You're smarter with your money these days, You do a cash flow plan every pay period, you use the envelope system, when you make a purchase you don't just make every dollar count, you make it scream.  When word goes out on the street that you're shopping for an item, salesmen shake in their boots. They know you, you're dangerous, you're a bargain hunter. You skillfully stalk your prey armed with the fearsome bargain shopping phrase. "Is that the best you can do?'

Whatever you're buying,   make sure you do your homework. Browse the ads, compare prices on-line and finally, compare prices in local stores. Sure, most stores will meet or beat each other's prices, but many will also lower prices if you mention a price you have seen on the Internet.  Look for bargains!

Looking for bargains can save you some serious money. I'm not talking about getting a few dollars off, my grandma can do that. I'm talking about full contact, take no prisoners negotating.  I'm talking about going downsairs to the bargain section of a furniture store where a table set is marked down half price because of a few scratches, noticing by the tag that it's been there a while and asking for the price to be cut in half again.

Use cash. In most cases, money talks, and it says "this is a done deal."  If you have cash, the seller knows he has sold the item if he sets an agreeable price.  After you've been quoted a price, that's the time to utter the seven golden words. "Is that the best you can do?" Then shut up.  Wait for the seller to speak. The pressure will be on the seller to lower the price as he sees his chance of making the sale possibly slip away. This will be especially effective when dealing with a private seller, say, when buying a used car.

When buying at the big electronics stores like Circuit City or Best Buy, there may not be as lot of negotiating power on some items as competition has done it's job of keeping a lid on prices. But you may find excellent buys on items that have been returned.  Often these   are labeled "open box" items. These items may have drastic price reductions and carry the same warranty as new items.  Store managers have more leeway with prices on these items, so you may produce excellent results by asking "Is that the best you can do?" on these items.

Of course, since the stores don't make a lot of money on the items themselves, they have to look for another way to produce revenue. One of the most effective ways they have found is by selling the extended warranty.  Due to the profitability of extended warranties, stores are now marketing this product very aggressively.  One report from the companies own investor information stated that 100% of the store's operating expenses were produced by selling extended warranties, Many times the store will make more selling a warranty than they do on the item itself. When are the warranties a good buy? Almost never. The price of the warranty as a fraction of the price of a new product is simply too great. Remember, an very smart insurance company has done the math to make sure as a rule, they win more often than they lose.

So bottom line, look for bargains, pay cash, ask the seller "Is that the best you can do?" and ditch the warranty. Become a shopper that makes salesmen tremble in fear!   

The gym. No soft couches here. no Barker's Beauties. Just Nautilus equipment.. free weights.. stair steppers.  Oh well. I strap on my MP3 player and go through the first to stations of my workout quickly. but then.. Then, I come face to face with the most vile torture device ever made. An invention so terrible that if you don't die of exhaustion, you may fall off from the sheer boredom. The Treadmill. I hate running.  I hate the treadmill.

So I stand there facing the enemy. old Clint Eastwood music playing  WAWAWAWAAA, WA WA WAAH WA.  The enemy stares me down, steely eyed, daring me, taunting me.  I hate the treadmill.

I climb on and press the "begin workout" button. For the next 30 minutes, I go through a varying pace of walking and running, trying not to look at the timer as the time slides slowly by. I usually know it's about time to quit by the amount of sweat dripping off me.

I step off the treadmill and work my way across the gym stopping at the abdominal machine as well as several others before going to the bench press and the barbell station. After about an hour I, leave the gym and head for home and a shower.

Generally, going to the gym is not one of my favorite things to do. I rarely wake up excited that today is workout day. I am however pretty excited about the results going to the gym on a consistent basis has provided. I'm in much better shape than I was before I started going to the gym regularly. I've lost weight, toned muscle, become stronger and, I don't get sick nearly as often as I used to. So, as much as I don't look forward to actually leaving the house and going to the gym I must admit I like the results, and results are what counts.

There are of course other things that may not be the most exciting things in the world to do, but the results they provide are so worthwhile, it behooves us to take the time to do them. This includes activities that help us learn and grow such as reading non-fiction books or going to seminars.  Successful people know the value of learning, so they never stop. That's why even seminar leaders like Anthony Robbins not only attend seminars, they take notes!

 Taking the time to do some of the mundane activities will definitely pay off, propelling you forward to success. Keeping up with our finances, doing a budget every single payday may not be activities that get your blood going, but the results are well worth the effort!