First lets think about what smoking does your life. It raises the cost of your health insurance and life insurance. Your quality of life is less than if you did not smoke. Walking from one place to another will make you out of breath. You can develop Asthma, Emphysema, Lung Cancer, and Throat Cancer. Smoking will lead to a slow agonizing death. You will live for years gasping for each breath and will probably have to carry around an oxygen tank.
If your home has white walls they will turn yellow because smokers usually smoke inside. All of the items in your house smell like an ashtray, your breath stinks, it makes your teeth yellow, and kissing you is like licking an ashtray. Even when you brush your teeth and use Listerine the smell and taste is still trying to escape your lungs.
Smokers are never courteous of other peoples’ lawns. Have you ever driven up to a stop light and looked on the road or median next to you? The next time you pull up to an intersection, take a look around. Cigarette butts litter the area. Cigarette smokers have caused fires throwing butts out the car window.
Statistics show that the majority of smokers are uneducated. http://tobaccodocuments.org reports, “Philip Morris' internal findings of higher smoking rates among lower socioeconomic classes, as well as its findings that this group also has a higher incidence of both poor mental and physical health, it continued to promote its deadly and addictive products heavily among these groups.”
In the state of Florida you can no longer smoke in restaurants, some parks, even near some public buildings.
Everyone makes small purchases and think it is only $3.00 dollars or $4.00 dollars and that isn’t going to make a difference in anything.
If you invested the money that you would have bought a pack of Camel non-filters (studies show that the lower socioeconomic population buy non filter cigarettes) everyday from the age of 16 to the age of 76 in a decent growth stock mutual fund with the average yearly return of 12%, you would have $18 million dollars to retire with. Not only will you have your health, money, a longer happier life, but you would retire with dignity and not have rely on social security to make ends meet every month. Small purchases add up and cost you literally a fortune in the long run.
Getting Your Debt Priorities Right
One of the most difficult financial juggling acts is that of an ordinary family trying to juggle its weekly or monthly finances to keep all those competing creditors at bay. One of the principal reasons people fall into major debt problems is trying to satisfy lots of different creditors at the same time when there has been a significant fall in family income – unemployment; a new baby or a relationship split to name but a few. The so called “debt spiral” of borrowing from one creditor to satisfy others can quickly become a significant debt problems running to more than £20,000.
If you should find yourself in a position where you cannot meet all of your financial commitments then there are certain golden rules which you need to take account of immediately when putting together your financial budgets.
Firstly you will need to identify the difference between the Priority Debts and the Non Priority debts within your family. A Priority debt is one which will directly impact upon the health and personal wellbeing of you and your family if not maintained.
Key priority debts which must be paid are as follows;
Mortgage or rent - This may seem obvious but I lose count of the number of times we talk to people who are in arrears with the mortgage or rent and yet up to date on unsecured loan repayments. Keeping the family roof over your head is number one priority. A mortgage company can and will commence repossession proceedings in the event of significant arrears and 2006 saw the highest number of property repossessions ever in the UK.
Secured Loans - Homeowners often take out a “secured loan” or “second charge” against their property. Please do not confuse these loans with other “personal” loans. These are secured against your property as a second mortgage and must be maintained in exactly the same way as your main mortgage. The consequences of failure to keep up repayments on this type of debt - ultimately repossession of your home – should be spelt out to you in very clear language before you commit to such a loan. If you are in any doubt as to which type of loan you have signed then please seek professional advice as a matter of urgency.
Council Tax - This is a priority debt because it is actually a criminal offence to owe council tax; the continued wilful non payment of which could mean time in prison! Likewise any Police or Court fines need to be paid as well as it is also a criminal offence not to pay these.
Utilities - Gas water and electricity payments should be maintained where possible as a priority over unsecured loans and credit cards. The Utility companies are willing to help as much as possible those with debt problems to reschedule their utility debts to a more manageable level.
Food and Clothing - A recent survey by Barclays and children’s charity NCH has found that some 10% of British families have gone without food and medicine at some point because they were too poor to purchase it either due to general poverty of due to other competing debt problems. We cannot stress highly enough that the provision of basic food, clothing and family hygiene always comes before the repayment of any non priority debts which you may have.
Car Hire Purchase (HP) - Vehicle finance, to the ordinary consumer, is either a form of HP or a Personal Loan (other so called leases and contract hire are usually reserved for the self employed). There is a major legal distinction between these two ways of funding a vehicle purchase. A HP agreement means you do not actually own the vehicle until all payments are made and therefore you must maintain payments or the vehicle will be repossessed (this type of arrangement is effectively a mortgage on a car). If the car is on a personal loan type agreement then you automatically own the vehicle and the payments can be varied as an unsecured debt. Again if you are in any doubt as to which type of agreement you may have and your rights and liabilities e.g. to terminate the agreement then please obtain some independent professional financial advice.
Non priority debts are basically every other type of debt you may have. Personal loans; credit cards; store cards; bank overdrafts; “door step” credit like Provident; catalogues; credit unions etc. In the event of a financial crisis within the family these non priority debts should only be paid when the priority debts have firstly been maintained. As you sit down to work out the family budgets you must put all the priorities at the top of your list together with basic insurances and travel costs these must be paid first. Quite often there will be a shortfall in the remaining funds available to pay the unsecured or non priority debts in the short term and this is where professional financial advice can really make a difference to the quality of your family life.
If you should find yourself in a position where you cannot meet all of your financial commitments then there are certain golden rules which you need to take account of immediately when putting together your financial budgets.
Firstly you will need to identify the difference between the Priority Debts and the Non Priority debts within your family. A Priority debt is one which will directly impact upon the health and personal wellbeing of you and your family if not maintained.
Key priority debts which must be paid are as follows;
Mortgage or rent - This may seem obvious but I lose count of the number of times we talk to people who are in arrears with the mortgage or rent and yet up to date on unsecured loan repayments. Keeping the family roof over your head is number one priority. A mortgage company can and will commence repossession proceedings in the event of significant arrears and 2006 saw the highest number of property repossessions ever in the UK.
Secured Loans - Homeowners often take out a “secured loan” or “second charge” against their property. Please do not confuse these loans with other “personal” loans. These are secured against your property as a second mortgage and must be maintained in exactly the same way as your main mortgage. The consequences of failure to keep up repayments on this type of debt - ultimately repossession of your home – should be spelt out to you in very clear language before you commit to such a loan. If you are in any doubt as to which type of loan you have signed then please seek professional advice as a matter of urgency.
Council Tax - This is a priority debt because it is actually a criminal offence to owe council tax; the continued wilful non payment of which could mean time in prison! Likewise any Police or Court fines need to be paid as well as it is also a criminal offence not to pay these.
Utilities - Gas water and electricity payments should be maintained where possible as a priority over unsecured loans and credit cards. The Utility companies are willing to help as much as possible those with debt problems to reschedule their utility debts to a more manageable level.
Food and Clothing - A recent survey by Barclays and children’s charity NCH has found that some 10% of British families have gone without food and medicine at some point because they were too poor to purchase it either due to general poverty of due to other competing debt problems. We cannot stress highly enough that the provision of basic food, clothing and family hygiene always comes before the repayment of any non priority debts which you may have.
Car Hire Purchase (HP) - Vehicle finance, to the ordinary consumer, is either a form of HP or a Personal Loan (other so called leases and contract hire are usually reserved for the self employed). There is a major legal distinction between these two ways of funding a vehicle purchase. A HP agreement means you do not actually own the vehicle until all payments are made and therefore you must maintain payments or the vehicle will be repossessed (this type of arrangement is effectively a mortgage on a car). If the car is on a personal loan type agreement then you automatically own the vehicle and the payments can be varied as an unsecured debt. Again if you are in any doubt as to which type of agreement you may have and your rights and liabilities e.g. to terminate the agreement then please obtain some independent professional financial advice.
Non priority debts are basically every other type of debt you may have. Personal loans; credit cards; store cards; bank overdrafts; “door step” credit like Provident; catalogues; credit unions etc. In the event of a financial crisis within the family these non priority debts should only be paid when the priority debts have firstly been maintained. As you sit down to work out the family budgets you must put all the priorities at the top of your list together with basic insurances and travel costs these must be paid first. Quite often there will be a shortfall in the remaining funds available to pay the unsecured or non priority debts in the short term and this is where professional financial advice can really make a difference to the quality of your family life.
Abundance, Prosperity and Money Creation
Having problems in the money department? Struggling to look after yourself properly? Lacking a sense of abundance and prosperity? Thanks to a conference I graphically recorded years ago, I have a very vivid image of the word ‘abundance’. If you break the word into parts, you get A-Bun-Dance --- ‘buns’ as in butt or rear end, dancing. Abundance is literally about moving, shaking and having a good time. Moving to the beat of life in a happy way. Getting your mojo on. Contrast that with the word scarcity --- or Scar-City --- living in a scarred or scary place. Choosing to focus on scars. Such a contrast between the two words and funny how their meanings can be communicated in such a succinct way!
Are You Vibrating Scarcity or Abundance? So, what locale are you primarily living in – abundance or scarcity? Chances are if you are having repetitive money, prosperity or abundance issues, you spend more time in the scarcity or lack region. The majority of your focus is on the things you don’t have (the scar) as opposed to on the things that you do (abundance) --- and as a result you are vibrating a scarcity harmonic rather than a prosperity chord. Your energy or vibration is out of whack. Money and other forms of prosperity and abundance can’t easily make their way to you --- cause you are vibrating lack rather than have and like attracts like.
How to Get Out of Scar City: Different people have their abundance and prosperity issues wired up in different ways. One of the common keys to getting out of Scar City is to develop an appreciative focus --- to focus on what you do have and to develop a sense of empowerment (with a healthy dose of deserving).
There are so many different ways you can choose to view life, yourself and other people. You can choose to focus on the things that you don’t like, or you can choose to focus on the things that you do. The two have very different flavors or feels to them – and are connected to radically different outcomes.
Empowerment and Ability to Create: Abundant people are empowered people. They believe in their ability to create and look after themselves. Somewhere along the line they have developed a can do attitude. They aren’t victims. They are creators. And they have pretty positive beliefs about life, their abilities and their future.
Contrast that with scarcity folks: for different reasons they have less-than-helpful beliefs about themselves and their ability to create and look after themselves. They are disempowered. Feeling like they don’t have what it takes, that things are done onto them, that life is difficult, or the future is unfriendly. Outlooks like these hamper creative energies. Snuff them. Squash them. Keep creativity and sharing energy down and covered. In short, there are some scars to heal and overcome. Some healing work is required.
Share, Give and Help: Want to increase your prosperity? Think about what you can share, give and help others with. Lots of money creation involves reciprocal arrangements. Give something of value and assistance in order to receive. If you are in a salary environment, how can you be more helpful and resourceful --- how can you increase the value of what you do, by adding to your responsibilities or by seeking out more (either in the job you are in or through another position)? If you are entrepreneurial, what can you share, give or help others with --- the more people you can help the larger abundance you can attract.
Be Open to Unusual Forms: Abundance doesn’t just come in the form of direct income. Be open to receiving abundance in forms other than the usual ones.
Refunds, rewards, winnings, prizes, discounts, gifts and trades are just some of the other ways that abundance can make its way to you. Think of abundance in wider terms. It gives the ‘universe’ more ways to give to you. When they come to you, recognize them for what they are --- abundance and a reflection of your ability to create!
Get Over Your Receiving Issues: When you give, it is OK to receive (in fact, if you want to go even further, it really is ok to receive without even giving - but I’ll leave that one for another time). Sometimes people have money issues because they have a hard time receiving.
Somehow they got it wired up that it is bad, wrong, or selfish (or some such thing) to get or receive. Perhaps they are oldest children who were told to ‘be big boy or girl’ which was interpreted as it’s not ok to look after oneself. Or they have faith beliefs that complicate their ability to receive. Or have self-esteem or self- valuing issues that keep them feeling less than or seemingly in need of punishment or containment.
Whatever is going on, it’s necessary to identify and work through these limiting beliefs to develop a healthy ability to receive. You do count. You do matter. It is ok for you to receive too. It is ok for you to live a decent life. To have decent things. To live a life of comfort and joy. There is more than enough to go around. Your having does not take away from someone else. Your success helps many people, while your failure or discomfort really helps no one, most of all yourself.
Put Your Financial House in Order: Money is attracted to a person who likes it and knows how to look after it. If you want to increase your financial abundance, then start by looking after the money you do have. Appreciate it. Treat it properly. Look after it. This means provide a proper home and place for it. Little things go a LONG way. Our minds are symbol making machines. Give your mind good symbols about money. If you are in debt, appreciate and be grateful for what you purchased. Organize your bills. Know what you have and what you owe. Make consistent payments (even if they are small). Take responsibility. Seek out financial advice. Tie up other outstanding loose ends like overdue taxes, filing, IOUs, etc. Get your books in order. As a financially savvy client of mine says ‘money likes to have fun’ --- make yourself a fun and enjoyable place for money to reside. When you demonstrate you can look after it you lay the groundwork for more to come.
Envision a Positive Outcome: No matter what your present economic circumstances may be, begin now to envision a more positive outcome. As written about in other SHIFT-IT articles, one of your greatest assets is your imagination ability --- and it’s free. Use your mind’s eye to imagine yourself in a more fiscally pleasant future. Feel what that more positive reality feels like. Soak up that resonance. Meet your Future Self that has it going on where money is concerned. Feel the relief of this position. The warmth. The calm. Whatever it is that being in a prosperity position does for you.
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