The following is a reprint of a blog post I wrote in December of last year.
This advise was broadcast on the news this morning while I was watching a piece about Christmas spending, yet it might equally apply to Amway as well as other businesses.
It is a rare blog post in which I do not curse out my upline. This is a touch off topic, but given that it is the Christmas season, it does seem appropriate for this time of year.
I despise hearing stories of people trying to budget for Christmas, especially when the holiday is just 2 weeks away and it's pretty much a lost cause for the majority of people. According to one financial expert who was questioned, you should set aside 1.5 percent of your gross income for Christmas. This might include spending money on gifts, preparing additional meals, and any other expenditures that occur at this time of year. He stated that if the annual income is $50,000, then a budget of $750 is required. He also stated that one should save first and spend later, but then completely skipped over this and went on to state that one should only spend cash around Christmas. As previously stated, this suggestion may come a bit too late for some folks who are rushing to pull out their credit cards just to be disappointed when their January bill arrives in the mail.
Years ago, I came across an article that discussed how to figure out how much money you should spend on Christmas. Every month, divide that amount by 12 and set aside the money in a savings account. You'll have the money in your pocket by the time the holiday shopping season begins. This is sound advice. Every month, Ambot and I put $80 in an envelope and keep it there. Once October or November arrive, we will have enough money to cover the balance of the year's expenditures in full. So, who has a strong mathematical background? By the time we begin our Christmas shopping, we will have $960 in an envelope in our possession. When we originally started, we chipped in $60 each month to cover our expenses. Ambot suggested today that we raise the amount to $100 every month for the following year.
As a saver, I am at odds with Ambot, who is a spender, which is what landed him in difficulty with the Amway cult and contributed to the scam. He used his credit card for everything, even purchasing dinners for his valuable upline, in the mistaken belief that he was tracking all of his business spending with a credit card, completely oblivious to the fact that he would eventually have to pay it back.
Making use of the same idea, figure out how much money you spend on Amway each month and put that money aside in cash rather than using a credit card to pay for it. Actually, because it is an online purchase, you will almost always be required to use a credit card. For example, cash that has been set aside to pay off the credit card debt quickly. Consider spending at least $300 per month on Amway products in order to qualify for a bonus check worth slightly less than $10. Ambot desired to increase his earnings. The smallest amount he ever spent in a month was $468 dollars. The majority of the months saw expenditure between $950 and $1050 on Amway items, with the biggest spending occurring two months after joining at $1,358.
This is the part where I want to scream! My food budget is $600, which covers both groceries and eating out, which accounts for almost half of my total spending. What the fuck was he spending his money on? Okay, I've previously mentioned my excessive consumption of XS Energy Drinks. How can this possible compare to the Amway items that we purchase on a regular basis when we go food shopping? When it comes to grocery shopping, I've never come close.
Assuming you're buying CDs on the cheap, you'll need to budget an additional $20 every month, but the sky's the limit. The most CDs Ambot purchased in a single month was $150, however the majority of the time he spent less than $40 per month.
You must have a premier subscription to WWDB, which costs $49.95. If you're a "serious business builder," don't forget about Communikate, which costs $36.95 a month.
Monthly seminars with a variety of topics - tickets and parking are $70.
That's $476.90 a month just doing the bare minimum to obtain a bonus check from Amway worth less than $10 and establish yourself as a real business owner. As you progress through the levels, your spending will increase in accordance with the amount of available space on your credit card and your desire to impress your upline with your expenditures.
Every year, there are four big functions, each of which is held in a different state. Plan on spending at least $500 on transportation, meals, lodging, and tickets, with the possibility of spending more depending on your circumstances (such as how far you're travelling).
So, let's pretend we're putting money aside for Christmas and divide the total by twelve. Every month, you'll need to set aside approximately $700 (or more) in cash!
Yikes!
Is it possible that this could be a mortgage payment, anyone? Anybody think that money may be put to better use in equities or a 401k? So, how about a very large blowout for Christmas this year?
That is a significant amount of money to set aside each month for a firm with a failure rate of more than 99 percent.
“Save early, spend later,” is a piece of advise that I still like from the financial guru today.
Apply it to your Amway business before you spend all of your money on your credit card in order to impress your upper-level sponsor.
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