Everybody wants to know about the "money jar" we keep in our kitchen. Did they really do it this year? Will it add up to very much? How much could the Ford family really find on the GROUND?

If you’ve read our “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” (www.middleclassmoney.com), you know we promised to update our blog with details after each year’s “money jar.”

Yes, we did do it again this year.

Each year we find money on the ground. This was not our money and we did not earn it. It is money we “kept an eye out for” as we were living our lives.

How much did we find this year on the ground in our daily lives? Why, you won’t believe it. Seriously.

$61.47 Serously, it's like money falling from the sky. We just look for it. It is our way of motivating ourselves to find more money and save more money. It is also a way for us to remind ourselves how little money really adds up.

You can find it, too.

You can save money in this economy.

Hear me.

YOU can save money in this economy.

You have to be ready.

Using coupon codes and coupons can be helpful.

Even finding money on the ground.

BUT....

....you need a plan for 2010. You can use our negotiation tactics if you like. We like helping people fight back and win!

That plan has to have buy-in from you. And it has to start with “Yes, I can save. Yes, I can invest regularly.”

And you can.

Spend some time with our past entries on this blog. Let this be “the year” that you really boosted your family wealth. Start with saving regularly.

Reduce your debt (use our tricks, we don’t care)!

Educate yourself and your children. Do it together. By the way, if you don't know what we do with our "money jar" every year, you have to read "How To Survive Any Financial Crisis" (www.middleclassmoney.com).

You can do this! Happy New Year!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

The good news is that credit card companies have to be less criminal and immoral than they have been in the past.

Wait a minute. In all fairness, let’s re-write that sentence in a way that is 100% true:

Credit card companies are NOT your friends. They are the enemies of your family and your financial future.

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 was supposed to make things better for consumers, and it probably will to a minor degree. However, you should remember that these credit card companies are like a casino: They move the odds in their own favor and the house always wins.

On this blog we hate payday loan companies and credit card companies. They all might as well be pimps and loan sharks.

If you have credit card debt, make it your goal in 2010 to reduce and then eliminate the debt you have to them: THEY ARE YOUR ENEMY.

In addition to building a correct 2010 emergency savings fund (15 to 18 months of expenses in savings – money market saving accounts or certificates of deposit in FDIC-insured institutions), you must get a handle on interest rates that make you accountable to pay more than you should to live your life. That means you should have a plan to take back your financial life.

Look at all your credit cards. If you don’t have credit card debt, good for you. If you do have credit card debt, look at the interest rates. Stack them by high to low interest rates. If you can put all your debt on the lowest card, do it.

If you can’t, pay MORE than the minimum on the highest interest rate card and pay the minimums on everything else. Slow and steady wins the race, but the more you can retire high interest rate debt, the better off you will become.

When you pay off the highest interest rate card, move on to the next one. Keep repeating this until you don’t have any credit card debt.

Debt is the #1 impairment to the production of wealth in middle class families in the U.S.

Let’s take our lives back, people!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

What happens if you purchase an automobile on payments over 60 months? Interest payments happen.

What happens if you purchase a used vehicle for much less and pay cash?

That’s right. Different story.

How do you build true wealth over time?

Identify your enemies: Credit card debt, spending for things you don’t need.

Identify your true friends: Purchasing assets (those valuable things that reproduce themselves over time).

You’ve heard people say things like “Work harder, save more now and live better and richer later.” However, most people miss that you can identify a strategy for yourself that helps you avoid debt of most kinds and boost savings and the production of assets.

I always like to think of it this way: When you go to work, you work. Every time you are at work you are “working for the man.”

You get paid. Most people see that as the reward.

It’s not the true reward. You have to take advantage of the true reward for any real reward to take place.

Your paycheck is not meaningless, but it should never be your goal. Your goal (for the production of wealth or “the reward”) should be putting a percentage of your money on “the other side.”

It works like this:

You work + you get paid. You spend to live. You save.

The money you save and invest is the money that goes to the “other side.” You put that in a money market savings account or certificates of deposit until you have 15 to 18 months of expenses in those accounts. Then, you begin to invest in assets that grow money for your family. That money works for you.

If you put money to the “other side,” that money always works for you.

When you are asleep, that money is working. When you are at work, that money is working. When you are watching TV, that money is working for you. That’s why you put money in saving and investing. It works for you. You don’t work for that money.

Think of each dollar as a part time worker. Someone who works all the time to make you wealthy.

The key is regular and automatic savings. (Check out our 1% Savings Plan in previous blog entries).

You can build wealth. Get started. Keep going. Build the correct size emergency savings fund for 2010 (not 1984). Buy assets. Keep your debt low or eliminate it altogether. Delay what you want so you can boost investing and have your investing pay for your long-term toys.

You can do this.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Sometimes I feel like those prayers you say in church. “Oh, Lord, hear my prayer.” I’m not being disrespectful. We’ve all heard the Lord helps those who help themselves. We just don’t all apply this “helping ourselves” to our issues. When it comes to saving money, most people want to do it and build a safety net and produce wealth for their family, but most do not.

Why?

I hear this a lot: “Life gets in the way.”

It’s true. You start out young and the world offers you “things.”

Your first job. Your first car.

Your first apartment.

Excitement.

Your first credit card.

The hits just keep on coming.

But soon......

Excitement turns into......LIFE.

Work, home, work. Mortgage. Credit card debt. Spending out of control.

T-r-o-u-b-l-e.

You are on the spinning wheel and don’t know how you got there in the first place. Right? The kids need things now (and they are excited).

Wherever you are in your life, you must now make a stand. If you don’t, this may be your last actual chance. Don't let life get in your way! Take action now!

Use our “1% Saving Plan” if you have to, but get STARTED now.

MAKE TIME to spend time on generating a little extra cash to push toward saving money.

If you don’t have an emergency savings fund, MAKE a path to generate one. Start with the “1% Savings Plan” and look at your spending to identify additional dollars you can dedicate to building the right-sized emergency savings fund for 2010: 15 to 18 months of expenses in money market savings and certificates of deposit.

This isn’t 1984. The rules have changed. It takes longer to get a good job now and longer to replace one.

Finally, if you have been saving regularly, that is great! If you have been saving thru your 401k, an IRA and regular savings, good for you! Now, begin purchasing assets. Assets are the true path to creating wealth.

We are not talking about things people “say” are assets. Assets – by our definition – are only those things that reproduce the value in themselves.

Check out our past blogs to learn more. Spend time on the internet learning. Take a class at the local community college. Harness the power of learning and the power of saving and investing.

You can do this.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

We always recommend that spend a certain amount of time each week – outside of work – working on how to learn more about saving and investing.

Educating yourself and your children is the actual path to wealth.

If you are reading this blog and you want to find one book to help you move ahead of the pack, we have a holiday recommendation for you.

We recommend it if you want a book about growing money. We recommend you share the book as a gift. And we didn’t even write it.

The book is “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Think about this: If you want grow wealth, read this book. It is a very good place to start.

As with most things, we don’t recommend you buy every product that Mr. Kiyosaki sells, but purchasing this first book is worth YOUR weight in gold.

You shouldn’t allow being overwhelmed to stop you from saving money for a variety of things – retirement, education, emergencies, automobiles, houses. Strategy and learning is the key – and you can do it.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

How can you protect your family in the financial storm of the 21st Century? It is not at all guaranteed that the “worst is over.” Your goal? Don't be sorry. Plan ahead...and I mean NOW.

It is certain that this period of time is about the following:

1. Making sure you build a proper emergency savings fund for 2010 (15 to 18 months of expenses in a money market savings account or certificates of deposit – all FDIC-insured, of course). Saving this can happen faster than you think with a strategic plan you build yourself.

2. Reducing obligations. That means reducing what it costs for you to live month to month and creating opportunity to save significantly over time.

3. Reduce and eliminate debt (especially credit card debt).

4. Once you have done # 1 and #2, join your company 401k if you haven’t and then work to learn how you can earn extra income outside of your day job and contribute that income to purchasing assets that provide dividends or grow in value. The more you educate yourself and your family, the better off you will be in ten years.

Inflation is coming. Harder employment is coming. More difficulty. Prepare now and take advantage of every opportunity.

You can build your own plan for saving and investing. You can include your children in conversations about expectations over saving and investing so they get a head start in their own lives.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

What is 10% of your after tax income?

What is 15% of your after tax income?

What is 20% of your after tax income?

Spend some time with your paycheck. Do the math. Find out what each of these percentages represent.

Look at your next paycheck. Don’t think about how much you should save per year or how much you need for retirement. To get your savings kicked off like a storm, just focus on paycheck to paycheck. If you have seen our “1% Savings Plan,” you know how much we believe in saving all-along-the-life-experience.

Saving regularly and automatically should not be optional for you or your kids. They should learn early, and you will gain confidence by teaching yourself YOU can save a percentage of each paycheck.

Most people make the BIG MISTAKE of focusing on how much they save. We believe you should focus on getting your percentage of after-tax income to a savings vehicle. We believe you should look at your checking account as a MONEY LAUNDERING ACCOUNT FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. The more excuses you give yourself for moving money into an FDIC-insured money market savings account, the better your life will be in the long-run.

If you can make saving money a game, you will find you can save more than you think. Coupon codes. Negotiation. Reducing debt (especially credit card debt). It all plays a unique role in making you more financially secure.

Imagine how differently you might feel about that boss of yours when you have our recommended amount in your emergency savings fund (15 to 18 months of expenses in savings).

Now that’s worth saving for....and you’ll save it faster than you think.

The biggest money secrets are these:

1. Debt is the number 1 impairment to the growth of wealth in the middle class in the U.S.

2. Purchasing assets that always produce more of the original asset will eventually make you wealthy. Slow and steady wins the race.

3. Getting ahead for real is slow and steady. There is no magic bullet.

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

Here are some examples of places where you can find coupon codes and discounts on the internet. This is not research done for you. We are not endorsing any of these, but we are offering them to show that you can spend an hour a week looking for deals and find places where you can save more money. If you don’t do your own research, shame on you!

www.ebates.com

www.shopping-bargains.com

www.retailmenot.com

www.shoppingguru.com

www.couponsnapshot.com

www.mycoupons.com

www.flamingworld.com

www.currentcodes.com

www.keycode.com

www.couponmountain.com

www.couponalbum.com

www.dealio.com

Please remember the rules: If you save but you don’t put the money in actual savings, YOU HAVE NOT SAVED. You have participated in marketing. Checking accounts are MONEY LAUNDERING accounts for other people’s money. Don’t let your money flow down the drain.

If you use coupons or coupon codes without checking or comparing prices with non-coupons and on-line, you have not saved. You have participated in marketing.

Share this blog with others and on your Facebook page! The more the people you love and care about save, the better their life is going to be. You know this. We know this.

And YOU can do this!

HELPING YOUR KIDS GET AHEAD

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

We all know we need to save money, but it is so difficult. This is especially true during the Christmas Shopping Season. Why? Because marketing tells us that when a merchant takes 20% off of a purchase we really have saved money.

How can you really make sure you save?

1. Make a list of the people on your list in advance. Set a budget, but concentrate your efforts on getting good gifts that will have real value or spread real joy (by removing the focus on money, you can get potentially better gifts for these individuals for less).

2. Make your plan for purchase in advance and stick to the plan. In other words, map out what you want to purchase, search for the best deals BEFORE you actually SHOP and STICK TO YOUR PLAN. If a better deal happens along, fine. However, you will be most prepared if you know what you are doing in advance, have your budget and your plan BEFORE you go to PURCHASE.

3. Only accept out-the-door pricing. By comparing on-line merchants to Walmart and other retailers, you can see the out-the-door reality (including shipping). This includes coupons.

4.Make shopping a game about saving money. Make it a sport for fun, but make CERTAIN you actually take any percentage you “save” and move it from your checking account to your savings (money market savings account or certificate of deposit). Only by pushing the money you would have normally spent to savings are you actually SAVING MONEY.

5. Note that merchants always say it’s unlikely that they will have steep discounts later and they always do. Remember: You don’t have to purchase item X from a specific retailer. Don’t let your emotion take over; think strategically about purchasing at the best price and allow that to be your only guide.

MAKE MORE THAN MONEY COUNT

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com

What does it take for you to begin saving money regularly? What does it take for you to find your own strategy for saving and investing regularly?

As humans, we put things off. We rationalize and say that we can begin later. Later is generally later than you think. It’s one of the reasons this blog is dedicated to the children in your house. We should take control ourselves, learn how to control money by making small strategic adjustments in how we spend, how we buy and where our paychecks go each time we get paid. Then, we can teach this to our children so they can very literally become millionaires.

Most of us begin too late. I am included in this. I didn’t start thinking about the real future until I was long an adult. If you are reading these words in your twenties or thirties, you can have a huge head start on the world, but you must act now.

There are always excuses. The holidays are on us. We have to do Christmas shopping. Things come up.

Don’t buy into that. There are no excuses when it comes to your family and the future. Take charge now and begin a steady process of growing savings and then wealth. You can do this.

MAKE MORE THAN MONEY COUNT

In this country we don’t do enough to teach our children about money, managing money, saving regularly (and automatically), compound interest and steady investing for a long-term future. As a parent, we are always concerned that they get a good education and go to a good college so they can make a lot of money or have a valued career path. The truth is that we could do our children the biggest favor and one of the best things by sharing with them sound saving and investing principles.

You can join our free Facebook group (or have your children do it, too) by searching in the Facebook bar on your “wall” for “Live The Lifestyle Your Family Deserves.” Click on “become a fan.” It’s free and it ties our free blogs into that group.

If you want to give your children the same information we are giving ours, you can purchase the only thing we sell on any of our blogs or groups. It’s called “How To Survive Any Financial Crisis” and you can get it for only $4.95 at www.middleclassmoney.com.

Thank you for reading our blog and good luck!

Loyd Ford
www.stickyasset.com/blog
www.middleclassmoney.com
www.boostmywealth.wordpress.com
www.squidoo.com/boostmywealth
www.stickyasset.com