4 Ways to Curb Boredom At Work

No matter where you work, you likely have some work days that just seem to drag on with no end in sight. When this happens, it can be easy to get distracted, but the truth is that falling behind in the workplace is likely to make things worse. Whether you work as a teacher or for a medical clinic like ThriveMD, fighting boredom at work can be tough.  Here are 4 easy ways to make your workday go by faster while remaining productive.

Get Moving

Break up the monotony of your work day by taking a break from your desk and allowing yourself to get moving. Studies have shown that staying active throughout the workday can increase energy levels and can work as a natural mood booster, making you feel happier and ready to resume the rest of your workday free from distractions. Take a short walk once or twice throughout your workday (try one before and after lunch), and stand up at your desk to stretch as often as possible.

Pack Snacks

Snacking throughout the workday can not only curb hunger and boost energy levels (depending on the snack), but keeping a treat on hand can bring a little extra enjoyment to your workday. Leaving a snack or two at your desk will ensure you always have something to look forward to throughout your workday!

Play Your Favorite Music

Putting in headphones and listening to your favorite music during the workday can keep you entertained while helping cut out distractions, making it easier than ever for you to focus on your work. Studies have also shown that listening to music during a long workday can help you re-focus, making it the perfect practice for a seemingly never-ending workday when you find yourself unable to keep working. Try making a playlist ahead of time that will last the entire workday, so you don’t find yourself getting distracted while attempting to change or select a song.

Switch Up Your Routine

If you are in the habit of following the same routine throughout each day at work, switching things up can help make your workdays seem better and go by faster. Feelings of boredom can come when you feel like you’re stuck in a rut, doing different tasks each day or at different times throughout the week is a simple yet highly effective way to keep your workdays feeling new and exciting.

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Adulting: Money Management Tips for Young Adults

Being a young adult can be a complex stage in life. At this stage of life, you’re trying to navigate through relationships and maintain a particular lifestyle. More so, in this phase, managing money seems like an impossible task. Unfortunately, most schools don’t teach kids about personal finance. This makes many young adults clueless about managing their money, staying out of debt, and applying for credit. 

A short study conducted by financial advisors shows that one out of five young adults isn’t confident in managing their finances. 85% of them say they wish they would have been taught about money management in school. Luckily as of 2020, states are coming up with methods of doing away with this bad personal finance culture.  21 states have made it mandatory for high school students to take up a private finance course while 25 of them require them to take up an economics class. This should at least help a portion of the next generation. 

However, in as much as all this is taught, all this education trickles down to self-control. Whether you are in your 20’s or 60’s, you still have the chance to improve your financial habits. Some of the most important lessons to help you through include:

1) Budgeting

Sitting down and creating a budget can be underrated. More so, sticking to the budget can be the hardest. However, you can solve this by setting reasonable short-term and long-term goals. Short-term plans can include paying house rent or buying books, while long-term plans can include paying off your student loans. 

However, the 50/30/20 approach comes in handy in planning:

• 50% representing monthly utility bills essentials like rent, bills, and groceries
• 30% representing lifestyle expenses like clothes, takeout’s, etc
• 20% representing your savings

Having a budget gives you better money habits as you are in control of where your money goes.

2) Set Up An Emergency Fund

An emergency fund gives you the discipline of not spending unless you have to. Having money in savings accounts helps you out, especially during financial hardships.

Suppose you treat this as a non-negotiable monthly expense? In that case, you will have saved up not only for emergency periods but also for retirement, vacations, or even for the down payment for a home. Just ensure that whichever savings plan you settle for allows you to withdraw cash as quickly as you can for your emergency.

3) Pay-off Your Debts

Lots of young adults find themselves buried in debt due to various reasons. These may range from payday loans to student overdrafts. However, a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer will help you identify which debts should be prioritized. Always pay the high-interest loans first but if you’ve acquired payday loans, pay these off first. Be aggressive about paying off your debts to maintain a good credit score. 

Always spend money on credit that you know you already have, and ensure that you clear it before the end of the month before it accrues any interest.

4) Track Your Spending Habits

Ever lost track of how much you’ve spent? Look at your bank account towards the end of the month, and you’ll be shocked at what’s left! One way you can curb your spending habits is by withdrawing cash at the beginning of every week. This helps keep track of what you’ve spent and what you’ve got left. 

5) Smart Shopping

Be smart about how you spend your money. Make a weekly plan by having a list of groceries or household items that you need and stick to the list. 

There’s no shame in comparing different grocery and clothing outlets, electricity and gas bills for other estates, your car and house insurance. You can save lots of money by choosing various service providers. 

6) Unsubscribe From Services That You Don’t Use

It doesn’t matter whether you have been to the gym only once. Canceling unnecessary subscriptions can save you lots of money. You can direct the funds into your savings or use them for other things.

7) Health Insurance Plan

This a must-have even if you’re in perfect shape. The best option will be to stay under your parent’s health insurance plan if you’re under 26.  When you’re over 26, look for quotes from different insurance providers and settle for the lowest rates based on your income. 

Choose a more expensive plan as it will be cost-effective for you if you already have health issues. If unexpected problems arise, a health insurance plan comes in handy to cover your expenses without interfering with your financial goals. 

Final Thoughts

It’s never too late to change your financial habits. You don’t have to feel embarrassed about your old habits. These tips act as a stepping stone to better personal finance habits. Start today! 

About the Author

Veronica Baxter is a writer, blogger, and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area.

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For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

How to Retain Your Car’s Value

Just like any other prized possession of yours, your car needs some touch-ups from time to time. We need it in order to appreciate its value since it is a long-term asset. Unfortunately, people usually care about their cars’ value only at the time of selling, which is not a good way to be thinking! Surely, cars depreciate over time but this does not mean you stop taking care of it during the time it is under your use.

Here are some of the best ways to retain your car’s value. These tips should be a part of your day-to-day car care routine.

Keep your car covered and park it in the garage:

One of the most common mistakes people tend to make is parking their car outside their garage. For some reason, the main garage is only used as a second basement and the car is hardly seen parked inside. This can easily damage your car’s value, as you cannot protect it from the environment while parked outside. Be it the bright sunshine or cool evening, your car can never be safe outside. Make it a priority to park it in the garage.

Get it checked on a regular basis:

Your car needs regular maintenance. It is always better to get it checked before any long trip because it helps in overcoming any kind of issues your car might be facing. A few things you can do yourself. For instance, make it a habit to regularly check the engine’s oil, coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid, battery, washer fluid, and tires. For highway driving, the tires must be in top shape. Know how to check tires.

Clean up the inside as well as the outside of your car almost daily:

Yes, your car demands your love and care in order to stay in shape. You should clean its interior almost every day. Same goes for the exterior which should be taken care of on a daily basis. If other family members also use your car, then ask them to maintain your car’s hygiene as well.  Don’t leave bird poop, dead bugs, and stuff on the outside of your car.  It can definitely damage the paint if not cleaned off routinely!

Car’s engine oil requires regular changing:

Changing the engine oil is a relatively inexpensive thing to do and goes a long way to keep your engine strong. The regular oil change will not only upgrade your car’s performance but will also save you from the major problems that arise due to deteriorated oil.

Get your car waxed at least twice a year:

Make sure to wax your car at least twice a year because the polish protects your car’s surface and gives it a long-lasting glow. This is healthy for your car’s body and the vehicle’s color stays vibrant for a long time. However, ensure that you pick a high-quality wax that lasts longer.

Last but not least, drive safely:

Do your car a favor and stop driving like a ruthless maniac. It could land you in trouble where you have to consult with the best Traffic Law attorney like Marsh Blom. Your car will only better maintain its value if you drive like a mature adult. If you are someone who avoids harsh turns, sudden breaks, and rapid acceleration, your vehicle will not get old quickly. Safe driving is important if you want to get rid of high maintenance costs, frequent wear and tear, and dangerous accidents.

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The Dangerous Trend of Workers Using ADHD Medication

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder has become a cash cow for the pharmaceutical industry. Recent statistics show that ADHD drug sales have been on the rise since 2010 with revenue anticipated to grow in the next few years. Industry projections show that attention deficit meds will rake in $17.5 billion in the year 2020. While ADHD was once a diagnosis that kids too restless to concentrate on school work got, it’s become a condition that just about anyone can co-opt in order to get their hands on the drugs used to control it. A lot of those who fit this description now are adults in the corporate world, surprisingly.

Why is ADHD Taking Over? 

The world has been more efficiency oriented. Daily life has become an endless series of tasks performed on high-tech devices as quickly as possible. Drug manufacturers have created new criteria for being prescribed ADHD drugs that make those who want to be more organized and productive valid candidates to be medicated. Experts say that grabbing pills when up against tight deadlines or challenges can be blatant proof of a more realistically sustainable work ethic. While people who once suffered from hyperactivity were referred to mental health practitioners, health insurance guidelines make it easier for them to get ADHD drugs than be referred to a specialist who could decide if popping pills were really necessary. 

What Evidence Shows that Adults are Suddenly Using ADHD Drugs? 

Between 2007 and 2012, the population of adults taking drugs like Adderall, Ritalin, and Concerta spiked. Fewer than 6 million monthly attention deficit prescriptions for people over 21 were written in 2007. The number shot to 16 million, however, within the next 5 years. More adults and kids are being prescribed for ADHD medicine than ever before. The dots are being connected between those abusing Ritalin and similar drugs while in their offices with the population of students who used ADHD drugs during college and discovered that popping pills could help them to focus better on reading material as well as score higher on grueling exams. Many say it’s a new campus culture whose graduates are bringing their habit of self-medicating with them once they launch careers.

What are the Health Consequences of ADHD Drugs? 

ADHD drugs are stimulants that can cause surges in blood pressure. They can negatively affect your circulatory system and blood vessels. They can damage your heart and lead towards strokes. They’re definitely not designed to be taken as if they were vitamins. https://www.businessinsider.com/what-adderall-does-stimulant-side-effects-2016-12#stimulant-related-emergency-room-visits-have-risen-significantly-in-recent-years-8 

Isn’t there a Social Stigma to Self-Medicating? 

Relying on drugs to function doesn’t usually help someone to acquire greater success and motivation. Taking pills to maintain a high grade point average can be considered a necessary evil by those of recent generations, however. ADHD medication is an exception in the mind of those who abuse it. It’s considered a symbol of ambition. With attention deficit disorder pills being increasingly linked to a millennial college culture in which they were abundant on campuses, many are downplaying the hazards by saying that a wave of pill-popping college students have entered the workforce and simply brought their mechanisms to cope with pressure with them.

Increased Competition 

The US has become the most competitive society in the world according to rankings such as the one done recently by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD). Increased competition brings a desire to win with it. The number of those in the workforce striving to be prosperous and have successful careers will be the same as those abusing ADHD drugs, unfortunately, if a task force isn’t created to quell what is fast becoming a white collar drug addiction epidemic.

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How Best To Navigate Overchoice On the Internet – Source: Pexels

Let’s face it – the sheer amount of content that you have to sift through whilst browsing the internet can make the whole process feel a bit overwhelming, especially if you’re having to make choices with regards to a purchase or a service. The term “overchoice” or “choice overload” refers to a phenomenon which occurs when a consumer is quite simply overloaded by the many different alternatives available to them. As a result, the consumer can end up going with the default option available to them, deferring their decision or not making a decision at all. Whilst it’s easy to allow yourself to be a ‘victim’ of overchoice, there are steps you can take in order to avoid it and so below are a couple of tips with regards to keeping a clear mind and making the right choices.

Comparisons and Reviews Are The Real Kicker

In most cases, if you’re not sure what to purchase, then it’s likely that the work has already been done for you if you look hard enough. Whether it’s individuals submitting user reviews or comparison websites such as Compare the Market giving you a helping hand, reliable reviews and comparisons are absolutely imperative when it comes to avoiding overchoice, and they often help you narrow down the different options with relative ease.

If you are into on-line gambling, this can be particularly tricky to find a good website.  In industries such as online casinos, where there is an abundance of different free spins and other offers available, reviews such as the ones over at https://www.realmoneygames.ca/ can be particularly useful. With all of the relevant information laid out before you, it’s easy to pick the site that best suits you, whether you’re into five-reel slots or blackjack, where the various different offers can be the deciding factor when trying to beat the house and achieving that magical 21.

Know Exactly What You Want Before You Look For It

Going onto the Internet with only a vague idea of what you’re actually looking for is never a good idea and, before long, you’ll find yourself being pulled from pillar to post with all of the various options available relating to your item of choice. Take the mobile phone market, for example – logging onto your laptop only knowing that you need a new phone is pretty much consumer suicide.

Instead, ask yourself questions about what features are the most important to you on a phone. Perhaps you want a device which simply handles the basics well and is easy to navigate? Maybe you want to purchase a cheap handset which will save you money in the long term? Once you’ve narrowed down your parameters, the choices become clearer and you’re less likely to get flustered. As a result, you’ll be making yourself a nice cuppa in no time whilst your brand spanking new phone is being dispatched. Result.

Be Positive and Stay Focussed

Whilst this certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, it’s important to stay focused on the task at hand and not allow yourself to get distracted. A good general rule to follow is that the fewer clicks you can make before a purchase, the more satisfied you’ll feel once the transaction is complete. If you are into online gambling, then as long as you consult well-researched and exhaustive review sites such as https://www.onlinecasinos.ca/ and have a good idea of what you’re after, then overchoice will go back to being one of those new and trendy buzzwords that you’ve never heard of. Good luck!

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MoneyAhoy.com is Four Years Old!

MoneyAhoy.com is now four years old!  It has been an awesome ride over the past four years, and I am happy to still be blogging!

I had two main goals when starting this blog which were:

1. Help other people improve their personal finances
2. Help educate myself so that I could improve my own personal finances

Over the past four years, this blog has really helped me to achieve both of these goals.  With my post and video How to Start Your Own LLC, I have helped hundreds of people start their own business.  With my free Ebook Stock Market Investing for Newbies, I have helped hundreds of would-be investors learn how to invest in the stock market smartly.  I estimate that my other articles and videos have helped folks save tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

MoneyAhoy.com continues to grow and grow as it has helped me and others.  The rest of this post will reflect back on the past year and look to the future.  But first, if you’d like to check out the other old birthday posts, you can find them here:

• Happy Birthday MoneyAhoy!
• MoneyAhoy.com is Two Years Old!
• MoneyAhoy.com is Three Years Old!

Top-5 Posts for MoneyAhoy.com – Year 4:

Here’s a listing of the top most popular posts that were written in the past year in terms of traffic:

1. Start and Setup an LLC on-line in Less than 6 Minutes! – This was an older post, but I continue to work on updating it to keep the information relevant.  So far, it has helped hundreds of folks to start their own business and save hundreds at the same time!
2. How to Start a WordPress Blog with Bluehost – I created this mega-post to help folks understand how easy it is to start their own blog to explore their passion.
3. How to Save Money on Heartworm Medicine for Your Dog – Here we explain how you save save thousands of dollars over a lifetime by taking a DIY approach to your dog’s heartworm medicine.
4. How to Make Money with a Blog – This popular article gives a deeper insight how you can use a blog to generate quite a bit of additional income.  It is pretty detailed and has really helped many folks pull back the curtain on how to make money blogging.
5. Monthly Money Reports – These Monthly Money Reports bring readers back month over month to see how I am making, saving, and investing my money each month.  They are a fun way to learn about my opportunities and mistakes as I work to improve my personal finances.

Money Results Over the Past 4 Years

This is my favorite part of the birthday recap – we can get down and dirty with some numbers!  We’ll look at how blogging on MoneyAhoy.com has helped me to make, save, and invest more money over the past year.  It is pretty tough to calculate the exact amount of impacts, but I will do my best.

• Saving – MoneyAhoy has helped us to save a considerable amount each year by having us focus on things we could easily eliminate from our routine and non-routine spending.  Here’s a quick summary by year:
  • Year 1 Savings – $4,500
  • Year 2 Savings – $13,000 ($17,400 total)
  • Year 3 Savings – $15,500 ($33,000 total)
  • Year 4 Savings – $17,800+ ($54,000+ total)

It is pretty incredible, but MoneyAhoy.com has helped our family to save over $54,000 in total over the past four years!!!  Fantastic!!

• Making – I have made quite a bit of spare pocket money to invest through side hustles over the years.  MoneyAhoy has helped to fuel the passion to drive forward and push myself to make more side-hustle money.  Again, here’s a summary by year for side-hustle income:
  • Year 1 side-hustle income: $2,005
  • Year 2 side-hustle income: $7,050
  • Year 3 side-hustle income: $9,900
  • Year 4 side-hustle income: $12,400

MoneyAhoy.com has seen some nice growth over the years as you can see.  I am not getting rich or anything, but it has pushed me to go out and earn a total of $31,000+ in side-income.  Monthly income from the blog is at the point now where it can pay the mortgage each month which is kinda cool :-).

• Investing – After losing gobs of money trying to “trade” the market in the 2008 downturn, I was really gun-shy about continuing to invest our hard earned money.  My wife and I were continuing to invest into our 401(k) retirement accounts, but I was gun shy about any other type of investing.  MoneyAhoy.com helped me to get over the fear of investing by forcing me to learn more about investing and the ins and outs of the stock market.  It also forced me to develop an investment routine and get “timing the stock market” out of my system.  Here’s a breakdown of the amount we worked to invest each year and the amount of dividends we collected (this is just in our private investment account):
  • Year 1 – $38,500 invested with $850 in dividends
  • Year 2 – $139,000 invested with $2,900 in dividends
  • Year 3 – $113,500 invested with $8,800 in dividends
  • Year 4 – $104,000 invested with $12,200 in dividends

We continue to reinvest all dividends into the stock market, and nearly all of my take-home pay is invested in the stock market (my wife’s paycheck covers our bills completely).  I continue to remain the most proud of how MoneyAhoy.com has pushed us to continually invest for our long-term financial success.  Over the past four years, we have invested a total of $415,000 in the stock market and received ~$25,000 in dividends!  This is through a combination of our IRAs, 401(k)s, and private investment accounts.  The coolest part is that our annual dividends will continue to grow and grow as long as we continually reinvest them to take advantage of compound interest!

As you can see, MoneyAhoy.com has drastically change our financial lives for the better.  It has helped us work to increase our net worth by an EXTRA ~$110,000 over the past four years ($54K savings + $31K side-hustle + $25K dividends) higher just because of this blog and the personal finance discipline it has helped us to bring into our lives.

Some days running a blog feels easy, and other days it feels like a great deal of work.  Sometimes it is hard to believe I have been at it for four years.  Other times, it can be a bit stressful wondering if I will hit the goals I have set for myself each and every month.  If I could go back and do it all over again, I don’t think I would change a thing.  To me, that’s the best measure of if something has been worthwhile :-).

What’s Next for MoneyAhoy in Year Five?

So far we have been hitting the goal of having our average monthly side-income (dividends + MoneyAhoy.com) hit at least $1,000.  This is enough to cover the house payment with a little left over.  After reviewing the goals I set forth for year four of MoneyAhoy, we did so-so.  Here are the year four goals:

• Continue to look for ways to save more money on our routine finances.
  • COMPLETE – our property taxes have naturally worked themselves lower, we got into a cheaper cell phone plan, and we figure out how to save a bunch of money on our dog’s heartworm medicine.  Nothing ground-breaking, but we have made some progress.
• Continue to work to increase the presence of this blog and make more side-hustle advertising income.
  • COMPLETE – it looks like revenue from MoneyAhoy has grown about 40% vs. the previous year.
• Continue to invest ~100% of my income each month (my wife’s income is devoted to paying 100% of the bills).
  • COMPLETE – we have been doing this other than saving a bit for my wife’s new van fund.
• Continue to promote and expand our new HealthierDay.com health website.
  • POOR PROGRESS – our health and fitness website did not take off very much.  We also did not put a whole lot of time into it.  So, it is just floundering at this point.
• Work on another side-hustle project.  Currently I am focusing on learning and making a computer/cell-phone game using Game Maker Studio.  This really seems to fit well with my skills, interests, and previous background/jobs.  We’ll see how it pans out
  • POOR PROGRESS – as if I didn’t already know this, making a computer game takes a TON of time and effort.  It is fun, but can also be very frustrating at times.  I came to the conclusion that I could see a much better return on the investment of my time through blogging.  So, I basically canceled this goal.

I think that’s a pretty decent track record for the past year.  It wasn’t a 100% home run, but we did see some great progress.

Now let’s talk about goals and plans for year five of MoneyAhoy.com:

• Convert my wife’s old 457b into her IRA.
• Achieve annual investment dividend income > $15,000.
• Achieve 1,500+ subscribers on my MoneyAhoy YouTube channel.
• Achieve monthly average MoneyAhoy.com revenue of >$1,500.
• Really focus on putting out more quality YouTube videos with a goal of 4+ per month.
• Get our routine monthly expenses down below $2,500 a month.

Final Birthday Thoughts

I really hope that you will continue reading MoneyAhoy.com for year five to see what sorts of progress we can make toward the above goals.  As you can see, this blog has helped us increase our net worth by an extra $110,000 over the past four years!  I hope that in this process it has helped you to make more money, save more money, and invest your money better than before.  I look forward to many more years of blogging fun, learning, and adventure!

If you have any suggestions on how I can make MoneyAhoy.com even better, please leave a comment below or send me an email.

The post MoneyAhoy.com is Four Years Old! appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

How to Choose a Life Insurance Plan

There are several different life insurance plans available, and it may be challenging to choose the right one for your lifestyle and specific needs. I have written posts before such as ensure you are not over insured.  It pays before you decide which type of life insurance to choose to decide an amount you want to be covered for.  One you have that figured out, it can be a good idea to reach out to someone for help if you are unsure how to proceed.  For example, consultants such as Chris Pivik can help you understand the medical issues for choosing the right life insurance policy that will give you peace of mind. The main aim is that your family should not experience financial hardship after you die. Some policies are valid for a short time and other build up cash value. Here are some guidelines that explain the different options and may help you make an informed choice.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is for a limited time such as 10 – 30 years. The amount you pay each month, your premium, will not change throughout that time. At the end of the term, the policy becomes invalid. However, you may be able to extend it, but for an extension, you may have to pay a higher premium.

Term life insurance is the most cost effective insurance policy if you only need it for a specific time period. For example, if you want your children’s college education to be guaranteed, you may take a 20-year term. It is also a good option if you need a large amount of insurance, but have a limited amount you can pay per month. Because this type only pays if you die within the time limit of your policy, the risk is lower than for a permanent policy. This is why the premiums can be lower. Remember – term life insurance does not build equity or give a cash savings!

Permanent Life Insurance

A permanent life insurance policy, also called universal or whole life insurance, will be valid as long as you live. It will pay a benefit if you die next week or in 100 years. Whole life insurance also provides a savings element that will grow over the years and could be used as collateral for a loan. The savings is tax-deferred, which means you only pay taxes on it when you use it or on a predetermined date. Universal life insurance is flexible, so you can increase or lower your coverage as well as your premium over time.

How to Choose a Plan

The best life insurance policy may not necessarily be the cheapest. It will depend on your family’s needs. A universal plan may be suitable if you want coverage for a short period, but also want to build cash value that you can borrow against while you are living.

If you need estate planning to be part of your life insurance coverage, a whole life insurance plan may be the best option. This will help you transfer your wealth to your beneficiaries.

The only real help you get from term life insurance is a low monthly payment and financial help for your family if you die during the term of the policy.  As mentioned, this is usually the best way to go for most folks because once your kids are on their own, the need for a bunch of life insurance drops off…

Final Thoughts

Once you evaluate your needs, you will also need to consider the cost. In general, the healthier you are, the lower your monthly cost will be.  As mentioned earlier, consultants such as Chris Pivik, can help you navigate optimal insurance rates if you are in good health with a low-risk lifestyle to give you a better chance of getting a low premium payment. Some of the medical factors that are considered are your family medical history, if you smoke or have smoked in the past, and your cholesterol level. These factors will help determine how much you pay for life insurance.

The post How to Choose a Life Insurance Plan appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

The Most Expensive Addictions in the US

Habit or addiction? One might mean you occasionally bite your nails. The other might mean you’re doing something in secret that’s putting your health and finances at risk. Interestingly, both habits and addictions are helped with behavior modification therapy. The more intense the problem, the greater the need for therapy.

As with any type of addiction problem, the first step is recognizing that you actually have a problem. That could begin with understanding just how much money is spent on your addiction. This type of number crunching can be shocking.

Smoking: $300 billion

In the late ‘60s, they stopped advertising cigarettes on television. The tobacco companies were also forced to put warning labels on every pack of smokes. It started to have an effect.

Here in America, many cities have adopted no-smoking ordinances that have shut down smoking in bars, restaurants and just about any other public place. The number of smokers is going down, but it still costs $170 billion each year in medical expenses related to smoking. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also says that $156 billion can be attributed to lost productivity. In other words, all those sick people can’t work.

Eating Disorders: $107 Billion

Thirty-nine million. That’s the number of workdays lost to obesity problems. There are also billions spent on diet programs and so-called “healthy foods.” Most doctors advise you cut back on the calories and increase the exercise. You don’t need a diet for that — you just need to be sensible and dedicated to the goal of getting healthy.

Drugs & Alcohol: $276 Billion

The $276 billion associated with drug and alcohol addiction isn’t just the amount an addict would spend on their addiction. It also covers things like healthcare, premature deaths, crime, auto accidents and lost productivity. Those numbers come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Included in that number is $18 billion spent on treatment. In addition to that, factor in the staggering amount of money behind the direct advertising of alcohol and prescription drugs. In 2013, the United States alcohol industry spent over 2 billion dollars on advertising alone.

Unfortunately, only around 15% of the estimated 22 million Americans with a substance abuse problem ever seek treatment. Clearly, there is a need for more dialogue around this particular addiction issue.

Gambling: $40 Billion

Not every addiction is meant to alter your body’s physiology. Around 80% of Americans engage in some form of gambling. That can be anything from a harmless Super Bowl pool to the occasional session with nickel slot machines. Within that group is a subset of about 7.5 million Americans who develop a gambling problem. Like substance abuse, a gambling addiction can ruin lives and wipe out savings.

The Most Expensive Addictions in the US – Final Thoughts

Reading all of this would make you think that everyone is dealing with some form of addiction. To a certain degree, that might be true — but as mentioned in the opening, it all comes down to the issue of severity. Thankfully, there are an abundance of resources available to help treat all forms of addiction. That might start with some online research and slowly evolve into one-on-one contract with trained professionals. One thing is for sure, though: if you or someone you know suffers from an addiction, you’re far from alone.

Anum Yoon is a personal finance blogger and writer. She created and maintains her personal finance blog Current on Currency. You can subscribe to her blog newsletter right here for her weekly updates.

The post The Most Expensive Addictions in the US appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

Create Your Own Money Saving Plan Using Pareto Charts

Are you interested in saving money, but don’t know where to start?  Do you want to make sure you focus your money saving muscle in the area where you will actually see the most benefit?  Do you just love creating charts and graphs in Excel?  

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then read on to find out how you can create our own money saving plan using pareto charts!

What Are Pareto Charts?

Have you ever heard the saying that 20% of the people create 80% of the problem?  That’s basically the Pareto rule in effect.  This “rule” is found to work well in nearly all facets of life.  I think the same also holds true with our normal monthly budget.  We typically have 20% of our monthly items accounting for 80% of our total household budget.  If you can learn to focus on improving in these “heavy-hitter” areas, you can make a real dent in your monthly expenditures!

Now that we understand the basic idea of Pareto, we can put this to use with charts to really help visualize where our money saving opportunities can be found.  I did some of this work for our own expenses, and it really did help us save a bunch of extra money by focusing on big items.

How to Create a Monthly Spending Pareto Chart

Creating a monthly spending Pareto chart is a straightforward process that should only take a few minutes.  The steps to create your own monthly spending pareto chart in Excel are:

1. List out all your monthly expense categories in one column (groceries, rent, electricity, water, etc.)
2. Track you spending in each category for several months.  I recommend recording data for at least three months to get a good average.  You can place this data in columns 2-4.  If you would like to look at even more than three months, then go for it!
3. Calculate a monthly average for each category and place this in the last column (column 5 if you are working with 3 months of data)
4. Sort the entire list of categories, monthly expenses, and monthly averages using the monthly average column.  Sort this descending (this will place the highest expenses at the top of the list)
5. Highlight your category column and your monthly average column and click the bar chart button.  You now should have a generic monthly spending pareto chart.

When you are all done, it should look something like this:

Monthly Expenses Pareto Chart

Pareto Charts in Excel

I have a YouTube video ready to go below that that shows you just how to do this.  Check it out now!

OK, So I have My Monthly Spending Pareto Chart – What Now?

Now that you’ve created your monthly spending Pareto chart, you can start to analyze it for money saving ideas.  You will want to focus much of your money saving brainstorming in two areas:

1. quick hitters – these are expenses that may be pretty low down on the list but would be easy to reduce.  Easy quick hitters examples for money savings are switching to a cheaper cell phone plan, getting rid of cable, and cutting out short term disability, cutting back shopping at Big Lots to name just a few…
2. big hitters – these are big expenses that soak up a majority of your hard earned dollars.  These will typically be difficult to reduce in the short-term, but in the longer term you want to create plans to minimize these if your goal is to save as much money as possible.  Typical big hitter items could be: student loans, mortgage interest, eating out, groceries, daycare, etc.

Why Focusing on Big Hitters is Important

Using a Pareto Chart for your monthly expenses can really help to put your monthly expenses into perspective.  Look at the example below as to where we were spending our money just a couple of years ago.

Old Expenses Using Pareto Chart

You can see that if we were really going to improve our savings, we really had to focus on getting childcare and home interest down.  Those were huge expenses for us!

As I mentioned up above, getting the spending down on your big hitter items can be tricky.  These are typically monthly expenses that are quite hard to reduce or get out of such as a mortgage or student loans.  Looking at reducing spending in these areas when the chance arises can really pay off huge dividends in terms of your net worth in the long run.  Our monthly spending Pareto showed us that we were spending a huge amount on daycare and housing.  When we moved to Georgia for my job, my wife and I made it a priority to downsize our home and plan out a work/life balance where we could minimize daycare costs.  

By paying close attention to our monthly spending Pareto chart, we were able to reduce our monthly expenses by more than $1,500 when the time came to relocate!

Create Your Own Money Saving Plan Using Pareto Charts – Final Thoughts

Creating your own money saving plan using Pareto charts can be a great way to get your monthly expenses back on track.  A money spending Pareto chart helps you to put your monthly expenses in perspective and gives you several ideas where you can save a ton of money.  By looking for quick hitters and big hitters in your monthly spending, you are sure to develop a money saving plan that will payoff big time!

The post Create Your Own Money Saving Plan Using Pareto Charts appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com

How Personal Productivity Helps with Personal Finance

When people say “Time is money,” they’re speaking the truth. It might not seem like it, but improving productivity can help you with your personal finance. Being efficient with your time and knowing how to get things are invaluable traits that can help your bottom line.

Alternatively, there’s a direct correlation between financial problems and lowered productivity. A study by the Personal Finance Employee Education Foundations shows that financial problems lead to lowered productivity at work and an increased absenteeism.  

Improving productivity is like training a muscle. It requires time and dedication, but the more work you put in, the easier it gets. Fortunately, there are some great exercises to heighten productivity.

Organize Your Life

Making to-do lists isn’t a bad habit, yet it’s less effective than we like to believe. The problem is that long lists mean lots of choices for what to do next. The more choices there are, the more negative emotions there are associated with the decision. This “paradox of choice” makes daunting to-do lists depressing and overwhelming.

There comes a satisfaction with crossing an item of a list. Because of that, we’re more likely to finish the quick tasks and put the time-consuming ones on the backburner.

Instead of using a to-do list, consider using calendars instead. A calendar makes it easy to set deadlines and doesn’t overwhelm with the paradox of choice. Lists have their uses but should be used in moderation.

Take Breaks When You Need It

Most brains work better with bursts of creativity followed by short moments of rest. Every individual has their own ideal ratio for works and breaks, but a good baseline is the Pomodoro technique. This time management technique has you work in 25 minute bursts with a maximum five minute break. After the break ends, it’s back to work for the next 25 minutes.

There are online tools and mobile apps that give you access to Pomodoro timer, so check them out and see how they work for you.  

Stop Wasting Time Online

One of the biggest obstacles hindering our productivity is our own impulse. We can’t help ourselves when it comes to wasting time online. For most of us, what should be a quick five minute tasks gets dragged out to 30 minutes because of social media notifications, emails and the urge to check things that only slow down our productivity.

Almost a third of all employees reported wasting about an hour a day at work, mostly due to social media and browsing the Internet. After work hours, those problems can continue. People now spend 8 hours a day consuming media. Television is still the biggest time sink, but the Internet is projected to soon be the thing that takes up the most time.

What can be done? Just quitting isn’t easy, but there are some programs out there to help stop us from being tempted by our favorite websites. One of the more popular tools is the StayFocusd browser plugin. Once installed, you put in the sites you want to avoid and the maximum time limit you can spend browsing those sites. For example, you can set a daily limit on Facebook for 15 minutes a day.

Automate When Possible

There are a lot of mundane tasks out there that take up valuable time. That’s why it’s important to automate whatever you can. For starters, automating your bill payments is a smart way to save time. It also means you won’t have to worry about accidentally missing a payment. There are other ways to automate the boring tasks in life that can free up your time for more important tasks.

How Personal Productivity Helps with Personal Finance – Final Thoughts

Productivity and personal finance go hand-in-hand. With time being money, it’s best not to waste either!

Anum Yoon is a personal finance blogger and writer. She created and maintains her personal finance blog Current on Currency. You can subscribe to her blog newsletter right here for her weekly updates.

The post How Personal Productivity Helps with Personal Finance appeared first on MoneyAhoy.

For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com