Ideal Life & Money Academy

Don't let debt keep you from living your Ideal Life! What is your opinion on debt? Ours: debt is NEVER good. All debt brings risk into your life. Debt is keeping you from living your Ideal Life. You ultimately pay more for the item that you just needed (you know it's a want!) What would your life look like with no payments? What would your life look like?   Maybe you don't have to work 60, 70...

Be sure to check out the ILMA Budget/Debt Elimination Course: https://www.sentinelcoaching.com/ilmabudget Food is one of the most important line items in our budget, but it's also an area where people can waste a lot of money. So, what are some simple ideas you can use to save money on your groceries? Try one or all of these this month and see how much you can save: 1) Don't go shopping when you a...

Have you heard or ever said: "I can't budget because I have irregular or seasonal income!"  Then, you're not alone. Coach Mike & Coach Jason are here now, being self- employed may bring this type of income and uncertainty to your finances. Create a budget on the lowest amount of income you will bring in. Prioritized list: S.T.U.F.  Shelter, Transportation, Utilities, Food Continue yo...

When it comes to spending and saving money, we tend to think of spenders as bad or have a negative narrative of them, and we think being a saver is a good thing and have a positive narrative of savers. I can understand where this comes from because most of us in North America have gotten into trouble with our spending, but in this video, I walk us through the notion that neither is good and neithe...

Here is the step by step way to budget: https://www.sentinelcoaching.com/ilmabudget First time budgeting....SUCKS. Where do you even begin?!? #1) Know & track your income from ALL sources #2) Know & track your expenses (YES, every little thing) Main catergories are S.T.U.F. Your basics are shelter, transportation, utilities, & food. Try this for at least 30 days! You will have more cla...

Disciplines are great to train us to do things we should do, but most of the time, it's not pleasant. Discipline is the first step however, to creating a habit. And when we develop habits (good ones that is), we'll make progress and have a better life. Think about brushing your teeth. When we are children, we usually hate brushing our teeth, but eventually when this discipline becomes a habit, it'...

Be sure to check out the ILMA Budget/Debt Elimination Course: https://www.sentinelcoaching.com/ilmabudget F.I.R.E. Financial Independence Retire Early  Coach Mike used to get into the FIRE movement and realized after years of aggressively saving that it wasn't the best way to live his Ideal Life. Learned over time that "I'm going to DO something for the rest of my life" and that typically com...

Consistency is extremely underrated in any area of life, but if we think about it, it just makes sense. This is the same concept as the popular fable - "The Tortoise and the Hare". We all know the tortoise wins in the end because even though it's slow, it takes one step at a time consistently until it crosses the finish line while the hare knows it's fast so doesn't take the race seriously and goo...

How to live your Ideal Life without being a Millionaire - it's possible! Most people would tell you that living your Ideal Life is impossible without millions of dollars. Why is it that everyone thinks you need to be a millionaire? Well, we're here to tell you it's not a requirement - depending on what your Ideal Life looks like. So that's where we start. 1) Define what you want your life to look...

In general, when we refer to "The Market" in finance, we are talking about the Stock Market. When the Market goes down for any reason, the media covers this like we should all panic and be worried. This isn't true, and frankly, it's not fair to the public. So, let's get a breakdown of what is actually happening. When the Market goes down, we don't actually LOSE money. What actually happens is we h...

Most of us know what a "Bucket List" is. It's that list of things we want to do before we die "kick the bucket" (that's where the saying comes from). And most of us die without a lot accomplished on that list, which creates a life of regret. So, how do you turn your bucket list into a "reality list"? First, you need to HAVE that list accessible so you know what you want to do, buy, or experience....

Do you suffer from allergies? I didn't have allergies until I was in my 20's and I can tell you it's just miserable. Because I didn't grow up with allergies, I didn't know I could do anything about it until several years into the seasonal suffering when I said "there has got to be something I can do about this". Money is the same way. If you've got "money allergies" and are suffering through your...

CHANGE will always happen! This could be around your Ideal Life, goals, dreams, family, career, money, etc. Being flexible is how we view being "successful" and the best way to live our Ideal Lives! Being open to different opportunities and deciding if it will be a "yes" or "no" is critical to our happiness in our respective lives. We wouldn't trade that for anything! First, you must dream of what...

Let's talk about Visa, Mastercard, & American Express. Credit cards SUCK! They are the cigarette of the financial world and can ruin your life. I know, that's controversial...but I want you to WIN with money, not just play the banks' game. Credit cards make them rich, not you. Do you keep one around for cash back or for airline miles? Let's do the math: If you get 5% back (most don't!), then y...

How much do you NEED to live your Ideal Life? Well it really does depend! We always start with the question: "What do you want your Ideal Life to look like?" Once you know what that looks like, you can calculate how much it takes to live that Ideal Life. For example, if you have a fancy house and car, like to travel all around the world, and buy expensive things, your life needs a LOT more money t...

STOP saving money!   That's right, stop saving money, because I want you to pay off your debt. Don't be the person that has $3,000 in your bank account and a $2,000 on a credit card balance.   Also, pay off all your debts, not only high interest debts like credit cards but all debts. Think student loans, car payments, personal loans to grandma, etc. Once you are debt free, you can save e...

"Patience is a Virtue" - we've all heard that age-old saying and yes it's true. Patience is one of the best tools we can learn in this life. But I believe it's a lot more valuable than people realize. It can pay you back in a monetary way. Let's take a look at some of the ways patience can pay us in MONEY: Look for deals/coupons or wait for those sales. Yes, you won't have that thing right away, b...

How did we "retire" in our 30s??? #1 Keeping expenses low and become DEBT FREE. We are always going to tell you to be debt free. If you haven't been debt free, then try it out. And I promise if you don't like it, you can always go back into debt. #2 Having access to income/money. This could be savings, rental real estate, investments, retirement accounts, or bridge accounts if you are younger than...

Many of us humans love control. Why do we try to control everything in our lives? Most of the time it's because we want to KNOW what we can expect. Life seems easier that way. But control is really difficult and most of the time we don't handle it in a healthy way. However, when it comes to managing our money, we need control over it. Not in an unhealthy and obsessive way, but like we need control...

For the most part, there are 2 reasons we do anything in life: 1) We want the promise of pleasure 2) We want to avoid pain In this video, we are focusing on FEAR. I'm not normally one who wants to focus on fear because I know how crippling it can be and when we give fear a foothold, it can destroy us. But for the sake of todays' conversation, we are talking about the fear of making decisions and h...

How do you know if you're saving enough for retirement? First determine what you want "retirement" to look like! Then, you get to figure out how much that life will cost (both annually and monthly). Then, how much income will you bring in? Think rental real estate, pensions, Social Security. Finally, how much will your savings return? This could be in IRA's, 401k's, 403b's, Superannuation, or mutu...

I'm a big fan of Costco and other big box stores. I love getting those deals and seeing what products they have. But there can be a real danger when you shop at places like this because it's so easy to get wrapped up in the "deal", that you don't realize how much money you are spending in total dollars. Sometimes the "deal" isn't really a deal. You need a plan! When you buy in bulk, you typically...

"A man with an experience is not at the mercy of a man with an opinion" This is how I continue to live my life. Gaining experiences. It leads to me living my Ideal Life year after year. By creating a vision board and writing down exactly how we want life to be we are able to turn it into a reality. I encourage you to try it out. Remember, gain experiences by trying something new. My wife, Elle, an...

If you are on the wrong side of 40 like me (as far as physical health goes anyway), chances are you have something in your body that is breaking down, sore, or doesn't keep up with someone who is in their early 20's. That's just a part of getting older. But we live with this soreness for so long each and every day, sometimes we forget that it's a struggle until we aggravate it. When it comes to ou...

Do you want to know the secret to success? Well, there are many secrets to this, but the one I'm talking about today is investing. Not in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or ETF's, but investing in YOURSELF. Time, energy, and money. The single greatest investment you can make is in yourself. Are you putting resources toward yourself and your growth/learning? This tip put to action could propel you to...