Posts tagged Money
Saving by Negotiating
Jan 5th
Successful negotiation requires both skill and art. Negotiating skills are necessary not just in the boardroom for business but also for many real life situations. You can negotiate just about anything, from your employment contract to your telecom carrier to your newest find at the flea market.
Some of the best negotiators are children. Watch them well and learn. Children will negotiate almost anything and in most cases, get what they want. As you grow older, the drive to negotiate seems to die a little. Wake up your inner child and get back negotiating if you want to save some money.
Anyone can learn to negotiate successfully. When two parties want something the other can give, you have a higher probability of negotiating successfully.
Always decide on what your breakpoint is. This is the lowest you can go if you are the seller and the highest you can go if you are the buyer. Know what your limits are before you start bargaining. This way, you know when to stop and walk away if you have to.
If in case you are negotiating on someone’s behalf, make sure that the breakpoint is established beforehand, preferably in writing. Your idea of a good deal may not be the same as the person you are representing. So be sure to get baselines in writing.
If you’re negotiating an employment contract, know what you are worth. You should also know what the salary rates are like in your industry, experience and position. Have printouts ready. These will make backing-up your claims much easier. Always keep yourself informed. Do not go to the bargaining table without information.
If you feel a dislike for negotiating, stop. You don’t have to feel that you are taking advantage of the other party. Bargaining is a game to be played and if you want to come out the winner, you had better start putting those feelings aside. The beauty of negotiation is that both parties will get what they want once they come to an agreement. Both buyer and seller come out winners. So get over your dislike of negotiating and start bargaining.
Don’t be too interested. If a seller sees that you are visibly excited about a product or item, the price goes up automatically. If you don’t want the prices jacked up, keep your interest contained. Play it cool. You may still get the item at a price you can live with but it will be higher than what the seller would have let the item go for.
Be prepared to walk away. Some deals just can’t be made. If you’re not prepared to meet the seller’s demands and he isn’t willing to come to a reasonable compromise, walk away. In many cases, especially for hard to dispose items, once the seller sees you are serious about not getting the item, the price can lower quite dramatically. You may get the item at the price you set or you may get the item at a slightly higher price. If you get it at a higher price, be sure to ask for a little extra item or service. You may not get what you asked for but it can’t hurt to ask.
What to Do When You’ve Made a Life-Shatteringly Bad Decision
Nov 14th
The type of thing I’m talking about can vary, but an example from my own life was my decision to take up smoking when I was 16. I knew it was probably a bad idea at the time, but sometimes bad ideas can have a fascinating seductivity to them that makes them impossible to resist. I struggled with cigarettes for seven years after that before finally giving them away for good.
Other examples of life-shattering decisions include adultery, recreational drug use, crime, debt, and pointless arguments with friends and family. There comes a moment in everybody’s life when they do something so stupid that they will be dealing with the consequences for years afterwards. Sometimes, the choice can be made in an instant, sometimes over a few months. But always, it turns out to be damaging and wrong.
What should you do after you’ve done such a thing in your own life?
The first thing to do, when you come out of the initial shock, is admit that what you’ve done was stupid and wrong. Many people live in misery and destruction because of their simple inability to admit to themselves that they might have done something wrong. Instead, they try to rationalize it away – “I enjoy taking cocaine”, “I was falling out of love with my spouse anyway”, “who cares about money?”.
Once you’ve admitted to yourself that you’ve made a mistake, the next thing is to assess if it’s possible to return to the circumstances before the decision was made. In the case of drug addiction, it feasible that you can free yourself from it and end up in much the same state as before. In the case of infidelity, you must accept that your marriage will never be the same again, no matter how hard you try.
If you’re able to return to your previous, more pure state of life, then you must immediately start working out a concrete, achievable plan for doing so. Don’t be unrealistic, and realize that it’s going to be difficult to return to first base, but find a determination to do so. Some of the motivation articles on Paul’s Tips can help you do that.
In the case where you are unable to return to your previous state, consider what would be the next best thing. If you’ve committed infidelity and ruined a marriage you love, is it possible you can rebuild it to some kind of still functional state? If you’ve been caught committing a serious crime, is it possible you can rebuild some kind of decent life after the jail term has finished?
Once again, the trick is to make some kind of concrete, achievable plan. Write it down if necessary. Acknowledge that it’s going to be extremely difficult, but combine that with a determination to see it through.
So there are the two steps: firstly admit your error, then take steps to repair it. The life-shatteringly bad decisions we all make from time to time will have a devastating effect. Learn how to recover from them gracefully.
