The Top 2 Ways To Turning Your Passions Into Multiple Streams of Income

In Making a Living Without a Job, Barbara J. Winter described the idea of Multiple Profit Centers: “I think of creating profit centers,” she wrote, “as being akin to what a juggler does when spinning plates on top of sticks. The juggler walks out on the stage with ten sticks and ten plates but doesn’t begin spinning them all at once. Methodically, he or she positions the first plate on a stick and gets it into motion. Once done, the juggler moves on to the next, then the next, and so forth. Eventually, all ten of the plates are spinning away, each with its own momentum”

Creating multiple streams of income is key to sustain and secure your message. When one of the streams faces a hard time, others lift you up.

When it comes to creating multiple streams of income (or multiple profit centers as Barbara likes to call), people are divided into two groups: Read the Rest of This Article »

Improving Your Finances by Gaining Control Over the Person in the Mirror

You have more power over your financial destiny than perhaps you have given yourself credit for. No one can stop you from being extraordinary, well almost no one. The truth is there is one person who holds the keys to your success or failure, your poverty or riches, your freedom or imprisonment. If you are unsure of who I am referring to, look no further than your nearest mirror!

Here are 3 powerful ways to improve your finances by regaining control over the person in the mirror. Read the Rest of This Article »

Skipping the Latte Could Cost You: Why Cutting Back Can Sometimes Cost You More

I’ve been dropping into my favorite coffee shop for years. Then, amid the buzz over the economy and what a waste of money my lattes were, I stopped. Afterward, I found that while passing that coffee shop I missed the smell, the people, the “me time.” This combined with my inferior ability to make a cup of Joe made me realize this experiment was turning into a latte nonsense.

We often hear about what we can’t and shouldn’t do. But modern psychology again and again shows us that it’s not all black and white. A little splurge can be good for you; just sitting somewhere for a moment in thought isn’t a waste of time. Even what we know about caffeine has changed. Here are some reasons skipping that latte actually could be bad for your well being. Read the Rest of This Article »

Distinguishing Between Price and Value

If a book costs $50, is that good value?

Your first response might be “no way!” It seems like a lot of money for a bunch of pages bound together.

If a book costs $2, is that good value?

“Hell, yeah!” That’s a bargain-basement price.

The problem is, the price of those books doesn’t necessarily bear any relation to the value which the books have to you. A textbook packed with useful information for college might be well worth $50. On the other hand, a trashy, badly-written novel might not be worth even $2 – especially when you factor in the time cost of reading it. Read the Rest of This Article »

1 Simple Decision That Gives You Financial Independence

A recent survey showed that 60% of us don’t keep a budget. Close to 20% hasn’t a clue where their money goes each month, yet 43% do spend more each year than they earn. Almost a third pay no attention to interest rates on their credit cards, even while carrying an average debt of $15,000 per household.

How can this head-in-the-sand approach to managing money end in anything other than disaster? Look at our economy over the last two or three years and the answer is obvious: it doesn’t. You can’t ignore the basic laws of economics. You can’t spend more than your take in without paying the consequences. Read the Rest of This Article »

A Foolproof Guide to Avoid Soul Crushing Debt

This guest post was contributed by Jane Sanders, who writes about debt management and other personal finance topics at DebtManagement.net.

“A man in debt is so far a slave” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the greatest hardships a person can face is being burdened by debt. In addition to paying off the original loan, interest (often at extremely high rates) continues to add to the total, making the ultimate pay off far higher than what was borrowed in the first place.

Having debt robs a person of freedom. They can’t leave a job they don’t like to pursue a new career, bad credit often prevents them from buying essentials like a home or a car, and it hangs over them for years, chipping away at the amount they can spend and save. It also creates stress, because someone with a great deal of debt is only one misfortune away from bankruptcy.

Fortunately, debt problems are completely avoidable. All it takes is an understanding of the seriousness of debt and some personal restraint. Read the Rest of This Article »

10 Money Myths That Keep You From Making Big Money: Myth 3

“I Can’t Do My (business, art, purpose, mission) Without Funding First!”

This is probably the number one money myth that drives us away from living our dreams, passions, and true talent and consequently realizing abundant wealth from those gifts and inspiration. And it is not only a major money myth, but it is a big fat convenient excuse keeping you from investing in yourself.

I know that many of you are going to be totally offended at this one. But if you really want to live your purpose, your gift, your talent— nothing, and I mean nothing, should stop you or distract you. The biggest myth that Power Brokers Perched atop the Mountain of Money (most all of it paid to them by us); is that you must have funding to accomplish your dreams. There is only room for one real dream and that’s theirs. Read the Rest of This Article »

10 Money Myths That Stop You From Making Big Money: Myth 1

PickTheBrain is proud to present a 10 Part series, written by Deborah S. Nelson of Author Your Dreams.

Money Myth 1:  “I Can’t Afford It!”

Can’t afford It.” How many times do we repeat this in a day? It has been astutely stated, “possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
It is also the basic tenant of advertising that by repeating something over and over again, it becomes truth.

Let’s face it: 50 years ago, no one needed deodorant. Mankind survived for thousands and thousands of years without it. Suddenly in the past 50 years, deodorant is an absolute necessity in polite culture.
So how did that happen? Repetition creates reality; and using mass communications, repetition created the “deodorant reality” for millions of people. Read the Rest of This Article »

9 Steps to Starting a Small Part-time Business

Image courtesy of W. Kozak

Starting your own small business can seem like a daunting task at first. This is why many people never attempt it. However, if you break up your duties into smaller tasks, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. In fact, if you follow these steps to starting a small business you may find that you’re a profitable entrepreneur in no time.

While you may not have to complete all of these steps, or complete them in this exact order, the following list should give you a better idea about the things you should be thinking about and planning for your business start up.
Read the Rest of This Article »

Timely Expenses are Wise Expenses

One of my favorite posts on this blog is the one that is titled “It’s Ok to Spend Money on Stuff You Love”, simply because it vindicates my position in the standoff that I currently have going on with my spouse. I feel that it’s ok to spend on the things that we both enjoy while he insists that they’re frivolous expenses and that we need to save our money for the future. While I see the wisdom in his point of view, I also feel that the money we earn after much hardship and struggle is best used in a timely manner. Read the Rest of This Article »

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