Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Special Interview with guest, Founder of GivingGrinch.com

August 10th, 2008 Vijaianand

Hi folk, this week post is going to be an interview from special guest Shreyas Nanavati (MBA, Vanderbilt), founder of GivingGrinch.com, an on line budget and lifestyle advisory service, and the BudgeFree for Life System. He accepted my request in a short notice to talk about his model for you readers.



I met him a week ago and we had an interesting conversation about money, life and budget and so much more. I was so surprised to meet a person who exactly reflected my thoughts on Budgeting and money management ideas. So I wanted him to do an interview with me to share his ideas and introduce to you all about his model.





Vijai>>Shreyas, Welcome and Thanks for talking time for us.


Shreyas>>It’s my pleasure vijai.



Vijai>>Let me start by asking you, What made you to come with this Balanced Life – Budget model ?!

Shreyas>>I wasn’t a budget guru until I experienced my job loss. After a few days of sleeping in, I became restless. I created a daily routine that included having someplace to be in the morning – as if I had a job – and I made sure two or three objectives were accomplished daily. The other thing I did was keep a journal of this experience: standing in the unemployment line, attending networking events, sending out resumes, working through my finances, making sure I meet my social and emotional obligations, etc.

One morning I was typing in my journal and the dots connected – without a job I choose to organize my life in a manner similar to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This hierarchy encompassed every facet of life and if broken down into individual expenses it shows us how the money we spend, the money we build and the life we lead impacts our overall well-being. From this experience, I created the BudgetFree for Life system which became the foundation of my website: www.GivingGrinch.com: Budget Advice for a Balanced Life.
 
Vijai>>That is an interesting story.


Can you kindly, explain more about your model for my readers? Sheryas>>Maslow’s Hierarchy categorizes an individual’s needs into five levels: physiological, safety, social, esteem and self actualization.

Physiological are basic needs – food, warmth, water and other necessities critical to our survival. Safety needs represent our desire for a predictable, orderly world secure from injustice and uncertainty. Insurance – auto, home, health are examples of safety needs. So is a professional and financial security.


Social needs emphasize our desire for belonging and acceptance. They can range from participation in organizations (professional clubs, support groups, religious affiliations) to intimate personal relationships (family, friends, partners).


Esteem represents our need to be respected by our self and others; our desire for recognition, to participate in activities – professional or personal – that bring a sense of contribution and self-worth.


With this structure, the BudgetFree for Life system is able to determine how your monetary decisions fit to the hierarchy – what levels those decisions attempt to fulfill. You can read more about it on my website: www.GivingGrinch.com.


Vijai>> It like pyramid system of meeting each levels first to move on to the next level? That means, we never go above the next level if one level is not satsified. Don’t you think thats stops you from moving above the ladder?

Shreyas>>That’s not correct. Life is not this black and white. It’s true, Maslow believed lower level needs had to be met before higher levels could be pursued, but I believe fulfillment should occur in unison. Another point I would like to make, the hierarchy is a foundation for a balanced life. This includes, but is not solely focused on wealth. The definition of wealth will vary on an individual basis.


Vijai>>Tell me how is it different from the usual mantra of budgeting we all hear out there?!
Shreyas>>There’s a saying: you can take off the good ingredients off of a pizza and it’s still a pizza, but nobody will want to eat it. The same is true for life – we advocate a balanced life. The hierarchy is a foundation for balance, a philosophical approach that helps you create a budget and a lifestyle to ensure each level is being enriched.


Our approach was unlike anything else I’ve read. It’s simple yet holistic. The pyramid crystallizes an approach to life in a neat and easy to remember system. You don’t have to clip coupons, crunch numbers or learn how to use a general ledger. You can it you want, but you don’t have to. Believe in the system, practice the system and you’ll find ways to reduce expenses and build security without thinking about it, without negatively impacting your lifestyle. The numbers work themselves out.



Vijai>>Really, I might have to try myself and check it out.

Tell me, how can one start savings even they are struggling to meet their needs?! Gimme some examples which you use this model practically in your life?
Shreyas>>You asked a simple question, but I want your readers to understand short-term answers are easy, long term meaningful change requires an understanding and transformation of behavior and habits. Working through the system helps you understanding what your expenses, savings and actions aim to fulfill.


On my website you can download a laundry list of suggestions broken down by categories within each level in the hierarchy:

http://www.givinggrinch.com/2.html .


Now, let me answer your question. Sometimes we find big expenses that can easily be replaced with an alternative activity and still maintain balance. More often it’s a culmination of minor adjustments – finding bits from multiple areas where you are leaking cash.

For example, building a social life around experiences – entertaining friends, outings to the park, pot lucks instead of socializing a restaurants or bars. A few other examples:
· Physiological: Self auditing your energy and water consumption (see my August newsletter)
· Safety: Evaluating the benefits of add on features in many utilities – cell (ringtones, text plans, internet plans), TV (premium versus basic), internet (high speed DSL versus low speed DSL), home phone (caller ID, call waiting, long distance), alarm (ADT versus NextAlarm or other online services), etc.
· Safety: Modifying your driving habits (see my July newsletter on how to become a hyper miler).
· Social: Developing strategies to fulfill our social needs in a more cost effective manner (visit my website: www.GivingGrinch.com for a list of suggestions).
· Esteem: Participating in altruistic pursuits (volunteering, for example) versus the accumulation of high-end material goods. Another tip, I tell my clients to annualize their expense. For example, a morning coffee at Starbucks is only $3, but annualized it can exceed $1,000/year.



If you visit my BudgetFree for Life page, you’ll see an example at that bottom that can save $1214 from basic utilities without neglecting any of your needs. http://www.givinggrinch.com/8.html


Vijai>> That is some good tips. Do you provide any service to help people get on to this model?!
Shreyas>>Absolutely. I love helping people and I believe a balanced life should NEVER cost arm and a leg. I have a basic package, but each client receives personalized consultations for a very affordable price. You can learn more by visiting my website: www.GivingGrinch.com or email me: contact@givinggrinch.com.


I also write a monthly newsletter. It’s free. No spam. Send me an email I will add you to my list. You can find prior newsletters in two places: www.GivingGrinch.com and www.GivingGrinch.blogspot.com.


Vijai>>Thank you Shreyas for taking time to share and shed some light about your model to our readers.

Shreyas>>Thank you for giving this opportunity to visit with you and your readers.






I hope you had a nice read of this interview and got to know more about this new BudgetFree model. Please go ahead and contact him if you need more information.



I will see you all next week discussing on another new topic.

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My Wowing Cruise Vacation & Lessons Learned

April 11th, 2008 Vijaianand

I was soaking under the sun in the western Caribbean beach last week same time but now I am working hard to make some money. I know its back to reality time. This post is to brag about my 5 day cruise vacation and few lessons I learned.







If anybody like to know, How was the cruise? My answer – “What a WOWING experience to be on the Fun Ship?”


Life Mantra

As many of you know, my life Mantra, “Earn IT, Manage IT, Enjoy IT and Help IT” which I pretty much tend to follow. I truly believe enjoyment should be a part of your life and last of your life. If you only earn and forget or postpone to enjoy at the last min or last years. You have lost so many good years in your life to enjoy and have fun. I strongly disagree with people who say, you are in your prime years. So its time to make money now when you are good and you shouldn’t think about enjoying. That’s truly bad idea.


You can only enjoy certain things on certain age. When you are old, you might not have the guts to enjoy and adventure exciting things. Time is precious and you can’t never earn it back. So I strongly recommend, spice up your life with enjoyment and fun activities now and then. It will sure to recharge your batteries which helps to start back fresh.



Snapshot of Cruise Experience


I just assumed, I had short term memory loss and forgot all about my work, money and all other worries comes with it as soon I jumped on the new mini-world. The Ship in itself is like a own world out on the Sea. I would say “FUN WORLD ON THE SEA“. It has everything, I mean everything including people who just want to have fun and be happy. I also could literally see people from all over the world who can be categorized into 2 classes. One class working hard round the clock to make the other class happy. You name a third world country and I can a see a person mostly likely the cruise worker on the ship.


This is my first ever cruise in my life. We had so much fun on the ship and as well as on the shore excursions we did ourself. It was my first ever real vacation since so many year. It’s been long due and just get to do it.

I left for 5 days cruise from Galveston with my wife and 2 year old son Ashwin. We had good time together both in the cruise and visit to islands Cozumel and Progresso. We did some risky and adventures rides like jet skiing, kayaking with my 2 year old son. Days on the ship were fun with fun filled activities like playing Bingo(I even won $150 tasting the essence of my luck), doing my DRUMS in the Talent show in front of 1000 people and getting standing ovation and much more..



We felt 5 days is right period not too short and not too long. Except some toddler acts by my son now and then, we all some good family time together.



I strongly recommend everyone of you to consider going on a cruise at least once in your lifetime. I know I have seen people cruising for 10th times but that’s crazy. Like me, many think it’s expensive. For 5 days lodging, boarding, fun packed events, we only paid $400. Is that expensive when you think of going on 5 day vacation of Disney land? Not at all. Dec – April is a good time with less heat and less money on the cruise. During summer time it gets expensive. I have lot to talk about my cruise which I am planning to put another site for it.

One more thing, I don’t want to leave an impression that I did this cruise suddenly. No, It’s all well planned in advance. I put money aside for this trip in a short term savings. When I was financially ready, I made my plans. I shopped around for good deals. I made advance bookings to save money and made my plans for things to do. If you plan ahead, you can save money at same time have great fun.


Lesson Learned



During this short fun packed period, life did teach me some good lessons.



1. Don’t plan for full pledged Romantic/Family Cruise with a Toddler. It’s adds little more stress. But you can still have fun, just a little less if you take it slow and go with the flow.


2. In the cruise, when I first tried BINGO I never had intension to win but I won $150. I just played for the sake of playing it. But after that, I always wanted to win but never own once. What does it taught me? BINGO is a another type of gambling. It all depends on your luck. So if you are having fun, just have fun. If the luck shows up, just welcome and embrace it. Never try to force your luck to work for you. It never works.



3. When I see the cruise works on the ship, they work pretty hard to make us happy when we are in our vacation. Don’t ever think, you are working too hard. There are other people out there who work very hard then any one of us. What we have in our life are so much better so we shouldn’t crib about it. It also teaches me to push hard to work more.



I know these are simple ones but valuable.To conclude, plan for a break and venture out your inner dreams to have some fun with your family. At same time, look out for valuable lessons life can teach you..

Posted in Frugal, General, Spending Tags: , No Comments »
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Money Really Matters – A bite of True facts

January 27th, 2008 Vijaianand

Money truly matters to everybody whether it’ 5 year old who wants to buy his favorite toy or 60 year who likes to retire financial free. There is no doubt about it. There is lot to talk about it but we only talk less.

Like this quote,





“Money is the opposite of the weather. Nobody talks about it, but everybody does something about it.” We deal with money day in and day out but we only talk very less about it. If you look very closely, Money has taken different avatars in different parts of the world. It’s a dollar for ordinary American, YEN for Japenese and a Rupee for a normal Indian. Its stock for trader, Gold for hardcore investor, home for a realtor and lot more avatars. But each one of them has only one sole underlying factor which is to “satisfy our needs”. Thats all about it.





The need for each and every person might vary according to their surroundings but the purpose and perspective towards money doesn’t change. So how one make use of that most commonly wanted MONEY is within each one and the Money itself can’t do anything about it. Don’t you think its a true fact. Just think about it for a second.


Lot of us percieve with a wrong imagination like, if we earn more all our problems should take care of itself and will get solved. Actually I think all the problem just starts there. It is not always about how much you earn, it is about how well you can manage and work with what you make.

Knowledge is Power, we all know that very well. So if we have proper knowledge to efficiently manage our money, we can be the Kingmakers of our own hard earned money. We don’t have to be Warran Buffet(who hailed as the nucleus of Omaha shaking up the stock market) or Donald trump (successful entrepreneur) to be one. If we manage our own money properly, we are Kingmaker on it’s own version.




Money shouldn’t rule us. We should rule the Money and should put to work for us. As Robert Kiyosaki quoted, “Make your money work for you and not the other way around“. Let me give you a simple example. We eat food every day because our body needs it. We have to eat at least 3-4 times a day to get proper calories for our body to keep moving. Eventually, eating has become a habit for us. We are trained to eat 3-4 times(I know some people eat all the time!!) when we are baby and we continue to do it all our life.




What happens, if you didn’t take a night dinner, can you sleep well that night? Your physical state is going to be messed up and many of us can’t sleep except few who can fast for days. But if you train your body to fast every night, it will eventually manage to coup with it. Similarly, anything needs to praticized to make it accustomed to you, that goes to money as well. If you don’t plan well and don’t manage it properly, it is going to haunt your mental state and keep you restless for life.



Money is an enabler of our dreams. It helps you go where you want go in life. In many people case, first one third of the life goes towards earning education and knowledge needed to find money. Next one third of life goes towards finding/making the money you longed for and last one third of life should go towards using the money to its last. Most of us don’t have control over the first one third because we depend our parents but the rest two third it is all upto us to make or break the life.

So money is part and parcel of your life. We all need money to survive one day or other. It does really matter for all of us. I strongly believe, it is all about how much you make, how you manage and make that hard earned money work for you to secure a better future. Lot of us forget to delve into this basic thought.



Keep pondering on this very own thought and share your comments about what do you feel about Money and try to talk more about it. Talk is cheap so don’t need to speed a lot and take the liberty to talk about all money.

Happy Money talk!!


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