01 Aug 2022
0 Comments
Perfection of Character: Live Without Frenzy

Perfection of Character: Live Without Frenzy

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! Please enjoy this quote from Marcus Aurelius about the perfection of character. Aurelius was a philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). He was also the last of the rulers later referred to as the Five Good Emperors. "Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense."marcus aurelius Our Personal Kaizen topic this week will be on the Lean East site. We will share the main quotes that were particularly inspiring and align with some of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life from the book Meditations…
Read More
27 Jul 2022
0 Comments
Five Easy Low-Cost Investment Strategies for FIRE

Five Easy Low-Cost Investment Strategies for FIRE

We recently suggested strategies for Putting Lazy Money to Work for You, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. We shared that “cash is trash” and showed how inflation destroys the spending power of your money. The best strategy is to make your money work for you by investing it. Here are 5 low-cost investment strategies that will help you retire comfortably or even achieve FIRE – financial independence to retire early! Note that I am not a financial advisor – these are all just personal opinions. Also, note that I am not…
Read More
20 Jul 2022
0 Comments
Travel for Free With These Simple Tips

Travel for Free With These Simple Tips

The Personal Kaizen posts over the past several weeks have been focused on smart money habits related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. We began by encouraging you to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips and gave advice on How to Improve Your Credit Score and Save Thousands and last week ways to Use Credit Card Bonus Points and Cashback. This post will provide step-by-step instructions that will allow you to travel the world for free. Want to Travel for Free? I booked hotel rooms and bought plane tickets for a vacation…
Read More
13 Jul 2022
0 Comments
Take Advantage of the Secret Benefits of Credit Cards

Take Advantage of the Secret Benefits of Credit Cards

We recently suggested ways to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. Our last post was How to Improve Your Credit Score and Save Thousands and included advice for building your credit history using credit cards. This post will teach you how to take advantage of the secret benefits of credit cards. Credit Cards are NOT Evil! Image Source: Examiner-Enterprise Dave Ramsey is one of several well-known personal finance personalities who discourage the use of credit cards. Ramsey writes, “A life without credit cards…
Read More
07 Jul 2022
0 Comments
How to Improve Your Credit Score and Save Thousands

How to Improve Your Credit Score and Save Thousands

We previously posted tips on Debt Reduction: Pay Less Interest and More on What You Love and referenced another way to pay less interest – reducing the interest rate lenders require on your debt. This post explains how your credit score is one of the key measures of your financial health and provides tips to improve your credit score and save thousands of dollars. What is a Credit Score? Credit scores provide lenders with a way to determine how risky it is to loan money to you. A lower score means higher risk, and means they must charge more interest…
Read More
29 Jun 2022
0 Comments
Putting Lazy Money to Work for You

Putting Lazy Money to Work for You

We recently suggested ways to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. Our final rule shared how inflation destroys the spending power of your money. Money saved in a bank account (or as cash) is losing value every day. Here are reasons for putting lazy money to work for you with some suggested actions you can take today! A Lazy Money Case Study We’ll begin with the story of two young professionals, both with new jobs in January 2017. Bill and Jill both negotiate…
Read More
22 Jun 2022
0 Comments
Ways to Stop Wasting Money on Insurance and Warranties

Ways to Stop Wasting Money on Insurance and Warranties

We recently suggested ways to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. Our third tip was to only purchase insurance and extended warranties when there is a legitimate risk of a loss that you cannot pay for otherwise. Here are more details on ways to stop wasting money on insurance and warranties. Wasting Money on Insurance The purpose of insurance is to protect consumers from losses they cannot pay for otherwise. Liability insurance protects you from large expenses (life, property, healthcare, and lawsuits) that…
Read More
20 Jun 2022
0 Comments
Find Financial Peace by Living on Less

Find Financial Peace by Living on Less

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! Dave Ramsey is a personal finance personality, New York Times best-selling author, and businessman who has practiced living on less for many years. We hope you enjoy this quote where he shares how to find financial peace! "Financial peace isn't the acquisition of stuff. It's learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can't win until you do this."dave ramsey Our upcoming Personal Kaizen post will share a wealth of knowledge about various insurance and warranties and how to stop…
Read More
15 Jun 2022
0 Comments
Debt Reduction: Pay Less Interest and More on What You Love

Debt Reduction: Pay Less Interest and More on What You Love

We recently suggested ways to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. Our fifth tip to stop wasting money suggests avoiding paying interest whenever possible – a challenge for most of us since over 75% of American adults have some form of debt. Here are common forms of personal debt and some ways to pay less on interest. America’s Debt Problem Americans like to borrow money. The total debt balance in the country continues to grow every year. Interest payments on this debt will…
Read More
08 Jun 2022
0 Comments
Stop Wasting Your Money With These 8 Simple Tips!

Stop Wasting Your Money With These 8 Simple Tips!

Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life is to be rich, spend money on what you love. We suggest spending money extravagantly in areas of joy and cutting your costs elsewhere. With a recent increase in inflation around the world, we want to help you stop wasting your money with these 8 simple tips! 1.    Overspending and Overbuying Decide on several things you value spending your money on and avoid overspending on everything else. Be willing to change your values based on where you are in your life. For example, when our kids were young, we prioritized…
Read More