Live Debt Free

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Live Your Mission by Starting Your Own Business

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Identifying your mission in life can be a tough task in and of itself. But finding a way to achieve it can be even more challenging. Ideally, you should be able to combine your mission with your career so that you can draw an income while doing something fulfilling.

However, in today’s job market, changing careers might not be feasible. The only remaining solution is to start your own business. While this notion is often met with trepidation or fear, it’s not as difficult as you might think. In reality, you can start your own business, achieve your life’s mission, and stay financially afloat at the same time. All it takes is some common sense, planning, and a strong work ethic.

Here are some tips to get started:

1. Identify Your Mission by Gauging Your Passions in Life
Take an introspective look at yourself – look for your strengths and abilities and partner them with what you’re passionate about. If you are struggling, ask family and friends for ideas. They may offer insights, tips, and advice that you never considered.

2. Convert Your Mission to Income Generation
Once you’ve identified your mission, the next step is to turn it into a money-making venture. Research what other people are doing with similar ideas – and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Whatever you do, develop a plan and follow it. Undoubtedly, as you go along, you’ll learn more and determine how to hone your plan to better accomplish your goals.

3. Focus on Customer Service
There are plenty of places you can go to get great food, but how many of them deliver it with exceptional customer service? The best way to set yourself apart from the competition is to focus on customer service. The cost-to-reward ratio often works out heavily in your favor. Whether your venture is product- or service-based, run your business in a fast, courteous, and friendly fashion, and you’ll be sure to build a solid client base that will serve you for years to come.

4. Effectively Market Your Business
You can have the best business idea in the world, but if no one knows you exist, your efforts will be in vain. Therefore, you need to effectively market your business.

Start by creating a website, so your customers have somewhere to go for more information. Then, create a page for your business on popular social media websites, including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Creating an account is typically free, and these sites can be huge in generating new customers.

Be sure to manage all your social media accounts, and be as interactive as possible with your followers. The more promptly you respond to comments and questions, the more likely your business is to grow.

5. Save Money
If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, saving money by cutting small business expenses should be at the top of your list. Buy used items whenever you can, including computer equipment and office furniture. You can barter your talents with other professionals to get services you need for less. Also, avoid expensive marketing campaigns when you are starting out, and meet with professionals in your industry for other ways to save. Check out the website Meetup.com for networking opportunities in your area.

6. Expand Judiciously
Never overextend yourself financially when first setting out, as this may quickly lead to failure. Instead, build modest revenue streams, reinvest them in your business, and expand cautiously as you see fit. You’ll find that this business model will serve you much better than one of expanding too rapidly.

Final Thoughts
Some people feel guilty about receiving money while building or living their dream. But as long as you are ethical in your efforts, there is nothing wrong with profiting from hard work. As 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” This is true in business and in life. As long as you approach the idea of small business ownership with good planning and save everywhere you can, you can fulfill your mission in life, be financially successful, and help others along the way.

What other tips can you suggest for finding your mission in life?

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David Bakke runs an online reselling business and blogs about personal finance on Money Crashers. He lives in Atlanta with his young son and enjoys keeping up to date on the best ways to save money and improve his life.

Helpful and Free Online Calculators

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When it comes to improving your finances, free tools and resources should never be turned down. Especially when they’re available online and can be accessed 24 hours a day from anywhere on Earth. Here are a few free online calculators that will help you in many different areas of your financial life. Whether provided by the federal government, nonprofits, or privately owned entities, online calculators are particularly useful when it comes to finding ways to eliminate wasteful spending and figuring out ways in which you can keep extra cash in your pocket.

While countless online calculators exist, the following six are some of the most useful out there. Check them out and see if you can cut spending and increase your debt repayment and/or your investments for retirement.

Bloomberg Retirement Calculator: Whether you’re planning on living independently until the day you die or expect to utilize the services of Brookdale Senior Living or other nationwide retirement communities, you need to make sure you’re putting enough away to ensure you can make your particular plan actually happen. Use this retirement calculator to run your numbers and see if you’re really doing enough today to guarantee a satisfying life tomorrow.

IRS Withholding Calculator: While the springtime refund from Uncle Sam is an awesome injection of much-needed cash, there’s never a guarantee that you’re getting everything back you deserve. If you’re withholding more than necessary you are giving the government an interest free loan while shorting yourself throughout most of the year. While you want to always make sure you are withholding enough to avoid owing an enormous amount of money to the government, use the withholding calculator to avoid paying too much and losing the use of that extra cash.

Federal Reserve Credit Card Repayment Calculator: Whenever the day comes when you finally pay that credit card off, how much interest will you have paid thanks to months and years of low monthly payments? To look into the future and find out, put your monthly payment, the amount you owe, and the APR into a credit card repayment calculator. If you receive slap in the face, use it to rethink your current payment plan and to devise another. The more you pay each month the quicker you’ll pay them off and the more you’ll save in the long run.

FinAid.org Student Loan Calculator: Going back to school is one way to increase your ability to make more money in the long-run. But avoid recklessly taking out student loans without first stopping to see how much you’ll be paying upon graduation. There’s no point in getting educated to make more money if you’ll be swamped by student loans while beginning your new career. Use a loan calculator to get a good idea of the realities of borrowing for school and to do it responsibly. Always remember, you’ll have to pay those loans off someday so be careful.

Department of Energy Fuel Economy Finder: There’s no doubt about the long-term fate of fuel prices. Gasoline will continue to get more and more expensive, and as a result more and more of your money will go toward transportation costs. Before buying your next automobile, use a fuel economy calculator to determine which vehicle in your price range will be most fuel efficient. Apart from the safety of a particular make and model, this is the most important aspect of buying a new car.

Department of Energy Home Energy Saver: As unbelievable as it sounds, it’s estimated that more than half of the energy Americans use annually is wasted. This is on account of poor energy efficiency in the home. To limit the amount of money wasted every year on energy, use this incredibly detailed energy saving calculator built to be used for free by any American with an Internet connection.

Again, anyone serious about saving money and better managing their personal finances can benefit from the use of these free online calculators. These useful tools can make the difference between thousands wasted annually and thousands saved in the same amount of time. Indeed, you have nothing to lose by at least giving them a try. Despite how much of a personal finance guru you consider yourself to be, you’ll never know if you could be doing better until you take a look.

15 Ways to Reduce Core Expenses and Debt

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Being in debt can often feel like living in an inescapable hole. Unless you’re pursuing medical or law careers or a high-paying business idea it’s often difficult to insure your earnings will match or exceed your expenses and debt. As a result, the debt isn’t paid off and the interest keeps on accumulating. The hole grows deeper and deeper.

Of course, reducing your expenses is always a prudent way to put more money toward debt payments. However, many times when people look to reduce expenses they focus on peripheral costs: forgo vacations, stop going to the movies, eschew coffee or alcohol, and/or try to spend more responsibly on their children. There is nothing wrong with making such cuts, but no expense-reduction strategy is fully effective without a concerted effort to lessen one’s core costs. Core expenses include food, shelter, and transportation – the necessities of modern life.

When I was struggling to emerge from debt, I focused primarily on cutting my core expenses and was able to pay off debt far faster as a result.

Here are the 15 main tips and techniques that I used to save money and pay off debt:

Save on Food

  1. Eat out only for special occasions.
  2. Buy store-brand products.
  3. Plan out all meals beforehand, and then buy only the necessary ingredients when shopping at the store.
  4. Eat meals high in low cost products that contain high nutritional value (rice, beans, eggs, tuna).
  5. Buy non-perishable items in bulk.
  6. Become a vegetarian.

Save on Shelter

  1. Install energy-efficient lights and a smart thermostat to reduce utilities costs.
  2. Insulate the walls and attic of your home to make it more energy-efficient.
  3. Take in subletters or find a roommate.
  4. If possible, downgrade to a cheaper home or apartment.

Save on Transportation

  1. Run or bike to work instead of taking the car.
  2. Use public transit whenever possible.
  3. Utilize websites like gasbuddy.com to find the lowest gas costs in your area.
  4. Plan out trips and errands so as to minimize the amount of driving required.
  5. Downgrade to a cheaper insurance plan that offers basic coverage

These are fifteen main ways I cut my core expenses while in debt. It wasn’t easy at times – many of these cuts certainly required a sacrifice on my part – but it was worthwhile in the end. If you’re looking to emerge from debt quickly, sacrifice is the quickest way to get there.

Use these tips along with other creative ideas you come up with and you’ll be able to reduce your expenses and your debt!

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