Alright, now that you’re all grown up (right?), you’ve got an education, and you’re on your way to a building a budding career, it’s time to get on your feet financially. There are a few key goals you can begin to achieve right now that will set you up for financial success in life. By following these goals myself, I was able to go from having thousands of dollars of debt when I graduated college, to having a net worth of over $300,000 just 10 years later. Let’s explore those goals here, … [Read more...]
Top 3 Ways to Crush Your Debt
Getting out of debt doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't require any super special tricks, complex consolidation practices, confusing spreadsheets, or anything else that might make you want to pull your hair out. If you want to crush your debt, it just comes down to a few key principles that I want to go over with you over the next couple of weeks. As I write this post, my wife and I just purchased a $23,000 nearly brand new car (it was a few years old with very low mileage - … [Read more...]
What To Do With Your Tax Refund to Improve Your Financial Position and Avoid Financial Peril
Here we are - right in the thick of tax season in the United States. What to do with your tax refund is likely one of the biggest questions on your mind, and the dangerous temptations to make bad decisions are coming from everywhere. Banks are offering you crazy amounts of cash for new accountsCell phone companies are offering ridiculous buyouts on your contractsWhat was once a Lee's Famous Chicken is now a tax preparation office, who will obviously get you a "max refund" (they won't and … [Read more...]
How to Avoid Impulse Buying: The Deep Down Psychology That Retailers Use Against You, and How to Create a Rock Solid Emotional Fortress Against It
Before you dig into this training, if you're looking for a simple "top 10 tips to avoid impulse buying" article for your financial entertainment, I'm sorry to tell you that this isn't it. :) But if you're looking for something to really help you change your spending patterns and financial behavior, you've got it right in front of you. This training is designed to help you really dig into buying behavior and psychology, and to help you understand how retailers use it to their advantage to … [Read more...]
Seven Silly Personal Finance Myths That Are Making You Poor
If you've been a part of Academy Success for any decent amount of time, you'll know that I tend to think a little bit differently than the masses. Ultimately, the masses are largely ordinary, and if you wanted to be ordinary, you wouldn't be reading this right now. So today, as part of our goal to create a better financial life for you this year, I challenge you to behave more like the financially successfully by busting open a few myths you may have ingrained into your mind - probably … [Read more...]
The Only Three Money Principles You Need to Be Rich
I could easily pull a page out of every other financial blog out there, and toss you up a big list of 72 ways to make yourself rich, but while those articles get a lot of buzz, they're just too complicated and shallow, and rarely help you think differently about the way you live your life. As you likely already know, I'm not here to pull in billions of pageviews. I'm here to help you behave successfully, and make real tangible changes happen in your life. So as I start to gear the content … [Read more...]
Brrr… 10 Super Easy Ways to Save Money on Winter Heating Costs
If I told you that you could spend a few hundred bucks now, and save $500 a year on your utility bills for the rest of your life, would you do it? I hope so. That's exactly what this post will help you do. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm all about some efficiency. But that's not just limited to time management and productivity. I'm a bit of an efficiency enthusiast, the most recent development being a new house that my wife and I moved into over the summer. It was great timing when … [Read more...]
How My 30th Birthday Coined a Simple New Method for Success
As I write this post, I just turned 30 years old last week, which naturally made me reflect on the last 30 years of my life as anyone who has just turned 30 does - well actually the last 25, because who remembers stuff until they're 5 anyway, right? Either way, I got to thinking about the practices in my life that have chiseled and forged me into the person I am today, and there was one that really stood out. Sure, I could make a big massive list post about everything that has helped me so … [Read more...]
[Video] How A Simple Slap to Convention Can Net You Two Vacations
I've always thought that doing things because "that's what you're supposed to do" is a really dumb reason to do anything, and that plays a big part in what this lesson explores. Nearly every post on this blog shows you how to find a better way to do something in your life, and this may be one of the most useful and widely applicable of all. It tackles a personal finance issue that every couple in the world has - not having enough spending money - and even applies to you single folks out … [Read more...]
Three Simple Ways for Parents to Save for College
If you're going into the 9-5 world, which the vast majority of people are, getting a college degree is essentially a must if you want to risk up the ranks past an entry level position. And graduate degrees are becoming more and more common these days as well. Many professionals are obtaining graduate degrees to further separate themselves from the competition and continue to increase their income. If you're heading in that direction, or even if you have young children who you would like to … [Read more...]