Julian's Financial Blog - The Money Flows

Welcome 2010 !

2009-12-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year 2010 !

Julian A. Rodriguez

My first car

2009-12-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

I spent almost $1600.00 of my money in my first, car I'll show you a picture of my '94 Mustang 3.8 engine and V-6, I was thinking that maybe I did a mistake with the v-6 because I need $35.00 to fill it up with gasoline, but I don't travel very long distances so maybe it was not a bad decision at all.

December 27, 2009 ( El Paso, TX )

Mustang $1600.00
License $ 25.00
ID $ 15.00
Gasoline $ 50.00
Insurance $ 97.00 ( for a month )
Car extras $ 140.00
---------------------------------------
Total : $1927.00

I had $1968.00 in total available to buy a car but now I just have $13.00 dollars in my wallet and I'll need to wait for unemployment because the restaurant were I used to work just burned down by accident. For my fortune I lend some money so this next Thursday I will receive it back.

Weekend December 4 - 6, 2009

2009-12-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

   Starting the month and getting rid of all debt that's pretty comfortable for me, I think this will be the first weekend that I'd end up with a negative result in my goal , I didn't earn more than I spent let's see how I did this weekend.

Spent(-)
Computer Bill              107.46 ( I'm done with this last payment )
Carls Jr.                          2.00 ( Ranch Bacon Burgers for 1 dollar )
Extra                             81.00
-----------------------------------
Total:                           190.46

Earned(+)
Check                          99.00
Money Found                 0.33 ( I think this is the last time that I found money because I'm not walking anymore in the streets )
-----------------------------------
Total:                           99.33

I failed this weekend by -91.13

I don't have to much to comment about it but this will change soon I'll do it always be positive but I did this because I want to get rid of all my debts by the end of the year and start it cool and fresh.

Keeping track on my finances

2009-12-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

    I'm completing the goals that I put on my To Do list I've been working on it, I'm almost done with the HS Diploma ( Alternative ) and my driver license which both of them are very important for me right now. What I need to do now is to improve my income.
    I was watching my categories ( Weekend Review ) and I found out that I found money in the streets almost every week, I add them up and I have almost :

   $20.00 Extra bucks

If you are one of those guys who recieve change and threw it to the floor just because they gave you 10 cents or 1 penny thank you so much and for those who understand what little cents mean here's a way to find free money lol , I know those are just a couple of bucks but you can buy a cheeseburger just for "free".
I also update the NetWorthIq plugin I improved a little bit my networth just like $120 dollars but now I'm free of debt and I can afford new things like save for investments and stuff like that.

So far so good ! http://www.themoneyflows.org/   - Continues !

Note: I will try to spend more time on the site.

Weekend November 27 - 29, 2009

2009-11-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

    Long week but I keep doing the same thing, earn more, spend less and save, this time I had to spend a little bit of more money that I expected but I did it for my own benefit because I'm getting rid of debt.

Spent(-)
Computer Bill         $107.46
7eleven                      $5.06
Ride                         $10.00
-----------------------------
Total:                     $122.52

Earned(+)
Check                   $124.03     ( I'm suprised I just worked 2 days / Part time job)
Found Money            $0.07         ( I keep founding pennies lol in the street )
Mturk                        $4.55
------------------------------
Total:                     $128.65


    I didn't notice this before that I almost spend more of what I earned this week, I'm suprised because I always get a huge difference between my income and what I need to pay but this time I spent this amount to get rid of debts. I'm doing a few dollars per week but I'm doing some changes in my life to make a difference in my income let's see if it works.

CNBC - Review, Financial Channel

2009-11-27T21:01:00.001-07:00

Since I don't have too much access to the internet I've been watching channel 35 which is here in El Paso a financial channel, CNBC ( http://www.cnbc.com/ ), all is about finances, the stock market, investments and how to manage and build wealth. In all the programs the advices are the same :

Earn more, spend less.
Invest wisely.
Save.

I want to make a comment to all the visitors who have an estability in their finances, I've been watching a lot of people that have a very good income but they spend it almost everything in nice TVs, very expensive cars but they are not saving enough or investing their money. I don't know why while they have the opportunity to do it they decide to waste their money, when they have more money available to do it they prefer to spend it; if their income is higher their houses are even more expensive, they can afford it but they are almost over their limit. In my personal opinion I will not try to do this when I grow up I think it is a very big mistake to do that.
I just want to recommend you this channel I've been learning a lot of things, these are the shows that attract more of my attention :

Mad Money ( http://www.cramers-mad-money.com/ )
Suze Orman Show ( http://www.suzeorman.com/ )

Both of them are very interesting and I think that are interesting because when you are watching the show you can notice their experience and the way they explain almost everything.

Bears in Personal Finance

2009-11-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

The past month I've had a lot of bears in my personal finance, my work is cutting me hours ( translation my income is less ) but my bills are the same and I think I need to pay more things, I already paid the bill of the computer which was like $600.00 dollars, plus some extras the net debt was like $800.00 dollars but it is already paid. But I'm worry because I need to save money to buy a used car because I don't have a car, I need it to go to college ( soon ) and work, also Christmas and all the gifts are close and I don't have to much money to spend on this event that's why I feel a little bit sad but positive after all.

Things to do :

Get a license
High School Diploma
Save money and buy a car
New job
Enjoy Christmas and my family
Save money for investments
Open savings account after I buy the car

Yesterday I organized my bank account and now I have 2 checking accounts in one I put the money that I have available for the car, and in the second one I'm putting money for investments I didn't open a special account for that because the bank charges me fees and stuff that I want to avoid like everyone else, the next thing that I need to do after I buy the car is to open a savings account which I used to have but I need to open it with a sepecific amount which is like $300.00 dollars.
I've been working on some points of my list, but I need to invest more of my time on the fourth one which is the most important for my finances, I know that this post doesn't make sense but I want so save it here and remind to myself that I need take advantage of the time that I have available.

Weekend November 20 - 22, 2009

2009-11-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

   This week I was busy, I had to do a lot of things and the last thing that I was thinking was the website but I will keep going with the site and my goals, I will not post regulary because I don't have regular access to the internet but I will post my progress :

Spent(-)
Food                        $19.56
Carls Jr.                      $7.16
Extra                         $10.00
------------------------------------
Total:                         $36.72

Earned(+)
Check                     $142.32
Street                          $0.03 ( I don't know why but I always found pennies and quarters, money is money )
Mturk                         $1.02 ( 2 or 3 dollars pending )
-------------------------------------
Total:                          $143.37

This weekend I did 90 dollars less than the past weekend review, but I'm free of debt so I feel good with myself I just need to make a couple of changes and everything's gonna be ok, I'll be keep track on the website and my finances more regulary. Thanks for visiting !

Weird Financial Day - Nov 16, 2009

2009-11-16T23:37:00.002-07:00

   Today when I came from school the first thing that I did was turn on the computer and start checking all the websites, my email and then when I opened my mail I saw like 7 new mails all of them about finances, for my fortune the first one was bad news, google suspended my adsense account, all the time that I invested in this thing was gone, and the 20 dlls too.
   Yesterday I had to pay the credit card ( $90.70 ) and the next month for my cellphone service ( $53.40 ) in total I spent $150.00 in a couple of days and I didn't earn more this time, I did $3.00 dollars in Mturk just in one day and I found $0.10 cents in the street, and in the next 2 weeks I need to pay the last payment for a computer, but let's see the happy side of this situation, I'm out of debt !, that means that I will have $190.00 more to save or invest I decide what to do with the money.
   In conclusion I don't know what to say, it was a good financial day ? or it was a bad day for my finances and my goals ? to be honest I don't feel very good but I don't need to pay more things so I feel relax.

Net Worth IQ - Financial Track

2009-11-15T22:36:00.001-07:00

Do you want to keep track on your finances, and check if you are doing well with your money or do you want to make sure that you are achieving your goals ?, I think Net Worth IQ is what are you looking for, I saw this website in this blog (http://wealthisgood.blogspot.com/) that I usually read and I noticed that their application will help me to remind that I should be working on my finances.

http://www.networthiq.com

I feel like I made another great decision for my finances and it's keep on track more often that I usually do, with graphics and stuff. Well I recommend you this site and be happy don't worry !

Weekend Nov 13 - 15, 2009

2009-11-15T14:44:00.002-07:00

    I had a very weird weekend and after all that I've passed through I can say that I learned new things, well this weekend I think I earned more that what I spent, let's see.

Spent(-)
Food           $20.00
--------------------------
Total:         $20.00

Earned(-)
Lend Money    $ 40.00
Pay Check           $190.00
Money Found     $    0.26
Mturk $    0.20
----------------------------------
Total:                   $230.46

I earned 36.8 dollars more than the past weekend, I did something different and the secret was spent less than what you usually earn.

Money - Law of Attraction

2009-11-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

To understand this video you need to see this movie http://www.thesecret.tv

also if you want you can google this law to understand it and use it in your life. I wish you the best and I recommend you to investigate this law.

Google PIN

2009-11-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today I received the mail from Google with my pin to start doing the transactions to my bank account, here on the left you can see the picture of the mail with my name and everything. Now I need to make more money through google adsense and wait for my check.

Domains - My Second Move

2009-11-10T00:03:00.001-07:00

I woke up this evening at 7:00 PM after school and I was a little bit discouraged about my ideas like the blog, mturk, google adsense and everything but when I was at school I posted "Lending Money", so when I woke up I went directly to google and start searching about this I was thinking to go seriously with this topic, I was thinking that I could start charging interest everytime that I lend money to someone but I noticed something, when I was doing the registration at the website (Prosper.com) the people who lives in Texas cannot use their service, maybe the financial rates here in Texas are not sufficient to cover their expectations to lend money. Then I started thinking that maybe that idea could affect relationships, legal problems and more but I Google more ways to earn some extra money and I found an interesting topic that to be honest I found it before but I didn't pay to much attention but this time I take it very serious when I saw this forum.

http://www.dnforum.com

My idea is "Buy and Sell Domains" a couple of weeks I was thinking about it and today I decided to take the first risk and I bought a domain for $50 bucks, I will not show the domain until everything's approved, for the first month I will work on it and try to make some traffic that sure I'll get it very fast, because the domain contains very good words. I did the first step now let's work on it and see what happens !

Lending Money

2009-11-09T11:01:00.002-07:00

Yesterday when I wrote the post about my earnings this weekend I noticed that I didn't waste my money, I lend money to someone and now I'm getting 8 dollars more just for interest, and that made me just have my account in the same amount. I try to find ways to lend money but everybody wants to get money and don't pay interest, so I google to find ways to do it and earn more money. I found a couple of websites I'll list them here in the post if you are interested to lend money and earn a couple more all dependes on the risk of your lending.

http://us.zopa.com/
http://www.kiva.org/
http://www.prosper.com/
http://www.lendingclub.com/
http://www.virginmoneyus.com/

If you have any experience with this websites please leave a comment, if it was bad or good everything is well welcomed. Thanks !

Weekend Oct 6 - 8, 2009

2009-11-09T01:06:00.003-07:00

   This weekend I know that I spent maybe more than I expected, I worked less hours and my manager cut hours to all the guys in work. Maybe it was bad but that pushes me to keep working harder.

Spent(-)
I lend money        $32.00
Food     $6.00
Ride                    $5.00
----------------------------------------
Total                     $43.00

A little comment about the first one, I'm going to be paid $40.00 for those $32.00 that I lended. So I just spent like $3.00 dollars this weekend.

Earned(+)
Check                       $190.00
Mturk                       $   1.00
Google Adsense      $   2.94
Money Found $ 0.16
--------------------------------------------
Total                        $194.1

I don't had a great weekend in my finances but I know that next weekend will be perfect. I charged everything to the credit card because I'm not paying interest so I'm just playing with the numbers, my savings are the same just by 2 weeks, let's see if I can do something with what I saved.

Why I want to be wealthy ?

2009-11-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

The first thing that came to my head when someone ask me that question is freedom, for me wealth represents freedom, but maybe you are asking why.

I don't need to work for other persons, my money works hard for me and is not me working hard for money.
I secure my future, and the future of my family this is one of the big reasons that I want to build wealth.
Peace in mind I don't need to worry to much to pay bills, and debt that I've been accumulating through years.
If I want I can travel all over the world and learn a lot of things just travelling and learning about other cultures.

In conclusion I think that the main reason for me is the freedom to travel, to be relax and work for me, secure my future and enjoy every moment of my life. And you, why you want to be wealthy ?

Difference between Investing, Saving and Speculating

2009-11-07T12:16:00.002-07:00

Investing
   Investing is the act of putting your money into securities or tangible assets for the purpose of gaining appreciation, income, or both. Investing requires time, knowledge, and discipline. The investment can fluctuate in price but has been chosen for long-term potential.

Saving
   Saving is the safe accumulation of funds for a future use. Savings don't fluctuate and generally free of financial risk. The emphasis is on safety and liquidity.

Speculating
   Speculating is the financial world's equivalent of gambling. An investor who speculates is seeking uick profits gained form short-term price movements in that particular asset of investment.

Ex of the difference :

I know of one financial advisor who told a client to avoid savings accounts althogether because the client had a 401(k) plan. This particular advisor didn't catch the crucial difference between "saving" and "investing. The client eventually found out the difference; his 401(k) feel by 40 percent when the bear market of 2000 arrived.

Source: Stock Investing for Dummies by Paul Mladjenovic

Google Payments and Ideas

2009-11-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

    I've been working on ideas to improve my income, one of the things that surprised me were the google ads, I've been doing $15.00 dollars more or less since the last week, I thought that were not going to work for me but I was wrong. Now I have a new extra money but I want to invest my money for long term.
    This past Thursday I received the book that I bought with the money of Amazon Mturk, Stock Investing for Dummies it has 260 pages now I already read like 50 in just a couple of hours, at the beginning I was expecting something with a language more technical but it has just a couple of terms that are not usually applied in the every day language.
    Well after reading the book I noticed that my income is not the common for investing, I need to improve it to start investing in the market, so I decided to prepare myself the next year saving money, and improving my income, and the most important thing make extra money, I will continue with the website but I need to think for more ideas to make extra money. And the ideas that come to my head are buy domains, repair computers, accumulate extra time in my work, and spend less than I earn. For this moment the google payments are on hold for me I don't know why but I'm still working on that to keep working with that extra money, this week has been only for school and work but I feel like this website will be online for a long long time. So Good luck The Money Flows !

How wealthy people think ?

2009-11-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Original Source : http://www.mmhabits.com/how-wealthy-people-think-about-money/

Wealthy people believe, “I create my life.” Poor people believe, “Life happens to me.”
Wealthy people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
Wealthy people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
Wealthy people think big. Poor people think small.
Wealthy people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
Wealthy people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
Wealthy people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.
Wealthy people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
Wealthy people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
Wealthy people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
Wealthy people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
Wealthy people think “both”. Poor people think “either/or”.
Wealthy people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
Wealthy people manage their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.
Wealthy people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
Wealthy people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
Wealthy people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.

Google is awesome !

2009-11-03T19:23:00.006-07:00

Today I was thinking when I was doing the last post when I was at school, that Google is awesome I noticed this because I use Google for everything :

1. Gmail
2. Blogspot ( http://www.themoneyflows.org )
3. I bought the domain through Google
4. Google Analytics
5. Google Adsense
6. IGoogle ( I like this app very much )

I think that Google knows what is doing, they bring an excelent service to the people who use their applications, and honestly I think it is one of the companies that bring us quality in every single moment, that's why they have success. And just to comment, today I did 16 dollars with adsense in 7 hours I can't believe it, I love Google Adsense. Thanks Google !

Unclaimed Money

2009-11-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the government keeps the money that's not claimed by the people, for example when someone changes their name and someone writes a check for them, they will not recieve the money unless they claim that money, if you don't knew that maybe you have some thousands waiting for you, all what you need to do it's just to go to :

http://www.missingmoney.com/ - Money
http://www.unclaimed.org/ - Properties

This is a great way to earn some extra money !

Weekend Oct 30 - Nov 1, 2009

2009-11-02T16:00:00.003-07:00

   Every weekend I'll try to track if I spent more or I earned more than I expected, I think I had a great weekend let's see if I earned more money this time :

Spent(-)
Domain themoneyflows.org : $10.00
Book                                       : $5.55 ( Thursday but it counts )

------------------------- Total $15.55

Earned(+)
Check                                     : $200.00 ( $30 more than I expected )
Amazon Mturk                      : $0.33
Google Adsense    : $2.59 ( I'm surprised )

------------------------ Total        $202.92

Well I know I didn't do to much to earn some extra money but this time honestly I didn't feel like I had to because I knew that I was going to earn that much more or less. Oh and honestly I was surprised with the earning of google adsense.

Gurbaksh Chahal - Young Millionaire

2009-11-02T06:30:00.002-07:00

"Anytime you start something with idea that money is everything, you end doing decisions based on greed, based on short term goals, and not eventually launch from happiness."

Make a difference with your attitude !

2009-11-02T01:09:00.001-07:00

"Most of us focus on our little world and our future. Millionaires dream of making the world a better place, with visions of a better tomorrow for everyone. They love helping people. I'll bet you have such a dream. Discover the real meaning of life by going beyond yourself and make a difference! Remember, being a millionaire is all in your head. If you got the right attitude, if you feel it, if you believe you're a millionaire, you're already there. The money will follow. Trust me."