

I am looking for a new job, I want a job change. Sometimes you don’t know when to shift and change or when to stick and stay. It all comes mostly from your inner heart.

Here are some good reasons to change jobs:

• You are not learning.
• You can not give ideas nor take initiatives.
• Your work is routine, almost industrial.
• Your salary is well below the average.
• It’s been a long time since you had a salary increase.

Work to learn

We are in a new era, the era of communication and progress. Before it was enough to do what you were told and that was it.

But working only to run the race to see who does it better and faster, is not the solution.

Someone will do it better and faster than you.

There is only one way to do things and it is to do them better and for this we must analyze the process and change what it is necessary.

This act can only be done if we share our ideas, if we listen to the ideas of others and talk about ours.

You need to learn.

Being in a job that will not let you learn will make you lose time, and in the end even your job! Learning does not necessarily mean going for a training or courses.

You can learn from the process and it is therefore necessary that the information flow.

The salary

The salary is not always an indication that you are in the best job for you. You may have a good salary but you're wasting time because of stagnation.

While a raise should go with the fact that you are in a place that makes you progress.

If you stagnate and your salary is well below average, start to looking for a new job and change things now!

One year ago I started writing this blog about financial freedom.
Until that moment I looked at the state of my accounts, just waiting to get my bank counselor's call towards the end of the month to warn me that I had an important overdraft and I had to do something about it.

In one of the interviews with my counselor she convinced me to ask for a new credit to pay the one I already had to cover the overdraft and with the rest I could buy me some extra things.

Obviously this was a big mistake that I'm still paying for.

Instead of increasing credit costs that had to be reduced, I should had put some money aside to lower the debt.

Besides this error, I also asked for other small loans to pay the continuous overdraft.

There you have the vicious circle: you spend, you go into debt, you feel guilty and back again.

Well, this created a huge snowball debt and at that point I started looking for inspiration to get out of trouble.

Seeking financial peace

The first was start putting things in order.

Reading the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad gave me great motivation to take my finances in my own hands.

Here are some of the basic ideas I've learned from the book:

• Being independent and not to rely on the government or your boss. Some people now are asking themselves whether they'll get a retirement pension here in Europe. It is wiser to have some snap to always be financially independent anyway.
• Make the difference between good debt and bad debt: good debt is used to invest. Bad debts are those contracted to buy consumer goods or to buy a car.
• Learn personal finances: knowing how to manage money and know what your bank do with your money.
• Having assets that generate income, or invest in real estate.
• Work to learn, not for money.
• Know who you need to talk to. If you want to invest in a domain, look for the right person (the agent, banker), which has already taken this step. Do not go through a broker who does not have the perspective of an investor.

Motivation to solve financial problems

To transform these parts of our lives that have become routines we need motivation.

That is why it is best to start small, with small gestures that will help us learn new habits and see the results that encourage us to move forward.

Of course, if you are 100% motivated, go on!

No need to be an expert in finances or taxes to begin with these changes.

Kiyosaki gives very simple ideas talking about passive income and how to get assets to generate them:

1. Buy or create passive income generating assets.
2. Every dollar saved and invested is a dollar that works for you.
3. Financial freedom is achieved when your passive income is at or above your salary.

What you do not learn in school

School is only a training center for future employees.

I think he's right, because that is where they begin to create the robotic race individuals.

On the other hand it is clear that we need advanced education, particularly regarding  money, something we've never learned in school and sometimes economic problems help us see that we have to change things.

What do you think?

The great American billionaires have a sense of giving mission and always end up becoming benefactors.
Rockefeller gave ten percent of his income since their first salary. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are going much further and think that the rich should give half of their wealth.
Ads

Thus began their campaign for billionaires "The Giving Pledge" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

They and many others, are all great philanthropists that are returning a portion of the money they make to the source where it came from: humanity.

But why giving?

For two main reasons:

1. Just for sharing, you are giving the necessary first step to get rich: sow. Sowing the seeds that will give you rewards when the time comes. If there is no seed then there is no fruit. Without sharing, there is no harvest.
2. By giving you are sending information to your brain and saying it that it has more than enough. Although you may not have it physically! To meet your expectations, your brain receives a message of abundance. From abundance because however little amount, it is enough to give.

Image courtesy of [anankkml] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are people who have accumulated so much and so much money that they end up being afraid of losing it and become greedy and will never be satisfied with what they have. There are those who having almost nothing are also greedy.

In both cases they have great insecurity and have not understood that to receive we must give. Nature itself teaches us that some of the best grain must return to earth to grow new fruit.

By contributing to the progress of mankind, the development of culture, art and communication we make ALL richer.

If you were a millionaire you probably like to see that the rest of the people also have prosperity, in which way would you like to contribute?

Personally I think that in order to give you do not have to be billionaire: to make money you have to learn to spend wisely. To receive we must give, not just money, but your time and personal dedication too.

But give wisely, of course.

Alejandro Jodorowsky, speaks of giving once a week, and every Wednesday he gives free consultations at a bar in Paris called "Le Temeraire", he says:

    Once a week, teach others for free  no matter how little or how much you know. What you give them, you give it to yourself. What we do not give, you take it off from yourself.

Humans are social animals, we are all united and we tend to serve, to add value and make this world a better place to live.

So we feel useful and part of a unity that is much bigger than us.

Therefore, everything we do for others, we are doing for ourselves.

What do you think?

Richness and abundance are not the same thing, there some people who are really wealthy and nevertheless they are much more debt slaves than you and I. Those who have great salaries and live a lifestyle of madness, creating themselves more material responsibilities.

My goals are simple, my goals are to become completely debt free and then financially free. I'm getting closer and closer to that goal.

In recent months, we have drastically reduced expenses without necessarily have to live like the poor. To reach these goals, we have performed a detailed plan that we carried out with discipline, also trying to be frugal and keeping a tighter budget control and before the end of the year we'll be able to pay one of our great debts.

Watch your wishes

I'm on the right path to get out of debt and become rich. I'm doing all the right things. But why? Why I want to be debt free? Why do I want a lot of money?

I know that intellectually money does not always bring happiness, but when we all strive to have more and more of the same stuff and sometimes we sacrifice our time with our families just to get more.

I know some who have built very successful businesses and have earned a lot of money and in the meantime they abandon their families. They wanted to be rich so wealth wiped them out.

They've got extraordinary houses and cars and yet they are alone in the world, as is the case with many celebrities.

Money issues cause major conflicts at home. For example to get out of debt: in a couple one can become a fool of frugality, while the other is a spendthrift.

So what is the point?

Say that I can achieve my goal of being completely free of debt. Then what?

What do I do with all that extra money? It would make sense to save it for retirement, right? But everything seems so superficial. It turns out that I will spend my whole life working so I can relax and do what I like the last 10-20 years of my life? Something is wrong there.

I want more purpose in my life and more sense now because time is so valuable, even so much more than money!

My purpose

My purpose is to express creativity, to write and tell others how to live financially free, at least financially secure, which I think we all deserve. Some of you have contacted me asking for advice, I do not give advice to anyone, what you read here is simply based on my experiences and observations, but I have found that this can be an inspiration to others who look for a different and better life like me.

With all this I can feel "rich", at least it gives me more satisfaction than knowing I've reduced 1000 euros of debt. But do not get me wrong, it is clear that financial freedom is the most important objective, but without a real purpose behind it doesn't really matter. Do not sacrifice your life today to get your goals.

If you are starting a business or trying to pay important debts, it is normal that at first you have to strive to build momentum, but it should not be that way all the time, not at the cost of your life, your health, your family or your integrity.

There’s a long tradition of people having a job. I think that tradition is over. I think the model of walking up the corporate ladder is busted.
I’ve failed more times than I’ve succeeded.
If I fail more than you I win. If you get to keep playing that mean you get to keep failing and sooner or later you succeed.

People who loose don’t fail at all or they fail so big that they never get to play again.
the kind of failure people talk about is no failure at all. If you post a blog post and it doesn’t resonate with people, post another one tomorrow.

Should we jump out and take a risk?

Let’s talk about definitions:
What is a freelancer?
A graphic designer might be a freelancer. If you work as a designer you get paid for working. The more you work the more you get paid.

What is an entrepreneur?

And an entrepreneur get paid while she sleeps. They build businesses bigger than themselves and she gets paid when she is not eve there.

What is to work for a boss

Think if your boss is asking you to do a set of tasks because it is so,  they are going to find someone that is cheaper than you, which is not good.
Or if your boss is asking you to solve interesting problems and if that is the case, now you’ve got to work it out for you.

To take the appropriate risks

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Those are risks that keep you in the game even if you fail. All great programmers learn the same way: they code something and see what the computer does. They change it and see what the computer does. They repeat the process again and again until they figure out how the box works.
They don’t get bumped out when their code doesn’t run they get chances to do it again.
It’s all about exploring and trying what it works.

How a business work

Get curious about how things work, about how a business work. School has brainwashed us to just accept it all.
Don’t ask, just listen and conform to it.
Now in this revolutionary age things are being rebuilt

Resistance and fear

How did we end up accepting this dictatorship from the system? How does it work in other countries? How has it been become the status quo?
Right now is easier to start a new business than anytime in history, the only person stopping you from starting a new business is you.
Access to marketing, access to capital, access to information have never been so easy, os take initiative, do not wait for instructions.

Comparing Japan to Singapore

Japan is in trouble because of this conformity thing is not working, it didn’t work for Sony and it didn’t work for a lot of companies, because if all you are going to do is the same as before and there isn’t somebody with a new map, it is really tough.
Singapore is just as crowded as Japan but they’ve got the freedom to invent new stuff. They are not waiting for somebody from the United States to bring the plan for them. They are taking initiative.
If you are working on an organization that doesn’t let you take even a little initiative you ought to try to get you fired.
I don’t really think that you work on an organization like that, but if you do why you are wasting today an tomorrow and the next six months doing that?
We have more degree of freedom we think of. Even if you are a waitress at a restaurant yu can figure out how to be the waitress they would miss if you are gone.
What does that costs?

Source: Notes from the interview with Seth Godin from the video "Failing until you success" (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225447)

Are you going to work for 45 years, five days a week, or be the master of your activities from now on?

You know that my goal is to achieve financial freedom and go to the other side of the barrier, so as an exercise I've been imagining what it would be like living outside the routine of working five days a week, for 8 or 9 hours a day.

The weekends would no longer have the same meaning as before. Fridays would not be  "happier" days than the others and I could be working on some weekend, it may seem paradoxical, but I could be writing on Sunday without any problems.

I think the danger would be to fall into the trap of working constantly. The goal is not to get out of the rat race to fall into a  worse routine. This would be the challenge of the entrepreneur.

Responsibility and personal effectiveness

With so much power over our free time there also comes great responsibility: what about our personal effectiveness?

How many productive hours should I have to work? Or, how much money show I have to make?
For the salaried employees these questions do not exist as they work the same, day bay day and every month. But there are models of work where it is not necessary to produce for 8 hours a day to be effective.

Everything depends on the sector and the way we have chosen to develop our business: if you work with customers directly, your presence will be more necessary, but if you work in training people or on a website, you only need to be present in the moments that you have established.

What is your choice?

Work and learn

To work constantly make you lose sight of the whole and have an impact on your creativity, your effectiveness and your income. I think it's important to find the balance between work and learn to feed that spark and to not get lost in the details.

Being the owner of your life

Some mornings on my way to work I wonder:

- Maria, what would you be doing at this time if you were working for yourself?

Ah yes! My goals are very clear to me and I would act accordingly. As I devote priority to those things that have a lever effect, or multiplier, the kind of thing that would work with very little effort to make money work for me, I'm sure that things like that are those that I like to do.

We are near the end of 2012 and I am reviewing all the positive changes. As for the negative things I take them as lessons from which to learn to move forward more wisely.

Take control

Or better to say: take responsability. This year we have reduced the negative balance in our bank account to make it disappear. We have decided to just offer chocolate as Christmas gift for the adults.

I've been checking our bank account online at least once a week to reduce and control spenses.

The result is that we have come to end of the month in positive balance, which has not happened for a long time, maybe years, so that we will not pay extra bank fees.

Bank overdraft fees are that money that banks make you pay when you have not enough money just to sink you more into debts.

We were tired of working for the bank and working to pay credits. We also have a plan to pay off all debts, which is already in its way. And a savings plan, which is already well in its way too.

The thing was to get out of that behavior where you swim in comfort hoping that things are going to come to you by themselves, like apples falling from a tree right into your hands.

But no, we had to claim 1000 euros to the tax service that they wanted to charge us by error and we fixed the issue.

We have changed our phones fees we work with the new Free Operator and now we only pay 19 euros/month. This has made us about 120 euros in savings each month.

More things you can do to improve your financial situation

1. Negotiate the interest rate: if you have a current credit, ask to review the interest rate, see if you can you lower it down.
2. Cancel subscriptions: reviews all subscriptions, insurance and fees you do not need and call them to cancel everything. Perhaps it is just 5 euros but is your money and you are tring to stop all leaks.
3. Ask for a raise: If you worked to increase the turnover of your company directly or indirectly, you can use this as an argument to demand a wage increase, at least try!
4. Learn Finances: Get at least the basics and if you invest in financial products and study them well, read the contract before signing.

Lately everyone wants more money, but how many are willing to take care of it?

How do you think the rich have become rich? It is because they have learned to use money, to reclaim it when needed, to spend it wisely without wasting, to invest it to make it work for them and even to give it in a controlled way.

It's all about acting and not let things go

Some people do not check their bank accounts and thay just wait a call from the bank to find out that they have no money.

Remember that your time and your effort are equal to money. Money is a common good, and if you treat it well you will take the first step toward your freedom: financial security.

How dow you know if you have financial security?

Financial security is not a matter of numbers: there are those who earn 10,000 dollars a month and have more difficulties and hardness than some earning 2000 dollars who live in perfect comfort.

How is it possible?

Because they have a healthy attitude towards money.

If you're sick of:

•     Finishing every month in negative balance
•     Not earning enough
•     Paying credits
•     Suffering to save only 50 dollars per month

You need to learn what is financial security.

When you see that the use of the credit card have left a hole of 500 dollars in your bank account this will cause you shame, insecurity and frustration. This is what makes you a slave of money.

When you see that your month's earnings are 50,000 dollars instead of the 100,000 that you had planned and you show yourself aggressive, greedy and unfair towards others. This is what makes you a slave of money.

Having problems with money is the opposite of financial security. Financial security does not put its trust in money, because you fear a lack of it or because you always want more and more. Money is like sex: it is a taboo subject that nobody wants to talk about.

Very few people recognize that they have problems with money.

Changing habits about money

• If you always buy on credit and allow financial institutions to charge you and squeeze you.
• If you fall into the trap of "buy now and pay within three months."
• If you fall into the trap of buy now and pay at "comfortable" deadlines.
• If you accumulate several monthly payments on credit purchases.
• If all this makes you reach the end of the month in negative balance numbers.
• If you are overwhelmed by debt.

Are you wondering how to get out of it?

First try to find out why you need to buy so many things and where that impulse comes from  within you. Try to enjoy the things you already have and stop completely to buy on credit.

Change the habit of buying on credit by a new habit of paying with cash. If what you want to buy is expensive try to save money to get it. Maybe you will realize that you don't really need it after all and enjoy a more frugal life.
At the end you will be very pleased to discover that you control your money and this does not mean you can not spend it means do not spend money you haven't got.

When you ask for a loan you are loaning on your future, on the revenue that you have not yet earned to pay credits. This is money that belongs to you and you could spend it on something else. Financial security is changing habits about money.

Financial Security

Change those destructive habits of loosing by new habits about earning money, and start saving a little bit each month.
And while you rebuild your finances you will be rebuilding your life.

How to make more money and learn at the same time? What is the relationship between learning and making more money?

The desire to learn is self-esteem based. When we don’t know something we do recognize a new limit unless you take it as a challenge to grow in the dynamics of learning.
What we do not know yet or what we have not learned yet, rekindles old failures: the exam I did not understand, the diploma I failed to get ..

But do we have to know everything and learn everything? Surely not! If the fact of recognizing my limits reduced or hurt my self esteem is because learning has to be selective and directed, it has to be a focused process.

What I should I learn then?

First of all that contributes to my self development and personal self esteem: a foreign language, music, maths .. whatever seems good to me!
And the second thing is to learn anything that allows me to earn more money: SEO, marketing, finance, personal growth ..
Obviously the two roads meet.

To learn about what we like to increase our self-esteem is the foundation of our development. No personality is built without a true self. The fact of believing that somehow we’ll reach the goal or find the solution to a particular problem is possible only with good self-esteem based on knowledge, on what we have learned.

Now remember, that mistakes are part of learning, it is valuable information to continue and go on. How many times do I have changed my web project? Well, I hope not many more now that I have an specific purpose.

The ability to make money

Remember that financial education is needed to achieve financial stability by working less.

Working without learning is doomed to make little money.
The moment you have enough self-esteem to advance and get an understanding of the world around you then you're ready to make more money.
And how will I earn more money? Because I understand the world around me better than most people and because I’m worth of it.

Let's see: if I'm the head of a business rather than look for a technical training, I’ll see the way to understand the world around my company and the way to grow the people within it. The vision of my company is closely related to the understanding of the environment surrounding my company, this is the mechanism that makes it earn money.

Work smarter and work less

When we do not understand our environment we are willing to blindly believe in appearances that prevent us from increasing revenues.
For example, if someone says in your company: things go wrong now, this year we should not ask for a pay raise.
But if you really want to learn to assess the situation yourself and what was your contribution and your knowledge and your self-esteem you can make them understand your point of view.
And to ignore about personal finance will costs you money: paying more for the car, credit card and banking services.

Being rich does not necessarily mean getting more revenue

I can get the same income by working less?

Then I'm richer. But it is my personal lifestyle that can give me what I want. To exit the scheme of traditional full-time job I have to learn to know how to improve my situation, to better use and develop my potential to get constant profit.

This is the key to the path to financial independence: progress and learn constantly.

Frugality creates a sense of scarcity.

You've probably heard that to be rich you have to be frugal and keep a kind of spartan life style squeezing cents.
It is a trend in now the U.S., get all discount coupons as possible and always borrow things.
Sell ​​your possessions, and buy only generic brands and always be deprived of everything that is considered a luxury.
Well, this is fine for a limited period of time or if you are overwhelmed by debts and creditors are chasing you and the bank too.

But you see, by always living a very frugal lifestyle with a mean and lean spirit you're telling your subconscious that you are always poor, what are you saying to your spirit?
We're saying that there is nothing, no resources, wealth and prosperity that you will always be poor. It is a message of scarcity and constant need.
I know that you will say this: after all you've written about frugality, spend less and invest the rest and all the rest, now you say you do not have to be frugal and go the opposite way?

You have to balance things of course! Now, if you pass in front of a flower shop and see the most beautiful bouquet of flowers there for the woman you love: buy it!

The question is that frugality as a lifestyle is part of a strategy in limited periods of time, for example if your account is in the very low numbers and you have a lot of debts, then get out of the trap first, because having many debts keeps you from living in peace and makes you a work slave.

After all, it is much more creative and interesting to invent new ways to make money than sacrifice your self and your family to see how to save it.

Just balance things, love is first, obsession is craziness.. and life is so beautiful!

Why do the rich get richer and the poor remain poor?

What do your coworkers talk about?

Poker, football, ...and all kinds of critics and gossip and if you happen to talk about money, personal finances or a different way of life they look at you as if they were seeing an alien.

In the mean time they play the game of running after the carrot without ever reaching the goal, like in the rat race, as if work were a god and the only visible target.

Is a rich person smarter than you, or more beautiful than you?

Of course not! But it is a person who just know the tax laws, knows how to pay less taxes and get taxes exemptions and if he doesn’t know he will pay a counselor who knows. He sees the opportunities, rather than complain about the crisis, and is always searching for new business opportunities and buy assets cheaply.

This is my advice: learn personal finances, learn how it works and control your money.

Why does a football player make so much money?

Because they are smart, because his career "only" lasts until age 35, because they have the gift of speech? no!
Simply because there are millions of eyes that look at them! They make their living from the mass effect, that's all and they don’t even need to be the best on the field.

You have the right to not like it, and even to desire to forbid it .. I know how easy it is to design an enemy, a face, a profession that bother us.

Our boss has fired himself, he has earned enough millions and is retired from the game, he has become really rich! And that gives us something to do something to criticize to give us the impression that we are right and above everyone else so we don’t have to question ourselves and our own lives.

You can be right or get rich, that's up to you, and when I speak not necessarily of having millions to be wealthy.

Wealth is a state of mind that is inside you

There are certain conversations which are monologues, in which you can not convince anyone nor be right, be vigilant and keep your eyes open, the poor and their "good" counsels are everywhere and while they talk about their banalities I think of riches and the abundance that I have in the middle of this world.

Those who live a life of wealth are truly discrete and think in a completely different way and they don’t need to convince others with their beliefs to always be right, they just have the courage to be true to their own ideas and have the courage to live them.

What do you think?

Do you think sales are bad?
To have a bad image of sales when you are independent is simply suicidal.

I know it because I myself am striving for financial freedom and I plan to sell my own products to be independent.
But the word "sales" has a negative connotation here in Europe. Ah! That marketing people always trying to sell you something, like if it were some kind of dirty thing.

 Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

To have a bad image of sales when you are an employee of a company is just like spitting on your soup. Through what will your salary be paid to you each month? Thanks to the sales forces in your company, who spend their time on the road, on the phone or in a customer’s office and which are in contact with the aggressiveness of indecision, the turnarounds, the complaints and what not coming from customers (because the products that you have made do not make the road!).
"No, no, no, sales, frankly ... it is not for me ..... ". But it is because "they" do the (dirty) job of selling what you have designed or manufactured so that you get your paycheck at the end of the month!

Finally, the only ones who would not be concerned are officials and government employees, providing that there is not a competing offer in the private sector that surpasses them.

When you don’t like sales it is often because you cannot sell yourself because of your lack of self esteem or your own products either

Do you want to live in this world? Respect those who sell, it is hard work!

Do not confuse wealth with greed. Greed always wants more and more and do not appreciates what you already have. Abundance recognizes the true value of things and recognizes that we can create that value if you want and when you want.

Do you criticize those who are rich?

If you are on the road to financial freedom what is your attitude when you see that others have reach it?

When you see that others have got it does it make you anger or jealous to see that others have abundance?

Do you criticize people who have money or do you think that it's wrong to be rich?

And don’t you think that to criticize what you want to be is contradictory? How will you create a mindset of abundance?

Abundance has no limits

Only our personality has limits and to understand the creative act is to see the truth clearly and truly acquire an abundance mentality.
An important key is to get rid of what you really don’t need and put your wishes in harmony with what you really want. Start appreciating what you already have and you will live in abundance right now.

If you lack things or money is because you’ve call yourself that teacher in your life. Do not close your eyes to the shortages that could come, rather integrates in that feeling of need, live it, accept it, learn the lesson and move on to focus your power to create the wealth you already have.

What is an abundance mindset

Some think that abundance is a manifestation of unlimited extravagance, like wearing Rolex watches and drive a two million euros Ferrari. And this may well be temporary to soon discover that these things do not really fill you up.

Abundance is joy, happiness ... and these things have nothing to do with numbers in your bank account but the numbers of your bank account will come up along with it.

What brings you true happiness is to appreciate what is good in your life accepting and cherishing yourself. Finances can go up or down but you will not be tied to that. Everything you do comes from within and has to be in joy and freedom.

For me personally what makes me happy is being able to express my creativity and transmit it, I just love writing and that simple thing makes me happy.

And here's a little secret that will always give you a mindset of abundance: the more you appreciate the lessons you’ve learned in your scarce time the faster it will move you away from it because you won’t need to learn the same thing twice.

Therefore be happy, enjoy

Robert Kiyosaki talks about the Robin Hood syndrome in his book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

Robin Hood steals from the rich

Most people were thrilled with the idea of ​"stealing from the rich to give to the poor", after all it was just that the rich could contribute in taxes to support poor people's needs.

This helped to pass the first law forcing people to pay taxes to the state.

Robin Hood is cheating us all

In England the king asked all citizens contributions for the financing of specific causes, such as war or the construction of a special building.

Just till 1874 when they created a new law forcing the rich to pay taxes permanently, this law was extended to the United States and then to the other countries as we know it today.

How governments are deceiving people

At first these taxes were intended only for the rich and the people who had properties and the middle and working class where duped to voting for such laws believing that it would only affect the rich.
But the government became greedy and forced the working and middle class to pay taxes even more to fill up state reserves.

How do governments spend taxes?

They spend taxes to pay all government workers salaries and to pay the rich in the form of contracts with large corporations.

Kiyosaki explains how the rich use large corporations to hold and make more money.

A corporation is a legal entity protected by the law, so money is also legally protected and they will always find a way to pay less taxes but increase revenues even if taxes rates are higher.

Seeing al this the working and middle classes are the main support to the poor

Robin Hood steals from the poor

Do you think that Kiyosaki was right? Do you find similarities to what is happening in your country now?

I think he was right and that is why there is the rat race and they are the real poor in modern society, the slaves of credits and loans.

That is why it seems so important to focus on financial freedom, it is not necessary to be a millionaire to get it, all you've got to do is to change your way of life and follow a few simple steps:

• Pay off ALL your debts
• Save money
• Generate passive income

What do you think?

Do you decide where to live, with whom you live and how you spend your time? What is your level of freedom?

Level 1: You can not decide how to spend your time

Someone asked me recently at work what was my opinion about the social differences between men and women in our modern society. You see, this kind of the question is a tricky question that can not be answered easily without causing friction over differences of opinion.

I had answered that the true social difference in this world is between people that can go on vacation without having to ask permission for it and being the decision makers in all they do and all the others that need to ask permission for everthing.

The others work 40 hours a week for 40 years to obtain a minimal retirement amount, a tip payed at the very final period of life for having commited all of their life to society.
This is a system in which we all participate just because we have accepted it, but this is the real discrimination and a form of modern slavery.

I firmly believe that financial freedom is for all who want to have it and all who strive to achieve it.

But for now you have to ask permission to go on vacation and justify any absence from work, even half an hour to go and drink a coffee.

Neither you can decide the geographical location where you want to work and live unless your company allows geographical mobility.

Your job has many demands all the time and you are constantly answering these requests from others by phone, email and everything else and you think you are indispensable.

Please do not believe in the illusion that you are indispensable and that the company can not operate without you.

Level 2: You can choose how to manage of your time

And you can take time for you just by preventing that you will be away for a certain period. But preventing is not the same as asking for permission.

You can also decide where you will work at least part time and you can organize and keep things up to date while working at a distance.

You've started your own business or system in parallel with your work and expect to make at least as much money as your salary to jump out by yourself.

Level 3: You manage your time freely with very few limitations

Ah, life is beautiful, you make a living with passive income that supports your real activity is and you manage your time freely respecting only very small obligations.

You spend time doing the things you love without forgetting to study how to make new investments that will make your way to financial freedom a way of no return.

What do you think? What do you think is your level of freedom?

1. Make the decision, take action

To achieve financial freedom we have to change our beliefs about money to leave room  for a new lifestyle.
What is the motivation to change your life? Are you ready to become financially free and make your own decisions? What will you do in your free time?

As for me, it was the fact that I worked for people so many years creating web sites and I had never
 thought of creating my own web site and my project to achieve financial freedom.

One day a web master came to our company to explain his project, my boss had bought one of his web sites.
In the meetings I realized how was his lifestyle: independent because he was his own boss and with lots of revenue that came from their web sites and also dedicating a few hours.
He had created a system to make money.

I said to myself: I want that for me, so then I was inspired and decided to take action.

2. Pay all your debts

To pay all your debts is to overcome the addiction to credits, changing your buying habits and establishing a plan to pay everything you owe.
Make a budget to control expenses and sell what you do not use to pay debts faster.

The first freedom to discover is to live a live without debts!

3. Create an automatic savings system

Put a fixed amount each month aside into a separate savings account, you can create a monthly bank transfer to an account without a credit card, just a savings account to save money and get interest of investment in return.

Do not worry if at first is a small amount perhaps just 50 euros, but after 10 months you will have 500 euros!

It is a matter of creating new habits and learning a new financial education.

4. Invest

In the previous steps to learn about how to achieve financial freedom we have been really talking about controlling money, see?

Pay off debt, budgeting, saving .. and investing now!

Study diversified financial products and investments in simple and compound interest.

 Einstein spoke of the wonders of compound interest and he was a genius, so this is good advice.

5. Work for yourself

This is the big extra step and not only for economic reasons, it is to discover how to create residual income for things coming from you .. products, ideas, services ... something that comes from your creativity to provide value to people.

Discovering your creativity will give you great happiness, is a great personal satisfaction and a joy that increases your confidence in yourself.

This is the ultimate goal of having financial freedom: discover your creativity through your freedom.

It is simple: the more income you have the more you will invest and the more freedom you will gain.

It must be something that does not make you work until you drop down exhausted, although at first you have to give it a push and put effort into it.

You are not leaving the rat race to start the horse race and work even more, right?

Create a passive income system to get to a point where you will not need to exchange your time for money anymore. I'm not necessarily talking about starting a business on your own, it is just to work less but smarter.

If I were asked to explain in one sentence how to achieve financial freedom I would say: control your money or the bank will do it for you.
It takes discipline to manage money and acquire new habits and in no time you'll see that you'll get fantastic results!

If you are looking for financial freedom the main key to get it is to switch from your way of thinking about life and money.

With financial freedom you are the owner of your own time and decisions, creating new sources of income besides your usual work that make more and more money until you will not need your current job no more!
But don’t tell your boss about it.

Two years ago I decided to start working for myself in my free time and look for financial freedom.
I've given my talent and efforts working for others for a salary creating web sites, programming features and even helping others for free.
It was the time to start a professional project for myself experiencing the way I can receive money in return for my creations.

I'm still working for others (aug-2012) but my personal projects are on the way and running well!
I get an extra income each month, for now is about 50 euros but this amount is like gold tome it is li a seed:
"If I can make 50 euros each month, then I can make 500".

Inner freedom

Financial freedom means inner freedom too, kind of you've got to be free inside and be willing to attract new things and experience a new way of life to attain it.

If you are happy just being a number and being like everybody else then this way is not for you, stay in the Rat Race as R. Kiyosaky said.

To me life is so beautiful that looking for financial freedom it is worth trying and I want to have an extra income of money for myself to enjoy more time with my loved ones and to dedicate more time to do what I really like: writing.

Financial security

Financial freedom starts with financial security that means earn your living and live debts free. To overcome material "addiction" you may have to learn new habits and a new way of thinking, as you see life otherwise.
Every time you ask for a credit you are giving away some time of your future life.
So if you are looking for financial freedom the first step is financial security.

What do you think?