Mid Week Madness

I woke up this morning and thanked the Lord for my life. Its been a hectic few days and I am still alive.

This morning I have found the ultimate Recession beating trick. It's so simple, it costs nothing and instills happiness very easily.





This morning, as I woke up I listened to Cape Talk. Aden Thomas was presenting his breakfast show. It was on at first glance nothing out of the ordinary. Then I sat back. I listened a little more...



Aden Thomas was broadcasting from outside. At one point he mentioned it was a mere 4 degrees. That's cold.

Where was he broadcasting from...

He was broadcasting from a "Safety Camp" for "Refugees". I was hit hard. Here I was, all snug and warm with my cup of coffee and out there was one outside broadcast team and many hundred of so called "refugees". They were cold, I felt the cold for them.

This made me think...I am so damned lucky. I have warmth, I have food, I have some money. These refugees, and refugee is very much the wrong lable for people that really should not have any lable other than that of being South African or a resident of South Africa, have nothing or at most 1 warm meal a day and a dirty blaket that cannot even be washed and dried.

Recession is nothing compare to what these people are suffering every day.

So here's today's challenge...



First: Ask yourself just how well off you are compared to others?
Second: Ask yourself how can you help those worse off by you?
Third: Help someone worse off than you...visit Cape Talk and drop them an email asking how you can help.

Remember the people in the camps have a right to dignity, a right to life and a right to smile.

I don't know how I am going to help yet, I know Aden personally and I intend to ask him what I can do. I also know my church St Matthews, Table View is also doing as much as possible to help the victims of Xenophobia.

Oh! and by the way...Blue Skies and Sunshine here in Cape Town!!!

Saving means Changing

Like many of us I hate change. I have my habits and I like to try and do things the way I always have.

In recent weeks I have learned, through some changes in circumstance that change is absulutely necessary to save and change need not be sucj a bad thing.

Ok. Let me sum up.

In March I lost my car. I was in financial trouble and it was taken back by the bank. I am not ashamed of this. In April I was scammed by a fake estate agent and "robbed" of a great deal of money. I am also owed money by an employer from January that simply did not pay me.

So yes, I have been knocked down. I am not knocked out but I have had to look at my life and how I do things.




What had to change?

Firstly I run a successful business - www.hamptonsolutions.co.za - and this was and is my lifeblood. I needed to ensure it kept running.

No Money + No Car = NO BUSINESS

WRONG

No Money + No Car = CHANGE!!!

So I made changes. These changes have changed habits in me for ever and they can in you and your business.

South Africa is a country obessed with cars...



...so much so that public transport has been left way way behind. In a country with such poverty one would think public transport would be everywhere. It's not.

So I had to change and get used to limited public transport. There is public transport but I had to change! There is not a bus every 1o minutes but one every hour or so. The routes are not direct and the bus stop is not in my garage.

So...what changed?



A few things.

1. I now have to plan better - I try and get as much done in one place as possible!
2. People now have to fit in with me!
3. I have to walk a little further every day!
4. I have to accept the times offered!
5. I have to think before I act!

The results of the change?

Savings all round!!! Transport costs dropped by over R50 (US$6.50) per day!!
I am better managed as a person!
Time is more productive - I now work while travelling - I defy anyone to write on their PC and drive at the same time!!!
I am more patient
I am less stressed - someone else does the driving!
I am a more enironmentally friendly person!
I am fitter!

I now do a great deal more walking.

There is nothing wrong with this change.



here's todays challenge....

To save money for yourself and your business encourage the use of public transport. Here are a few things we can all do:

Leave the car at home when we know all it will do is move from a small home garage to a large company garage!!
Schedule your day better - if you have to be in 10 different suburbs in 1 day ask yourself is it really necessary. Then try and centralise and walk from 1 place to another. A 1km or 3km walk does not take long and it is good for you!!! (Even in the rain!)
Encourage your staff to come to work by bus or train - contribute towards the costs. Its cheaper than contributing to petrol or Diesel!!

Let me know how you get on.

Monday Blues

How many of you are experiencing the "Monday Blues"?



Its Monday!



What is it with Mondays?

Here are some fascinating and positive facts about Mondays:

The first Oscars were held on a Monday
On Monday 13 December 1903, a toss of a coin gave Wilbur the honour of making the first flight.
Amedeo Giannini, son of Italian immigrants to the US, started the Bank of America in a converted saloon in San Francisco at 9 am on Monday, 17 October 1904
Monday 11, 1955:. The phrase In God We Trust is added to all US currency.

Not so great but something that says some of can worry about Monday is the fact that the World stock exchanges collapsed on Black Monday, 20 Oct, 1987

But why so miserable?

Here...Win a TV...see the link on the side bar and click...Mknday may just be your lucky day.

Its time to be positive. The great news is that a number of South African economists are stating that there will NOT be a recession. They do say things will be tough but we can be safe in the knowledge that recession will not hit South Africa.

Even if it does here is today's tip to beat the blues.

This weekend my wife and I were given a voucher for Pick n Pay. It's a great thing. We decided to NOT use it but rather treat it as a savings account.

Huh?

Yes. Saving for a raining day is often difficult. With cash in your hand it is spent. With the banks in South Africa charging crazy rates the banks don't allow you save. So what do we do? We use the voucher. Pick n Pay is just one example, other shops and shopping centres offer these voucher cards. They can be topped up at any time. So we decided to create a top up account for Pick n Pay.

We have started with R50 and will add R20 or R50 every week or so. We won't look at what the balance is until we are feeling really depressed, which luckily is not that often. Then it will pick us up and we can go and buy something nice. It's simple but positive and is affordable to all.




So....

Today is Monday.

The sky is blue.

The sun is shining.

I have my health.

I have a stew cooking in the slow cooker

And life is good.

Smile, keep positive. What are you doing that makes you happy? Share it with others?

Be positive!

It's Raining, Its's Cold...smile....

Another winters day in Cape Town.

Pouring with rain and freezing cold outside. The sky is grey and full of cloud. It's miserable.

That's the negative outlook. And its something we are all experts at seeing. As was on the brouch that Pollyanna wore in Disney's "Polly Anna" "search for the bad in mankind and you are sure to find it". It's true. We can all find the negative in us.



Can you find the positive?

Take today. If you were sat where I am now what positives are there?

• Rain - it's water that we need!
• Cold - so what its lovely weather to be snuggled up with a good book by the fire!
• Grey Skies - outside it's grey skies but I mus thank the Lord for the awesome other days we have that aren't so grey - appreciate them more!
• I have a roof over my head!
• I have a hot cup of coffee next to me!

It's quite simple to find the positives. Just try.

So, I am ignoring all the experts. So what if there is a recession looming. The 1930's were the lowest times in many decades and guess what, it spawned more successful millionaires that still exisit today than in any other period. Those millionaires were the ones who saw the positive and did not let the hard times hinder them.

Over the next few weeks this Blog will show you ways and discuss ways to beat the hard times. Things that will allow you to focus on the good stuff and not worry about the mounting debt many of us find us with.

With help from you that read this I'll get recommendations, if your company has ways to help in tough times let me know and and I'll give you a soapbox and spread the word!

So come on...smile. No matter what the weather no matter what challenges you have. Smile!