One of the biggest misconceptions about playing the market is that it is easy money. Sure you may luck into a monster trade and hit big, but for most of us success requires work. In order to work productively you need to have a plan. Organizing your days dedicated to trading stocks will make a world of difference.

The first step to better organization is to plan out when you will be researching, and when you will be trading. If you have the availability to trade any day of the week that can easily turn into a disjointed mish-mash of trading on whims. Pick out certain days of the week to practice stock trading. Look at your schedule for work and home life and make a plan to dedicate a certain time to stock trading. Every trader is different, and has widely varied times available to trade stocks. If you find that you don’t have much time available during market hours then you will have to plan to do your research and put in orders the night before. The whole idea here is to set up a schedule that you will religiously put in time to become a better stock trader. If you can’t keep a set day every week then choose a day (Sundays are usually good) to spend a few minutes planning out when you will be concentrating on your investments that week.

I’m a big believer in using pen and paper for my time management activities. There are many great electronic calendars that offer good functionality, but I like to work with a daily planner on my desk. All of my stock trading takes place on the computer, so I find that being able to organize when I’m going to trade without ever touching the computer is a great buffer. Use whatever tool suits your personality, but don’t be afraid to experiment with alternatives that you haven’t tried. You may just find one that works for you.

The organization techniques that I am describing are useful for more than just stock trading training. Anything that requires you to set aside time for an activity can benefit from a little planning. Whether it’s a picnic with the family or a night at the pub watching the game, if you plan out your time you will feel like you are in more control of your life.

I know the idea of starting a budget sounds like a tedious task, but it’s really not that bad.  Setting up the budget is the biggest step and once that is accomplished you just have to maintain it.  You can either update it daily, which will take about 5 to 15 minutes or you can do it every few days or once a week and spend about 30 to 45 minutes on it.  Taking that allotted amount of time to maintain your budget is not only a wise investment of your time, but you will reap benefits from it for a long time.

I read somewhere a simple sentence that rings very true. It said that a carpenter would not start building  a new house without a set of blueprints and for us to not have a budget is like being the carpenter without the blueprints.  It just does not make any sense to make, spend and invest your money without having a plan to guide you and not knowing what your next course of action is.

Starting A Budget Helps You Save Money

So what is a budget? A budget is a plan for your money.  It is an outline of whats coming in and whats going out and a forecast to help you see what you can do with your money. With a budget you can set goals for your money, see where you can save money and understand how to make your money work for you.  It is the first step in financial organization!

With 2009 coming to an end, the economy has been hard on most people.  A lot of people have lost their jobs, lost their cars or homes and even lost their savings.  We, as a people, need to try and prepare as much as possible for situations like these, as well as the standard emergencies that come with life so we do not crumble. Starting a budget will help you prepare for these. Being aware of the state of your money as well as being in control of that money will allow you to take advantage of opportunities that you may have otherwise missed.   You will never have a situation of wondering if you can or cannot afford something because you will know. You will be in control of saving money for emergencies and big occasions.  It will help you understand where your financial priorities are because without knowing that, it’s like going on a boat ride in the ocean and not knowing how to swim.  You may stay afloat for a while, but should a wave come and that boat tips over, then what do you do? You were not prepared.

So make it your goal, new years resolution, promise to yourself and your family for 2010 to start a budget, save money, be in control of your finances and have a more fruitful life.  This is what I wish for you, don’t you wish that for yourself?

There are different variations of coin counters that you could use depending on how often you want to count your change and how much change you have to count. If you are just collecting coins at home then you can get a pretty inexpensive coin sorter. If you are counting coins because you own a business that deals with a lot of coins, then you may want to look into a heavy duty coin counter.

Commercial coin counters are pretty heavy duty. They can count up to a few hundred coins per minute and can hold up to a few hundred to a thousand coins in the hopper. They usually have LCD displays which will show you the total dollar amount and the number of coins that the machine counted. They can vary in price but usually start around $300 and go up from there.

If you are looking for a simple coin counter for home then you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank or getting a machine that’s just too fancy and unnecessary. If you want
just a basic machine with nothing fancy, I would suggest getting a simple motorized automatic coin sorter, also called an electric coin sorter which can start around $15. You can usually drop about twenty coins in the hopper at a time, push the button and the machine drops the coins in the correct tube. You can either put your coin paper wrappers already in the tubes or do it after the tube is full. Then all you have to do is add up the rolls and take it to the bank!!

Now, if you don’t want to waste any time adding up exactly how much money you counted, you can buy a digital coin counter. These things are pretty sweet. These generally are a little more improved than a basic electronic coin counter. The digital coin counter can show you how many pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters are in each tube AND can give you a grand total of all the money you sorted. They usually can hold more coins in the hopper, about double what a basic coin sorter can hold. Some machines also have the ability for you to subtract coins as necessary. These generally run around $40 and up.

So now you will always have coins sorted and counted for you. No more rounding up all your miscellaneous change. Not to mention, these are great for kids too. It’s basically a piggy bank and can be used to help them achieve a financial goal for something they want to buy. Maybe every time they wash your car or do something without you asking, you grab a handful of coins and drop them into their coin counter? It’s a great reward system and they can always keep an eye on how much money they have earned. What if you’re kids are spoiled enough and its time to reward yourself. You work, clean, cook, fix the car, whatever it is you do, you deserve a reward. I have one friend who collects all her coins throughout the year and at the end of the year she buys herself something nice. Last year she saved $200 and was able to go put that money towards a really nice coach purse that she had been wanting for a while. So use it to save for a pedicure or maybe a girl / guy’s night out, a round of golf or a romantic dinner. All I know is that keeping your change organized not only helps reduce clutter but you start putting that pain in the butt change to some good use!!