When Kobe Bryant was named the NBA’s 2007-2008 MVP, he completed one of the greatest turnarounds of personality and circumstance in NBA history in just under a year.

Last summer, before the season got underway, Bryant made it clear that he wanted to leave the Los Angeles Lakers for a different team. He was fed up with ownership, management, and his teammates, and his trade demands made headlines across the nation. He was reviled by the media, despised by the fans, and second-guessed by his teammates. The situation in Los Angeles could not have been worse.

He had a lot of naysayers when the season began; however, fast forward ten months and all is roses with the Lakers. Kobe led his team to the best record in the Western Conference and the number one seed in the conference playoffs. A midseason trade for Memphis forward Pau Gasol helped immensely, and the Lakers were able to jell and come together toward the end of the year and finish with a burst.

To hear L.A. fans chant M-V-P for Kobe late in the year was fascinating considering how far he had come. The team would certainly have not made it as far without him, yet at the start of the year, it seemed like he was a big enough distraction to ruin any chance that the team had. Kobe’s leadership, talent, and desire to win helped him move past his troubles in the offseason and push the Lakers into the head of the class out West.

A year ago, learning financial lessons from Kobe would have been laughable. He had alienated friends and family, and he struggled finding his place on the team. Now, he is an entirely different man, and following his example could help create an MVP-caliber financial situation.

Make demands

Bryant made his reputation on this tenet. He was always one to demand the ball in crunch time, to insist on touches, and to command whatever it was he wanted. Oddly enough, he usually got his way.

Making demands is not always a great idea for a consumer. You would hate to be the customer at the bank counter threatening to hold out on your Internet bill pay until the bank raises its interest rates on savings accounts by a half percent. No one likes that guy.

However, knowing when to be demanding can make a big difference. One particularly good example is with cable and satellite TV. These companies make a big profit on monthly fees, and they often build a lot of wiggle room into their prices. Demanding a lower bill or an extra package is a reasonable request provided you do it politely and intelligently. They will want to keep your service rather than let you go to a competitor, and if you have a history with the company, you have a good shot of getting what you want.

Demands also have a greater chance of not working. In Kobe’s case, he did not get the trade that he asked for this summer, yet his staying in L.A. led to his having one of his greatest seasons. He learned to live with his situation, and it worked out better than he could have ever imagined.

In the same vein, consumers who do not get what they demand might need to learn to live with their circumstances and make the best out of it. In the bank example from above, if you don’t get the interest rate your rant demanded, then maybe you can look at investing in a CD instead. You would still be able to find your higher interest, and you might even save yourself some future embarrassment in the bank lobby.

Practice, practice, practice

One of Kobe’s greatest strengths is his commitment to making himself a great player. Ever since he came into the league as a high school kid, he has been hailed as the next big thing. He arrived around the same time that Michael Jordan, one of the league’s greatest players, departed, so many looked to Kobe as being the next great NBA superstar and filling Jordan’s shoes.
Kobe has certainly become a superstar, but he has not dominated the league like Jordan did.
While the finger could be pointed in a number of directions for Kobe’s failure to make the same impact as Jordan, no one can fault Kobe for his effort. He is consistently one of the hardest workers in the NBA, and his commitment shows when it matters.

Consumers who put the same level of commitment into their finances are also going to benefit. Practice and hard work are essential to getting ahead in the money game. Shopping around for rates, studying up on investments, and seeking out opportunities are a consumer’s way of shooting baskets in the gym. The hard work will be evident in the bottom line.

Trust your teammates

If Kobe’s greatest strength is his commitment to being the best, then his greatest weakness until this season was in not trusting his teammates. Kobe was notorious for being a ball hog and not playing well with others. The interesting thing is that the offense that he ran depended on his trusting teammates to make plays on their own. His dependence on his supporting cast this season was a big reason why he was named MVP and why the Lakers were the best in the conference. Normally, Kobe leads the league in scoring. He did not this season, and his unselfishness certainly paid off and made a big difference in his success.

Consumers could take a lesson from Kobe’s example. There are a number of people and resources out there who want to help you make the most of your money and finances. Learning to trust these institutions is a wise move for someone who wants to succeed in the money game. One such teammate is a trusted financial advisor, or CPA. These advisors have a great understanding of different investment opportunities, and they work in your best interest to develop a strong portfolio. Their knowledge of the industry and their desire for your success makes them a great asset for those who want to grow their earnings. Make sure and work with a fee-only advisor to get the best unbiased opinion on your situation.

Sometimes it’s the simplest changes to our finances that can have the most dramatic effect. One such change is using direct deposit for your paycheck.

Nearly all jobs now offer the option of having paychecks direct deposited into your bank account. Many even require direct deposit. Using direct deposit forces you to pay yourself first. Unlike cashing a paycheck, spending what you need, and saving whatever is left, direct deposit lets you save as much as possible. This happens, in part, because we are lazy. Just like we save less when we have to take action to do so in the case of a physical check, we save more in the direct deposit case because it requires no additional effort.

If you are already using direct deposit, you can still make improvements in how you do so. By using a secondary account, such as a savings account or direct banking account, you can specifically mark a portion of your deposit for savings. Some employers will be happy to split your direct deposit into multiple accounts to make this process easier. If not, you can set up a recurring transfer to move a portion of your direct deposit amount every time you get paid. By using a secondary account, you make it even more difficult to borrow money from your savings. Instead of having to withdraw the money to spend it, you have to transfer it to a primary account (which might even take a few days in the case of a direct banking account) and then withdraw the money to spend it. This extra step may be all the incentive you need to resist impulse spending and save more.

While you may not need to use a secondary account to protect your money from your desire to spend it, doing so may also offer psychological benefits to see your savings grow. Making a simple transition to direct deposit or improving how your existing direct deposits are handled requires minimal effort but can have very positive effects on your finances. Take the time to review your current situation to see if you could benefit from this easy tip.

With gas prices soaring, the cost of operating a vehicle continues to climb as well. While there are many other ways to get around, one of the best choices is the bicycle.

I recently heard someone say that cycling is the most efficient form of transportation. That claim is repeated on many of the websites I looked at for verification. Exploratorium states that “cycling can be as much as 5 times more efficient than walking” and “one hundred calories can power a cyclist for three miles, but it would only power a car 280 feet.”

Riding a bike may not help the soccer mom who needs to do grocery shopping, transport children, and run errands, but it can work in a lot of other situations. While the main benefit of riding a bike considered here is the financial savings available, particularly with the high price of gas, there are many other benefits as well. The positive health and environmental benefits are the first to come to mind.

When I lived in Germany, people rode bicycles everywhere. It wasn’t abnormal to see a mother with a basket full of groceries and a few kids in tow, a family out for leisurely ride, or a business man in a three-piece suit on his way to work on a bicycle. I once saw a painter biking to work with all of his supplies, including a step ladder. You realize that you can do a lot more with a bicycle if you simply open your mind to the possibilities. High gas prices are forcing many people to do just that.

So the questions of the day to determine if purchasing a bicycle would return a net savings on your investment: Could a bicycle allow you to get rid of your second car? How much could you save by not burning gas to get everywhere you need to go?

Teaching our kids about money is often difficult. Many parents struggle with the subject themselves and thus find it hard to explain to their children. Teaching your kids about money is very important because they are unlikely to learn about the subject anywhere else. Leaving money a mystery is dangerous and can lead to your children learning from your bad habits. Why not use social lending as a tool to help you teach your kids about money?

Reading through loan applications with them can be a great conversation starter. Hearing the reasons behind someone’s need for money can open the door to a wide array of subjects to discuss. Topics like disruptions in income, unexpected expenses, trying to overcome credit card debt, funding an education, or starting a new business are likely to be covered. While some of these subjects may be too complex for your children, depending on their age, you can even use the exercise to cover basic topics such as how borrowing money at lower rates to pay off higher interest debt can help people.

While the point of the exercise is to help your children, you yourself can benefit from it as well. One of the best ways to learn is to teach. Even if your knowledge of finances is limited, by teaching your children you will reinforce what you know. It may even inspire you to learn more and tackle more complicated subjects. Allowing your children to benefit from the experience is just another reason to start today.

Bankruptcy might seem like the low point of personal finances, but it is something that can be detected and perhaps even prevented. Knowing the factors that suggest a bankruptcy is potentially in your future could help you to avoid such an experience.

A 2005 report by the American Bankruptcy Institute states that three variables – the financial obligations ratio, the credit card default rate, and the credit card charge-off rate – appear to correlate with, and lead, the consumer bankruptcy filing rate. In other words, the higher these three variables are, the more likely a bankruptcy will result.

The report defines the variables as follows:

Financial Obligations Ratio

The financial obligations ratio is a measure of a family’s debt burden. It divides a family’s housing expenses (rent or mortgage, real estate taxes and insurance), automobile expenses (monthly loan or lease payments) and consumer debt payment obligations by that family’s after-tax income.

Credit Card Delinquency Rate

The credit card delinquency rate measures the percentage of credit card debt outstanding that is more than 30 days past due.

Credit Card Charge-off Rate

The Credit Card Charge-off Rate measures the percentage of credit card debt that is more than 120 days past due.

These three factors are all covered by two topics which I often write about here on the Lending Club blog: living beyond your means and the negative influence of credit card debt. Reducing your financial obligations ratio can be accomplished by increasing your income, but the more probable method is to cut back on your expenses. Curtailing your spending to live within your means will reduce this ratio. The high interest rates of credit cards can quickly make even those living within their means more likely to fall behind on their payments. Borrowing money with a person-to-person loan to consolidate credit card debt is an excellent way to get back on track.

It should come as no surprise that reducing your credit card debt and other financial obligations will improve your financial situation. Knowing that these measures are also indicative of bankruptcy potential should add further incentive to track them and ensure that you keep them to a minimum.