Dare to Change Life Coaching & Mentoring

Tag: financial freedom

7 Steps to Regain Control Over Your Money: Step #6 – Shop Smart

Women shop differently than men. In general, women tend to love shopping and many see it as an entertaining activity. They are more likely to make impulsive purchases and often take advantage of special offers.

Men mostly buy just what they need right now – they go with a clear idea of what they are looking for and try to spend as little time as possible.

Can you relate?

In order to spend less and save more, especially as a woman, you’ve got to become a savvy shopper. It’s not difficult. And the tips that I’m going to share with you here will help you buy what you need, spend less and save more. That’s what I call smart shopping.

You can save substantial amounts of cash when you become intentional shopper as opposed to emotional shopper.

Ready?

Here are EIGHT TIPS for SAVVY SHOPPING:

1. Plan your purchases in advance

Plan your purchase. Pause and get really clear about: Why do you need it? Where will you put it? What will you use it for? Who will use it?

If you don’t have compelling answers to these questions you will realize that you don’t really need to buy it at this time.

If you feel strong about your decision to buy the item, plan the day to go shopping and enjoy the fact that you made an intentional decision to buy it, not an impulsive one.

2. Have a budget for your purchase

Have an approximate amount that you intend to spend on this purchase. This will help you be intentional about the amount you’re willing to pay and not get carried away with whatever price you see on the label.

Does it require some financial discipline? Yes. And it’s a good habit to have if you want to be a Wealth Builder instead of Wealth Consumer.

3. Pay in full (cash or debit card)

When you are in a store and you see something that you really want or need, it’s easy to pull out a credit card and pay whatever the price may be.

However, if you are using cash or a debit card to purchase the item, you’ll have more awareness about the price that you’re about to pay because your amount is limited by the cash in your wallet or by the amount in your bank account.

4. Buy older iterations of products

Retail price of the latest version of a product is always higher than the previous years’ model, whether it’s a phone, a TV or a car.While the newer version may have more features, you’re paying a premium price for these new features if you buy the product on release-day.

The same model will be priced significantly lower in just a year or two, so waiting a little longer can be quite lucrative. You may save hundreds or even thousands when you weigh the benefits of saving money on buying a good, but not the latest model of the product.

5. Shop for clothing during the end-season

You like to look like a “million bucks”? Great! And it doesn’t have to cost you that much! You can find significant markdowns on clothing prices—50% or more—during the end of the season for clothes.

Retailers cut prices to get rid of things that are going out of season. It may worth your money to wait a few months to buy clothes you like at prices your wallet will love!

6. Don’t be fooled by marketing

Stores are designed to entice you to spend money. Their strategies are subtle and effective.

Most use different lighting effects, colors, music, and items displayed in a certain way to entice you into buying more than you intended to when you came to the store. The same applies to online shopping – additional items are suggested to you when you buy anything.

Don’t fall for any of it. Be clear about what you came to the store to buy so you won’t get dazzled into overspending or buying something you didn’t plan for.

Buy quality items that are offered at discounted price but only if you need and want them, not simply because of the decreased price.

Finally, remember that sales people are trained to make you buy! It’s a good idea to ask questions about products, but don’t let them persuade you into buying it there and then. Take your time to make measured decisions.

7. Negotiate

Very few people realize that you can negotiate many products’ prices with a seller!

Let’s say, you have decided on an item you want. You have found the best price, you chose your timing right, and you are ready to pay for it.

But wait! Always ask for “the best possible price” wherever you are or whatever you are buying. What is the worst that can happen?

Sometimes when the seller cannot offer any additional discount on the product, you may get a discount on a service or another item that you need to buy too! Negotiation is a great skill that you can develop and practice when you shop!

8. Be mindful of timing when you travel

Prices on hotels, vacation rentals, airfare, and even rental cars are often much higher during certain days of the week, school and college breaks, and national holidays.

The travel industry knows that most people like to leave for vacation on Fridays and come back on Sundays. That’s why these days the prices on airfare, vacation rentals and hotels are higher.

Be smart and adjust your travel timeline so that you get a better deal. Shop around for plane tickets to fly out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday to take advantage of lower prices.

Also, the plane tickets usually cost less when bought in advance – plan your air travel in advance. Do price comparison for your favorite travel destinations to reduce your travel expenses further.

The Bottom Line: From shopping for groceries to shopping for a weekend getaway, spending money is a “side effect” of shopping (Get savvy about it!

Next time you’re browsing in a store or online, think about these 8 tips to be a savvy shopper.

To your Health, Wealth and Freedom!

P.S. Have you registered yet for my brand new training – Unpack Your Debt?

This is a 5-day LIVE bootcamp where I’ll share the TRUTH about DEBT and show you the WAY OUT.

You can access this LIVE training FREE if you register before February 25th! Click HERE to Register NOW

February 28, 2019
7 Steps to Regain Control Over Your Money: Step #5 – Pay Yourself First

In step #4 we talked about tracking your money, remember?

If you don’t know where your money goes, if you don’t have ANY mechanism (call it budget, call it a money tracker, call it whatever) – you don’t have control over your money. Money controls you!

You may feel that you have to make more and more money to live.

Yes?

What if you could spend less so you won’t need to work more to make more?

And if you feel that you’ve already trimmed your budget to the bare minimum, then it’s possible that it’s time to look for an additional source of income.

Ok, that was a quick reminder of key #4 – Track Your Money

Now the next, step #5, is to Pay Yourself First.

There’re THREE Aspects in this step:

1. Pay Yourself First

So, once you figure out how you can better control your optional spending, your unnecessary expenses (your “wants”), the next important money habit to develop is to pay yourself before you pay anyone else!

For many people, a good way to start saving regularly is to have a small amount transferred automatically from paycheck to a savings account.

In other words, have some savings automatically set aside!

If you don’t see it, you don’t miss it.

How much can you set aside?

The common suggestion is between 5 and 10 percent of your gross annual income.

Of course, this can be much harder than it sounds.

So, if you’re currently living paycheck to paycheck without clear opportunity to increase your income in the near future, begin by paying yourself with WHAT YOU CAN now. It could be one percent of your income, or $20, $50, $100.

ANYTHING is better than nothing. Train yourself to allocate consistent contributions toward your savings. That’s the goal here.

The next question: what is the purpose of these savings?

Here are a couple of suggestions:

2. Maintain an Emergency or “Peace of Mind Fund”

Before you commit your newfound savings to ANY investments (ALL investments involve risk), make sure you have at least three to six months’ worth of your lifestyle expenses saved in an emergency (aka peace of mind) fund.

Life happens to all of us; cars need repairs, houses need maintenance, medical emergencies, or other unforeseen circumstances.

Keeping your emergency fund liquid will ensure that you don’t have to panic and sell your investments when their prices are down, and guarantees that you can always get to your money quickly.

If you have trouble deciding how much you need to keep on hand, begin by considering the standard expenses you have in a month.

If you have dependents (e.g. kids, parents, etc.), you’ll want to keep more money in your emergency fund to offset the greater risk.

Once you fill your emergency fund, you can redirect money to your investments.

3. Give yourself an allowance

Here’s the fun part. Once you get to the point that your basic expenses and savings needs are met, you can decide how much money you want to spend guilt-free on anything you want (like shopping, eating out or entertainment).

You and your spouse can have that amount in cash each month but when the money runs out, it’s gone until the following month.

Anything you don’t spend can be carried over.

This may add some fun and money flexibility into your relationship because neither of you can question how the other spends their allowance.

Leave a comment and let me know what resonated with you and what you want to implement into your life right away.

To your Health, Wealth, and Freedom!

For more resources on various financial topics, check this page on my website:

WORK WITH MILLEN

For additional real-time support, join my private Facebook group:

WEALTH BUILDING FOR POWERFUL WOMEN

Free Resources:

DOWNLOAD MY FREE WEAL TH PLANNER

February 14, 2019
7 Keys to Regain Control Over Your Money: Step #4 – Track your money and identify money leaks in your cash flow

Do you sometimes feel like you’re living paycheck to paycheck and don’t know where your money went by the end of the month? You work really hard to make money but then spend most of it on just…living your life?

Regardless of how high your income is, what really matters is how much you make relative to how much you spend.

In other words, pay attention to how much money you keep every month.

If you’re earning $3k and spending $2k a month, you’d probably be less stressed out about your finances than if you’re making $8k but spending $9k a month.

I recently spoke with a professional single-mom in this situation. She works multiple jobs and takes home about $5,400 per month, which is well above the median household income.

Yet, she spends about $6k a month.

This is leaving her with no savings and a growing mountain of credit card debt.

Since she’s struggling to pay her bills and have been late with payments, she has seen the interest rates on the credit card debt jump to as high as 29%. Even worse, the financial stress has put a strain on health. She started experiencing migraines, anxiety and insomnia.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone.

Many people who have seemingly good income suffer from lack of “intentional money management”. Yes, situations like an unexpected job loss, medical bills or other financial emergencies happen.

But for the most part, it’s how you manage your cash flow – incoming and out-coming – that will make a difference in your financial life.

Here are some simple suggestions to help you track your money so that you get back control over your finances:

1. Evaluate Your Income. How much money do you have coming in?

It may seem like obvious knowledge yet it’s not the case for many people.

You may have several sources of income – from part-time jobs, freelancing, your mate’s income, annuities’ payments, etc.

So, get really clear what you total monthly income is. Using one centralized account for your in-coming cash flow could be helpful.

Then you can decide how much money you want to keep every month (aka “pay yourself first.”)

The difference is what you can now allocate to various lifestyle expenses.

2. Figure out where your money is currently going.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

Take a look at the last 3 months of your bank and credit card statements and categorize each of your expenses in a spreadsheet (you can create your own or find money tracking spreadsheets online).

That will cover everything purchased by automatic withdrawal, checks, debit or credit cards.

While you can’t see what you bought in cash, you can at least see how much cash you withdrew.

By looking at 3 months’ spending, you can get an average of monthly variable expenses like transportation/gas, groceries, and entertainment that aren’t always the same every month and monthly fixed expenses like utilities (electricity, water, internet, etc.), rent/mortgage, medical insurance premium, gym membership, etc.

You’ll also capture quarterly or annual expenses like some property taxes, home insurance, personal tax returns, etc.

However, that still leaves some spending that may happen once or twice a year like a summer vacation or holiday gifts.

You can divide what you spend on those annual expenses by 12 to convert them into a monthly amount.

For example, if you tend to spend about $4,800 a year on a family vacation, you would say that you spend $400 a month on vacations.

There are sites like mint.com and yodlee.com that can help you to continue tracking your spending online for free.

This is especially useful if you have lots of different accounts since they consolidate everything on one site. You can even get set up to be alerted by email or text message if you start spending more than you budgeted for in any particular category.

3. Find where you can cut back.

Start with your fixed expenses and think about how you might be able to spend less on each one.

Shop around for lower cost insurance, cable, internet, and/or phone service.

Are you paying for insurance coverage, services, memberships, or subscriptions you don’t really need?

Can you be more efficient with your energy and water use to cut down on utility bills?

Have you taken advantage of coupons or warehouse clubs for groceries?

Can you refinance or negotiate down the interest rates on your debt?

And if you really need additional money, you might even want to consider working a part-time job, moving into a lower rent apartment, getting a roommate, or renting a room in your home.

Always be mindful of where you can cut your unnecessary expenses if you want to save more.

To Your Health, Wealth and freedom!

For more resources on various financial topics, check this page on my website:

WORK WITH MILLEN

For additional real-time support, join my private Facebook group:

WEALTH BUILDING FOR POWERFUL WOMEN

Free Resources:

DOWNLOAD MY FREE WEAL TH PLANNER

P.S. If you like to see a big picture for your financial life and want to start upgrading it beyond “survival”, you would enjoy and benefit from my new Wealth Planner Companion Training.

It’s a step-by-step, easy to follow online program and will only take you 30 mins at most to watch each of the 6 training videos! You’ll get lifetime access to the videos, audios and transcripts for this program. And I made it a complete “no-brainer” for you at only $48! Your return on this investment could be at least 100X of this amount or as high as you allow it to be!

February 9, 2019
7 Steps to Regain Control Over Your Money: Step #3 – Pay off your debt

Do you or someone you know is dealing with a mountain of debt?

Paying off your Debt is Key #3 to regain control over your money!

Here’s the NAKED TRUTH:

You either MASTER your Money OR get MASTERED by MONEY.

When you accumulate Consumer DEBT, YOU get MASTERED BY MONEY!

It’s that simple.

For many people, debt becomes an addiction. Just like with drugs, getting into debt is as easy as popping a pill. And getting out of debt is just as difficult as getting rid of a drug addiction.

Consumer Debt is a form of financial addiction.

It’s the way banks and credit card companies make profit by charging you insane interest rates and getting the compound interest.

Did you know there were no credit cards until 1946 and as late as 1970 only 15% of Americans had one?

Today credit card companies send out billions of new offers each year!

The debt addiction enslaved millions of people to their lender.

Whether it’s a credit card, car loan, student loan or even a mortgage – debt has gotten out of hand for millions and millions of people!

Consumer Debt is a poison for your financial success.

You can’t leap ahead because it’s constantly chasing you down.

Consumer Debt is a poison in your personal life. It breaks you down, destroys you dreams, destroys your health, decimates your family, and leaves you broke.

It truly causes havoc in your life.

And even if you don’t have a mountain of debt right now, I want you to realize the enormity of debt addiction in people of all walks of life.

You must be wide awake if one day you face a dilemma about using Credit cards or other consumer loans to pay for something you want but don’t have money in the bank to pay for… AT THIS MOMENT.

All debt is NOT created equal.

Wise Debut and Unwise Debt

I divide debt into 2 categories: WISE Debt and UNWISE Debt.

WISE Debt: borrowing to invest in APPRECIATING asset.

Wise Debt is often referred to as Financial Leverage.

UNWISE Debt: Borrowing for Depreciating Items

Unwise Debt is also known as Consumer Debt.

The Bottom line: ANY DEBT = RISK.

In most occasions Consumer Debt is unnecessary and often dangerous.

It’s unnecessary because there are usually gradual and less expensive ways to get what you want.

It is dangerous because it often becomes a downward spiral, a ‘catch 22’ that ruins your health, your relationships and your overall wellbeing.

And here you have the key #3 to regain control over your money.

To your Health, Wealth and Freedom!

If you want more resources on various financial topics, sign up for my YouTube channel Millen Livis Channel Wealth

And for additional support, I invite you to join my Wealth Building for Powerful Women Facebook group.

February 3, 2019
7 Steps to Regain Control Over Your Money: Step #1 – Declutter your environments

Let’s get tactical and discuss the steps to regain control over your money.

Having the right environments is super important. That’s why you hear a lot about decluttering.

If you live in a home that is filled with clothes that you don’t wear and don’t like, boxes with magazines and souvenirs, pieces of furniture that don’t add anything to the comfort of your physical space, YOU CAN change it!

If you don’t have an environment that supports what you want to think, feel, create, and experience, remind yourself that YOU CAN change it.

If you have a relationship that doesn’t make you feel supported, loved, and appreciated, that doesn’t spark joy in you – YOU CAN change it.

If you feel that you got yourself into a “money prison” because of accumulated  debt, or unhealthy spending habits, or arguing with your partner about excessive spending and feeling insecure about your financial future – YOU CAN change it too!

You can CHOOSE to be clear and intentional with your choices and change what’s not working for you.

You can move away or towards a different environment, or you can create a new energy in your current environment.

And whatever you want to change, start changing NOW by letting go of what’s not working for YOU!

You want to make a big leap? Great, go for it!

Feel like starting with small changes? Awesome!  Baby steps are great! It’s how you implement BIG changes without feeling overwhelmed.

Life is what you choose to make of it.  Whether it’s your physical environment, relationship, work, or money.

Living with your focus on past mistakes drains your energy, deflates your confidence, blocks the flow of wealth, joy, and new opportunities in your life!

That’s why decluttering your mental space is super important!

I recall the time in my life when I felt that I must change my environments – my work, my marriage, my financial habits (e.g. shopping therapy) – because I felt empty inside…I felt just existing, going through life instead of living it.

BUT I was afraid to change.

“What if”, “not yet”, and “not now” thinking kept me stuck in the environments that felt like desert. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a support system at that time.

My FEAR of “not having enough”, not being able to support myself, feeling financially insecure if I leave my marriage, kept me in a prison of my own making for years.

Until one day…I decided to change.

First, I asked myself “What is the worst thing that may happen?” Once I reconciled with the answer to this question, fear of consequences couldn’t keep me hostage anymore.

Then I asked “Why it may not be true that I cannot be financially secure without a man?” And the answers started pouring from my heart onto my journal.

And then…I asked “What needs to happen NOW so that I feel more ease, joy, and excitement about my life?” And the answer was clear and loud…

DARE TO CHANGE.

If you tolerate environments that make you feel overwhelmed, not capable, not supported; the environments that deflate your confidence and sense of personal power – don’ wait for a better time. Or better circumstances. Or a “prince charming” to save you.

DO NOT WAIT TO BE SAVED. YOU ARE YOUR SAVER.

Change might challenge you. You might need to juggle some things and make a few adjustments…

BUT it’s possible. And often necessary.

So that you step into your full power. Get in control of your money. Charge of your financial destiny.

And the first step is to attend to your environments and declutter your space.

Next I’ll share the next step to regain control over your money.

P.S. And if you can get access to a supportive environment, to like-minded people who would support and encourage you to live your dram life – use it!  Join the Wealth Building for Powerful Women community to get live support and connect with like-minded women. You don’t have to feel alone in this world!

January 16, 2019
How to Become Financially Independent: 4 Essentials of the Wealth Pathway
“How did you become financially independent?”

“How much money you had when you started?”

“How much time did it take you to build the income needed for being financially free?”

“How can I become financially free?”

These are good questions that I hear from people who know me enough to ask them.

And I totally understand the desire to know HOW… While money is not everything and it cannot buy you happiness, it helps to enjoy life, right? LOL

In this articles I want to cover the HOW questions. But first, let ME ask you a few questions…

…do you feel like you have to work hard for your money for the rest of your life?

…do you worry that you don’t do enough for your financial future?

…does the idea of becoming financially Independent seem like farfetched to you?

If you’ve answered YES to ANY of my questions – keep reading. Otherwise, stop and go for a walk, or make love, or dance, or whatever. LOL

Are you still here? Then let’s dive into the 4 Essentials of the Pathway to Wealth.

If you’ve read my books, or heard me speaking and teaching, you know that I always emphasize the Duality of Money and Wealth.

Since EVERYTHING IS ENERGY, so IS MONEY.

Money and Wealth have a certain energy vibration Frequency that YOU CAN ALIGN WITH.

When it happens, you FEEL BLISSFUL and BLESSED, PEACEFUL and LOVED. NATURALLY.

And you can literally rewire your brain to align with the frequency of wealth by training yourself using particular rituals and developing certain habits and attitudes. You can find this information in a few other articles here and here.

However, the information is not enough. You’ve got to apply it.

You’ve got to TRAIN YOUR MIND to ALLOW, to RECEIVE with EASE, to BE in the Frequency of Wealth naturally and continuously.

YES, your energy ALIGNMENT is super important. However, we also live in a physical, real world. And in the real world, you’ve got to know the tactical/practical aspects of creating wealth.

Just like when you travel and want to get from point A to point B, you likely want to have a map to your destination (or use your GPS), unless you know the terrain already. Would you agree?

I distilled the intricacies of the PATHWAY to WEALTH into 4 essential elements. Let’s briefly go over them.

4 Essentials of the Wealth Pathway
1. MAKE MONEY. You’ve got to offer VALUE. You’ve got to GIVE in order to GAIN. Your own alignment with higher energy vibration is very important here because it helps you become magnetic to your clients, prospective clients, hiring managers, etc.
Sources of income could be:
- Job
- Business
- Other sources of income
1. KEEP MONEY. You’ve got to control your in-coming and out-coming cash flow and keep some of your money so you can grow it. You have at least 3 levers to control your cash flow:
- Income
- Budget (or a certain pattern of Spending);
- Debt
1. GROW MONEY. Develop a strategic plan for growing your money. You can use LEVERAGE to grow your money by:
- Investing in the Stock Market
- Investing in Real Estate
- Investing in Private businesses
- Buying a franchise business
- Building your own business
- Other
1. MAKE MONEY WORK FOR YOU. You can design your Financial Independence by having multiple sources of passive income. That’s the financial setup when your money starts working for you. It’s not a question of IF but rather WHEN if you incorporate all the other essential elements.
ALL 4 essentials of the Wealth Pathway are very intertwine. You’ve got to attend to all of them in order to experience true Financial Freedom.

I hope that this simplified breakdown of the essential elements helps you see more clear how YOU too can get to Wealth and Financial Independence.

However, there is a catch here.

EVERYBODY WANTS TO HAVE WEALTH and FREEDOM BUT FEW ARE WILLING TO TRAIN TO HAVE IT.

If YOU are one of those few, let me share with you a MAP of TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES that cover one or several Wealth Pathway essentials.

These trainings are the VEHICLES designed to help you get to your desired destination faster and easier, with less setbacks and detours, and more fun.
1. VEHICLE 1: ACTIVATE EFFORTLESS WEALTH – 10-week online group mentoring program: you’ll to train your mind to ALLOW Wealth and to RECEIVE it with ease; you’ll change your relationship with money once and for all and you’ll release and heal old money (energy) blocks. This programs is valuable for your ESSENTIAL #1 – MAKE MONEY.
1. VEHICLE 2: YOUR POWER TO PROSPER – 3-day PRIVATE LIVE event: You’ll learn and practice the elements of the energetic framework for CREATING WEALTH. The private setting and a sanctuary environment is perfect for practicing Alignment and activating your inner Power to Prosper. This training is valuable for your ESSENTIAL #1 – MAKE MONEY.
1. VEHICLE 3: LASTING WEALTH ACADEMY – 4-month Wealth Building personal group mentoring training: You’ll uplevel your Wealth Mindset alignment, learn and practice Intentional Money Management (and calculate your Financial Freedom Number), then learn and apply strategic investing guidelines (e.g. the stock market and real estate investing), then…. Well, there is much more there. This program is valuable for your ESSENTIALS #2, #3, and #4.
So, now you’ve got the PATHWAY, the MAP and the VEHICLES to get to your desired DREAM LIFE and FREEDOM faster and easier.

And since YOU ARE the CEO of your life, you’ve got to DECIDE what is REALLY important to you and what is your COST OF WAITING to start your journey to FREEDOM and WEALTH.

To your Health, Wealth and Freedom!

Millen

P.S. This is the stuff I wish I had when I first started on my journey to Wealth and Freedom. Now I’m offering it to you. Frankly, I don’f know if it’s valuable to you or not… there are a lot of variables here. However, if you’re truly ready to step out of your old story and are committed to your goals – I am open to have a CONVERSATION and see if there is a fit.

Here’s the video I recorded about the 4 Essentials of the Wealth Pathway
July 18, 2018