Tipping Point

A tipping point is where “momentum for change becomes unstoppable” according to Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote a book titled “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”.

Just few weeks ago, my sis got herself a new car. She has been putting off getting the car for sometimes. Buying a new car mean a small chunk of money down plus many months to pay off the loan.

But, the old banger that she was using is reaching past useful life both economically and reliability. You would never know when it need emergency resuscitation on the roadside. Being an old car means repairs and fuel economy suffers and so too the wallet. With the new car, the money she spends on fuel drop nearly a third! After factoring in the repairs and time lost waiting to be rescued when the car breaks down, the extra money she spend each month is not a whole lot more. Which brings me to the tipping point.

In anything you spend money on, eventually it will reach a point where it no longer is financially feasible to hang on to it. It makes sense to pay attention to the tipping point so that you know when to get rid of something. Next time, when you want to get a new stuff, it may not be necessarily a waste of money. You might even save more!

Practical Tips for Beating Exercise Boredom

Suppose it's time for your workout and you realize you are so not in the mood. And you haven't been for quite a while. Skipping out is looking awfully tempting... but after all the progress you've made, are you in danger of getting out of the habit?

Some people love every aspect of their fitness routine and can keep it up for decades without whining. Others of us have to resort to sneaky tricks to keep the momentum going.

Mixing it Up: Easier Said Than Done
The standard advice to anyone who's starting to dread their exercise routine is: do something different! Cross-train with a whole new sport or exercise!

Great advice... but, well, we often tend to ignore it, don't we? It's awfully hard to embark on something new and challenging when we're low on motivation to begin with.

The answer? Well, rather than contemplate ambitious changes and never make them, try experimenting with small, simple tweaks that are easier to make. Once you get your motivation back, then maybe you'll have the momentum to tackle a whole new activity.

Add a Single Challenge to Your Routine
Part of the reason for boredom can be a lack of progress. Yet realistically, there's only so much time and energy we have to work out, and it's easy to find yourself at a plateau.

So pick one or two things you'd like to get better at, set realistic goals, and focus more attention and time on them than everything else. Even if it seems "unfair" to your other exercises. Tell them they'll get their turn later. To try to do too much may make the problem worse, not better.

The payoff? You may find yourself dreading your workouts less when you start to make faster progress--even if it's only one aspect of your routine. (My goal? To be able to do an unassisted pull-up. Sometime this century).

Give Yourself Permission to Do Less.

Change Routes and Routines
Another obvious tip, but one we don't do often enough. If you exercise outdoors and have found the "best" route available for your run or walk, it can be tempting to just stick to it until you are totally sick of it but don't even realize it. Find new routes, or if there are none, revisit rejects that seemed too hilly or busy or boring--they may make a good change of pace even if they're not perfect.

And if you can't seem to nudge yourself to vary your location, at least try going the opposite direction!

Similarly, if you've found practical reasons to always do a gym workout in the same order, give it a break. Let yourself just do what ever you feel like in whatever order appeals to you. Sure, the other way may be more "efficient," but it's not worth getting so bored that you stop working out at all.

Or what the heck, live dangerously: try a new exercise or machine you've never used before!

Get Intense

Alternatively, if you exercise intensely all the time, you may be a ripe candidate for burnout. Mix it up with long slow days and REST days, or you may find yourself unmotivated or even sidelined with injuries.

Get Social

Buy Stuff

Does anyone else get burnt out exercising? What have you tried that's helped?

Labels: Fitness Tips

7 Ways To Have More Money

I know of a couple, with a combined take home pay of almost 12,000 a month. But this couple barely have any savings at the end of each month! And I wondered how can that be? Asking them further, I found that their expenses on some items are much higher and I thought that if they can cut back or made better decisions, they would not be in the mess.

You must have controlled on your spending habits. Understand ‘Parkinson’s law’ which says that the more money you have , the more you spend.It is about human habits, they have wants, big and huge wants that eventually end up with crippling mortgages and credit card bills that never seem to end.

Manage your money well, improve your financial situation and Start building wealth with your big inflow. Take control of your personal finance and ensure that your outflow shall remain equal or lower than your inflow all the time.

Here are some common expenses that I think would drain our income if we are not careful and I’ve listed them here.

1. Transportation. Yes we need transportation to get about, but a car might not be the best way to do it. Cars cost a lot to buy and to maintain. They also depreciate like there is no tomorrow.

To check if your cars are costing you too much hard earned cash, total up your car expenses in a month and compared to other expenses. Find out the percentage of car expenses versus other expenses. If it is way to high, then it is time to cut back.

Tip - If you can, delay buying a car as much as possible. If you really need a car, try to just have one for the family. Avoid have several of them as much as possible. If you really must own a car, see the next point.

2. Buy a used car. If you really need a car consider a used car. A 1 or 2 year old model would have depreciated some 30% or more off the new car prices. Down payment, installment payment, and insurance premiums will also be much lower. Choose wisely for model that is cheap to run.

3. Think Before You Subscribe. Nowadays, there are many promotions for various memberships and services. They tempt people to join with zero or low entry cost to join. For example gym or health club memberships. Many sign up for yearly subscription and don’t bother to use the membership after several months. Instead, sign up for a short a period to try and see if you would really use the facilities before signing up for a longer period.

4. Reduce mobile phone charges. Unless your company pays for the bills, mobile phone expenses can quickly escalate. I’ve seen office based people who do not do any sales or marketing, that requires them to call using their handphones, have mobile phone bills higher than my friends who are in sales!! If you cannot control your phone calls, try a prepaid service rather than a post-paid service because everytime you take out money to reload, you’ll feel the pinch.

Today, mobile phone companies come up with various ways to get you to spend more with musical ring tones, news downloads and sports update. These fancy services increases your mobile phone bills too.

5. Shop online. You can get most things from online and get a good bargain. Many online shops keep cost low by having low rental and advertising cost, but check the mailing charges.

6. Do your shopping off season. In many instances, when you are buying things at the end of season or clearance sale, you can get very good discounts.

7. Turn your hobby into a business. Almost everyone have a hobby or specialized knowledge of a topic. Be creative and turn it into an income source. If you are good with a computer or software, start a related part time business. You can help to repair, trouble shoot and maintain computers.

The bottom line ... It’s Not What You Make, It’s What You Spend.

Labels: Financial Tips