Chasing the Bull

I have to admit I really like NBC’s “ The Biggest Loser“. It is very motivating, inspirational, and yes, even educational. As it turns out, some of the things I have learned relate very well to personal finance. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

5. Stop Complaining - Jillian always tells her students to stop complaining. She does not want to hear the word “can’t”. How many times have we blamed our situation on someone else? If only VISA would have rejected my credit card application when I was in college. If only the US mail system was faster, I would not have another late fee. If my high school would have actually taught us more about personal finance. It does not matter how you got to where you are! Stop complaining and take an objective assessment of where you are now. Only then can you start to make progress.

4. Strive for Consistency - Losing one hundred pounds is not something that will happen overnight. It takes discipline and a tremendous amount of effort, day-in and day-out, to see results. The same can be said about saving for retirement. You will not be able to save a million dollars this year. You can, however, retire with that much if you save and invest a little bit each month for the next 30 years. If you are still in your 20s, it will be much easier if you start now.

3. Accept Mistakes - With the exception of Neil’s 17 pound gain last season (which he did on purpose), mistakes happen. Every now and then, a contestant will bust their butts all week, only to gain a pound or two. The only thing they could do was to evaluate their diets and correct this going forward. Investing is very similar. Last November, I purchased shares in Force Protection, or what I call “The Worst Investing Decision Ever”. I purchased it around $17 and proceeded to watch it sink to $1.50. I cannot let this single thing affect my confidence in the stock market. I simply revisited my purchase analysis to see if there was anything I missed when I decided to buy FRPT. Turns out, there is now a class action lawsuit against them for accounting irregularities. Yes! The worst stock pick ever.

2. Think Long Term - The main reason I want Mark to be in the finals is because of the way his family makes him feel. He loves them and you can see it and feel it when he talks. Mark had to sacrifice months of his life, away from his family, in order to add years to the end of his life. He realized that short term wants should sometimes be secondary to his overall life plan. I relate this to investing for my future. Sure, I would love to buy my wife a new wardrobe. She deserves it as hard as she works to raise my son. We have agreed, however, to postpone these “desires” for a few years, in order to secure our future.

1. It does not matter where you are - JUST START TODAY - Kelly tipped the scales at 271 pounds when she started The Biggest Loser. Can you even imagine how she must feel now. She has lost almost 100 pounds. This did not happen overnight, but I can tell you with absolute certainty, that she is glad she got off the sofa and started. This is the same with saving, eliminating debt, and investing. It does not matter whether you have a negative net worth or not. You can change your circumstances, but to do so, you have to start somewhere.

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I spend a good deal of time reading personal finance and investing blogs. It is always interesting to get read the opinions of so many intelligent people, even if I disagree with some of the things that are posted.

I ran across an interesting challenge at Aching Debts. The concept is simple; list 5 things big or small that bust your budget, then tag 3 other people and invite them to join the challenge. Since this blog is so new, I really do not expect to get invited to participate, so I thought I would invite myself (Anyone is invited to participate, by the way).

Without any further ado, here are the 5 things that always “bust” my budget.

5. Diet Coke - No matter how hard I try to slow down or quit, I still buy 4 to 6 12-packs of diet coke a week. Every month I leave this out of the budget thinking that I will be able to quit this week. So far, no luck.

4. Fast Food - My wife is great about preparing a good lunch and dinner for me. Breakfast, however, is my responsibility. As such, I would say about 7 times a month, I wake up late and I am forced to stop at Burger King, or starve. I am such a slacker sometimes.

3. Snacks - Do you see a theme here? I think food completely runs my life. Maybe I should think about this some more.

2. Dogs - I have two wonderful dogs; a Scotty and a Silky. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but they are so expensive. Both dogs are sensitive to whey protein, so we have to buy really expensive food so they don’t scratch themselves all night. The Scotty eats like she will never get another meal and the Silky has to have a few teeth pulled every couple years (he refuses to let us brush his teeth and won’t chew a bone).

1. Books - I love to read. Currently, I am reading about 5 books, which I will probably have completed next weekend. I always joke with my wife and say that when I retire, I am going to open a used book store, then lock myself in and read 12 hours a day.

The rules of the challenge are that now I have to tag 3 people to carry on the challenge. Here are the people I’ve decided to tag:

Hank @ MyInvesting Blog
LPKitten @ The Debt Defier
Saving Money Bug

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