Personal Finances 101 Textbook: None. Course will be based on online essays and materials. Instructor: Mba Mbulu
Class #5
Steps Toward Personal Financial Triumph
In this class, we are going to briefly discuss two very important elements to managing your personal finances: (1) Your Attitude and (2) Time. Each of these play a vital role in helping you keep the hands of big businesses out of your pockets.
Review is a constant in this course. Always check your notes from earlier classes. It will enable you to blend in everything more easily.
Your Attitude
Your Attitude is more than a statement or a declaration, it
is a guiding principle, a frame of mind that controls what you
do with your money. Your Attitude is what you do, not what you
say you want to do or what you say you are going to do. If you
are serious about getting the most for your dollar, Your Attitude
will be prove it because you will invest your money, not spend
it. You will buy the necessities and get an extra only once in
a while. If you are not serious, it will be evident in how you
make use of your resources.
Your Attitude is critical. If you do not want to get your money's
worth, you will not get your money's worth. If you do not want
to get your money's worth, you will forget about spending money
to keep up with everyone else. If you do not want to get your
money's worth, you will forget about trying to make an impression
on others. If Your attitude is "on the one," you will
establish a financial objective and spend/invest your money in
a way that will maximize your chances of reaching that objective.
If you are serious about making your money count for all it is
worth, it will be demonstrated in Your Attitude. If you are not
serious about making your money count for all it is worth, it
will be demonstrated in Your Attitude.
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Your Time
People who are in the business of getting your money put a
great deal of Time into determining how they can best get your
money. Since it does not concern them whether or not they give
you what you deserve for your money, it is up to you to make sure
you get what you deserve. Making sure you get your money's worth
requires Time. You have to take the Time to check your bills,
item by item. I estimate that as much as 15% of the money people
pay on bills is inaccurate. Overcharges, charges for services
not rendered, unauthorized interest payments and charges, payments
for items not purchased, etc.; these type of mistakes appear frequently
on people's bills but people do not catch them because they do
not take the Time to check their bills.
Once you find an error, you must take the Time to convince the
business that it has made an error. Most businesses are not going
to correct a mistake simply because you bring it to their attention.
You have to stay on their case until they make the necessary adjustment.
Additionally, businesses are going to come up with a justification
for each item they bill you for. When they do, hold your ground
and make it clear that you will not settle for anything less than
a full credit for the overcharge.
Many businesses will tell you they will do an investigation and
advise you of their findings, and expect you to abide by their
findings. Don't rely on what their investigation reveals. They
won't do anything but review their records, and their records
are more likely to be in error than yours if you are a decent
record keeper. So, don't assume that their review has more legitimacy
or accuracy than yours.
Also, make it clear to the business that you are aware of your
legal rights and will take punitive action if they do not make
the proper adjustment. Businesses do not like bad publicity, and
sometimes the threat of that will be the deciding factor in how
justly they deal with a billing complaint.
Take the Time to understand the terms of each business transaction
or sale and take the Time to understand what you are spending
your money on? If you have not "read the fine print",
you have not put enough Time into understanding whether the people
who get your money should be getting as much as they are getting.
Additionally, if you fail to invest the necessary amount of Time,
you will not be able to compete with businesses knowledge-wise.
That will put you at a disadvantage and increase your chances
of becoming a victim of them and this profit at all costs system.
Questions? Email aset@asetbooks.com and list your course title as the subject.