Moneywise24 Personal Finance

Being from The Netherlands originally, I have grown up with my bicycle. In The Netherlands, on average there is one bicycle per inhabitant, and there are more bicycles than cars. Yet I have managed to lose touch of using the bicycle as a main form of transportation when I went abroad; especially here in Germany, where people are pretty car-crazy.

Still I enjoy using the bicycle, and there are actually 3 main reasons, which I want to suggest here, why it could be a good idea to use the bicycle as an alternative form of transportation, at least partially.

It’s cheap

Let’s face it. Since this is a money-related blog, the first benefit of using a bicycle is that it’s cheap. Bicycles come for a few hundred Dollars already, and for a bit more you’ll be able to purchase a bicycle of good quality; it really does not have to cost more than 1,000 Dollars or Euros. The maintenance costs are also low: I had my bicycle maintained before last winter for around 60 Euros. I do this every year, so that I know everything is in good order, nothing is broken, and that I can fully enjoy riding it. I find nothing more irritating than having to deal with something that is half broken.

Perhaps the most important cost-savings factor is the money saved on fuel, road tax, and insurance.

If you have a bicycle of good quality, with a bit of precaution you would be able to ride for 10 years perhaps. I have mine for 12 years now… but it does need replacement.

It’s healthy

Getting some exercise is healthy. I feel we spend too much time behind our laptops, getting too little exercise. Even if it’s for 5 minutes per day, still it’s 5 minutes. I use the bicycle during summer to get to work, as an alternative to the metro. That makes 30 kilometers (or 18.7 Miles) per day. It took around one month until I was starting to get some very powerfull results. At winter, when I am not using the bicycle, I exercise one additional day per week at the gym, in order not to lose the beautiful results of summer.

You always get a parking space

The last benefit to using a bicycle is that you’ll always get a parking space. No more driving around blocks for hours, waiting for a parking space to become free, paying loads of money on fuel, or paying enormous amounts on parking fees (in the Amsterdam city center, you pay an average of 5 Euros per hour for a parking space on the street… if you are able to find some). You can virtually just hop on, go where you want to go, and leave your bicycle right in front of where you want to be.

All in all, I find cycling an excellent way to stay fit, healthy, and save some money in the process. Surely I won’t go through this trouble when I have to carry things around with me. But when I know that I am traveling lightweight, and I don’t need to go very far, and the weather permits it, the bicycle is my way to go.

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I had quite an interesting flashback lately; as I was sitting on my couch and letting some things pass through my mind, I was struck by the fact that there are so many things I could have done much sooner, and thereby enhance the quality of my life and my personal financial situation. Then, why hadn’t I? Quite simple really: I just didn’t know… or at least I didn’t know they were that important.

In order to help some of the younger readers, I have compiled my personal top 10 list of things I wish I knew when I was a teen. I sincerely hope that for some of you it would mean a positive change of where you are at, and where you are going.

#1 – I wish I had learnt earlier to set my goals in life. It may seem a bit stupid, but during my teens my top priority seemed to have a lot of fun, while at the same time I didn’t really know where I was heading. I had no real goal in life, which at a later age resulted in me trying out many things which were not going anywhere. Now, at the age of 32, I realize that what I do isn’t really what I want to be doing, and it is much harder to change the entire structure of my life.

#2 – I wish I had studied more. I focussed on the ‘fun factor’ of life so much, that I really didn’t realize the importance of a good education. At present, I have a bachelor’s degree, and I realize that many jobs that I really want require a Master’s. Also, graduates or even post-graduates earn much more than bachelors.

#3 – I wish I had worked more. I know that parents are supposed to support their children up to a specific age legally, in The Netherlands it was up to 27. However, this also means being dependent one one’s parents. There were so many things I wanted, which I never got. In The Netherlands, everyone is allowed to work when they reach the age of 15, and I wish I had grasped that opportunity, to build on my own financial freedom. Additionally, when I went to college, I took a huge loan which was absolutely not necessary; I could have financed everything by working on the side… in stead I am now stuck with monthly payments which cut a big hole in my budget.

#4 – I wish I had aimed for independence sooner. I lived at my parental house until I was 21, then I moved out because I was going to college in another city. However, I could have moved out much sooner, enjoying all the freedom of living by myself. I am sure it would have done me good, and it would have relieved me of all the pressure at home; it would have made me more mature, and given me more energy.

#5 – I wish I had started tracking my finances earlier. I don’t even remember all the money I spent on drinks, clubs, going out, and other unnecessary items. Sure, a good social life is crucial, but if I would have tracked my finances carefully, I would have discovered that there was so much savings potential; I could have gotten most out of my money.

#6 – I wish I had started investing sooner. In stead, I used to park some of my money on my savings account, completely ignoring the benefit of higher return rates from investments. Investing some of my money would have allowed me to build wealth, and my future.

#7 – I wish I had done more sports. Actually, I had hardly done any sports in my late teens and twenties, simply because I had other priorities and I was lazy. However, doing sports regularly would have given me more energy, it would have kept me fit, and it would have built a routing, making it easier to do sports at a later age as well.

#8 – I wish I had discovered the importance of networking. I always tended to see networking as some form of superficial ‘blabla’, which I could do without; I wanted to take responsibility for my own successes. Now, I realize that networking is an integral part of life, making things easier, finding the good jobs, or even getting some tips and hints on things… and it is a great way to build a large social circle.

#9 - I wish I had become entrepreneurial sooner. It is much easier to ‘crash and burn’ when you are younger: your living expenses are much lower, and since you are not accustomed to a higher living standard, it is not difficult to give things up, or to re-build a life if things go wrong. The older you get, the more difficult it becomes. Actually, I started becoming familiar with website development back in 1998, when I developed my first website Dutchtrav.com. Too bad I had never really taken the time to develop it back then, it could have generated some nice revenues.

#10 – I wish I realized the value of time. I remember myself saying ‘I can do that later’, or ‘there is still so much time’. And before you know it, you’re 30, and you realize that you could have gotten so much out of your life. The years are literally passing by, and time is lost, it will never come back again. Therefore, I wish I had learned to enjoy every single moment in my life, and living it to the max.

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I had a bit of a flash today: how many people are truly passionate about the kind of work they do? Actually, I was starting to have these thoughts when I saw a television broadcasting the other day about burn-outs and all sorts of mental disorders as a result of too much stress.  And to be honest, most people I know consistently complain about their work, their bosses, their companies, in one way or the other…

… and yet we keep doing doing what we do, just in order to enter another round of complaining tomorrow.

So how do we get to that point, that we do something that we are truly passionate about? And in the end, it really comes down to only three basic factors, if combined correctly:

• Which topics interest you? What is it, that makes your personal world go round? Be it languages, countries, personal finance, marketing, mathmatics, physics, research, education, family life, children, pets, sports, blogs, internet… anything you can think of. What is it, that you can spend litterally thousands of hours reading about?
• What do you love doing? What kind of activity do you love? Is it writing? Perhaps you would love to fly an airplane? How about researching, teaching, organizing things, leading people, managing projects, reading books, etc.

If you have these two areas of your life answered, you will most probably automatically come to the conclusion of what you are passionate about, or where you have the potential to develop a passion.

For example, someone who would love to fly an airplane and loves traveling would do good to become a pilot. Or how about someone who wants to become a writer, teacher, and knows a lot about the internet and how it works? Such a person might want to start writing a blog. And what if you love to research and you love sports? Perhaps a marketing research specialist at a sports company?

I believe too few people really spend time to figure out what they are passionate about. Worst, many people are simply chasing the money, completely neglecting the fun aspect of their work. Being truly passionate about what you do will keep you healthy on the long-term. But more importantly, it will make your life more fulfilling.

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Last week, I met a good friend of mine. As we talked about various topics, our conversation slowly transitioned to the topic of being overweight, and how to not reach that point of being overweight. As we did so, we walked into Starbucks to get ourselves a coffee. As we sat there talking, I observed how a pretty much obese woman next to me litterally stuffed herself with 2 huge cakes within only a few minutes, while she was drinking a grande hot chocolate with a lot of cream on top… and when I say a lot, I mean a lot.

I just had to write a post about that… not about the situation, but rather what can be done to avoid coming to the point of being obese. I consider myself to quite slim, but why is that?

The body needs energy in order to burn it to stay alive; it’s much like a vehicle, which needs petrol in order to burn it for it to move. The is obtained by eating and drinking, and is measured in food calories (kcal), or simply refered to as calories. How much calories you need on a daily basis depends on your gender, you height, weight, age, and daily physical activity. Myself, I would need 2510 calories on a daily basis, as calculated on http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/caloriesneed.htm. It a logical equation: if I eat more than I need, I will gain weight, and if I eat less, I will lose weight.

I consider myself quite slim, although I could lose 2 or 3 kilos. However, I do have a set of unconscious ‘rules’ which I apply each time when I eat something. Here they are, and I hope they will help some readers becoming conscious of their eating habits also:

1. I know how many calories I need per day, I have calculated it. I also know how many calories are in some typical foods and beverages. Calorie Counting offers an overview of the most common foods and beverages. Or you might refer to your favourite site, there is a lot about this topic on the internet. If you are not familiar with calorie counting, please do. You do not have to count each and every calorie and each single snack… but if you are in the habit of having 2 tall White Chocolate Moccha each day, it comes in handy to know that it includes 688 calories. That is one third of my daily needs.
2. I tend having only one big meal per day, either at lunch or in the evening. If I had a big and warm meal during lunch, I might only eat a salad in the evening.
3. I not only look at fat, but also sugar. If I have to drink a Coke, I might rather opt for the low sugar variant.
4. I do not believe commercials and marketing. If something is marketed as ‘low fat’, chances are that there is loads of sugar in it. I want to make my own choice as much as possible, and I recognize that marketing is a tool for generating higher profits, not for making people eat more healthy.
5. I will not let myself be driven crazy by calories and counting them. If I have the sudden urge to eat a king-size burger with fat dripping out of it as soon as it is squeezed, with a hot chocolate with cream on the side, I will. But I know I can not do this every day, and I will compensate for it.
6. If I eat less than the body needs, the body will start using available energy reserves to compensate for it. Many people think, that in this case the body starts using up the fat in our bodies. This is untrue: the body will first focus on the most accessible energy reserves: our muscles. Therefore, I recognize that doing sports is very important. Additionally, the website Health Status has a neat calculator, showing which activity burns how much energy.
7. I recognize, that being overweight has an impact on other areas of life:
   • Overweight people are usually not as self-confident
   • Overweight people have smaller social circles
   • On average, overweight people earn less than those within the same position
   • Overweight people spend on average more money on food and beverages
   • Some airlines charge extra fees for overweight people, making travel more expensive
   • Overweight people are more likely to become ill

I would like to state at this point, that I do not want to criticize overweight men and women. The above text merely reflects my own opinion, and what I do to control my weight in order to create the life I want.

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