www.davewestwood.com

I said in a previous blog, My Million Dollar Mission, that I live a modest lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean it is a simple life. Like many of you, I work a lot of hours. I also have a 22 month old son that runs me ragged when I get home, so it seems like I never have enough hours in the day. So money aside, one thing I am looking to accomplish in my mission is to have a more simple existence. To do that, I figured I would declutter the house a little bit. I went up in the attic and found several knives that belonged to my father. My dad was a bit of a pack rat and a collector. He loved getting stuff. There is still things I have of his that are still in the original boxes they were shipped in. I miss my dad, he passed away in 1988, 20 years ago yesterday as I’m writing this. I didn’t even think about it until I started writing this, so now I’m really bummed out thinking about it, and feeling guilty that I forgot this anniversary. Between QVC and the Internet, he would have been like a kid in a candy store if he were alive today. Anyway, these knives were in great shape and I would never use them, so I put them on eBay along with a John Wayne belt buckle (also my dad’s) and some books that I bought at a used book sale at the local elementary school ($5 a bag). I have sold stuff on ebay before, both for myself and for others, so this was a great place to start. Out of the 19 items I listed, 5 sold. Here’s the recap:

Vintage Gerber Folding Knife: sold for $60.00

Puma 465 Back-Packer Folding Lock-Blade Knife: sold for $45.00

John Wayne: A Tribute by Norm Goldstein: sold for $9.99

John Wayne Limited Edition Belt Buckle: sold for $10.49

And the winner is…Vintage Puma White Hunter 6399: sold for $261.89!!!

Although other items like the General Hospital Scrapbook and Fundamentals of Corporate Finance did not sell, I think I did okay here. Total after ebay and paypal fees: $284.19 .  Still waiting on a money order for one of the items, but I’m counting it in the totals.

There is a saying that you can’t help others unless you help yourself. I’d like to think there’s no point in helping yourself if you can’t help others in the process. As I said in my last blog, I can’t help but feel that I don’t really make much of a difference in the world with the work that I do. That’s why on January 1^st, I launched Debt Free Earth. The mission statement of Debt Free Earth is to help the earth get debt-free, one person at a time. By eliminating consumer debt and mortgage debt, I truly believe people will be happier, healthier and less stressed, leading to a better society overall. Now I have to admit, this mission was not my own. The man who started this mission is Dave Ireland, the president of IYD, Inc., Invest In Your Debt. Dave was a Vice President of Finance with Eastman Kodak and retired at age 48 only to discover he was $250,000 in debt. Through what he has taught, he not only became debt free but founded his company. I have taught seminars on debt elimination using Dave’s materials and it’s awesome when someone comes up to me and tells me how using what I taught helped them. There is no better feeling than knowing I truly have made a difference in someone’s life and the lives of their family. Like Dave Ireland, I think I can make a difference on a more global scale, thus the website was born. So, hopefully I can help people out, make a difference in their lives and maybe help myself in the process. Because you can’t help others unless you help yourself, right?

As part of my New Year’s resolution, I’ve decided to go on a mission, my personal Million Dollar Mission. Why? Because I’ve been broke and I’ve had money; having money seems to have worked out better for me, generally speaking. Why a million dollars? Because that’s what conventional wisdom says the typical person needs to save in order to be able to retire comfortably. Also, it’s a nice round number that’s easy to remember. Now, my wife and I live a pretty modest lifestyle, so I don’t think I would need a million dollars to retire but the $759,753 mission doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Most people earn well over a million dollars in the course of their working careers, but after taxes, housing, food and all that other stuff, few end up with over $1,000,000. So my mission is to make $1,000,000 doing things other than earning my salary at work. I want to do it by doing things I want to do, not things I’m forced to do to pay the bills. Ultimately, it’s not about being rich, and a million dollars does not make you rich, despite what one of my favorite bands, Barenaked Ladies might say. Nor does it make you unique. According to MarketWatch, 8.9% of all Americans are millionaires (about 2.6 million people). The average major league baseball player makes nearly $3 million dollars, per season. No, what it’s about for me is freedom. Freedom to make my own decisions. Freedom to sleep in if I want. Freedom to work when and where I want. And freedom to help others. That is what I feel I am missing right now. Although I do (hopefully) help some business owners and my company money, I don’t think I make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. And that is where my Million Dollar Mission begins. As I continue in this mission, I’ll update you on my progress and hopefully inspire some of you in your own Million Dollar Mission.

Hi, my name is Dave Westwood, which you might have figured out by the website (clever, isn’t it?). Welcome to my first blog. So why blog? I came to realize that I needed a new hobby, well, a hobby, actually. I spend too much time online, so if I’m going to be online, I might as well do something useful. While I love to curl up with a good book, my focus seems to not be there lately. My wife falls asleep about an hour before I do usually, so while she’s sleeping, I can put my thoughts in writing.

I’ve always wanted to write but have never done so professionally. That is, unless you count my high school newspaper. But since I didn’t get paid for that, I’m sure my amateur status is still intact. So what’s the blog going to be about? I’m thinking about my financial journey and where I’m at now. I’ve had times where I’ve had money, but I’ve also had business failures, bankruptcy and other debt issues. The fact is money doesn’t buy happiness. But the lack of money and not being able to make ends meet can make a person’s life absolutely miserable. It won’t be just about money, because frankly, life is not all about money. But since money plays a big part in most people’s lives (I’m no exception), I think it is something that most people can relate to. Hopefully that is the case and you will relate and keep reading…