Stacking Dollars: A Personal Guide to Financial Spending

By Courtney Grubert

The ability to hold the world in the palm of your hands, mentally and financially, is obtained through a comfortable living. Professionals have stated: To have peace of mind is knowing how to live comfortably with your budget and not your neighbors budget. A well-chosen financial plan and guide will provide structure so that one can live life to his or her own choosing. Stacking Dollars teaches the key to a comfortable lifestyle is to know how to effectively manage basic finances without regard to ones current socio-economic status. There is a broad market and demand for self help books in the areas of family life, parenting, and human relations. Stacking Dollars is a combined self - help and how - to book, which is designed for the everyday person who is living from pay check to pay check, and who frequently asks the question: Why is my bank account always overdrawn?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456757359

Courtney Grubert

Courtney Grub’ert is a motivational speaker and author of the financial self-help book series entitled Stacking Pennies. She has recently appeared on the New York’s Time Warner Cable show Inside View, where she was the guest speaker for a 30-minute segment dedicated to a discussion on Stacking Pennies. Her follow-up written work, Stacking Dollars, the highly anticipated sequel in the book series, has been released with critical acclaim. Courtney was born in New York, New York. At the early age of seven, her family relocated to Virginia where she spent most of her young life. Courtney graduated from Norfolk State University with degrees in Architectural Drafting and Building Construction Technology. With her impressive educational background, she has started her career as the owner of a small Architectural firm working with various companies. Although her area of study is in Architectural Design, Courtney has always had a passion for the arts and a talent for oil painting. Gaining local recognition, her paintings are on display at several stores, schools, and church locations throughout Virginia. She has also won numerous awards in martial arts, education and in sports. Placing her physical beauty at the forefront, she has also modeled for various agencies in the Tidewater area and has appeared in a short documentary on the Discovery Channel. For leisure, Courtney loves to travel and discover different cultures around the world. Courtney has experience with helping people overcome life’s challenges. Using her expertise, she has assisted her family and friends by offering innovative solutions for financial and physical obstacles. This additional talent has prompted her to begin writing a series of self-help books – with her first being Stacking Pennies. The success of her first book has led her to completion of the anticipated follow-up, Stacking Dollars.

Book preview

Contents

Dear Reader

Dedication

$tack 1: How to Save Financially

$tack 2: Knowing Yourself

$tack 3: Shopping Smart

$tack 4: Complimentary Riches

$tack 5: Life - Savers

$tack 6: Living Comfortably Within Your Budget

$tack 7: The Science Behind Spending…

$tack 8: Energy Efficiency

$tack 9: Real Estate

$tack 10: Grants

$tack 11: College Students

$tack 12: Programs that Provide Savings

$tack $13: Good Old Uncle Sam

My Challenge to You:

SUMMARY:

Sources:

Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Stacking Dollars is written for anyone who can relate to the message to which the title alludes. Can you remember looking around your house trying to find just enough change to roll up in your penny wrappers? Can you also remember eating pancakes, Raman Noodles (aka: Oodles of Noodles) or Oatmeal for dinner every night? How about the time when you had a lot of money for only a short period of time, and then wondering where it all went so quickly? Well, if you have ever been in any of these situations, where you have pinched pennies to meet your needs or have found yourself scraping by to stay on top, then perhaps you will be able to identify with the message this book promulgates. The lean days of our lives are so for a reason, and much of that reason has to do with how we handle (or do not handle) money in fiscally responsible ways.

Courtney R. Grub`ert

Dedication

I am honored to acknowledge those who contributed to my success.

To my mother, Elsie Turner, who is a very giving and loving person … I am eternally grateful for all of her support and advice, which has led me down the path to success.

To Michael Cotter my talented editor.

Opening Statement

Imagine using a restroom at a nightclub and finding, a large bag filled with money. Beside the bag is a book on how to save money. A witness to your discovery, the manager of the club tells you that you have only one choice you can either keep the book or keep the money. What would you do? Well, I would like to think that you would pick up the book instead of the money. Yeah, RIGHT! I know that most of you would probably grab the money and then head straight to the nearest airport without knowing that there is a great possibility that the book you left behind contains more valuable information than the small amount of money you just inherited. Since most of us do not cross that type of financial luck every day, the purpose of this book is to provide you with the valuable financial information that you have been missing.

Courtney R. Grub`ert

$tack 1: How to Save Financially

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

- Eleanor Roosevelt

Ever since I was a little girl, I was told that anyone who has a lot of money or who earns good money could spend it freely. However, the majority of us did not receive an inheritance leaving us filthy rich, and earning a good income is a relative term. Good should never be mistaken for disposable. The fact of the matter is that most people are hourly or salary wage earners, and both usually struggle with saving money. Let us look at each …

Many hourly workers have difficulty saving money because they have to pay certain miscellaneous expenses such as out-of-pocket insurance premiums, inner city parking fees and medical leave (such as unpaid disability), which lower their net take-home pay. To boot, most hourly positions are compensated with minimum wage earnings. This means that there is not very much wiggle room when it comes to discretionary spending. Budgeting your paycheck is a misnomer. Simply put, there is generally more month at the end of the money. Translation: you are flat broke!

On the other hand is the salaried employee who, by fiscal design, is supposed to do better than his non-salaried counterpart. Quite the opposite is true. In fact, in trying to live like the Joneses, the salaried person may opt to purchase a $60,000 car while finagling payments to keep up his monthly mortgage and to spend summers in the Hampton's. We all understand this as robbing Peter to pay Paul. Sadly, the salaried person is not doing much better than the hourly wage earner - as both are subjected to the possibility of living way above their financial means. The hourly and salaried persons are both broke at the end of the day because they do not know how to budget their incomes.

Fiscal immaturity and the I-got-to-have-it-now mentality are the driving force behind the recent national poll pointing to the sobering reality that Americans, on average, spend more than they actually earn. No matter whether you are paid on an hourly or salaried basis, you could probably use a few tips on how to save money.

There are 3 simple steps to becoming fiscally fit:

Step 1. Build your bank account

Step 2. Build your self-confident

Step 3. Live comfortably within your budget

These steps may sound simple to do and for a wealth thinker they will be. However, not everyone will be able to accomplish his or her goals. Here are a few Stacking Dollar secrets. There are 3 steps to achieving a goal or for that matter achieving anything in life.

Rule 1. For a person to achieve a goal, you first have to think of an idea.

Rule 2. You have to start what it is you want out of life.

Rule 3. You have to finish your plan.

These steps may sound simple; however, if you knew how many people start things and do not finish you would be amazed. Throughout Stacking Dollars I will be teaching you step-by-step techniques on how to build your bank account, how to build your self-confidence and how to live comfortably within your budget.

Some people say that if you think and dream big, then you can make your dreams come true. However, nothing in life is going to poof up. I can sit here all I want and think really hard about having a $3.50 tall carne latté from Starbucks. In my reality I can plan to go to Starbucks in the morning because I know it is in my budget. I cannot sit here and poof up my own Caribbean island or million dollars in my bank account because I do not have it. The idea in life is to plan for what you want and to know only through hard work is anything possible.

A college student cannot see the light at the end of a tunnel. Whenever you are facing an amount of time, it's difficult to see the end. You see the end of the tunnel on graduation day when you are walking across the stage.

You have to follow the rules and the second rule is you have to start. There will be channels in anything that is worth having in your life. There is a saying that the devil works his hardest to bring you down when you are achieving something great in your life. The last rule is to finish what you have started. When you are trying to achieve a goal there will be stones and mountains to climb. People say if you dream big then you will have your heart's desire. This is true only when you know that you have to go out there and first plan and then you have to work hard for what you want. The problem comes in Rule 3: finishing what you start. Some people feel that when they start a goal it is too much work, or it is impossible to achieve because the mountains are too high to climb.

If God were to tell you that He would grant you whatever you wanted in life but you would have to face three obstacles first, you would run to the first obstacle and maybe even faster to the second. You would only do this if you knew for sure that you were going to get what you wanted. Now stop and look at life. How many times in life have you had to do something twice? The aforementioned scenario is the same as your personal struggle to achieve your goals.

Build your self-confidence:

This can be anything that helps you do that; for example, this is a little secret thing that I do. When I drive my car I talk to myself to see if what I am saying makes sense to me. By building my vocabulary I feel confident in any conversation. Trust me: this is a huge booster to your self-confidence. When building your vocabulary you can easily start at home. Give yourself a pep talk and open up a dictionary. How you view yourself is a big part in how you feel about yourself. We underestimate our own brainpower. You have to know your mental state of mind in order to get victory. Here are a few Stacking Dollars self-confidence builders.

Stack 1. Your clothes speak to people

When you leave the house wearing a new suit you feel great about yourself. Your level of confidence and self-esteem goes up.

Stack 2. Your attitude

I know I mentioned this somewhere else within this book. My mom always says you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar. Your attitude is the main key to opening any door in life. If someone yelled at you, demanding you to do something, I'm sure you would not. You would not do anything for them because of the way they approach you. If that same person were to approach you nicely, your reaction would be positive. On another note, when you have the right attitude toward life, positive things occur.

Stack 3. The key to success in life is to believe in you.

Feeling Good about you is the name of the game. Developing the power to believe in you is the only factor.

No Unnecessary Spending:

Remember, the more pennies you pinch on regular items the more money you save, and that, my friend, is your caviar money. You will have extra money to do whatever you like. This is your Versace money. Now you can walk into a department store and buy that $100.00 Versace shirt you have been dying to get. You have earned it by penny pinching. We all want nice things, even if it is just a nice house, car or a new wardrobe. We work hard every day, so we have the right to enjoy our hard-earned money. It is my job to show you how to make the best out of saving and spending your money. Therefore, you can live like caviar with all the extra money you have saved.

Look ahead at the Economy:

With the economic downturn people are experiencing. Banks are failing, lending is down, the housing market is in a slump. People do not have the disposable income they once had. Discretionary Spending is the buzzwords of the day. Our economy is the major source of our society and how we live. From a factory worker to a service worker, from the blue collar to the man on Wall Street. Due to our job market, some low wage jobs without a college degree my fail. Therefore, by staying on top of your money you can stay on top of life. By understanding the conditions of your life, you will learn how to beat the economy that we live in. Social institutions have organized different strategies to meet the basic human needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a good guild. One important transformation in society is that we must recognize that millions of people lack the skill to participate in the path to living comfortably. To operate effectively is to want to learn and to accomplish the task. Although, most people's way of life as an individual are based on their needs and their daily activities.

The Influence of Culture:

Cultural differences are a given. And we know that people differ in just about every way conceivable. Yet, there are beneficial aspects of culture that can be gleaned by those who are the most hesitant to cross the barriers that separate us socially. How people save for the future or how they define personal wealth is a practice many would do well to emulate and adopt as a means to personal prosperity. Such cultural mimicking is at the heart of critical thinking, believe it or not, because it takes us out of the social enclaves of tradition and familiarity and thrusts us into the unchartered waters antithetical to capitalism. There is remedy beyond our safety nets.

Basically, look outside the box, especially those people who surround themselves with the same people from work or school. Going to social groups and trying different meeting places can help you brighten your thinking. By meeting different people from other religions and cultures, you begin to take on a world view that opens your eyes to a variety of possibilities and opportunities in life. It is my understanding that most cultures do what they have learned in their culture. This is not a bad thing.

Media on the move and how we are influenced by society:

Evidence of the mind: The evidence is clear and can be used in a positive or negative way to train your mind. If one hundred people told you that you look wonderful that day and one person came behind them and say that you look a mess, you would mentally believe them.

• Have you ever had a best friend who did not like someone that you did not know and just out of being his or her friend, you now don't like that person?

• It is the same thing as a bad neighborhood or bad town. If someone told you it was bad, you would not go.

• Society trains us to spend money even when we do not have it. You have to go against the grain when it comes to spending your own money. Remember, it is how you spend it.

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were two great powerful leaders who had the same mission in mind when it came to people. However, both of their methods were different. Dr. King would engage people with emotional appeals to reason by preaching a social gospel; whereas, Malcolm would appeal to the base nature of his audience by citing the inevitable alternatives to peaceful resolution. Who is to say which one you are? Both ways are different, but the end result is the same. My suggestion to you is to first understand yourself. This way you can personally choose which method would be more fulfilling for you. Know that everyone does not have the same goals or choose the same path to achieve them.

Critical thinking points to ponder:

Identify several ways in which our society has a hold on your wallet.

• Speak about how other cultures can help you mentally and financially.

• Formulate a theory. (Does your theory hold up?)

The love of money is the root of all-evil.

The Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10

The love of money is the root of all evil, but it does not have to be. When you learn the secrets to your finances, the love affair does not have to be detrimental. In fact, it can be quite healthy and beneficial. When people fail to have proper perspective only then will you have the satisfaction of living life. Remember, success is about right choices.

Keeping your hands out of the cookie jar:

My mother has a friend who has trouble saving. She cannot keep her hands out of her cookie jar especially when financial situations come up. You have to have a cookie jar that you can keep your hands out off. This cookie jar will be your money to shop out of season. However, knowing the savings you will get will be worth the wait, purchase your summer attire in the winter. You will be amazed at the savings. Instead of spending $19.99 for a pair of khaki shorts, you spend $3.99. You have saved almost $15.00 that you can put in your savings account towards your upcoming vacation. One good tip is to start saving for your kids summer wardrobe in the summertime. Then by Christmas, all summer clothes are 90% off. You only need a good $50 dollars for your child's summer wardrobe. The feeling is awesome knowing that you can purchase your child a new wardrobe. Children want the latest fashions all the time. You can be that Super mom.

A simple way to keep your money:

Banks offer ways to save. One bank offers, keep the change. If you were to spend $10.50, the bank would apply .50 cent to your savings account. Another bank has ways to save. Whenever you swipe your bankcard, sometimes more is applied to your savings account. These are ideas the banks came up with in order to keep your fingers out of the cookie jar. In other words, if you see it, you spend it. This way you do not see it, you do not even think about it, and your bank is saving money for you. Look at this way: Your child may be in for a new wardrobe.

How to start living today:

Many people fail because they have not been taught. However, some people see saving as a burden and not as a future investment. We only have one life to