GMack's Personal Finance Blog

My wife and I went out looking at motorcycles today. Personally, I have set my sites high and expect to own a Ducati Hypermotard in the next couple of years. My wife has never ridden, though, so we decided to start small. Today we looked at a Suzuki GZ-250, which goes for about $3000-3500. The dealership has a June financing special that would allow payments of $39/month for the first two years. Now, obviously you would only take a deal like this if you planned on paying it off early, so there would be a self-imposed increase in payment each month. Here's the thing, though - It gets 70-80 mpg. right now, my wife drives the "good" car back and forth to work, while I drive the "old" car around with our own business. The old car needs new brakes, new shocks, new tires, etc. We just replaced the battery. I also spend about $45 per week in gas (average). That's $180/month plus repairs. By buying a brand new motorcycle and using it for the business as well as errands, I would be paying $40/month in gas (on the high side), $39/month in payments plus whatever additional on the principal. This frees up to $100/month.

I realize all this is hypothetical, and more thorough analysis is needed to make a sound decision, but it's something to think about if you are being crunched by gas prices.

Everyone spends money. Usually, the money you spend goes out the door and does nothing for you. This is called "anyway" money. Dr. Steve Price, in his book "Household Gold," describes how to convert "anyway money" into cashflow.

Traditionally, people are taught to build up assets, then leverage those assets to generate cashflow, thus creating wealth. The only problem is that if anything happens to the assets, the cashflow disappears. It is better to create a method of cashflow, so that if your assets disappear, you can just build up more assets.

This term is ordinarily applied to retirees and disabilities who receive a government check, but doesn't this term technically apply to salaried workers as well? I mean, if you are earning $30K/yr, you aren't going to earn more than $30K/yr. (annual pay raises and uncertain bonuses aside). This means you aren't going to put away more than $3K/yr in savings (assuming 10%). You also won't see the full $30K because of tax withholding.

I bring this up because people have often told me I need to stop trying to start businesses (too risky), cut back my expenses (which one, the gas or the water or the electricity...?) and just get a steady job. To me, it just seemed more risky to my future to have a "steady" (meaning I could be "pink slipped" on a whim) job. There is risk in what I do, but I control it, not someone else.

I realized a couple of years ago that I can't save enough money. It's mathematically impossible. So I started trying to find ways to make more money or to keep more of the money I make. By shifting my focus, I see every opportunity in a different light. Read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki for a more detailed explanation of this phenomenon. Also read "Why We Want You to Be Rich" by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump.

Every day people shop at Wal-mart and pass millions of dollars of profits into someone else's hands. What if you could own your own Wal-mart? Then, every time you shopped, you would be putting those profits back into your own pockets rather than passing them off to some other corporation. Producers sell things. Consumers buy things. "Pro-sumers" sell things and buy from themselves. Read "Pro-sumer Power" by Dr. Bill Quain for more info.