Why is budgeting so important for managing debt?

Imagine taking a roadtrip across the country without a directions or compass. Sure, you might get there after many detours, turn-arounds, and delays. Or you could get a roadmap, map out your trip, and get there with a lot less trouble.

It’s the same way with managing debt. You could successfully get out of debt without a budget, but how long would it take and how much would it cost you. Instead, living out a budget will make getting out of debt much easier.

A budget will help you figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend to get out of debt. Not only that, it helps you figure out where to squeeze more money from your debt.

Once your debt’s paid off, a budget will help you keep your finances on track to keep you from getting back into debt. A budget will help keep your spending under control so you don’t have to rely on credit cards to make ends meet.

You can learn how to manage your debt at Credit Card Debt

Build relationships. In the west, it’s usual to do business first, and then see if a relationship is possible. In China, it’s the opposite. You need to build a relationship before you can do business. This leads to the idea of ‘guanxi’. Guanxi means using personal contacts and relationships to do business, and westerners need to understand how real and strong this is in China.

It can also be useful to find a reliable Chinese ally to work with you. He or she will be able to help with language or cultural problems and will also be able to understand Chinese body language. Remember too that a visit by a westerner is often seen as a great honour by Chinese companies.

You must remember to respect ‘face’. Face means having high status with your peers. Face can be lost, given or earned. Never criticize or insult someone in front of others, as losing face will make it impossible to make a deal. On the other hand, if you praise someone by saying good things about him or her, then he or she will gain face, but be careful not to do it too much.

Accept the pecking order. Hierarchy is very important in China, and the group is more important than the individual. In business, Chinese people often don’t like taking responsibility individually and may also not like giving opinions in front of peers, in case they lose face.

All these tricks of the trade can help you to play the game and do business successfully in China. Be prepared, and be patient if you want to be a winner in China.

how about you? hows SD? there right? wedding in CT? life is moving so fast, try to keep up.

yea, i’m still hustling here, trying more PR – I’m speaking at a China internet event tomorrow, gotta wear a suit! but its good to use my “white guy expert” approach here to make waves.

that dream is AWESOME! you have to psot that on my blog. made me think back to you crazy Fkers coming to NYC to visit me…..good times..

yea, i’m going 100% twitter and internet marketing now…..if you check out my twitter http://www.twitter.com/michelini you’ll see what i’m talking about…. really pushing it to see who i can meet a nd what can happen.

just sticking my neck out there and see.

good to hear from you! so i saw that you had to get your visa renewed, cause luckily wow you noticed the day before. man i can just imagine you getttin gdeported and having to run a china based business from the us. man that would be tough. but glad yo ugot that figured out. then i saw that you had to move your blog over… i actually just read about that and your boa stuff today. man that boa stuff really sucks, yeah credit card companies and banks are doing some weird things. this latest wave of defaults have made them come up with new rules about lending and giving people credit. and whats annoying is they don’t take your individual situation into consideration all they do is have a set of rules and they have to follow them. thats it. its like they answer a bunch of yes and no questions and this is what they have to tell you. do you have a new financial situation? do you have new income? do you live in the united states? oh it says we cannot help you goodbye. that is awful

i actually had a dream about you last night man. it was crazy. you were living in new york in some high rise, maybe it was china i dunno so we were driving trying to find you and stephanie remembered exactly where you lived somehow so i just trusted her and she got us to your building. but when we got there there was nowhere to park so we figured valet was the best option. so we valet but we had 6 people and all you had was a one bedroom so the doorman would not let 6 people up to your apartment at one time. so it was a big mess. we shouldve taken 3 up at a time with you. so i remember walking around all these high skyrises cause we couldnt go into your luxury apt. wow. it was weird that you were in my dream kinda cool, this made me write you today. i remembered your email.

the one thing that lets me know you are doing well over there is hearing stuff about your friends. it seems like you and bas suleman are good friends and its nice to see you blogging about things other than work. you and the baby with the beer is a good picture. you are gonna look back at that picture and smile a hundred times. its great. it made me smile. so cherish these little times.

i always think i spend too much time focusing on trying to have fun that i dont cherish the having fun part when im having it. it seems im more focused on creating fun than having it.

this wednesday is a big soccer game – be sure to take 2 hours and check it out. its the UEFA champions league final – Manchester united vs FC barcelona. its at 11:45 AM pacific, 2:45 eastern, probably 9PM in europe. so check it out its a big game im sure it will be on all over china. its cool to think that you are watching the same thing i am halfway across the world.

alright dude
ttys
Piotr