A Financial, Personal & Spiritual Growth Blog

photo credit: buenosaurus

We have all asked ourselves the question, “Where should I take that special person?” Often we’ve been strapped for cash and still wanting to impress we stretch our budget beyond what is normally affordable for us.

The reality is we don’t need to spend a lot of money to impress our significant others or our new date. What we really need is some creativity! We need to think outside of the box and perhaps even look around the corner a bit. Wowing someone with a good time doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact a walk in the park could be all the wowing they need. Are you ready for some idea’s on how to have an affordable and fun time out. If so read on… [click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }

photo credit: bethography – melting mama

Since the birth of my son my diet has suffered. It’s been far too easy for my wife and I to eat quick meals that come out of a box. Now, I know that these foods aren’t good for me and that they don’t provide the energy required to live to my full potential. They’ve just been the easy choice. There isn’t much involved in making them and clean up is a snap. Unfortunately, the pounds have been packing on and not in a good way. My wife and I had a chat the other day and we both decided that it was time for a change.

[click to continue…]

{ 2 comments }

photo credit: pfala (injured)

“Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful” – Warren Buffett

The present financial situation that the global economy is experiencing has had an effect on us all. While political and financial leaders look to fix the problem the rest of us ‘regular people’ are left to pick up the pieces and make sense of things. The question I hear day after day from customers is how did this all start? Another question I receive is “What should I do, I’m scared.” While I’m not an economist, nor am I an expert in these matters my job requires me to have a base understanding of what is happening in the economy. Provided below is an overview of the situation as it faces us.

I’ve quoted Warren Buffett at the top of this article as I feel these words by him are indicitave of how we arrived at our present situation and what we can now do about it. [click to continue…]

{ 5 comments }

On Saturday I had my first official shave for Movember. I’m very excited about growing my Mo over the next month. I am still debating about exactly what style of Mo I will grow.

Right now I am leaning towards a Foo Man Cho, perhaps with some chops. My wife has been very supportive of my decision to participate in the Movember movement. I know she is not excited about the idea of me having a moustache, but she hasn’t made any comments one way or the other about what I’m going to grow.

Fighting Cancer

Of course the important issue is raising money for Prostrate Cancer. One of the aspects I enjoy about the Movember movement is that it’s creative. It’s not a walk or a run. It’s not just raising funds. Growing the Mo is a tribute to the generation of our fathers. All those crazy Mo’s they had back in the day.

Another great aspect of Movember is that it lasts for a month. So as the Mo grows more people will ask questions, which is a great opportunity to share the story of fighting Prostrate Cancer.

So far donations are going well. I’ve reached $250 in donations to date. When I started out with my decision to participate in Movember I didn’t set a fundraising goal. As the campaign has now begun in earnest  I would like to double my current donations and attempt to reach a target of $500. I feel this is a reasonable and realistic goal.

If you would like to support my efforts to raise money for Protstrate Cancer you can visit The Movember Web Site. Please reference my registration number 1383686.

My thanks in advance to everyone who donates.

{ 3 comments }

Over the past week I’ve been giving some consideration to the content of the articles at Be 4 Success. What I realized is that I’ve been publishing the articles rather randomly. The blog is based upon 4 foundations of Finance, Health, Fitness and Spiritual Success. However, the articles to date don’t evenly reflect these foundations.

As a result I’ve decided to dedicate each day of the week to one of the foundations. The format as it stands right now will be:

• Monday – Spiritual
• Tuesday – Financial
• Wednesday – Health
• Thursday – Personal
• Friday – A post on any of the four foundations

Of course there may be occasional deviations, but I feel by scheduling each topic on a particular day it will allow for a more even distribution of posts on each foundation.

{ 2 comments }

photo credit: Michel Filion (aka Mike9Alive)

Home ownership is one of the most stressful and complicated activities most of us will engage in. The initial search for that house and the mortgage that comes with it is extremely daunting. Many of the clients I deal with don’t have a complete understanding of the terms involved in a real estate purchase. I am constantly astounded by some of the questions I get both at initial interviews and at closing. I always take the time to explain to my clients what the various options are and the implications of those same options. Listed below are some common mortgage terms. This is not by any means a complete list, but it is a solid place to start if you are looking for initial answers. [click to continue…]

{ 5 comments }

photo credit: Arbron

The fear of public speaking is ranked as the top fear that most people have. It actually ranks higher than death. Think about that for a minute.

At a funeral the individual saying those kind words, there’s a good chance he’d rather be the one in the coffin.

In many ways the fear of public speaking is irrational. We are by nature social creatures. We talk with our family, friends and co-workers on a regular basis. We do it without thinking about it. When we go out to eat we interact with our server and we think nothing of it. Yet, somehow when we are required to stand up and address a room where no one will be talking back we get cold feet. Our insides get all twisted up, we feel panicked, we begin to sweat and we start thinking of how we can get out of the situation.

Sound familiar?

[click to continue…]

{ 3 comments }

photo credit: lemonjenny

A mortgage is the single largest debt the average individual will ever take on. However, most new homeowners don’t take into consideration the cost of protecting that debt in the event of death or serious illness. The same can be said of our unsecured debt (credit cards, loans and lines of credit). Simply put, the average individual doesn’t have enough insurance to adequately protect themselves or their loved ones if something happens to them. [click to continue…]

{ 1 comment }

photo credit: Jasmic

From day to day I often find that I do the same activities. I seem to be living yesterday all over again. My routine doesn’t vary, there is nothing new or exciting going on. I find to my dismay that as an individual I’m not growing. I realize I’m getting bored and I yearn for something more.

With this in mind I’ve created a list of different things that can be done in a day to change things up. [click to continue…]

{ 4 comments }