What To Pay Well For in the New Normal

Here are six areas, especially during the New Normal era of financial crisis and recession, where it benefits you to lay out more money, not less. Following this will help you get on or stay on the path of success:

1. Expert Advice
Now is the time to hire a life coach and get your entire life on a successful track. Now is the time to hire an attorney, tax advisor or home-buyers agent. Now is the time to be realistic and admit you do not know how to get out of the rut you are in or that you do not know how to handle particular transactions. Now is the time to admit you do not know how to get the best deal in a home-buying situation. Now is the wrong time to skimp on expert advice for significant matters.

You simply need to pay their fee and get about changing your life.

Sadly, I have had people (usually people with plenty of money but bad financial management skills) try to negotiate lowered coaching fees. Some tried negotiating low payment plans hoping they could get everything they "needed" in one or two sessions and so they could renege on the remainder of the payment agreement. They never got the positive results they needed from the expert service of life coaching and are today in the same rut.

Now is also the wrong time to think you can get free Internet information in order to make decisions on things that are complex and/or will take a significant amount of time. When you act cheap, you get cheap (you get what you pay for!). If you think reading some articles online will replace hiring a coach, attorney, tax advisor etc, you are sadly mistaken.

Not too long afterwards you will realize you are in the same, if not worse situation than you were because you would not make the investment in yourself.


2. Investments in You
You think things cannot get worse but they could. The way to prepare for that without over-stressing is to put away some savings every time you get paid.

In fact, pay yourself first before you pay bills.

If you can set up a payment plan at work do it. If you can set up direct deposit of your paycheck and automatic purchase of bonds or payments into savings accounts, do it. Then you live off the remainder of the money.


3. Getting Financially Free
The experts tell us that it is vital to get financially free by monitoring your bills, and paying down your debt.

This is vital in so many ways because money has an effect on all areas of your life.

Staying on top of your bills means that if you are having trouble making payment, communicate with the lender and try to work out a new payment plan. You must make them aware of your situation.


4. The Best Price
Start learning to clip coupons and look for sales. A boon of these global economic times is that stores are constantly lowering their prices and having sales.

Do not try to negotiate individual businesses and businesspersons (see #1) to lower their prices for their services. That is trying to cheat them and it will leave you without the service you need or backfire in some other area of your life. Remember, you do not need to cheat others of drive a sharp and unfair bargain in order to have something in life.

The place where you look for the bargains are the large stores that are now offering prices that still leave them profit but which no longer have the 4x-5x profit on top of the basic costs.

Here is where Internet surfing can save you money. Spending 30 minutes on line and save $50-$80, depending on what you buying – and you should only buy what you need!. You not only get your goods less expensively, you “get paid” for your coupon shopping.

5. Small Indulgences
If you deprive yourself all day everyday, you are going to grow resentful and overspend out of your emotions. You can prevent that by leaving a little room in your budget for a small pleasure such as a $5 café mocha, or a $12 manicure.

Doing this pampers your soul and empowers you to feel hopeful about things getting better.


6. Self-Services
Think about how your time is best spent. Should you spend 6 hours cleaning your apartment or home or pay someone to do it while you do something else that you need to do?

Is it better to pay someone to shovel the snow from the driveway or risk falling down and harming yourself?

Decide which services enrich your life and make room for them in your budget, as with the small indulgences.

To your success!

Barrett