Right now before you read any further find your child’s piggy bank and get a hammer, because Johnny may be sitting on a goldmine! (well let’s hope for silver)

Some financial advisers say to keep 10-20% of your investments in precious metals, stocks or bullion form. They say this helps hedge against inflation and the weakening dollar.

I so go ahead and invest in gold, if gold prices are so high they have to go higher right? Well they could, but don’t bet on it.

Buy as gold goes down in increments, based on target prices you plan to follow. that way you buy cheaper metal as it goes down overall, don’t wait for the bottom.

But who can afford an ounce of gold with today’s economy forcing frugal living. Invest in silver and copper. You can make it fun, and lose nothing on your investment but time, because if you hoard US copper and silver coins at worst if the metals go to zero value you can still deposit your money back for cash.

Coin currency is only worth its weight in copper or silver if the can be melted down. This IS currently illegal in the United States and many other countries.

But you can hoard the coins for the future and when this ban is lifted or the dollar collapses and ceases to function as a currency it will believed to be used as a barter tool.

Along the way hoarding can lead to finding collectible coins to sell to dealers for cash. With this cash you can buy and hoard more junk copper or silver.

This is a ever expanding list on what to look for out of coinrolls or from junk coin boxes at coin shops or coin shows:

Use coininflation.com for current metals value to the coin’s face value.

This is what I am looking for.

United States

Pre-1982 cents- 95% copper – Worth more than face value

1982 cents- 7 different varieties made from this year – Can be traded as a set

Any “S” mint mark cents- San Franciso mint is more rare and sought after

1909-1958 Wheat cents- Sell as collectibles

1942-1945 Jefferson Nickel- 35% silver

Pre-1965 Dimes and Quarters- 90% silver

1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollar- 40% silver

1964 Kennedy Half Dollar- 90% silver

Canada

Pre-1997 Canadian cent- 95 to 98 % copper

Pre-1967 Canadian dimes and quarters- 80% silver

1967-1968 Canadian dimes and quarters- 50% silver

Foreign Coins

1, 2, and 5 Swiss Francs- Pre-1967 = silver

100 Yen Pieces (Japan) – good discount possibilities

Deutchmarks – can be exchanged to euros

Australian Dollar coins

Budget, save, spend, invest, track… REPEAT

This should be the money cycle that occurs distinctively every two weeks. By corresponding this cycle with your paycheck every other week it allows you to focus on each step, with that one inflow value.

First, BUDGET your money for those two weeks giving every dollar a name, a category of where it will go. This is your GOAL sheet.

Within this budget, all of your dollars will be SPENT, but some will be spent for you, and some will be spent against you.

Second, SAVE your money, whatever you can spare, put some in a savings account linked to checking, say $50/paycheck. This will be designated for a specific saving goal, like a vacation.

Also if you can spare another $50-$250/paycheck, deposit this amount into a check writing, money market mutual fund. This will serve as your emergency fund. I want to challenge you to put more in this account to build it up to protection levels from the dreaded transmission failure or that unexpected dental work.

Shoot for 500-2000 dollars as quickly as possible. Based on your income, and of course, your current expenses, this may be more or less. Create a buffer zone, some security between you and that “emergency” credit card. Between these 2 savings accounts, you will be more confident in yourself when you go to pay the bills. You have security.

Third, After saving go ahead and SPEND, pay the bills, go out with friends, you already saved, so spend.

Fourth, Even smarter still is using some of that extra money that you didn’t spend, for other things, namely investing. Maybe bump up that contribution to the 401(k) at work, and not even notice the 40 less dollars you bring home. You won’t miss it, I guarantee that!

Fifth, TRACK your transactions, see where your money is going, categorize your spending. Money envelopes are the best way to track because when the money is gone, you can’t spend anymore. Rather than tracking up,track down. Separate everything you are going to save or spend and put the cash in envelopes. It can be very fun playing with all that cash.

REPEAT, I promise you that after you get into the habit of following these steps you won’t have to go back to your “dreaded” budget all the time. You change the habit, or the habit changes you. If you turn your budget into a game, you will come back to it. You may find yourself re-adjusting it to shave more off this debt or to take the Vegas trip sooner.

If you need help setting up a basic budget, or even need suggestions on what expense categories to include, let me know, I’d be glad to help you out.

So you’ve had your eyes set on that shiny new Jeep for some time now, but you don’t know how you’re gonna pay for it. You can do one of three things.

1. Do what 90% of Americans do and take on a $400/month car loan= Instant gratification!

2. Compromise and buy a used Jeep with saved up cash= Freedom from car loan!

3. Set a goal and budget the money to pay cash for whatever Jeep you want= Satisfaction of reaching your goal with financial savvy!

I’m laying this out to you because most Americans will always have a financed car. By the time they pay off that new car (let’s say over 6 years) it will be time to buy another new car. The cycle continues.

Then think if you get into an accident and total the car. You are now paying for a car for the next (lets say 2 years) that isn’t drivable. So you have to take on a larger car loan to pay off the old one and buy your new car.

If you pay cash for your car and then make car payments to yourself for your next car, you will always be ahead. You could also trade up more frequently and get into some really nice vehicles.

Hold off on that instant gratification and budget the money, and give yourself satisfaction when you tell the car salesman, “I’m paying cash.”

Work hard, think sound, and eat your cake with confidence!

A budget captures where you want to go with your money.

It allows you to track, predict, and set goals with your money.

It lets you allocate spending. It lets you allocate saving.

If it is done once the right way, you won’t have to do it again.

It is powerful, allowing you the freedom to spend without guilt, and save without worry.

SAVE WITHOUT WORRY!

Will there be enough for the bills?

Homework:

Record your inflows of money biweekly
-monthly paychecks, dividend income

Record your outflows of money
-monthly bills separated biweekly

Then take your current balance and begin to add and subtract these items. The ending balance after the two weeks will become your GOAL balance of the checking account that you will shoot to keep the same.

Then repeat this process to give yourself a month or two financial forecast. If you find your balance increasing, do two things: sock more into the emergency fund and/or pay down some more consumer debt.

Check out Dave Ramsey‘s forum!

This is the start of my blogging dinner, eating the elephant one bite at a time. Momentum is important. Momentum helps in sports, changing the direction the game is going. Momentum helps fuel us when we pay off debt, or also build wealth.

Paying off debt is the way people can free up money to build wealth. The problem that most people have, is they replace this newly found money and use it for something else, like cable TV. This creates another bill. When debts are paid off, the new found money freed up from the payment can be used for many things.

Uses of “newly found money” from paying off one debt

• Celebrate and blow some money
• Create another debt or bill
• Rollover to next debt
• Invest it to build wealth

The first two uses the majority of people do with this money. While I am not against rewarding hard work, I am against squandering money. The second use we all do, but sometimes we go overboard and buy that new SUV and create more debt. I’m getting cable next week, but it’s within my established budget.

The later two on the list are smarter ideas on what to do with “new” money. There are two camps here. One says to pay off all your consumer debt first to create maximum momentum for building wealth later. The investors say you will miss out on building wealth if you wait until your debt is paid off. The first camp says this makes you a jack-of-all-trades. I’ll talk more on this later.

2 styles

A. Pay off debt first, invest with more- focused energies

B. Invest and pay down debt simultaneously- spread out energies

Homework:

1. Think of all your monthly revolving bills.

2. Make a list of all your debt, short and long term.