Gabriel Hummel » Finance

Are You Rich?

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:36:47 +0000

I know of two kinds of rich people in this world

Some people are rich with things; they have money, cars, houses, toys, people, relationships, extravagancies

Some people are rich in mind and spirit; they have inner peace, happiness, relationships, love

While there are differences between these two different types of people, they are not mutually exclusive

You can be the special type of person who is rich with things but also has a multitude of loving relationships, just as much as you can be a person who is rich in mind and has a small collection of priceless comic books

The key thing here is not to place one type of person above another, but rather to understand that these illustrious differences do indeed exists and in order for us to pursue either front, different steps needs to be taken

I would be lying if I said having some nice things doesn’t make a bit easier and can add a great deal of excitement

I would also be called out on bullshitting if I said that all you need in life is inner peace, because as great as it is to feel great all the time, it’s kind of hard to be happy when you have no place to sleep

It’s important to recognize what type of person you are now, and what type of person you are striving to be. Whether you are trying to be the next Bill Gates with a heart of gold, or a self absorbed sports athlete that loves things over people, you need to know that these types exist in order to make your journey easier

Now there is an illustrious 3^rd type of person that does exists in the grand scheme of things

This person is so super fucking secret that no one really talks about it, but yet everyone knows of someone like this

What I am hinting at is the person who not only has inner peace and joy in nearly all aspects of his life, but also is rich financially. Think the Dali Lama with spinners on his car

This is the ideal in my opinion

Not only have you achieved happiness in your life no matter what, and recognize the richness that exists even when you can’t put food on your plate, you can also afford to splurge and go on exciting adventures in exotic lands that may have not been available to you and your loved ones without the proper financial resources

That sounds pretty damn awesome if you ask me

So remember, there are really 3 rich types in the world, aim for the balanced partner and your life will be that much more awesome

Cheers

Gabriel

Top 10 Quotes By People Who Love To Gamble With Your Money

Gabriel Hummel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:11:07 +0000

Crazy times would be the easiest way for me to define how my life has currently unfolding. Between prepping to move out west and arranging my entire life into a handful of boxes in order to best begin my new minimalist and/or crazed hippie lifestyle change, lets just say that shit is changing, and its changing fast.

In Lou of all this controlled insanity, one of the big areas of my life that has grown in interest (and importance) to myself is that of personal finance. I know that there are a million and one finance blogs on the Internet, and to be totally honest they all pretty much point to the exact same style of advice with only minor discrepancies. Since you are all more than capable of typing “personal finance blog” into google and walking into a cluster fuck of good resources, I will not bore you with the semantics of my financial endeavours. Instead I will offer the last route and direct you to some of my favorite quotes on finance by some of the most well respected gurus in the financial industry.

Have fun counting your pennies

If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.
John D. Rockefeller

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Warren Buffett

Money is like an arm or leg – use it or lose it.
Henry Ford

In all realms of life it takes courage to stretch your limits, express your power, and fulfill your potential… it’s no different in the financial realm.
Suze Orman

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
Bill Gates

My son is now an “entrepreneur.” That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.
Ted Turner

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.
Henry Ford

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
Warren Buffett

If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.
Karl Albrecht

I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.
Mukesh Ambani

Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities that appear, wherever they might be.
Lakshmi Mittal

Simple Tips To Go On An Exotic Vacation For Next to Nothing

Gabriel Hummel — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:59:32 +0000

(Photo by Giuseppe Finocchiaro)

Paris, Sydney, London, Hawaii, Greece

Everyone dreams of traveling to the most exotic locations on the planet with the idea of beautiful white sand beaches under their feet. Or the chance to drink fine wine under the Eiffel tower during the moonlight

A trip up north or to the town a few hours away just doesn’t cut it sometimes

But the problem I hear most when I ask people why they don’t travel to the places they really want to visit is unanimous

“Its way to expensive for me to do that”

I have successfully traveled all around many parts of the western world, and am currently in plans to take a trip across Europe for three months visiting all the spectacular museums, lavish restaurants, and colorful nightlife

I am able to do it with student loans breathing down my checking account, very little money to my name, no 9-5 job salary, and I want to show you how

Going on vacations is something that everyone loves to do, but many people lack the financial resources to make their wildest trips possible

In order to combat the need for high priced travel, you must employ the concept of being a conscious consumer and the ideals of frugality in order to maximize trip pleasure and minimize costs

Step 1 Booking a Flight and Hotel

It’s surprising to know that even in this day and age; many people book their flights and hotels directly through their perspective airlines and hotels websites. While having a favorite airplane company to use may be to your liking, you can save hundreds of dollars on your flight and your room by booking them on major comparison flight websites

My favorite site to use is www.sidestep.com

This site allows you to compare multiple flight and hotel booking companies such as Priceline, Expedia and Hotwire to determine the best possible price available for your flight

I once got a flight to Los Angeles from Detroit Michigan for 230$ through sidestep, most websites started at 400$!

Now when it comes to saving even more money, you can use two websites that allow for cheaper, or even free accommodation wherever you go in the world as long as you’re willing to be more travel flexible

Hostelworld.com and couchsurfing.com are some of my most used sites before I leave for a trip

Hostelworld.com

Hostelworld.com is a hostel website of course

It offers user reviews and booking for nearly every hostel around the world, from New York to Tokyo

The nice thing about hostels is that they are dirt cheap, sometimes as little as 10 dollars US per night

You get all of the provisions of a hotel, including a bed, shower, and TV/internet; you even get added bonuses in many hostels including a recreation room and a full service kitchen

The only catch is that you share your room with 1-3 other people

While this may seem unreasonable to many, consider the many adventures you could embark on by meeting brand new people during your stay in an exotic land, sometimes they even have local connections that can lead you to food, drinks, and future travel opportunities with some of the most fun and outgoing people you will ever meet

Couchsurfing.com

Couchsurfing.com is a website for just what it sounds, sharing people’s homes across the world for free

While many people may be fearful of utilizing another person’s guest bedroom in a foreign country, couchsurfing.com has many safeguards built right into its service that make for an excellent and safe service

In order to use the service, you must apply for account and share many details about who you are and why you are using the service. Upon acceptance, you can search through a long list of criteria in order to find the right house for you to stay at.

Each house has reviews made by travelers just by you, people explaining what their experience at that house was like and what they liked/disliked about the accommodations.

You then apply to “couchsurf” their house for a period of time, and the person who owns the house reviews your account, as each traveler has personal reviews about them as well.

What this means is that if you are traveling in a small group, you can meet fun, outgoing, trustworthy people and stay at their house for nothing

That’s right, couchsurfing.com is totally FREE

Sidestep.com, hostelworld.com, and coachsurfing.com all offer low cost or even free accommodation all around the world. Each website can fit your individual needs, whether you are a party of one or a large family you can find great deals on your flights and living space that allow you to travel to far and exotic locations that you may have always wanted to visit, but never considered a possibility.

A good friend of mine is currently backing packing through Europe for an extended period of 5 months, to date he is 4 months into his trip and using the techniques I have listed here he has only spent $6500 in total. That’s significantly less than most people spend in one month!

In my next articles I will cover how to spend money during your trip and have the time of your life without creating a credit card statement that is tall as the entrance to the Louvre, and also outline how my friend was able to travel through Europe for nearly 5 months for next to nothing

Spend Less Money and Still Buy the Things You Love

Gabriel Hummel — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:17:25 +0000

Many people in society today tend to have loose spending habits

They see something they want, and they purchase it

While there is nothing wrong with buying the things your desire, the problem comes at the end of the month when you receive a credit card statement that makes you consider committing arson to your home for the insurance claim

Fear not

I have recently been enlightened with a simple method for you to buy the things you love, without breaking the bank

I recently read the book, “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi. In the book, he describes many different meager changes people can make in their lives that will allow them to save astronomical amounts of money in the short and long term

One of the things he discussed that truly intrigued me was the concept of being frugal vs. being cheap

He describes being frugal as buying the things you love, over the things don’t love as much

And he view cheap as people who basically try to cut down costs in all areas of their life, which both Ramit and myself agree is not the best option

In order to be effectively frugal, one must decide what it is above all else that they love

Maybe you are a lover of restaurants and nightclubs and enjoy spending money at nights out on the town

Maybe you love shoes, and you tend to buy more than ten pairs a month and cant live without the new Manolo Blahniks

Or maybe you’re a coinsurer of world traveling, and like to get out of town at least once a month to an exotic location such as Costa Rica or Paris

Wherever your passion for spending lies, everyone has one or two areas that they value above all else

As I stated before, the problem isn’t spending, but rather spending on to much

Sit down and really think about what you love to spend your money on, and make a personal commitment to spending on that type of purchase above all else

The second part of this exercise is to find out where your other spending habits lie, and find ways to trim them effectively

Assume for a moment you are making $70,000 a year, are passionate for traveling, and are spending $1,200 a month on traveling and another $3,000 on eating out, nightlife, clothes, electronics, etc

This spending pattern can get destructive very quickly

Instead limit going out to eat to $100 a week maximum, and maybe only go out and spend $75 on nightlife. Also limit yourself to one electronic purchase a month (and it must be under 300 dollars) and only spend 200$ a month on clothes

If those simple choices are made, you could reduce your $3,000 a month expenditures to under $1,000 with little to no effort

Now that you are saving roughly $2,000 dollars a month, you can increase your traveling budget by $600 to $1,800 or even to $2,000, and save the rest

By doing this you will save more money and effectively be able to spend more money on the things you love

You will be able to go on two trips a month instead of maybe one, or be able to go shopping every other weekend instead of once a month

All guilt free

You will find yourself stressing about credit card bills and online bank statements less, and enjoy more of the things you love right now

Go out and try it now

Gabriel