Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas to all my readers

Merry Christmas everyone.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my children and family and friends.  I hope that your holiday is filled with fun, laughter and special moments.

Rest up.  You've got a big year ahead of you.

Dave

Monday, December 22, 2014

[VIDEO] The ultimate in reducing your lifestyle costs.. live in a van and retire by 40!

I came across Will Burson's YouTube channel a few months ago when he was talking about household budgets and his desire to be retired by 40.  Will came to the realization that while he didn't have the wealth or pension or passive income to live without working, he could pull it off if he drastically reduced his expenses.

Will's decision?  Convert a cargo van into a stealth camper and live in it full time.

Here's his final reveal after doing the conversion work.  Check out his channel to see the progress and his budget videos.

He now plans to work for a few more months and save up some cash but he's got a long term plan to live in this van off the rental income from one rental house he owns in Texas.

As a graphic designer, he's also got the option of doing freelance work via the internet to keep a small trickle of employment income coming in even if he decides to travel.

Fascinating, but probably not a solution for guys with little kids ;)


Friday, December 19, 2014

New Clarity.fm review posted

I just wanted to say thanks to Rick Stefanowski for leaving such a positive review on Clarity.fm.

If you ever want to talk to me about goals, local investing, buying or selling a business, or even home canning salsa you can reach me on Clarity.fm.

My advice page is at www.clarity.fm/davidbarnett




Source:Clarity Rick StefanowskiDec 18, 2014

Thursday, December 18, 2014

[AUDIO] Great discussion between Jack Spirko and John Publiano about starting a small business to build wealth.

I just finished listening to this recent episode of The Survival Podcast where host Jack Spirko interviews investment adviser John Publiano about starting and running a small business to build wealth.

I know many of you will find the conversation interesting.

Enjoy..

Click here to listen:

EPISODE-1482- JOHN PUGLIANO ON SMALL BUSINESS AS A WEALTH BUILDING TOOL


John Pugliano of Investable Wealth
John Pugliano of Investable Wealth

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Merry Christmas! My gift shopping is done for my family and children. #cashchristmas No credit cards used.

I just finished wrapping up the Christmas gifts and placing them under the tree.  This year I got my shopping done early and didn't put anything on a credit card.  Living within your means makes the holidays (and January) that much merrier.


Decorations and selection of the tiny tree were done by the kids, of course.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

[INTERVIEW] I speak to web marketing consultant Aaron Doucette about how he uses referral fees to grow his business and how you can use this to earn money.

Aaron Doucette is the guy who made and maintains my appraisal website and he uses referral fees to keep his sales pipeline full.  He explains how this could be used to create a part-time or supplemental revenue stream for you.

Learn more and see his portfolio at http://www.aarondoucette.com/


The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

[VIDEO] Second Car Deal! This time it's done with a fist full of cash.. really, it's an impressive fan of hundreds..

Another update on the sale of my old car, unfortunately there's no note but I walk away with cash.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Follow up article on the 'un-banked' discussing the huge profits the financial industry makes off those without bank accounts.

Earlier this year I did a post about the very powerful movie called SPENT.  It was about the unbanked population and how they face a difficult burden be existing outside the traditional banking system.  I came across this article today which relates to SPENT and thought I'd share.

Click here for the original post which contains the movie.




THE $103B BANK REVENUE STREAM [click to see original source]

News, Alternative Financial Service, Payment Methods- Dollars
pymnts_p
What's Next In Payments®
6:14 AM EST December 12th, 2014
Financially underserved consumers now spend more than $100 billion a year on financial fee and interest charges, according to a report released Thursday (Dec. 11) by the Center for Financial Service Innovation.
The CFSI estimated that underbanked U.S. consumers used $1.3 trillion in financial products and services in 2013 and spent $103 billion on the nonbank charges, up 7.1 percent from 2012’s $96 billion in charges. In 2014, that spending is projected to grow 4.6 percent to $107 billion, Credit Union Times reported.
Much of the growth came from expansion in subprime auto lending and auto leasing, which has been crowding out more expensive “buy here, pay here” auto-sales outlets.
Another growing niche: credit cards. “The increasing availability of subprime credit through credit cards has brought renewed strength to consumer solicitations and approvals in the Subprime Credit Card segment, a trend projected to continue in 2014,” the CFSI wrote. Secured credit cards also saw a sharp jump in revenue, driven by a 30 percent jump in average fees from 2012 to 2013. But those fees are expected to plateau in 2014.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

[VIDEO] Update on Car deal. The buyer backed out, I still own my 11 year old Hyundai

A little update. The buyer backed out of the deal and so I'm looking for someone else to buy my car.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Friday, December 5, 2014

[INTERVIEW] David speaks to Natural Born Coaches Host Marc Mawhinney about coaching as a business oppportunity.

My first video in a series about part-time business opportunities.  I speak with Natural Born Coaches host Marc Mawhinney about the business of coaching.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

[VIDEO] Turned my 11 year old Hyundai into a 52.68% Private Investment Note

I was watching the market for the car I wanted to buy and found a great deal so I needed to sell my old car. I turned it into a 52.68% yielding deal in only 4 days. I show you how, but you should really read my book. Invest Local available on Amazon.com.


The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

[VIDEO] Back from Vegas update, met Robert Ian and visited the National Museum of Atomic Testing.

I report back from Las Vegas, saw a cool museum, met Robert Ian of www.conquerchange.com to discuss central bank policies and inflation.




The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Monday, November 24, 2014

[VIDEO] Receivables Factoring, why would you do it and how does it work?

I teach you how receivables financing works and how it can be an option to finance a company with rapid sales growth that needs to give trade credit to customers.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Monday, November 17, 2014

The easy way to never miss a video

Hi, the easy way to never miss a video is to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
YouTube home

YouTube home[click here] Then click the 'subscribe' button on the right side under the banner art.

Thanks, I'm still havin' fun in Vegas, Baby.

Friday, November 14, 2014

[VIDEO] Get a business on the side. I'm going to Vegas.

I discuss why you want to always have a business going even if you're employed.  Also, be sure to do business when you travel, I'm going to Vegas.




The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

[VIDEO] Investment vs. Speculation

I discuss the difference between investments and speculation.


The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Monday, November 10, 2014

[VIDEO] Advice for new entrepreneurs. Now on Video!!

I talk about a piece I wrote in September about my advice to new entrepreneurs. Learn about overhead, vendor trade credit and how to forecast sales.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

I feel like chicken tonight

Chicken was on sale so I bought one yesterday.  I butchered it myself and here's what I got:

1. Shake 'n Bake supper with the kids last night.
2. Leftover chicken for lunch today.
3. Leftover chicken for supper tonight.
4. Today I sat all the leftover bits in my slow cooker all day long and made about 4L of chicken stock.
5. Tomorrow I'll be making a big batch of chicken/rice/vegetable soup.

Total cost of the chicken $7.  Cost of vegetables? under $3.

Aunt Lee Geok's Roast Chicken - whole by avlxyz on Flickr!

5 meals for 10 bucks.

[here's a great blog article along the same lines]

Saturday Update, I ate Soup for supper on Thursday, froze 3 lunch-sized portions and then put the remainder in the refrigerator. I ate some for lunch on Friday and then finished it today (Saturday)

If I add them all up, I now have 9 meals from the chicken and a few onions, carrots, and a couple handfuls of rotini noodles.
Eat smart and get wise in the kitchen, it can literally get your savings on track or create an investable pool of capital for local deal-making.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

[VIDEO] Now what do I do with this Business Plan?

I briefly discuss a public questions posted on Clarity.fm. What do you do with your business plan once its written?




Also reminded me of this famous interview with Mark Cuban:

While I don't think startup debt is quite moronic, I will agree that it is certainly unwise.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

Monday, November 3, 2014

[VIDEO] The Weekly Savings Jar Project

What a fun project.  I came across this on FaceBook and wanted to share.  Its a great project because it is habit forming and shows you just how easy savings can add up.



The Invest Local Book blog is all about small business, local investing, home economics, small business systems and borrowing money for your business. It's full of great content and I look forward to seeing your feedback.

sign up for my MailChimp e-mail list
http://eepurl.com/XKdW1

Friday, October 31, 2014

[VIDEO] Apartment vs. Mini-Home vs. Small House Operating Cost Comparison

The topic of whether or not it makes sense to live in a dwelling on leased land came up in conversation. I decided to do an operating cost analysis comparing a small home, a mini home on leased land and an apartment all with similar features.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

[BOOK REVIEW] Buyer Legends shows how storytelling can be a tool for marketing development

I've always known that stories were memorable.  In fact, I use stories in my sales pitches and presentations.  The video blog posts that I do where I tell stories are some of the most viewed that I've done.

I recently read Buyer Legends which outlines the proper use of a narrative story in helping to plot the path of an intended customer from the beginning of their demand to the end of their purchase.

The narrative story is then used to diagnose where the buyer can 'go wrong' and fall off the intended track.  The story helps everyone on the team develop a common understanding of who/what/where is supposed to happen.

Great read for any business owner or for anyone in sales or marketing.  And only about 3 bux!



 Free Kindle reading apps are available for all computers and devices.  You don't need a Kindle to read the book.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

[VIDEO] Another post about liquidity and a chat about credit card limits.

I discuss a friend's dilemma about how much to put down on a house and how credit card limits make us feel.

To see the first post about liquidity risk just click.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

[VIDEO] Are there gender obstacles to women being entrepreneurs?

Ever since I've become a father to a little girl I've been more attuned to watching/listening to arguments and opinions about gender divides when it comes to goal achievement.

I thought this video from Glendon was interesting.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Friday, October 24, 2014

[AUDIO] Loan updates and financing the painter's receivable

I give an update on the loans I did over the last few months as well as discuss financing the receivable of a painting contractor.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

PayPal introduces its version of Merchant Cash Advance in Australia

In yet another demonstration of how needy small business operators are for capital, PayPal has announced it will expand its lending services to Australia.

This service has been available in the US for some time.

PayPal financing open to Australian small business

Basically, the merchant can borrow up to 8% of their annual PayPal revenues and apportion a percentage of their future receipts through PayPal to pay off the debt.

Typically this type of financing is very expensive for merchants (see my post and video about Merchant Cash Advance here) and it shows that there is a market and a need for SMEs to borrow and a willingness to pay above average rates.

If you have capital to invest, you should be looking to Invest Local.  Buy my book to learn how.

Here is the link to the full article:
http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/market/65807-paypal-financing-open-to-australian-small-business

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

[VIDEO] The road to Gold is paved with Macaroni

I respond to an e-mail I got about how a person could afford to invest and build up assets.  I talk you though the importance of good home economics while I make 11 lunches at once for about a buck each. (and half that budget was the tinfoil packaging)

Enjoy



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Friday, October 17, 2014

[VIDEO] Dr. Goldfinger

I stopped by my local bullion dealer today to pick up an ounce of gold. I discuss asset diversification and the 8 asset classes from my book, Invest Local.

Enjoy



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Kerry Lutz talks to Charles Hughes Smith about the failings of the current banking system

Charles Hugh Smith – Central Bankers Have Reached a Fork in The Road… They Should Take It


A great interview where Kerry and Charles discuss the problems of the current banking system.  I even get a mention! Exciting. (even though Kerry's comments that I 'make a living at it' aren't quite true) Great interview.




Check Out Finance Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Financial Survival Network on BlogTalkRadio with The Financial Survival Network on BlogTalkRadio

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

[AUDIO] Liquidity Risk in non-amortizing loan deals

Buzzing Ends at 33 Seconds.

I discuss an opportunity that one of my friends has to buy out a mortgage investment and discuss the pros and cons of the potential deal.  I talk about Liquidity risk, just one of 9 types of risk that are dealt with in my book; Invest Local.

Enjoy


InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

As Promised, A Salsa Story

This year I grew a very tiny garden with only four tomato plants. I also grew bell & jalapeno peppers. I knew that I wanted to make salsa.

Since my tomatoes were ripening at different times, I used the peeling method I learned from The Mrs Volfie at Our Half Acre Homestead.



As each tomato ripened, I put it into my freezer.  On Saturday I peeled them all using the method in the video above.


I then had a big pot of peeled, frozen tomatoes.  I cut them up with a knife into chunks as they thawed and kept draining the excess water from the pot.


I then added bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, yellow and red onions and some cilantro paste.  A tablespoon of pickling salt and a squirt of lime juice.  I brought it to a boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes to further thicken the salsa.  This is a 10L pot.


I prepared my jars by washing them and got my lids ready in hot water.  The tall canner you see on the stove is for pressure or steam canning but in this case I use it as a water-bath canner.  I fill it with water and let it heat up to get ready.


Once the jars are filled and the lids are on, I put them in the water and let it boil for 15 minutes.  For this to work, the jars need to be covered by at least an inch of water.


I removed them one by one with the special jar lifter.  They need to cool on a low heat-conductive surface like my wooden cutting board.  As the salsa cools down, each lid will 'pop' and demonstrate that a vacuum seal has been created.  This prevents any bacteria getting into the jar and allows you to store at room temperature in the cupboard.  Just like store-bought salsa.



Final yield, 7 one-litre jars of salsa and one tiny 'leftovers' jar to go in the fridge.  Its delicious and I know its good because I made it myself.  The whole project took be 15 minutes of peeling, then I waited a few hours for the tomatoes to thaw, then did the prep and canning in about an hour.

I really enjoy this stuff and is saves money too.  The ROI is hard to calculate since so much of the contents came from my garden.

If you're interested in learning more about canning, I recommend The Mrs. Volfie on YouTube.




Monday, October 13, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.



This year I was invited to a turkey thanksgiving supper yesterday and I'm hosting a big family meal today (I'm making a slow cooker pot roast).  We have lots to be thankful for and I wanted to write about one of the big reasons for the holiday, the completion of the harvest and celebrating the bounty of the land.

This year, I put in a ridiculously small garden.  I planted peppers, two cucumber vines, four tomato plants.  Here's what I ended up with:

  • Many meals garnished with fresh veggies I grew
  • 12 500ml jars of bread and butter pickles
  • 5 500ml jars of dill pickles
  • 7 250ml jars of delicious relish
  • 7 1000ml jars of salsa (post with pics coming tomorrow)


Of course I added some onions and and other marginal ingredients but essentially I got all these preserves by making sure I watered the garden every second day.  The effort was quite small.  I also took the time to gather some free food which either grows wild in my neighbourhood or was offered to me.  I used this free rhubarb and crab apples to produce:


I know that home canning/preserving isn't for everyone but I enjoy doing it and I like knowing what's in the food that I give to the kids.  Of course, being productive in the kitchen could also help lure a potential future wife onto the scene.

Just remember, growing your own food is like printing your own money.

Enjoy the long weekend.




Thursday, October 9, 2014

[AUDIO] Debt, Slavery, Bondage and Used Cars

I discuss the ethics of debt, why I don't like to borrow for consumer items and why I don't usually lend on such things.  I talk about the connection between debt, slavery, government bonds and why I buy used cars.

Enjoy, and let me know how you feel below.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

[VIDEO] A fresh look at analyzing Silver prices and the Dow:Silver Ratio

If you've read my book you know that I consider gold and silver to be a form of savings and integral to anyone's 'core' wealth position.

I love many of Don Harold's videos and this one demonstrates clearly that he is an innovative thinker when it comes to analyzing data.

Watch how he analyzes the price of gold by taking inflation into account over the last 100 years and why he distrusts the nominal value of the 'DOW.'

Enjoy.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Monday, October 6, 2014

[VIDEO STORY] Paving Contractor vs. the Drug Dealers & Beautiful fall colours.

I had the good fortune to spend some time speaking with a man in the paving business over the weekend.  When I asked him a few questions about his work I was surprised when he told me the problems the illegal drug trade creates for driveway pavers.

Enjoy.

Also, I will be in Vegas on the weekend of Nov 14th if any readers want to get together and do a local investing mastermind meeting.



InvestLocalBook.com is the blogsite for Invest Local, a book about local investing deals such as loans, leases, inventory financing, receivables financing and more to small businesses and people.

Las Vegas, weekend of November 14th

I'm going to be in Las Vegas on the weekend of November 14th.  Let me know if you're in the area and if there's any interest in organizing a local deal mastermind/workshop.

E-mail me at dbarnett@alpatlantic.com


Friday, October 3, 2014

Specific Knowledge is key to finding deals others cannot.

I discuss a topic brought up by a message from an accountant who read invest local.  Use your own special 'force' to find deals others cannot or would not do.


Thursday, October 2, 2014

People turn to Payday Lending because banks are more costly??

I came across this very interesting article about payday lending.  If you recall, I had posted links to a movie about how these lenders take advantage of the 'unbanked' by charging high effective rates.

Turns out, the payday lenders may not be as expensive as the banks people are trying to avoid and the users of these services may be smarter than most will admit.

[click] to see the post which featured the movie.




TURNS OUT THAT PAYDAY-LOAN CUSTOMERS ARE PRETTY SAVVY BORROWERS

business-loan
Conventional wisdom might lead one to conclude that payday lending is a scourge upon the Earth and an institution dedicated wholly to feasting on the financially disadvantaged and entrapping them unwittingly into an unending cycle of interest, fees and renewals intended to turn a $500 loan to buy groceries into a lifelong commitment. One also might reasonably begin to expect that their days may be numbered as the CFPB prepares to wipe their societal contagion from the face of the earth with purifying regulatory fire.
But recent data released by the CFPB seems to indicate that the conventional wisdom may be wrong on both counts.
An analysis of the complaints received by the CFPB  from consumers in its first three years indicates that payday lending isn’t really that big a problem insofar as only roughly one percent of the consumer complaints are related to payday loans. Mainstream financial products and services such as mortgages and credit cards dwarfed payday lending for the volume of complaints received. When debt collection is added in, those three areas accounted for roughly 66 percent of customer complains, reports American Banker.  This data is corroborated by FTC data that essentially reveals the same thing–payday loans represent about 1 percent of consumer complaints.
The CFPB data also revealed that if overdraft protection, the mainstream alternative to a payday loan, were evaluated in the same APR terms that payday loans are, they can come off much worse –in some cases clocking in at around 1700 percent (as opposed to the totally reasonable APR average of payday loans–350 percent). Moreover, the CFPB study noted that understanding short term loans in terms of APR may be less than helpful, since consumers prefer to evaluate the loans in terms of fees charged in dollars.  [click to go to article site]

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Whaddaya know twitter...

You never know what you'll find if you spend some time looking at who favourited your tweets and which tweets they were.  I've uncovered some neat websites that you may enjoy from my Twitter followers...

FitSmallBusiness.com

David over at fitsmallbusiness.com has favourited several of my tweets.  When I checked out their site I found a really comprehensive series of articles on how to run a small business. From marketing to funding and all sorts of other stuff.  Worth a look.

SunbeltCanada.com

Sunbelt Canada is the site for Sunbelt Business Brokers in Canada.  Yes, I used to own the Moncton office but I see that the social media monitors at my old franchise still enjoy my opinions and do the occasional re-tweet as well.  Check out their site for information on buying and selling businesses and to see the majority of businesses for sale in Canada.

Meetthefounder.co

This is neat.  A website dedicated to interviews with the founders of start-up companies.

MarcMawhinney.com

A business coach who helps entrepreneurs make business fun again.  Marc's website features lots of great blog posts, many from guests, that offer great advice for start-ups and established businesses.

ExploreB2B.com

I'm going to have to spend some time on this.  Seems to be a neat networking site based on areas of expertise where readers can rate posts.  Kind of like LinkedIn meets eBay for ideas and information??  Looks cool, I'll have to investigate further.

If you're not following me on Twitter, just click the button on the right sidebar.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone.





Tuesday, September 30, 2014

[VIDEO] Mastermind Groups Encore-Questions answered

I answer Rick's questions about mastermind groups and discuss why mine is so successful.  It's because of business systems.  How can you join or make your own mastermind group?

Enjoy

The original Mastermind Group post is here [click]

Monday, September 29, 2014

[VIDEO] Dead Capital in a business and buying a job.

In this video, I discuss the idea of 'killing' capital by putting it into a business and getting no return on the money.

I also address the topic of 'buying' a job through small business acquisition and how this compares to 'investing' in education.

Enjoy


Friday, September 26, 2014

Updates from David about the Blog and a new set of tools coming soon

A brief update about:

  • Blog readership numbers
  • Upcoming webinar
  • New tool set that I'm developing for those that want to do local deals from the book.



Touching reader review of Invest Local on Amazon

I was really touched when I read this review of Invest Local that appeared from a reader on Amazon. 
My intent in writing the book was to create a no-nonsense, easy to understand book
that would shed light on things that many people just don't understand.

I think I've achieved my goal with this reader.



By Andrea Smith on September 25, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I thought I would be confused about how investment works but this book showed me how. 
There was a lot of useful information. I liked that he said to invest outside the banking system. 
I didn't know you could do such a thing. I always thought that they rip you off . 
Maybe that is too harsh a term, but I find it funny that you can only withdraw a certain 
amount of your money from an ATM daily. I mean what if it is an emergency? 
As for the stock market, I know a bit more now about how it is run thanks to this book.
I see how the Wolf of Wall Street made his millions. I have so much more to learn. 
Invest Local covered a lot of topics that I didn't realize i would come across. 
I always receive car loan applications in the mail . I am glad I ignore them anyway. 
I know I am probably going to do the certified pre owned lease when i car shop. 
I am not yet an investor but in the future when I do, I will be smart about it. 
This is a simple, straight forward guide.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

[VIDEO] One Buyer, One Seller, Multiple Simultaneous Offers

I have often used the strategy of making multiple simultaneous offers when buying houses, businesses, or large capital items.  It can be a way to frame the discussion with the seller and show that you're open to various scenarios.  I talk about one such example in helping a friend who is negotiating to buy a company.



Tuesday, September 23, 2014

FSN Interview about crony capitalism that turns to local opportunities

This is a great interview with economist Gordon Long about the evolution of crony capitalism and how large companies resort to 'regulatory capture' to ensure profits.

When the conversation turns toward investing, the discussion gets local.  (about min 18:00)

Enjoy


Great book review on Goodreads.com

Another great review of Invest Local. Have you bought your copy yet??

This one was posted on Goodreads.com, a very comprehensive book review site.


I read Invest Local and I learned a lot. It was a re-education about savvy investing. I didn't realize it but I have always sort of been under the influence of the financial system. I really didn't think about other ways I could invest my money outside of RRSP's, mutual funds, TFSA etc... And your book really opened my mind to think about better ways to invest that would actually give me more control over where and how my money is invested. Some of the suggestions in the book seemed very traditional even old fashioned ideas about investing. I love it! In my view investing in a local business is great! We all know how getting money from the banks can be an uphill battle and in a lot of cases simply because of the prohibitive policies and regulations they have in place.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Great article on the number of people living paycheque to paycheque and what they can do about it.

I came across this great MoneyWise Blog article about the number of Canadians living paycheque to paycheque and what can be done to find some savings in a budget.

Saving is important because you need your rainy day fund intact before you can save to invest.

Enjoy.




How to Stop Living Pay Cheque to Pay Cheque


How to stop the paycheque-to-paycheque cycle.
By Andrew Seale
With files from Melanie Epp
Try as they might, many Canadians are working hard for little gain, according to a new survey by the Canadian Payroll Association.
Around half of those polled say it would be a challenge to meet their financial obligations if their paycheque was delayed by a week and even more – 63 per cent – of young adults aged 18 to 29 are living paycheque to paycheque.
It’s a tough space to be in, says Christine Canning, head of everyday banking at BMO: “It can be overwhelming and very scary,” she says.
BMO’s Rainy Day Survey found similar results, with a quarter of Canadians only having $2,051 in emergency funds – not nearly enough to cover an unexpected health incident or weather a job loss for more than a month.
How can you break the vicious paycheque-to-paycheque cycle? Check out our top tips:

It’s the Little Things

Turns out, breaking the cycle is all about frame of mind – and taking some baby steps. “A lot of us know instinctively what the right things to do are, but knowing what they are doesn’t make it easy to actually do them,” Canning says.
The key is taking a less overwhelming perspective. “Change it from ‘oh my god, I’m supposed to have three to six months of savings stored away, I could never do that,’ to ‘I wonder if I could find 10 dollars a week.’”
As with any financial decision, whether it be tackling debt, contributing to an RRSP or saving, you need to realize that each little decision will add up to a greater whole.
“You don’t have to have a huge amount of money in order to, over time, make a huge amount of difference,” Canning says.

Step 1: Know What You Owe

Taking some time to get to know what you owe can help you decide where to draw a line between your wants and needs. “If you’re someone who finds budgeting intimidating, don’t choose a whole bunch of numbers chose one,” says Canning. For instance, add up all your expenses from debt to rent and groceries and figure out what’s left after you’ve used your paycheque on those bills. Allot a portion of that for non-essential spending and a portion for saving. [CLICK TO CONTINUE TO ARTICLE PAGE, THERE ARE 7 STEPS IN TOTAL]