Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Monday, August 27, 2007

Interesting aspects of Warren Buffet

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the secondrichest man who has donated $31 billion to charity.

Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1) He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2) He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings fromdelivering newspapers.

3) He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house inmid-town Omaha, which he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does nothave a wall or a fence.

4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driveror security people around him.

5) He never travels by private jet, although he owns theworld's largest private jet company.

6) His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. Hewrites only one letter each year
to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls themon a regular basis.

7) He has given his CEO's only two rules.Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8) He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His pasttime after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watchtelevision.

9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything incommon with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only forhalf hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hoursand Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

10) Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has acomputer on his desk.11) His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards andinvest in yourself.

Amazing individual indeed.

Monday, August 13, 2007

7 Biblical Principles for Managing Your Money

#1 – Acknowledge God’s Ownership (I Chronicles 29:11-12)
#2 – Establish a Budget (Proverbs 16:3)
#3 – Keep Giving & Saving at the Top (Proverbs 3:9, I Timothy 6:18)
#4 – Get Out of Debt ASAP! (Proverbs 22:7, I Cor. 7:2)
#5 – Avoid Indulgence and Hasty Decisions (Luke 12:15, Proverbs 21:5)
#6 – Establish Goals (Habakkuk 2:2)
#7 – Learn Contentment (Philippians 4:11, Colossians 3:15)

Friday, August 10, 2007

7 ways to be richer than now

1. Transportation.
Yes we need transportation to get about, but a car might not be the best way to do it. Cars cost a lot to buy and to maintain. They also depreciate like there is no tomorrow.
To check if your cars are costing you too much hard earned cash, total up your car expenses in a month and compared to other expenses. Find out the percentage of car expenses versus other expenses. If it is way to high, then it is time to cut back.

2. Buy a used car.

If you really need a car consider a used car. A 1 or 2 year old model would have depreciated some 30% or more off the new car prices. Down payment, installment payment, and insurance premiums will also be much lower. Choose wisely for model that is cheap to run.

3. Think Before You Subscribe.

Nowadays, there are many promotions for various memberships and services. They tempt people to join with zero or low entry cost to join. For example gym or health club memberships. Many sign up for yearly subscription and don’t bother to use the membership after several months. Instead, sign up for a short a period to try and see if you would really use the facilities before signing up for a longer period.

4. Reduce mobile phone charges.

Unless your company pays for the bills, mobile phone expenses can quickly escalate. I’ve seen office based people who do not do any sales or marketing, that requires them to call using their handphones, have mobile phone bills higher than my friends who are in sales!! If you cannot control your phone calls, try a prepaid service rather than a post-paid service because everytime you take out money to reload, you’ll feel the pinch.
Today, mobile phone companies come up with various ways to get you to spend more with musical ring tones, news downloads and sports update. These fancy services increases your mobile phone bills too.

5. Shop online.

You can get most things from online and get a good bargain. Many online shops keep cost low by having low rental and advertising cost, but check the mailing charges.

6. Do your shopping off season.

In many instances, when you are buying things at the end of season or clearance sale, you can get very good discounts.

7. Turn your hobby into a business.

Almost everyone have a hobby or specialized knowledge of a topic. Be creative and turn it into an income source. If you are good with a computer or software, start a related part time business. You can help to repair, trouble shoot and maintain computers.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Where are your strengths?

Finding your strengths will involve more than just naming off the things you know you are good at. Sometimes your own mental images of yourself aren't really as on-target as you might hope. So, in addition to some self-study, you'll also need to ask your friends, family, or current co-workers to tell you what they see as your strengths. If they consistently say you're a real "people" person then you might want to explore businesses that will make use of that quality. If they consistently say you're strength is in problem solving then maybe some type of consulting would be the best route to go.

Here are some questions to consider in this time of self- and peer-based evaluation...
  • What do you like to do?

  • What do you have experience doing?

  • What do you think you are good at?

  • What does everyone else think you are good at?

  • Do you have special education in the area(s) you are interested in?

  • Do you have the right mindset to run your own business? (i.e. Do you have expectations of challenge, hard work, long hours, and little money to begin with?)

  • Are you willing to put in 60 hour weeks to make your business work?

  • Are you resourceful?

  • Are you a high-energy person?

  • Are you a dreamer or more down-to-earth?
  • Can you bounce back from criticism and rejection? (More than just a few times?)

Use the SELF-EVALUATION WORKSHEET to help you.




Sunday, February 18, 2007

What is marketing?

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me!"
That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says,"He's very rich. Marry him.
"That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me.
"That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to herand compliment her hair.
You open the door for her,pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride,and then say,
"By the way, I'm very rich "Will you marry me?
"That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says, "You are very rich...
"That's Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, "I'm rich. Marry me"She gives you a hard slap on your face.
That's Customer Feedback. =D