Aaron Nichols
True North Financial Fitness Coaching
aaron@truenorthffc.com
785-218-6134
http://www.truenorthffc.com/
Aaron Nichols
True North Financial Fitness Coaching
aaron@truenorthffc.com
785-218-6134
http://www.truenorthffc.com/
Wow, What a YEAR!!
I find myself wanting to wrap up 12 eventful months here and you may enjoy or understand more about me and my services by reading it!
January 2010 – Started off with terrible news that Uncle Steve in Florida was sick with Cancer. Another family tragedy was on the horizon. A couple days later, I paid off the last $4,000 of my Home Loan. It was a bittersweet time in life.
April 2010 – We lost Stephen R. Nichols. The Memorial Service and family togetherness started feelings brewing inside of me. Steve was a great adventurer who’d accomplished so much. I started to question my own drive to succeed… Then I attended Dave Ramsey’s Counselor Training Program in Nashville. I had a blast and was Inspired to help others with my newly gained knowledge!
Aaron Nichols
Happy Thursday and I hope your day is going GREAT!!
Motivational speaker and humorist Charles “Tremendous” Jones has a famous quote that goes like this:
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and books you read.”
There are so many great resources out there for people wanting to know more about any topic in life. Being able to sit down and ingest pages of information that took someone else years of research, study and hard-knocks to figure out, is almost like cheating! Why would we think that figuring out every aspect of our journey on our own is the best way?
I am as independent and adventurous as anybody, but still love to have my mind blown by ideas expressed by experts in their own fields. Recently it has been Seth Godin’s words about entrepreneurship and how to market in today’s world. Everyone knows that Dave Ramsey’s book completely changed my life two years ago. Also about one year ago, I read Men are From Mars and Women are from Venus… Seriously, life-altering words on a page! What a fantastic gift we can give to ourselves is knowledge that someone else has gained over years of hard work and trial and error.
I am publicly making my own goals known. I want to read 1 non-fiction book per month. I have fallen behind in the last couple months for sure, but for Christmas I’m giving myself a gift of time and focus on finishing 12 books for 2011… I currently have bought titles in the realm of small business, marketing, human relations, motivation & success in general.
What genres are you interested in or already reading? I would love to hear feedback and suggestions on your favorite books!
“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” – Harry S. Truman
Sincerely,
Aaron Nichols
Hello Thursday!! Just a little insight, Thursdays have always been my favorite day of the week 🙂 Almost into the weekend and still time to get things done!
Okay, so the title of this post was meant to get your attention. Did it work?? I am throwing a radical idea out today.
Sincerely,
True North Financial Fitness Coaching
aaron@truenorthffc.com
http://www.truenorthffc.com/
785-218-6134
Free 30 Minute Financial Analysis – No Obligation – Completely Confidential
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!
When it really comes down to it, Family is what is most important. I am a Blessed Man in this area.
Thanks to all my friends and family who support me and remind me why this journey of life is so full. I am surrounded in abundant human blessings. I am thankful for the favor and second chances and too many good times to count. Thank You all. I love and appreciate you every day.
Sincerely,
Aaron Nichols
Happy Thursday as the sun shines and cool weather has set in.
Today’s question seems simple enough… “When driving to work this morning did you happen to look out of windshield of your car or did you only use the rearview mirror?”
Silly question right? It would be terrible if everyone decided to use their rearview mirror to drive all over town. I think my friend Kevin would have a lot more work in his industry as an auto insurance adjuster!
Financially how are you driving? Do you know how much you’ve spent every month, feel comfortable about that and use the past month’s expenses to know exactly the amount it took to make it to the end? This would technically be the same as driving using your rearview mirror. Some people even write out their “budget” and have expenses marked down on a nice spreadsheet and track them very clearly. This is a step in the right direction, although we are still focusing on where we’ve been and not where we’re going.
Click Here for Aaron’s Zero Balance Budget Tool -on the Resources page at TrueNorthFFC.com where I’ve uploaded my Zero Balance Budget Tool and some other great documents to help you get your financial ferrari on the autobahn!
Now we have to be honest here… Not everyone is looking out the windshield or the rearview… some are wearing a blindfold and mashing the gas! The results of this plan of driving are obvious. The car gets beatup, rides really rough and sometimes causes fender-benders with others out there on the road. By downloading my budget form and filling it out, we take off the blindfold and know where we are at. Seeing on paper how much we have coming in and going out helps us to know if we should slow down some spending or plan to pull into a service station!
Aaron Nichols
Good Morning, Happy Thursday & Thanks to all the Veterans and those who’re serving and their families today!
Even with only an antennea to bring TV into the house, I’ve noticed that the Christmas ads are starting to pop up quickly. The Retailers are hitting those emotional buttons and we’re probably starting to feel excited and nostalgic about the holidays to come… This reminds me so much of a story of a Toilet Seat, told by Russ Carroll, the man who was with Dave Ramsey from the beginning. I heard this first hand while attending Counselor Training at Dave’s home offices in Nashville, TN.
Anyway, the Toilet Seat Story goes something like this: At Russ’ house (which I’m positive is VERY nice) they needed to replace a broken seat on the throne in a guest bathroom. He checked around the local ads and knew that Home Depot usually had revolving sales on things. He wanted to save money. Yes, many rich people are rich because they know how to do this! Read The Millionaire Next Door by Tom Stanley. When he went to Home Depot and asked the clerk if toilet seats ever go on sale. The clerk replies, “Nope. A toilet seat is a Need. We don’t advertise and discount Needs.”
Wow. Come to think about it, do we Ever see something that is truly a Neeeed shown on one of these fancy holiday only ads. How about the Target or Wal-Mart Black Friday Flyers? Do we sometimes see those ads and convince ourselves that a Want has now become a Need? This is exactly the intention of those retailers, and they are absolutley Awesome at transforming our emotions! If we Needed it, they wouldn’t be advertising it and it wouldn’t go on sale because those items are carried in every store and the price is already competitive, like when you buy a toilet seat.
Okay, so Christmas should be fun and meaningful and we should buy some Wants and put smiles on little kids’ faces and enjoy seeing them play and be happy. If you really want to create blessings with your gifts, they cannot be burdens to your financial status. Paying all year for last year’s gifts with credit card bills just plain takes the fun out of Christmas. Families who practice “buy now, pay later” for gifts have very little chance of having extra income to save and invest for emergencies and their future.
Here’s some bullet points to incorporate in your holiday shopping.
Then, Enjoy Christmas to the fullest knowing that it is all paid for and you don’t need to have the New Year’s Resolution to “Get my credit cards paid off ASAP”!!
Thanks for reading this post. I appreciate every person out there and love sharing these thoughts with you. Remember, these ideas are coming from a Debt Free Dude, so I also live what I’m writing. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Aaron Nichols
True North Financial Fitness Coaching
785-218-6134
aaron@truenorthffc.com
http://www.truenorthffc.com/
Free 30 min Financial Analysis – No Obligation – Completely Confidential
Happy Thursday and THANK YOU for checking back in with my blog!
Today’s update is gonna be Quick and Dirty! No fancy pics or flowery descriptions. I want to switch up the focus for this one.
Usually I’m expressing the “Why’s” of the journey to debt freedom. Usually we’ll have examples of the reasons to, and feelings obtained by bringing your finances under your control, instead of being under theirs.
Today, I’ve got a quickie challenge for you. This is one small step in the right direction. I’m sure that anyone reading this, can incorporate this one little adjustment into their habits.
Swap A Swipe! There are purchases you’re making on a daily or weekly basis that are just part of the routine. Is it coffee and a donut on the way to work? Or maybe grabbing lunch out with friends on a Friday? How about Happy Hour Drink at a certain Drive-In? Probably the biggest weekly purchase for most families would be groceries. Do you use plastic to make these purchases? If it is debit or credit, studies have shown that we have a different emotional response when we swipe a piece of plastic vs. handing over cold hard cash!
So, the challenge is this. Think about your “normal” expenditure for one of these weekly purchases. Take out that same amount in cash and put it in an envelope in your car, purse or wallet and label it coffee, lunch, Sonic, groceries, you get the point.
Then, leave your plastic in the car or at home when it is time to make that purchase.
Whip out your envelope. Hand those green bills over. See if it feels any different.
My guarantee is this. If you create this envelope, promise yourself you’ll only spend what is in it for that purchase, and follow through, it will be impossible to overspend. Now, we didn’t change anything about your buying habit, except the method of payment. I know that this one small step is something we can all incorporate into our day-to-day life.
I use envelopes all the time and love it. My clients begin to use them and feel power over their money instead of it having power over them. Give it a shot, what have you got to lose??
Post your ideas here on the comments page or on the True North FFC Facebook Page. I would love to hear what you decide to use cash to buy instead of the card.
“Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and stick to it!” – Dave Ramsey
Sincerely,
Aaron Nichols
True North Financial Fitness Coaching
785-218-6134
aaron@truenorthffc.com
www.truenorthffc.com
Free 30 Minute Financial Analysis – No Obligaton – Completely Confidential
Happy Thursday and welcome back to Ready for Better. Thanks for being here!
“I Owe, I Owe, So Off to Work I Go!”
Anyone relate to this quote?? I’ve put together some of my roadtrip pictures to help illustrate our Out of Order and Backwards way that most of us are using to handle our finances… I have lived this way for many years, so please know I am speaking first hand!
Ahh, Oregon, Beautiful Trees and Driving…
Oh the doowdeR’s – How majestic!
The odaroloC and hatU border, one of my favorite stops 🙂
Facing South down the coast… Wait a min, shouldn’t the Ocean be on my right??
Okay, Okay, these photos have been mirrored and are all out of order!