What do financially healthy people do? This is an important question to ask on your quest to becoming financially healthy. What better way to achieve a goal than to mimic those who have already walked the path before you? Identify someone in your orbit who has a smart financial life. How do you identify this person? Likely they have no consumer debt. They live in a home that doesn’t exceed their means. They save up for new projects and vacations. They don’t say “yes” to every purchase opportunity. Once you’ve identified this person, ask them to coffee. Pick their brain. Don’t be shy! Your financial life is on the line, and as a financially healthy person they will absolutely see the value in imparting their wisdom on you. This is a big challenge, but it’s one that will benefit you for years to come. Allow their mistakes to prevent yours.

From:  Pete The Planner

The holiday season can be a lot of fun, but you can’t REALLY love it when it results in you hating your financial life in January and February. Are you a victim of your love for your loved ones? Are you spending more than you can afford on gifts each year? If you are scrambling to recalibrate your financial life every January and February than you aren’t preparing for the holidays in advance. This year will be different. Join The Pete the Planner®Holiday Savings League to be create a plan and be held accountable to paying for the holidays in cash. This year you will save in advance, spend what you’ve saved on the holidays, and enjoy your new year! Bi-weekly email program begins on Tuesday, September 6^th. Sign up today at https://wu138.infusionsoft.com/app/form/hsl-butler-2016.

What would your financial life look like if you practiced gratitude daily? Would you struggle to budget or have debt? If we practiced gratitude daily and it became our mindset, our behavior would naturally follow. Grateful people don’t take more than they need, they don’t spend more than they make, but they do give to those in need. During the holiday season, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of spending that has become the main focus of the season. This year I challenge you to give to those in need. It is perfectly acceptable to spend money on those you love, but this year be open to sharing your love and money with those who have very little. Better yet, gather up your loved ones and volunteer together. Practice gratitude this season, and I think you’ll find the benefits last much longer than anything money can buy.

The holiday season is wonderful – until January and February come around and you have to pay for all the financial mistakes you made during the holidays. The holidays tend to make us victims of our love for our loved ones. In other words, we spend too much money on gifts, and then have to scramble to pay for it in January and February.

This is why we created The Pete the Planner® Holiday Savings League. Accountability for saving for the holidays, in advance. So how does it work? You begin by making a list. No, not the naughty and nice list. This is your holiday buying list. Who will you buy for this year? How much will you spend on each person? It will look something like this:

Neighbors: $45
Dad: $65
Mom: $65
Friend: $20
Kid #1: $250
Kid #2: $250
Spouse: $165
Teachers: $60
Niece: $40
Nephew: $40

Step two is to total it up. For this example: total = $1,000

Finally, you’ll divide your total by four: total divided by 4 = $250

Why four? Because this is the number of cash withdrawals you’ll be making over the next few months leading up to the holidays. Withdrawing $1,000, or whatever your particular savings goal is, all at once is difficult for many to do. Breaking the goal down into four chunks makes your goal more attainable.

Keep in mind these are CASH withdrawals.Yes, the cash part is very important. As you withdraw your savings you’ll keep it in a special envelope for holiday spending. As you begin holiday shopping you’ll use your cash envelope until it’s empty. When it is, your shopping is done. End of story.

We’ll get into the more gritty details as we get into the program. For now though, it’s time for you to get started! Click here to register.

The changing of seasons, especially this time of year, is a welcome change. And just like the weather, your financial life also has seasons. There’s the ‘we just had a baby’ season, the ‘I just lost my job’ season, and the ‘I’m close to retirement’ season to name a few. Each season of your financial life comes with unique challenges and adjustments. Your ability to think ahead and prepare for an upcoming season predicts your ability to handle what comes your way. But what will always hold you back is dealing with last season’s mistakes in your new season. Debt from your first child limits how you handle having your second child. Paying your own student loans when you are trying to fund your child’s college fund puts you in a bind. Deal with each season as it happens, but always remember a season change is just around the corner.

“Struggling to stay under budget each month? The culprit is swiping. Reset your swiping habits by challenging yourself to swipe your card under 10 times this week.” Pete the Planner

RSVP to healthyhorizons@butler.edu

How should you progress through your financial life? What goals and milestones should you hit to be on the right path? These questions are vitally important to answer. If they aren’t answered, you will drift aimlessly. The Four Stages of Your Financial Life is a one hour program which will give you concrete goals to accomplish in every stage of your life. Come hear Pete present this informative, yet funny, presentation on Wednesday, February 11th from 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM in the Johnson Room.

  It’s ironic that the time of year where we give thanks for what we have is right around the time where we give and receive hundreds of gifts. “Let’s give thanks and then buy each other a lot of stuff,” seems to be the theme of the season. But it doesn’t have to be. Instead of jumping directly from giving thanks to getting caught up in the shopping frenzy, allow the thankfulness to be enough. Take time to be with family and friends, and if you decide to give gifts, consider giving shared experiences. Your best holiday memories are those with friends and family, so this year extend that thankful spirit over the entire season. Of course, the bonus to this way of living is you won’t regret your financial life in January! Use GreenCandy.com to set and keep financial goals over the holidays. Use code ‘bulldogs’ to create a free account today.

As part of the ongoing wellness series presented by Pete the Planner, Butler University faculty and staff now have FREE access to GreenCandy.com. This site is the comprehensive home to all of Pete the Planner’s financial wellness guides, videos, worksheets, calculators, and all other resources needed to make significant financial change.
In order to access the site, you will need to follow the steps below:
Step 1: Visit http://greencandy.com
Step 2: Look for the word “Register” at the top of the page and click it.
Step 3: Enter the following registration code: bulldogs
*Please note, this resource is for Butler faculty and staff only.*