Saturday, June 3, 2017
Monday, January 9, 2017
6 Money Tips to Live a Rich Life
Purchase that daily latte, advises financial expert Nicole Lapin. Surprised? That’s not her only unusual advice.
“It’s not your momma’s finance lesson,” Lapin says in describing her new book, Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together... Finally. Throughout the book, she shares personal anecdotes and examples, such as how she painlessly eliminated a $5,000 credit-card balance.
Lapin wants to take the mystery out of finance. She avoids off-putting conventional terms and empowers women to take control of their financial affairs. Lapin says that the word Bitch in her new book’s title shouldn’t be considered bad and that it really just means a woman who stands up for herself, while Rich alludes to a fulfilling life. A former CNBC and CNN news anchor who has been called a “money guru for millennials,” Lapin, 31, reported at the forefront of the Great Recession.
Related: 16 Rich Habits
“There is a new normal. It’s not the American Dream anymore. This is
your dream and your destiny. It’s about taking it into your own hands,”
Lapin says. “You don’t need a man or the right schooling or to be born
with a silver spoon in your mouth.” You do need a plan, though—and here
are six tips from her 12-step plan:1. Go ahead and buy coffee from a barista.
2. Ask for a raise and get it.
Find out what people with your experience earn in your industry by going to websites such as Salary.com and Payscale.com to come up with a raise request that’s on the high end, Lapin advises in her book. Arm yourself with key examples of your great performance, including how you’ve helped the company. Timing is everything, so she suggests asking for a raise after a fantastic job review or a client sings your praises.3. Write down your goals and turn them into an elevator pitch.
To live the life you want, you need to know what it is. Distill them into a few seconds of spoken words you’ll remember. Studies show that women who can clearly craft a narrative for themselves—and mentally embrace it—have a better chance of reaching those goals, Lapin says. Create three lists: one for family, another for finances and another for fun. State your goal for the current year, in the near future (years three and five), and further out (years seven and 10). Example: Lapin’s current fun list includes going out for drinks with girlfriends every week. In year five, she hopes to get new furniture and move into a bigger apartment. In year 10, she wants to take a first-class vacation. So it’s about creating your own story and speaking your goals aloud, which makes it much easier to stay focused on them. “Becoming a Rich Bitch is not about deprivation. It’s not about clipping coupons. It’s not about nickel-and-diming yourself or buying stale bread,” Lapin tells SUCCESS. You can enjoy small indulgences and still reach your money goals, but the first step is to have goals. “While some people think they do have goals, they’ll be very surprised when they sit down to actually put pen to paper.”4. Negotiate your bills and purchases, and find extra money by making your social network work for you.
Lapin likes to negotiate and once bought a floor-model couch for about 70 percent off. Department stores typically will discount 10 to 15 percent for a fabric snag or other minor imperfection, she says. Lapin makes it a habit to negotiate with cable and phone companies. “When you remember that everything is negotiable and it’s ultimately your money, it becomes not only empowering but really fun at the same time to see how much you can get off.”5. Behold the new LBD.
Instead of a little black dress, it’s a “little budget diary.” Yes, you can indulge in little luxuries that make you happy, but you still need to track them. Keep tabs on small expenditures throughout your day so you can see where the money goes. You can use a notepad or diary, but Lapin minds her spending via her CASH Smartwatch, a wearable device she invented to track every toll and snack, just like other gadgets count steps or monitor sleep.6. Get rid of a $5,000 credit card balance.
Aghast when she owed $5,000, Lapin acknowledged the problem by affixing a sticky note that read “$5,000” to the top of her computer screen. She gave herself two years to pay it off, $208 each month (almost $7 a day). She set up a monthly automatic payment of $208 from her checking account. “Because I didn’t ever see that money, I found that I didn’t really miss it.”“I have many confessions throughout the book to show other women that they’re not alone,” Lapin says. Even though she reported for business news networks, “I was once clueless. I never learned about personal finance in school. And we don’t really like talking about it with friends, as women. I figured it out through the school of hard knocks, which is the best school, in my opinion.”
3 Steps to Surviving on an Entry-Level Salary
Earning your first paycheck after college is all kinds of fun—until
you see all of the bills that come with it. You want to put away money
for that trip to see your best friend or that new car you’ve been
eyeing, but you’re just not sure how to scrape together any savings on
your income.
Meeting your savings goals in your 20s is no easy task when you have
only an entry-level salary to cover all of your expenses, not to mention
if you’re among the seven in 10 grads who have student loans to pay
back. But by taking some time to examine and understand where your money
goes, you can set up a spending and saving plan that fits your
lifestyle.
The good news: The U.S. average starting salary for the class of 2014 was about $45,500, up more than 6 percent from 2012.
Here are three steps to take to live (and thrive) on an entry-level salary:
Step 1: Pick a split that works for you.
Experts often recommend splitting where your money goes into three
categories: fixed costs, savings/investments and spending money. Many
suggest a split of 50 percent for fixed costs, 20 percent for savings
and 30 percent for spending, or 50/20/30. Maybe that works for you,
maybe it doesn’t. It all depends on your financial goals.
The idea is to understand your costs and plan for them accordingly.
If you expect to live at home for a bit, you can generally lower your
fixed expenses and increase your savings. If you’re going to live in the
city, plan to put a lot more toward your fixed expenses to cover rent.
Step 2: Add up your monthly fixed costs.
What do you spend money on? Probably more than you realize. Print out
your debit or credit card statements for the past three months and make
a list. Here are a few things to help you get started. (And if you’re
still feeling uncertain, try this budget worksheet for graduates.)
I need these:
• Housing
• Groceries
• Clothes
I wish I didn’t have to spend money on these, but I do:
• Cellphone
• Utilities (power, water, Internet service)
• Transportation (gas, car insurance, bus pass, taxis, bike-share membership)
• Moving costs
• Health insurance (if not taken out of pay)
• 401(k) contributions
• Student loan repayments
• Rainy day fund contributions
Step 3: Subtract your costs from your income
Where do you stand?
Say you make $45,500 annually and you take home $3,600 each month
before taxes. Subtract your fixed expenses from that amount. If the
costs listed above come to, say, $1,800, then what you’re left with is
what you’ll divide between extra costs today and putting away for the
future.
The fun stuff:
• Cellphone
• Utilities (power, water, Internet service)
• Transportation (gas, car insurance, bus pass, taxis, bike-share membership)
• Moving costs
• Health insurance (if not taken out of pay)
• 401(k) contributions
• Student loan repayments
• Rainy day fund contributions
Personal maintenance (extra costs):
• Haircuts
• Toiletries
• Gym memberships
• Manicures/pedicures
• Doctors’ bills and co-pays
If you don’t already use a money-management app like Level Money or Mint,
check to see whether your bank lets you sort your statements by
category. This will help you to see where all your extra cash is going.
America's Top Calorie Count Searches Will Surprise You
Check out the foods Americans were most curious about below:
1. Big Mac
Despite the fact that only one in five millennials has ever tried a Big Mac, Americans really wanted to know the calorie count for Mickey D’s signature burger this year. According to McDonald’s, a Big Mac contains 540 calories.
The Big Mac also has 28 grams of fat. Reference that against the
American Heart Association’s recommendation: Healthy adults should limit their fat intake to 20 to 35 percent of total daily calories, i.e. 44 to 78 fat grams in a 2,000-calorie diet. A Big Mac also contains 25 grams of protein and 46 grams of carbohydrates
2. Coors
Bud Light may be the most popular beer in America, but Americans were searching for Coors in 2016. A 12 fl. oz. can or bottle of Coors Banquet Original Beer contains 149 calories, 12.2 grams of carbohydrates and 13.7 grams of alcohol. A 12 fl. oz. can or bottle of Coors Light has 102 calories, 5 grams of carbohydrates and 11.3 grams of alcohol. For reference, the average American on a 2,000-calorie diet should get 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates per day.
However, the Mayo Clinic recommends “choosing carbohydrates wisely” by
picking whole grains, fruits and vegetables over sugary drinks and
refined grains.
3. Quinoa
Rounding out the top three trending calorie searches of the year is quinoa. Unlike Big Macs and Coors Light, quinoa is considered a healthy “supergrain.” One cup of cooked quinoa has 222 calories, 4 grams of total fat, 39 grams of total carbohydrates, 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of dietary fiber. You should aim to ingest at least 25 grams of dietary fiber per day from food, making quinoa an excellent source of fiber.
4. Glass of Wine
Now here’s a beverage we can get behind. When you take the average of all varieties of white wine,
you’ll get 121 calories per glass. White wine also contains 1.4 grams
of sugar, 3.8 grams of carbohydrates and 15.2 grams of alcohol, on
average.
When you look at all varieties of red wine, you’ll find each glass averages approximately 126 calories.
Red wine contains 0.9 grams of sugar, 3.9 grams of carbohydrates and
15.7 grams of alcohol, on average. Unfortunately, if you’re drinking
that glass of wine “for your health,” you should reconsider. Experts say
drinking wine comes with risks that cancel out its supposed health benefits.
5. Eggplant
6. Persimmon
If you’re unfamiliar with this exotic fruit, persimmons are tomato-shaped and can be reddish or orange. The fruits are astringent or non-astringent; non-astringent persimmons are quite sweet. A single Japanese persimmon has approximately 118 calories, while an American persimmon has 32. They also contain six grams of fiber, 31 grams of carbohydrates, vitamin C and vitamin A.
7. Boiled Egg
Eggs used to get a bad rap for being high in cholesterol, but they don’t impact blood cholesterol nearly as much as they do saturated fat. A hard boiled egg that weighs 50 grams contains 78 calories, 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, 1.7 grams of saturated fat and 212 milligrams of cholesterol. Eggs are a good source of protein, vitamin B12, vitamin E, iron and folic acid.
8. Miso Soup
rez-art via Getty Images
This Japanese staple is low in calories at only 66 calories per cup. However, miso soup is high in sodium ― one serving contains 630 milligrams of sodium. Given that the American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams per day, it’s important not to go overboard with your order of miso soup.
9. Steak
Who doesn’t love a good steak? Obviously, calories
and nutritional value vary depending on the cut and size of your steak.
But if you’re cooking an 8 oz. sirloin steak, you’re looking at 450 calories for a lean cut, and approximately 823 calories for a filet mignon. 8 oz. steaks have up to 64.5 grams of protein and 46.7 grams of fat.
10. Pho
This Vietnamese noodle soup’s nutritional value
varies depending on the meat used, veggies included and amount of
noodles added. According to NOLA.com, a medium bowl of pho contains 350 to 450 calories,
35 to 50 grams of carbs, 30 grams of protein and 1,500 milligrams of
sodium. Again, 1,500 milligrams is the American Heart Association’s
recommendation for daily sodium intake, so pho is not the most healthful
of options.
While calorie counts proved to be a popular search query this
year, calories are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to eating
right and losing weight. But they’re an important piece.
“I obviously think calories matter—a lot,” said Dr. Marion Nestle,
Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies,
and Public Health at New York University. “But, paradoxically perhaps, I
do not think people should bother to count them, mainly because there
is no way to eyeball a food and even come close to its actual calorie
content.”
Dr. Nestle explains that the best way to count calories is to look at the scale: “If it’s going up, you are eating too much.”
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