Archive for the ‘Frugal’ Category

I want to become a Millionaire…

Last blog post was an article from Trak.in about “India’s Millionaires” and how the number got doubled last year even with all the economical uncertainity. I decided to continue the topic by writing about Millionaire Mindset and evaluating my own goal of becoming High Networth Individual (HNW).

I remember a funny saying, “You can easily get rich in two ways, by birth or by marriage.” First one is obviously not in your hands but second option is feasible if you are confident about your people skills. But if you are a believer of  yourself, there are better ways. Things took a new turn especially during the dot com era and people mentality started dreaming on high places. Thats the same timeframe when “Who wants to be  a Millionaire?” show started airing and creating buzz all about becoming a millionaires. It surely boosted the moral of many individuals to aim big particularly many entreprenuers in the middle class.

Following the hit of the show and dot com era, many millionaires made news more often than ever and millionaires list started growing. According to the “World Wealth Report” which is a report on individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million in all assets except their primary residence. In the World Wealth Report 2007 – “The 11th annual World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch/Capgemini finds the World’s High Net Worth (HNW) population growing to 9.5 million with their assets rising to $37.2 trillion.

Talk about becoming a Millionaire was everywhere in the internet. Many self made millionaires called themselves as gurus and grabbed the chance to preach their very own mantras via seminars and books. To name a few, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosoki and more… But recently due to economy crash, investment values plummented and many millionaires dropped from the list.  “The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, not including first homes, fell by 2.5 million to 6.7 million in 2008, according to the Spectrum Group report, as reported by Reuters. As of 2009, there were 2,886,200 HNWI’s in United states. 

Even after seeing the uncertainity of market, job losses and economy struggle, millionaire fire continues to live on among many brave souls. Whether I consider myself as a one among wannabe millionaires or it is just one of my goals, I strongly feel it is a challenging goal to have in your list. It is surely not a easy task for any one especially a guy like me who came from middle class indian family. But it is an achievable target for any hard working individual.

If there is a WILL, there is always a WAY to reach it.  Whether you choose to work hard in your profession, spend less and save more or putting money on different invest vehicles or trying to invent new business ideas or products like iPhone or Joined MLM network, every route has got challenges and worth trying it out.

First thing I did was started tracking my progress by updating networth every month towards my goal to become millionaire in 2015. It really helps me to put things in perspective like where I was, where I am now, know periodic progress and what I need to do move forward in my journey.

Being a hardcore wannabe Millionaire, many times I asked myself number of questions like,

Is the Millionaire goal truely worth it?
Do I have to become a millionaire to live happily?
Why do you need to have Millionaire goal?
Can I have my Financial Freedom when I become Millionaire?
Does only men are up against Million dollar goal?
What is Millionaire Mindset?
Are Millionaires lavish spenders?

Are some things just myths about being a Millionaire or real truth? I plan to dwelve more into these questions in my next post. If you have any questions like above, please share your thoughts and views.

Why you should attend free seminars?

For many years, I never bothered to check the flyers and free entrance tickets offers to attend an investment  or business seminar which came via postal mail.  In 2004, when I was venturing out on different business options, I got 2 free tickets to attend an internet related seminar. It was all about internet marketing, SEO and ecommerce websites. Being a software professional, I was attracted and decided to check it out.

That changed everything. It was worth a attempt and was totally worth my time as well.  I got exposed to some pretty neat stuff which I never knew as a techie guy. I learnt many new things about search engine optimization(SEO) techniques and other aspects on how to get high rank in search engine. Actually it was an eye opener for me. May be I could have learnt them all by reading few books but it might have taken me months. First of, I wouldn’t have known where to start and wouldn’t have experimented it. With the expertise I gained in that seminar, I did my research and implemented few SEO techniques in my websites and got pretty good results. That was just a half day seminar and I was amazed by the impact of the free crash course.

After that seminar, my perspective towards free seminars changed and I started to look closely on the free seminar offers before throwing it out to see whether it’s worth few hours to gain something or not.

What are these Investment/Business seminars all about?


These half/one day seminars are hosted by different organization who are either investing institutions or teaching institutions hired by them. They arrange these seminar at big 3-4 star hotels in many big cities every month mostly from Spring till Fall season.




Their motivation behind is to attract people interested in business/investing ideas and peek interest by throwing attractive figures and numbers, hoping to lure you into 3-5 days workshops. Thats their ultimate goal to make money.  They hope, if 50 people attend a session and atleast 20 signup, that would be enough to make profitable. Sometimes seminars are also conducted by wealth management firms and brokerage companies directly to explain their products and services.


Why should I go?


Are you an stock/bond investor or wannabe investor? Are you thinking about making some extra bucks by starting a new business or want to do something different?


If your answer is “Yes“, you better start attending these free seminars matches your interest and goals. Think it’s like a free crash course.  It is so effective than reading books all day.  Next question, you might ask whether it will be worth my time? I can assure you it will surely worth your time in long term. But only choose to go to seminars that matches your interest. If you been thinking about investing in stocks and funds, go and check out stock trading seminars. If you want to know more about real estate investing, attend seminars hosted by those type of organizations.

For example, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyoski started events to talk about real estate via his Rich Dad Education group. You can look out for their events at http://www.richdadeducation.com/

Gimme some or alteast 5 reasons to attend these seminars?

I can list down many reasons but there are the 5 importants reasons/advantages to attend these type of seminars.


1. Free Education


I won’t say, you will learn everything. But you will surely learn some good and dirty tricks. You should be able to get some pointers and books which might help you to know where to start. You either pick up certain topic from the seminar and research more further to learn the intricacies which will surely help in your trade or future endeavors.


2. Learn new tricks

Even if you are Pro and knowledgeable in your field, you can still crab some funky tricks from these semianrs. I never knew a website called “Zillow.com” until I attended a real estate seminar. I got to know
many great tricks and decent websites just by attending these seminars. I didn’t know how real estate flipping or wholesale worked. Thanks to these seminars.  Many seminars are hosted really with entertaining and well prepared materials to create interest among auidence to attract them to sign up. You will surely enjoy it.

3. Free Materials

You might be lucky enough to get some giveaways and free offers in these seminars. It is just worth to get these giveaways like CD’s and books even if the seminar is not upto your expectation. One thing tough, try to take seating in front rows so you can hurry and crab these giveaways if offered.

4. Networking

These seminars provide a great ground to talk and network with like minded people. You may even 
end up learning and partnering with those who attend these seminars.

5. Tax Advantage

Last but not the lease, do you know y
ou can write off the time spent and vehicle mileage to attend these seminars in your tax returns? Especially if you own a business or file self employment tax return, you can claim them under business expenses. This is really a good kick to top off all the pros in attending these seminars.

Hope these 5 reasons will convince you to attend these seminars and workshops. I will also talk more about the do’s and don’t in my next post and share some experience about the new trend in the seminar industry, Webinars and Webcasts. Watch out…

Source: Image from web.

Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebates – Starts April 7th

Hello fellow Texans,

Are you looking to replace your old air conditioner?

Are you shopping for a energy efficient Refrigerator or washer replacement to save some bucks?

You are in luck.


You heard it right! Texans can  now get hundreds, even thousands of dollars in rebates by applying for Trade up rebate program. But you gotta hurry when the reservation period starts tomorrow Apr 7th.

Who are qualified?

Every Texas residents with a valid Texas residential address qualify for a rebate if they follow all program rules.
No Post office boxes.


Why they are giving away money?

It is part of federal program to support energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. Thanks to $23 million in federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 received by Texas state which is available to be handed out through the 
State Energy Conservation Office. The caveat to the program, rebates can only be applied to new purchases of appliances with the EnergyStar label or CEE qualified models between April 16 and April 25.

What appliances are covered?

Starting from the  dishwasher to cloth washer to furance to Refrigerators to big A/c’s, most of the home appliances are covered. You can see types of appliances covered at state website. These energy efficient appliances might cost big money. If you already decided to buy it, then its worth to get the rebate. Question is, are you willing to spend extra dollars to save save few on rebate and more in long run? Then go ahead and reserve it.

Rebate amounts, purchase timeline information and a detailed list of qualifying appliances are also available on the site. 


How to get the rebates?

You need to reserve for the rebates. It is not pay first and apply later like mail in rebates type. It is reserve first and buy and apply for the rebates type because of the limited amount of funds. The state anticipates high interest in this program because of lot of advertising and rebate reservations will go quickly.


Reservations for a rebate will have to be made by calling a toll-free number or by registering on the Web site. Keep checking the site, http://www.texaspowerfulsmart.org/rebate/

Any limitations or restrictions?


You can qualify for one rebate per appliance category, two appliance rebates per household and two $75 recycling bonus rebates per household. The appliances must be bought from a Texas retailer or contractor.


I have heard many of my friends and neighbors are waiting for Apr 7th to reserve the rebates. Expect slowness and delays but don’t give up. It’s lot of money free from government. So just set your clock up for tomorrow to reserve for the big bucks. There will be a waiting list, but it’s no guarantee that you’ve successfully reserved a rebate.

You can read more about it at chron.com