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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Wealth - What is it really?



Just to let you know, I am a researcher. I am in complete heaven when I take a topic (such as wealth) and research the hell out of it. Weeks can go by and I am content learning, more and more and more about a particular subject. This happened recently when I decided to learn about the topic of wealth, and in my searching, I've gained some wonderful insights that I would like to share with you.


My mind-set in the beginning: Wealth = a whole lot of money.

Which turned into: "Having a plentiful supply of material goods and money" (http://wordnet.princeton.edu)

Which became: "The value of one's total possessions and property rights." (www.ncbuy.com/credit/glossary.html)

Then: "The abundance of objects of value." (en.wikipedia.org)

Later: "Money is not wealth; the stuff money buys is wealth" (http://web2.airmail.net/scsr/Define5.htm)

And after that: "the quality of profuse abundance" (http://dict.die.net/wealth/)

Much later: "Wealth is the things that create an abundance of happiness"

And finally: Wealth is the abundance of all things that can make us happier. (Note the term happier). It is the abundance in ALL realms of life -- financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, etc. (telecommuting millionaire)


Wisdom was found in my journey -- and isn't that the point of all good journeys? And along the path to wisdom I found some really cool friends, people that see very clearly in this world that is muddled with "stuff", "obstacles," and "intentional blinders." And in their clear vision and sharing heart, they say things like:
Wealth is not money. Wealth is what money buys. (In a dark alley at night, would you rather have a ten-dollar flashlight, or a ten-dollar bill?) Money isn't wealth; it's a claim on wealth. Money is just the solvent that makes it easier to create, obtain, and exchange wealth. (Money I've earned is just a bunch of certificates that say I've created a certain amount of wealth, turned it over to others, but haven't yet acquired an equivalent amount of wealth produced by others. Money is a time-shifting mechanism. Money I've earned says, "This guy produced wealth of this value, but he hasn't exchanged it for an equivalent amount of wealth yet." )


" . . . the word wealth comes from the Old English words "weal" (well-being) and "th" (condition) which taken together means "the condition of well-being?" Did you also know that the word "economic" comes from the Greek oikonomia meaning "the management of the household." When have you heard a report from economists or business analysts talk about conditions of household living and management? Instead we have become immune to strong language like the word "mortgage" which literally means in French "a pledge unto death" or what I call "a grip of death!" How we have twisted the meaning of words."
The Meaning of Wealth by Mark Anielski(warning: links to PDF file of the full article -- but it is an article worth reading!)


"Personally, I dont think being wealthy has too much to do about money. One can be money rich and spiritually a pauper, end result MISERABLE life. I have seen and met a lot of people who had barely enough for daily needs but were happy and there were people who were rich and very unhappy."

Comment by Robin Bal on "What is Wealth" posted on SmartWealthyRich.com


Wealth is not measured by the size of houses, the speed of cars, the price of handbags, the trendy eateries and lounges frequented by celebrities, or the purity of the drugs that those who consider themselves fashionable funnel up their noses. That sort of wealth can be attained by simply being born the son or daughter of financially wealthy parents, climbing dirty ladders, or marrying someone.
Our acts determine our true wealth.
When someone says that they love you, and you know that they mean it to their very core, that there is no doubt in any cell in your entire body that they are unconditionally sincere – then you are wealthy.

It bears repeating: WEALTH = The abundance in ALL realms of life -- emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, and maybe as an afterthought . . . financial.




Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth by (Google Affiliate Ad)



Monday, June 23, 2008

Collecting Change can change your life!


Wow, I was not aware that so many people collect change in this world and how it has changed their lives -- often for the better. May goodness, I did some math the other day and if I had picked up and saved all the change that I encountered in my young life . . . I would already by a millionaire. I mean do the math . . .

Anyway, I'm devoting this post to all the bloggers out there that collect change and in that change, changed their lives and my life as well. Carry on my good people!

Thoughts from the Change Race

One Coin at a Time

The Changepot

Change is Good
Penny Squishing

Race of the Century

Piggy Bank

Believe it or not, ALOT of these people are actually FINDING $200 - $500 a year by just picking up coins on the street and in stores and what-not. Do you realize that if you picked up $200 a year and invested it in a safe money-market account giving 4.5% interest, you would have . . . $1,392 in five years. Five years of simply looking down and picking up change! Let's say you take that $1,392 and put it in a mutual fund gaining you 7% interest for the next five years (adding $200 a year in coins that you find). Within 10 years you now have $3,183. Now watch this . . . let's just say you keep it in there for another 5 years (adding $200 a year) -- $5, 695 . . . just from picking up pennies!

Over $5,000 in 15 years, just from picking up pennies and dimes and such? I can do that!




WMU Ultimate Automatic Digital Coin Counting Bank (Google Affiliate Ad)

Monday, June 9, 2008

Dog-gone it Apple, quit tempting me with iPhones!


Look, I'm trying to keep my nose to the grind stone. I'm working really hard to make my millionaire dreams come true. I'm saving every damn penny . . . sweating over this dog-gone keyboard . . . selling my soul to the devil. And then Apple does it to me again.

I saved exactly $300 from my efforts last month and then what do they do? Offer the iPhone for $199 . . . urghhhhhh! You KNOW I want an iPhone. You KNOW I do. Now, mean ole Apple has made web surfing faster, it has G3 network technology, it's got even cooler new applications and GOOGLE geo-maps to put the period on the sentence . . . DAMN. This is so unfair.

Seriously, the only thing stopping me from pre-paying for a new iPhone in July is the rumors that AT&T's price for data service may be the same or "more" than Blackberry users and I can't even think of affording that cost right now.

[Sigh] Oh well, maybe Google's Android (their new phone coming out soon) will give me an alternative . . . but I really want an iPhone damn it.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Tallying my GAINS for April-May 2008


Okay, just in case you guys want to know and because it's only fair -- I'm going to outline my efforts to gain my millions and millions of dollars. I'm not listing gains from my actual "job" because that money is used to take care of family, household, etc. This list of gains strictly goes toward my millionaire dreams. So here it goes (rounded out for convenience).


eBay $400.00
Blogging & Writing $100.00
Advertising Revenue $35.00
Affiliate Revenue $39.00
------------------------------------
Total 2 Month Gain $574.00


I can hear you all saying, "Is that it?" All your work and you just made a measly 574 dollars? Well, yeah. It'll be more soon. Those that shoot me down because this experiment has started off slow (and feels like it will forever remain slow) obviously are oblivious to the concept of exponential growth.

[For those of you that have no clue what exponential growth is . . . hold on, I'll have an explanation about this type of growth in another post. Stay tuned.]

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You can make this blog better. Tell me what types of topics you want me to focus on. I'll be happy to write about things that actually help and entertain you. Or drop me a line at telemill at gmail. [You know what to do to send the e-mail, right?]

Monday, June 2, 2008

There is no 12-step eBay addiction program


eBay has everything, except a 12 Step eBay Addiction Program. If there was one, I'd enlist my husband in it. No matter what I do, I can't get him to stop shopping from eBay and spending money that I think would be better suited to paying down credit card debt or better yet, paying into an investment program.

So, me being a creative little thing -- and knowing that there is no way my husband will stop -- I began collecting all the things in the house that we did not want (which was a lot of stuff -- I had no idea we had so much stuff). And began selling it on eBay to offset my husband's eBay obsession.

Guess what . . . now I'm addicted to eBay, as a seller. I'm selling things left and right. Things I never thought would sell, are snatched up for what I feel are ridiculous prices. I have friends over-seas now . . . customers that drop me a line to see how I'm doing . . .a mailing list with over 100 people waiting for my next auction to come up . . . and an obsessive goal to have over 1,000 listings up at one time.

I've far outpaced my husband's eBay spending and make enough money for his "habit," many of our monthly bills, and gas for the car. A couple more months of sleepless nights -- I can't sleep because I have to check on my auction's bidding amounts at least once an hour -- and we'll be out of debt.

I have piles and piles of stuff I'm selling all through the house. My relatives have truck-loads of stuff in their closets and are gleefully happy to dump it all on me -- as long as they can get rid of it. Now, my husband is complaining that I eBay to much. Payback is a mother, huh?

Signed,
the Queen of Passive-Aggressive।

*** Though I'm making fun of this topic, there are people that have a serious problem with eBay addiction. There are people actually losing their jobs because of their fascination with eBay. Actually, there is help out there for people who just can't stop eBaying -- if you or someone you know have this type of problem and need actual help, visit NetAddiction to learn more.



Starting an eBay Business for Dummies By Collier, Marsha (Google Affiliate Ad)