Whether that puts old Jonesy up there with the oldest person still alive is anyone’s guess, but it’s a cracking age for a “scientific” metric.

Readers of this blog will surely know that the Dow Jones is a 30-company index of industrial share value on Wall Street. Created by Charles Dow, editor of The Wall Street Journal, it started with just 12 constituent companies.

Changes to the Dow are rare and at the whim of individual editors conscious of the tradition. They don’t deal much with market capitalizations or other measures.

Times Business comments: “It’s unscientific and market professionals mostly use the S&P 500. But for many it remains the unquestioned barometer of US capitalism.”

Let’s hope the old Dow continues sailing away from the sunset.

Relationships cost money. You can quantify them as you can anything else. Here Tom Tessin looks at the way you can control your money in a relationship setting:

You’ve moved out of your parent’s house and you’re finally on your way to financial freedom. There’s one thing you don’t have yet to complete your life goals. A relationship. Relationships are funny in way because every person you meet may like you, hate you, or have no idea what they think of you. That’s the beauty of dating. But after a while you soon realize that you can’t save money like your pals and you’re soon deeply in debt.

What a lot of people don’t realize is a relationship is an option in life. People may look at you differently if you don’t date but soon after awhile, you may notice a nice return on your money and little less stress on your life. I’m not saying to drop relationships completely but I’m trying to recommend that relationships are a temporary debt relief strategy.

Let’s take a scenario here and chart out the numbers. Say, you meet a partner and you decide to eat out three times within the week. You’re going to be the nice fellow and pay for all three. The dinners will average forty bucks a dish totaling out to be one hundred and twenty dollars. The next week, you get a phone call and that relationship is now over. If this pattern keeps going, that’s $6,240/year. After that full year, you’re still single, $6,240 poorer while the other man working on his career track and investments is now $6,240 richer.

Now, you’re probably getting the idea that I’m sexist. I’m not. When people get into debt, they try to see where the money is going. Credit cards, clothes they don’t need, and food. They don’t open their eyes and realize it’s on the worthless dates they go on week after week.

After all this, I’m sure you’re still thinking “Hey, I’m still going to date, money is not as important as love and I don’t want to be lonely my whole life.” That’s great, you have to have an optimistic view on your future and plan accordingly. While you still try to find that partner, you are going to have to write all your expenses down on paper and include “relationships” as one of them. This is of course, if you’re single and dating. If you’re married, you shouldn’t be reading this article anyways. Once you figure out your “relationship” budget, you will then be able to determine how much you can spend on movies, dinners, vacations, etc. This way, when the month ends and you look at your bank statement, you will be able to determine where the money has gone.

Of course, there are many other ways to save you money. Cutting back on your groceries, getting rid of the things you don’t need like satellite radio, cable television with the three hundred channels, or just eating at home.

About The Author
Tom Tessin is the founder of http://www.gotalkmoney.com.

Note: The Money Blog does not necessarily endorse the views or products of our contributors.

The great American liberal economist, JK Galbriath, has died aged 97. For decades he eloquently derided the complacency of the wealthy in The Affluent Society (1958) and other famous works. John Kenneth Galbraith was born on October 15, 1908. He died on April 29, 2006.

The Times (London) writes:

“FOR MORE than half a century John Kenneth Galbraith was both Professor of Economics at Harvard University and a public intellectual, whose lucid writing expounded the Keynesian economics that he supported throughout his life. A product of New Deal America, he was John F. Kennedy’s Ambassador to India and adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson, but maintained that the great thrill of his life was debating with Friedrich von Hayek — and getting the better of him.

[...]

“The most famous and best-selling economist in the world, Galbraith published the last of more than 40 books — The Economics of Innocent Fraud in 2004 — in his 96th year.”

What are the key indicators that allow you to track the progress of your business? Here Justin Woolich explains what they are and how to make good use of them:

Key Indicators allow you to track the health and growth of your business. By deciding what values are critical, then measuring them over time, you can determine exactly where you are in your progress towards your business development goals.

Most business owners would argue that they have a ‘good feel’ for their businesses. This is probably true but it is not sufficient to be successful. The Key Indicators in your business need to be defined and a schedule established to track and measure your progress towards them over time.

Key Indicators can be used to track both measurable and implied areas of your business.

Measurable Key Indicators are values that you can actually calculate or determine by looking at the operations of your Business. Typical examples include: – Net Profit, Growth Rates, Sales Person Calls and Production Rates etc.

Implied Key Indicators are values where you establish the best case and worst case values and then assign a measurement value at a point in time using your judgement. These values may not be able to be determined by looking at the operational metrics of your business. It may be useful for you to document exactly how to arrive at a value. Typical examples include:

- Customer Satisfaction, Market Leadership and Employee Moral etc.

To begin tracking Key Indicators in your business:

1) Consider where you are and where you want to be.

2) Determine the areas that need tracking in order to reach your Business Development Goals.

3) Determine the range of values you will use to measure a Key Indicator, these may change as your Business Develops.

4) Develop a description for the Minimum and Maximum values that you will use to measure the Key Indicator (This will assist you when measuring the values).

5) Measure the current value of the Key Indicator.

6) Schedule a task for the regular measurement and evaluation of your progress with the Key Indicator so you can track where you are over time.

You should share the measurement and evaluation responsibilities of Key Indicators with employees and managers in your business. You will find that once you start using Key Indicators to set the goals and parameters of your business, you and your employees will become aligned and begin working towards achieving your Business Development Goals.

Be bold but realistic in setting your Business Development Goals. By defining and then measuring Key Indicators there is a good chance you will reach and exceed what you have set as the best case scenario.

About the Author

Business System Manager Software allows you to define Key Indicators in your business also assisting you to create Tasks and Business Systems to ensure that the Key Indicators are measured and reviewed. Start a Free Trial Today http://www.BusinessSystemsManager.com
Justin Woolich has been involved with the Development of Innovative Business Software for over 12 years. He is passionate about assisting Businesses with Software for Business Development.
http://www.BusinessSystemsManager.com/AboutJustinWoolich.aspx

Note: The Money Blog has no financial links with Justin Woolich, nor any knowledge of his business.