Reduce your weight easily...

Follow the below steps to Control, Maintain or Reduce your weight

1. Cut down on sugars: I will tell you how.

Say 'NO' to beer and alcohol. They are filled with sugars.
Order fresh fruit juice instead of sodas.
Cut down on coffee/Tea.
Eat a fresh fruit bowl instead of chocolates.
Use honey instead of sugar.
Opt for green tea.Top it up with honey if needed. 

2. Exercise: Difficult right. Follow the below steps

Wake up a little early and go for a walk.
Train with weights. You will lose weight quickly.
Skipping and Jumping jacks are the best to quickly get your body back to normal.
Park your vehicle a block away and walk to work.
Take stairs whenever possible.
Take public transportation once or twice a week.
Get up and have a 10 min walk every 2 hrs at work.

3. Hydrate yourself:
Drink plenty of water. I know drinking water is kind of boring unless your are dead thirsty. But intake of water boosts your metabolism and inturn helps lose weight.
Drop a slice of Lemon to make water tasty.
Add honey to water if you crave for sugar.
You can add Mint leaves or coconut milk to make water tasty.

4. Play:
Indulge yourself in playing outdoor games which involve physical activity.
Football, cricket, tennis, badminton anything that keeps you moving.
Go for a swim.
Go for hiking.
Go for a bicycle ride.
Do something that involves physical activity and kick start your healthy heart rate.

5. Food:

Eat seafood instead of red meat.
Add boiled eggs to your breakfast. Eggs are good source of proteins and are very cheap.
Munch on Dry fruits they will keep you full and are good in proteins.
Have fruits as snacks instead of oily stuff.
Include fresh vegetables in your diet.
Avoid late night dinner. Eat light at night. 

Follow the above and you can keep a tab on your weight gain and can easily maintain and reduce weight.

Saving... A Mith

All these years, all I thought was how to save??? How much is sufficient to survive in future??? How will I get extra income??? so on and so forth...

But I never had an answer...

Some suggested me to invest in Shares, some in fixed deposits, some wanted me to go for Chits and some to invest in real estate... All I did was, got more confused and did nothing... Below are the starting steps towards savings.

Savings Account:

My suggestion to all who wants to start on saving is... Open a savings bank account in any of the nationalized banks and start transferring money from your salary account to the Savings account on a regular basis.

How to do this?

Step 1: Open a spread sheet and write down all your expenses
Step 2: Mark the ones that cannot be avoided. Highlight the ones that can be avoided and still your lifestyle doesn't get affected by avoiding them.
Step 3: Subtract your Expenses from your salary.
Step 4: Transfer the remaining amount (If you are lucky to be left with some money) to the Savings bank account
Step 5: Now go back to the spread sheet and try to cut down on the avoidable expenses which are highlighted in Step 2.
Step 6: Follow Step 4.

Every month right after your salary is credited, you transfer the amount (Step 4 and Step 6) to the savings back and then try to pay other bills. By doing this, not only you will be disciplined in your spending habits but also you will pay yourself first and others later.

Bonus:

Whey you receive bonus between your appraisal cycle, try to have it in a FD. This will not only give you extra income you need but also you will get tax exemption. Ask Google for details ;-)




Stocks:

Please be extra cautions before investing. As always people say, stock market is not for everyone. But I say, Stock Market is for the prepared lot and not for the luck wanderers. Try to gather information about the market, companies, inflation, economy etc and try to find a good script and invest in it. Invest in regular intervals and try to check the status regularly.

Compulsive Spending:

Many a times, we buy stuff not because we are in need of it, but just because it has a discount on it or you feel that you too had to have it...

The key to succeed in not spending on unwanted stuff is to WAIT... Yes. if you wait and could control the impulse for a little time, you would probably not buy it or get if for less. So next time you get tempted to buy something you really might not need, take a step back and wait for a while before going ahead and buying it.
(Refer: Success with Procrastination)

PPF:

Open a public provident fund account in any nationalized bank or the nearby post office (I prefer banks and the online transfer is easy with them). This will not only save tax but also give huge interest in returns. Only glitch is that the principle and the interest would be locked for a period of 15 years. But its a good saving scheme.

Gold:

Buy gold. Easy and simple right. Yes investing in Gold ETF or buying gold for that matter is considered a good investment. Study the market for ups and downs which are for sure the common game with ETFs, buy when you think the market is hitting low and try to invest for a long term.
These days we are getting EMI facilities in the local market to invest in Gold. These are not only helpful in saving small amounts, but once you save a considerable amount, you can buy gold with them. But again choose wisely where to invest.

Mutual Funds:

MF's are also considered a good option for investment. There are n number of schemes available. choose the one that suits your age, pocket and risk taking capability. Invest in regular intervals. Many of the MF's returned a good % in long term. The key is not to panic and wait for the right time.

These would be sufficient for freshers to start with. The above options will make you disciplined in saving and well educated in finance. 

Success with Procrastination…

Yes, I really meant what I said above… Want to know how??? Go on, read it…


Procrastination is putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later time. Now how do you think I can justify putting off things and success at the same time. All we have learnt is that success comes when we work hard and act on things without postponing them. Let me tell you, putting off things will actually help in our way to success. I categorize the benefits of procrastination in three ways.

Financial, professional and the other personal. As I am always interested in financial stuff, let me start with it.

Financial:

The question now is how does Procrastination help us financially?

For instance, you are a shoe lover and you have found an excellent pair of shoes in the stores and marked as new arrival. Your impulse would ask you to go ahead and swipe the card and get that thing home. But how many times do you think that your decision of buying an electronic item, shoes, clothes, for that matter anything out of IMPULSE helped you. Did you ever felt, I should have waited a little longer and could have got this cheap or I should have thought for the second time before buying this? Or what should I do with this thing?

Yes, many a times we mess up between our Needs, Wants and Impulse. Due to this impulsive behavior, we end up buying stuff we never needed or stuff we never want or the stuff we never use or the stuff we could get for a lot lesser price than what we have spent. So next time when you go for window shopping, if you happen to like anything, which ofcourse is likely; try to putoff the idea of buying it right then (Unless and until it’s something urgent). Just note that thing and move ahead. Give the idea of buying a second thought after reaching home. Search for better deals on the net. Don’t just buy because something is on sale. Try to reason with your impulse of buying unwanted things. The chances of you not buying that item would be more than 50% or you would get that item for a lesser price. If you could control that impulse of buying at that moment, you will probably find a good deal or you will change your mind about it. This will obviously lessen the burden on your pocket.

Professional:

We now know how procrastination and controlling your impulse helped you financially. Now let’s see how this works professionally.

In this world of emails, you should always be on your toes not only to do the right things but also to not do the wrong things. I mean an email can cause much damage if not properly addressed and procrastinated at times. For instance you are part of a mail chain and someone by mistake (Many a times intentionally) pointed at you and referred that you are the reason for something and something bad. You do not have to reply to them with the first thing that comes to mind. Generally, when you are pointed for a mistake that you are not the owner of or the reason for, your EGO will wake up and act on behalf of you. This will create a mess that will take ages to get cleared. The mails your ego sent might become chains attached to your legs and stop you from climbing the ladder of your professional career.

Instead of listening to your ego, just take a moment and try to understand what the other person is saying. Try to validate their statement. Find out what made them think that you are the reason for something bad. Wait for a while and then reply. The things that you put in black and white are the things that can never be wiped or corrected. So instead of trying to mend the things; that in the first place are unnecessary to create; avoid mailing back to mails right after you read them.
How to do it:

1. Go for a walk around the block
2. Have a coffee and come back to desk
3. Indulge yourself in something other than the mail.
4. Get away from your laptop and have a chat with your friend

Personal:

Now as you know how to procrastination can help you financially and professionally, it will be easy for you to know how it will be helpful in personal life.
I will start with “You do not have to win always”. When I say this, I really mean it. Generally we forget that we are having a healthy discussion and start making our point strong and end up arguing. We end up hurting others without noticing that we really did. When you are cornered you end up saying things that flashes in your brain without even having a second thought. Which really can cause damage to the discussion and relations. So next time when you feel that things are going south, just take a step back and wait for things to sink in. Talk soft and make your point straight. Never get personal things in between discussions.

Also when you are on social network (FB, Twitter etc) make sure that you do not indulge in ego warfare. Instead wait for a while, while replying back or commenting on someone. Putting off things for a while will change the way you look at them.

So I say “Procrastinating will lead to success if used in the right way”.