Making friends with your money

Whether we admit it or not, money plays an important role in all our lives.

In my book "A Gift From A Friend", I wrote that money is NOT the MOST important thing in life; however, money can affect the most important things in life.

Money is a life-enhancer. It can enhance love, it can enhance relationships, it can enhance the quality of life that you have in your family, and many more.

You can become the master of your money or you can become its servant.
The choice is yours.

Choose to be smart and make friends with money.
Here's some simple steps to help you making friends with money.


Step 1
As always, it all started with your mindset first.

Is money a blessing in your life? For many people, money are a problem both emotionally and practically. Most of us feel we don't have enough of it. Frequently we don't manage it well. Often we inherit our negative attitudes about money and don't even realize it.


The way you feel about money is important. Never feel embarrassed for having a healthy respect for money and what it can do for you and others. When you look at all the good that money does, admit that money is the root of much good. Be positive about it !


Step 2
Appreciate it.

Don't take money for granted. Analyze how you use money. Make a list of how you have spent it wisely and how you have not.


Step 3
Take control of it.


If you are not careful, money can enslave you. I've seen a lot people simply just cannot control themselves when it come to managing their money. But if you learn how to tame it and master it, however, it will do whatever you tell it to do. You can decide how, when and where it will be used.



Step 4
Don’t spend money. Allocate it.



Save at least 10% of every money that you earn.
In my previous post, I've shared with you how I allocate my money every single month.
Basically, I will allocate it to 5 different accounts. You can click on the link to know more about it.



Step 5
Protect it



Protect your money from fire, theft, death and disability.

You can work a lifetime and then lose everything you have achieved if your house burns down or is robbed, if you die prematurely or become disabled. You need to protect it from theft, fire, death, disability and major illness. Use insurance –- mortgage, house, life, disability and health -- to protect your money and your family.

When you make friend with money, your money will make friend with you too
... and eventually, they will stick with you !) :)

Love,
Merry Riana
www.merryriana.com.sg

10 tips on how to save more money

In this current financial crisis, many people do their best to cut down some expenses.

Today, I'm going to give you 10 very simple things that you can do to help you to spend less

1. Master the 30 days rule. Whenever you’re in doubt whether you should buy that item or not, wait 30 days and then ask yourself if you still want that item. Very likely, you’ll find that the urge to buy has passed and you’ll have saved yourself some money.

2. Give up expensive habits, like cigarettes, alcohol, and clubbing. Those habits cause money to flow away from you with nothing in return. If you can't give up straight away, at least do your best to cut down slowly every single week.

3. Save the electricity. Use less energy, especially when you are not using it. Be diligent about turning off lights before you leave, keep your air con at 25 degree instead of 18 degree, use energy-saving electronic product. You will be amazed to see how much different will it make in your electricity bill.

4. Hide your credit cards. Put them in a safe place in your home, not in your wallet where it’s easy to spend them. Make sure you do so until you have the willpower control your temptation of spending.

5. Don’t spend money just to de-stress. Many people used to spend money just to wind down from a stressful day at work. Try something FREE. Some people often feel much better by going home and spend some quiet time just to relax and then meditate. Or you could just exercise, go for jogging to de-stress, or maybe just sleep early.

6. Eat at home. Home cooking is cheaper and healthier than take-out or dining out. Even better, you can spend more time with your family member at home. It is definitely more fun.

7. Cut down your hand phone bill. If it is difficult for you to cut down your talking time or sms, one way to help you to minimize your hand phone bill is by checking your hand phone bill and look for services you don’t use, and cancel them. Things like an international roaming, caller number non-display, web access, etc

8. Cut down on your vacation spending. If you need to go for a vacation, try to go for budget vacation instead of going on a big, extravagant trip. There is a lot of choices that is currently available for you to choose.

9. Turn off yout TV. By watching less television, you'll have less exposure to guilt-inducing advertisements, and also less electrical use, therefore less expenses.

10. Home entertainment. Invite friends over instead of going out. Almost every activity at home is less expensive than going out. Have a cookout or a potluck meal, then play some cards and watch DVD.

Love,
Merry Riana
http://www.merryriana.com.sg/

Merry Riana's Giving Account

Finally, it's time for me to share about my last account, my Giving Account.

This is the account that actually gives me the most inspiration and motivation to continue my hard work in building my businesses to earn even more money.

This is the account that also gives me the most satisfaction when I use the money inside it.
This is my purpose in life.

As the name suggests, the money in my Giving Account is for me to give away.
I've given to many churches and many Christian organizations previously.
I've also started many non-profit initiatives using the money from this account.

To know more about my non-profit initiatives (there are about 5 of them at this moment), you can visit my website http://www.merryriana.com.sg/

The more you give, the more you'll receive. :)

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg

Merry Riana's Fun Account

Now is the time for me to share about my Fun Account.

Actually, many people have already been distributing their income to different accounts such as Necessity Account and Business Development Account.

Probably, they don't label them as such, but most people usually either spend their money for expenses and save/invest the difference.
But, I seldom know people who have a Fun Account.

I usually put around 5% of my income into my Fun Account.
The money in my Fun Account can be used for whatever purpose, no matter what it is.
I can buy anything I wish with it, whether it's useful or not :)
I can even give it to anyone I want.

Basically, I have total freedom in using the money in my Fun Account.
As long as it let me enjoy and have Fun.

Having this Fun Account will motivate me to make even more money.
Because I know that 5% of whatever my businesses and investments earn for me is actually going to let me fulfill any wish that I've ever had.

And without feeling guilty that I actually use the money that I've worked so hard for.

Are you motivated to work hard? if the answer is NO, is it because you seldom have fun with the money that you earn? :)

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

Merry Riana's Bank Account (Part 5)

So far, I've shared about my Necessity Account, my Business Development Account, and my Income Generator Account.

Now, I'll share with you about my Education Account.
I'm a firm believer in life-long learning. I believe my life is a journey of learning more about myself and about the world around me.
I also believe that the our capacity of success depends on the level of our skills and knowledge.
To achieve more success, I must be a more skillful and a more knowledgeable person.

Thus, every month, I set aside 5% of my income for my Education Account.
I use the money in this account to buy books, buy audio CDs, attend seminars, etc.

I believe these are not 'expenses', but 'investment'.
When I educate myself, I am basically investing in myself.
And just like my businesses and my rental properties, I believe when I invest in myself, I'll be able to generate even more money as the outcome.

When was the last time you invest in yourself? :)

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

Merry Riana's Bank Account (Part 4)

Today I want to share with you about my Income Generator Account.
I usually allocate around 20% of my income into my Income Generator Account.
I use the money in this account ot build Income Generators for me.
For those of you who are not really familiar with the concept of Income Generator, you can read my book 'A Gift From A Friend'. My book is available at all the major bookstores in Singapore, Indonesia & Malaysia.

Basically, Income Generator is something that generates recurrent income for me, even though I may not be doing anything much to actually work for it.

Let me give you a good example of an Income Generator.
I have a couple of properties that I rent out to tenants. One of it is being rented out at $2500 per month.
After paying all the expenses (i.e. installment, maintenance, etc), I still earn $1000 left every month from that rental property.
I don't need to even think about it, and I will still get $1000 nett from this particular property every single month, without fail. :)

This is what I called an Income Generator.
So, I use the money in that I gather in my Income Generator Account to create even more Income Generators in my life.

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

Business Development Account

As I've shared before, I usually distribute my income into different accounts: Necessity Account, Business Development Account, Income Generator Account, Education Account, Fun Account, and Giving Account.

Similar to my Necessity Account, I also put around 30% of my income into my Business Development Account.
The money that I have in my Business Development Account is used to fund my existing businesses: to pay office rental, to pay staff salary, and to fund other business expenses.

The reason why most % of my income goes back into my businesses is because these existing businesses are the main income sources for me.
At this moment, I have profitable businesses in the Financial Services industry and Training & Consultancy industry.

When you spend money to make more money, it's not really called an 'expense'.
It's actually called an 'investment'.
So, my Business Development Account is actually my investment account, where I invest in my own businesses to make them even more profitable. :)

For those of you who are in the corporate world, you can have a Career Advancement Account instead of Business Development Account.

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

Merry Riana's Bank Account (Part 2)

Previously, I shared in my blog that I usually manage my personal finances by distributing my income into different accounts, immediately once I earn it.

The different accounts that I have are: Necessity Account, Business Development Account, Income Generator Account, Education Account, Fun Account, and Giving Account.

For those of you who are curious to know more about it, Here it is ...

Today, I'll share with you about my Necessity Account.
I'll share about the rest of the accounts in my future blog entries.

I usually put around 30% of my income into my Necessity Account.
The money in my Necessity Account is for my monthly expenses.
It includes my condo expenses (i.e. installment, property tax, maintenance, utility bills, etc), my car expenses (i.e. maintenance, petrol, car insurance, road tax, cash card, car park coupons, etc), and my personal expenses (i.e. HP bills, insurance, income tax, groceries, F & B, movies, manicure-pedicure, haircare, spa, etc).

Each and every one of us has this Necessity Account.
The difference is that, there are some of us who control & manage this Necessity Account well, and there are some of us who spend 100% of our income for this.

How many % of your total income goes to pay for your Necessity Account? :)

If you don't have an answer for that, I encourage you to start tracking, because only when you are aware of your current financial situation then you can start doing something about it.

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

Do you want to see my bank account ?

After I posted 'My Best Investment' article, I received numbers of email asking me whether I can share with them how do I manage my personal finances.

Today I'm going to share with you tips on how you can manage your finances successfully.

Here's how:
First of all, It is very important for you to know where all your money goes to.
Most people usually never keep track of their income and expenses.
I created a few accounts (these accounts may or may not be real savings accounts in the bank) where my income goes to.
For me, I have: Necessity Account, Business Development Account, Financial Freedom Account, Education Account, Fun Account & Giving Account.

Every time I earn my income, it goes to these accounts with the following proportion:

- Necessity Account (30%)
- Business Development Account (30%)
- Income Generator Account (20%)
- Education Account (5%)
- Fun Account (5%)
- Giving Account (10%)

I'll share with you in more details about each of these accounts in my future blog entries. :)

Love,
Merry Riana
http://www.merryriana.com.sg/
www.facebook.com/merry.riana

My Best Investment

Today I conducted my last session for the TeleMastery.

TeleMastery is one of the Series of Mastery Training Programme that I teach personally in my organization every week for a period of 6 months.

I ended today session by sharing with them way on how to keep their momentum going.
Do you want to know how? the answer to that is by continuous learning.

Let me share with you this.
Many people have often asked me about investment.

What is good to invest in?
When should it be invested?
How to invest it?

But, actually, for me the most important question does not start with 'what', 'when', or 'how'. The most important question always starts with WHY.

Why do you want to invest? :)

I guess your answer will be similar like mine. I want to invest so that I can grow my resources. Which means, if I invest my money, I want to grow it to more money in the future.

Now, my next question is:

What's your best resources?
Is it your money? Is it your look? Is it your network?

I know that my money, my look or even my friends, can come and go. But, what I know will never be able to be taken away from me is my KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, and EXPERIENCE.
It's what's inside that counts, not what's outside.

So, my best investment is when I invest IN myself.

And I do it regularly.
Last year alone, I spent more than $20,000 in one overseas seminar.
But I know, my investment will bear fruits much more than that.
How about you? :)
How much have you invested in yourself? :)

Remember this:

Your formal education will make you make a living;
Your personal education will make you a fortune

Love,
Merry Riana
www.MerryRiana.com.sg
www.facebook.com/merry.riana