Friday, August 21, 2020

Gail Vaz- Oxlade/ "Your financial planning journey starts with a goal"

Aug. 7, 2020: I clicked on all the links and they don't work.

I looked up all the articles and I'm not sure if this is the article that I cut out from years ago.


Aug. 4, 2015 Gail Vaz- Oxlade: She's the British woman who is the host of the money TV shows like 'Til Debt Do Us Part (about couples in debt) and Princess (single women in debt).  I have checked out both her shows a bit.  At my work, there's a break room and the TV is on.  The show's on and I check it out.

The examples of the show are like Gail shows the couple how much money they're spending.  They make $4000 a month and spend $5000 a month.  She helps create a budget for them, and if they succeed in their challenge, they will get like $5000 check to pay off their debt.

She has a website, and I do read her articles in the Metro and cut them out.  I was reading the advice column by David Eddie in the Globe and Mail and he talks about the "confirmation bias."  You like to read things that have the same point-of-view or realm of opinion as you do.

Well is there anyone here who doesn't think saving money is a good thing to do?  It can be a hard thing to do.

If you watch these TV shows and read her articles, she's mainly addressing people who can't delay gratification and have to buy something.  They don't consciously think about what they buy, and don't like to think about money or debt they're in.  Gail comes in with a reality check and shows the numbers.  She actually helps people.

Writing: It's probably because I've been putting up all these job articles on my blog and reading Talent Egg articles and now Gail's articles on Metro.  I'm getting kind of inspired to write articles for Metro.

I have pitched to Metro probably around 2009, but didn't get any call backs.

"Your financial planning journey starts with a goal": I cut out this article by Gail in the Metro on Sept. 19, 2014.  Here's an excerpt:

While you have to know where you’re headed to lay down a trip plan, if you change your mind, or if something throws you off track, you don’t just stop or wander around aimlessly. Just as with a GPS, you recalculate your route. You figure out what you want to do next and head off.

To have the life you want, you need to know where you’re going. This isn’t about casting your life plan in concrete. It’s about having a sense of your destination and some good directions. You need to put an address in your GPS before you can get started. That address is your goal.

You can have loads of dreams and just as many goals, but you can’t possibly do them all at once. Time to prioritize. When you make your goals, identify what the most important thing on your list is. Label it No. 1. That’s the thing you’ll put the majority of your effort towards.

You can work towards more than one goal at a time, but you need to prioritize. No, you can’t buy a house, have a baby and go back to school all at the same time. What’s your Goal No. 1? Where do the others fit into your plans? Label whatever else you’re working on as No. 2, No. 3, and so on.

My opinion: This is a good comparison of saving money and goals to driving to a destination.  I can visualize it.  It reminds me of my island comparisons to high school for me.

Here's my blog post "island/ bayshore inn/ low classes: 




"Control your own financial inertia": I cut out this article by Gail in the Metro n on Jun. 16, 2014.  Here's an excerpt:

I believe that a lot of the problems people have dealing with their money stem from the simple Law of Inertia. The Law of Inertia says that a body at rest will remain at rest until some force acts upon it. And a body in motion will remain in motion. It is so much easier to maintain the status quo than to change.

If you want to build a financial safety net, you must start by opening a savings account and creating an automatic savings program. If you want to stop spending money you haven’t yet earned, you must stop carrying your credit cards. You must change what you are doing or not doing, to something that works for you instead of against you.

I love change. Change is exciting. Change brings challenge, learning and a sense of the new. Change is full of promise. Change is audacious.

 It takes guts to change. It takes real guts. And guts are something that seem to be in short supply. If you have them, you’ll make it. If you don’t, so sorry: No guts, no glory.

So the question you have to ask yourself today is this: Do I have the guts to change?

My opinion: I like how she writes about change.  It inspires me.  I'm making changes in my life and it's not really about money.  I'm looking for another job that will give me some personal fulfillment where I can help people.

I work at a restaurant and I help people by serving the customers and giving them a good and fun experience.  I help my co-workers run the restaurant.  I like it overall, but I want more fulfilment.


"Stop treating your credit card like a bottomless cookie jar": I cut out this article by Gail in the Metro on Oct. 20, 2014.  Here's an excerpt:

Do you know that people who make only the minimum payment on their credit cards have a better credit score than those who pay off their balances in full every month? Why? Because they’re more profitable customers, so they score higher.

Do you want to be some company’s dream customer, paying gobs of interest and twisting in the wind when the company decides to change the rules of the game? Or do you want to be in charge of your money and your life?

2 We simply don’t understand or won’t accept the fact that all that consumer debt is “callable.” That means, at the bank’s whim, you can be asked to repay what you owe in its totality and, if you can’t, you’ll be sent to collections immediately. When you warn people of that, they say things like, “Oh, the bank would never do that.” Yes, they would.


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