Entries tagged finance tips

[Personal Finance Guides n Tips] Why Not Buying Something Perfect?

Published: Jan 5th, 2010 | Author: Denni 1 Comment

Simple. There are 2 types of buyers, and they are:

  1. the one who only accept the best. This kind of buyers will search for all options, compare the prices, and spend so many hours just to find a pair of shoes, for example. This kind of buyers is commonly called the maximizers.
  2. the second type is satisficers, who often think that good enough is enough. They have standards, but if what they’re looking for qualifies for those standards, they buy it. Sometimes these standards take form in maximum price tag, durability, etc

The difference is that in most cases satisficers save more time when purchasing or buying something. When they found something that is great, they refuse to spend more time to find the best.

The problem with maximizers is that they often not as happy as satisficers. A research found that:

  • Maximizers are more likely to regret their purchases despite the fact that they have (in theory, at least) come closer than Satisficers to making the best decision.
  • On the flip side, Satisficers generally feel more positive about their purchases. They know they’ve made a choice that met their expectations.
  • Maximizers enjoy positive events less than Satisficers, and they don’t cope as well with negative events.

In general, I agree that when you are faced with too many choice, there’s no choice at all. It is proven scientifically since researchers has found out that when an employer increases the number of options for retirement savings, the likelihood that employees will actually save for retirement goes down. This means that if you give a consumer a handful of options, he’s happy. He feels in control of his life. But when there are dozens of choices available, he’s all at sea.  Perfection is actually a moving target and in the end you better make a solid decision today than perfect decision next week.

In order to be happy with “good enough” stuff and decrease the stress of maximizers, there are a lot of tips that you can try. Some of them are:

  1. Don’t sweat unimportant decisions. Did it really matter which hair gel I selected? Of course not. I should have just picked one in the first ten seconds and called it good enough.
  2. Limit your options. If you’re faced with overwhelming choices, arbitrarily reduce the field. When shopping for a new bicycle, for example, restrict yourself to a certain store or a certain brand.
  3. Learn to accept “good enough”. If you’re a Maximizer like me, it can be tough to make the leap to the land of Satisficing. But remember: The perfect is the enemy of the good. You’ll be happier if you accept a good option and stop looking for perfection.
  4. Stick with what you know. Schwartz argues that unless you’re dissatisfied with a product, you should stick with what you always buy. Don’t be tempted by “new and improved” options. Habits make people happy. (My research shows that this last fact is true in many ways.)
  5. Don’t second guess yourself. Once you’ve made a decision, stick with it. Buyer’s remorse can nag at your heart. Ignore it. Be decisive.
  6. Embrace restraints. Schwartz argues that it’s possible to learn to love limitations. Limits give us boundaries. They eliminate uncertainty. When we know our boundaries, we can focus on thriving within them.

Remember the golden rule: some choice is good, too much is not.

Don’t Hurt Your Pocket: Save your money, even a penny

Whether you consider yourself as a shopaholic or not, shopping is always one nice activity to do for every one especially for woman. Either they are teenager or housewives but shopping is always something heaven for them. They do need the product or not, is not really a matter. They could really afford it or not, that also another problem but one thing they want to know is that how to get that product to be theirs.

Sometimes when we shop we tried to be wise and tried to be as selective as we can. We would think that we are smart enough when we do that until we re-count it again what we have bought and brought to home then we will be forced to admit that we are not really that smart actually. You may be asking yourself should you buy this brand or that brand.

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Rich is Financial Independent? Think Again :)

Published: Apr 4th, 2009 | Author: Denni Add Comment

So that’s the main question I have for you guys…. Do you want to be rich? Most of us might answer “Well, Yes of course!” But we should be aware, since there’s more behind this and the answer is not as simple as that :)

Take a look at Bill Gates. He is darn rich. But he can’t go to grocery store with his wife and kids and do things he might enjoy in life because he’s so busy or because security reasons. Moreover, it must be kind of hard to find people who sincerely want to build sincere relationship with him, since (in my opinion) there must be people who want something from him. Even though he can help many people with his fortune, I just don’t think that I want that kind of fortune.

So bottom line question remains; do you want to be rich? I don’t know about you guys, but instead of rich, I prefer financial independence. I dream of simply being able to live my life as I live it now without having to worry about future income. I don’t even desire to spend much more than we spend right now – the only thing I might add is the ability to travel a bit with my family as my children get older. I’d also like to be able to devote myself more and more to volunteerism and other causes.

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How to Prepare and Build Big, Healthy Emergency Fund [Finance Secrets]

Published: Apr 4th, 2009 | Author: Denni Add Comment

Some of us are might having difficulties in starting to build emergency fund. Sometimes when we want to have an emergency fund, we tend to spend the money on something else. But when something happens, we regret that we don’t prepare and build an emergency fund.

There are plans from some financial advisors like Suzie Orman, who have the 8-months emergency fund. It is achievable (difficult but achievable as long as you are focused on it), but at the same time it’s kind of intimidating for some people.

It seems that, in this economy, a lot of people are thinking seriously about their emergency funds. Frankly, I think that’s a very good thing – emergency funds are a key part of a healthy personal finance situation. The biggest problem, though, is that it’s intimidating – eight months? That’s a lot of savings.

But hey, it’s not that hard… So here’s the guide on how to prepare and build a big and healthy emergency fund:

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