Many people mistakenly assume the credit card company or bank wants them to make their payments on time.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  In this video a former credit card company employee explains what it means to be a "Deadbeat Customer."
 
 
During the first part of the video you may be left thinking that these children must have had some advantage you did not have or could not have had.  I thought that too, but by the end I didn't think that was the case anymore.  Even more importanty, a few main points jumped out at me as I continued watching until the end.  If you follow them you may have the same sucess or even half the success... which wouldn't be too bad either.

1)  You have to want to do it!  Cameron mentions that at 9 years old he didn't want to be a professional athlete, he wanted to be a business man like Mr. Trump.  You will generally get what you want bad enough.
2)  You have to put yourself out there.  This is the "catch part."  You don't really have to be able to do anything well, you just have to be able to do it.
3)  Start small and don't take on a lot of debt.  Both of these teenagers essentially started inside of their homes for almost no money.
4)  Do what you know.
5)  Save and reinvest your money.  Both of these millionaires are not into wasting their money.  The two people most interested in spending money were the broke hosts of the show.  That is a teling point, and a key difference between wealthy people and broke people.

If you follow these steps I'm sure you will be successful.  Even if you aren't you'll have fun working on your new "'part-time money making hobby."
 
David Bach is another one of the modern financial gurus we see so often on television these days.  Here in this video we see his #1 tip for avoiding financial catastrophe and putting you on the path to Finding North in your finances.
 
Here's a neat budgeting idea from Lucas Carroll.  It will help you keep to your budget and prevent you from over spending.  With some tweeks I'm sure you could modify it to suit any budget goal.
 
The above video was a promo for the upcoming annual Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.  It's the largest indoor military tattoo in the world.  From personal experience I can also say that it's one of the most entertaining events held in Halifax every year.  The problem is tickets cost about $50 each or even more.  If you have a family, you're easily looking at shelling out $100 to $200 to see this event.  For many people this amount of money just isn't in the monthly budget.  If you happen to be a smoker though, you probably smoke anywhere from $200 to $400 of cigarettes a month without even realizing it ($11 here, $11 there, and before you know it you're broke.)

Let's do some money saving math for a minute here.  Suppose for a moment that you are a pack a day smoker and the brand you like costs about $10.  If there are 30 days in a month, that's $300.  Now I know that quitting cold turkey is hard to do, but the beauty of the Wealthy Smoker plan is that you don't have to quit outright to make it work.  Even if you don't like bagpipes, I'm sure you can find something fun to do with an extra $300 every month or two.

Here's how it works:

Step 1:  Calculate the cost per cigarette for the brand you smoke.

For example, if your brand costs $10 a pack, and there are 20 cigarettes in that pack, then $10 divided by 20 cigarettes equals $0.50 per cigarette.

Step 2:  Figure out how many cigarettes you smoke a day and how much this costs. 

If you're spending $0.50 per cigarette and you smoke 10 cigarettes per day, then this amounts to $5 per day in cigarettes.  If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day then that would mean you're spending $10 a day.

Step 3:  Create about 5 to 10 "fun goals" of various sizes and costs.

Let's say you would like to take your family to the Tattoo we saw in the video, and let's assume that cost would be approximately $200 for your family.

You determine you would also like to pay off your car loan a bit quicker too, and figure out that each bi-weekly payment is about $120.

Your next goal is to take your family out to a nice restaurant for dinner.  You feel that will run you approximately $75 by the time everything is said and done.

Another goal might be a nice haircut at a salon:  $35 if you're a man, $135 if you're a woman (a joke, but pobably not far off).

And a small goal:  Order a pay-per-view movie for your family and buy some popcorn - a $20 cost, you figure.

Step 4:  Divide each goal in to "daily chunks."

Let's look at the 10 cigarette a day example.  That means, a day of not smoking would save $5.  Rounded to the nearest $5, that means the "dinner out with the family" goal would represent 15 full days of not smoking.

Alternatively, smoking only 7 cigarettes one day, 8 cigarettes the next day, and 5 cigarettes the third day would add up to 10 less cigarettes smoked, and therefore $5 total saved.

Create a spreadsheet (or any kind of chart) with an appropriate number of "one day chunks" for each goal.  Each time you save a full day's worth of money/cigarettes, check off one box.  You can check off the various boxes in any order you please (e.g., you may choose to check off a box for the movie first, and next the car, then the hair cut, then the hair cut again, and then maybe the car again, and next the Tattoo, etc.)

Step 5:  Purchase your goal guilt-free.

Once you fill up all of the boxes for a given goal with check marks, you can choose to purchase that goal (e.g., take your family out to dinner)  Or you can choose to save that money into an investment of your choice.

I hope this works for you.  Check back for the full version of this plan with its own page, created with the help of my friend Super Saver Chris.
 
Recently I've been inspired by a couple of friends who have started to wean themselves off of cigarettes in an attempt to save money.  I've been watching the process and noticed the power of having something fun to save towards.  Here are some ideas you can use to put smoking in its proper context.
 
I'm sure you know a few people who have threatened to move "off the grid" when their power bills get too high.  You probably even thought it once or twice yourself, too.  Well, here's a resourceful chap who actually did just that.  Enjoy this inspiring video.
 
Inspired slightly by a couple of suggestions made by A.J. and Yana in my Facebook Suggestions posts, I found this interesting video that shows it is possible to shop at a thrift store, save money, and look good after doing it.
 
A few weeks ago my friend Julian responded to a Facebook request for ways to save money.  He suggested "make more money," which wasn't the exact response I was looking for, but in all truth probably the best way.  It got me thinking and I decided to post this video I found on making a successful online ad for selling stuff on ebay, kijiji, etc.
I've actually sold a few things on kijiji in the past, and found the experience quite satisfying.  I hope you find your experience enjoyable too.  If you save any of the extra money let me know and I will update my Super Savers leaderboard.  I will post other tips/ways to make money in the future.