Live Real, Now

The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

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Don’t Screw Future-You

Finance, Life

A conversation between me and my temporally displaced self.
Future Me: Excuse me, Jason?
Me: Yes?
FMe: <Slap!>
Me: May I ask what that was for?
FMe: Of course.
Me: What was that for, jerk?
FMe: That was payback for all of the hell you have put me through.
Me: What?!?  I’ve never even met you, before.
FMe: Of course you have.  I am future-you, and I’m sick of getting screwed by past-me, that is, you.
Me: Huh?
FMe: Listen close.  You’re not  the sharpest brick in the box and I don’t want to explain this twice.
Me: ???
FMe: A long time ago, when you first met our wife, you were dumb.
Me: I don’t appreciate….
FMe: Shut up.  I was dumb then, too.  Remember?  You…err…we bought a new truck, built an addition on our…err…your…err…whomever’s house, got married in the same year.  On top of many other expensive decisions.  Do your recall?
Me: Yes, I do.  So what?
FMe: If that wasn’t enough, you and your smoking-hot bride are still shopping like you’re rich. You drive a new car.  Your kids wear new clothes.  You’ve got a house full of new furniture.  How did you pay for all of that?
Me: Naturally, I charged it.  Zero payments, zero interest for a year!  Pretty smart, huh?
FMe: What happens in a year?
Me: I don’t know.  I’ve got a full year to figure that out.
FMe: <Slap!>  I’ll tell you what happens!  Future-you, that’s me, gets screwed!   Your raise didn’t come through.  You had a baby. The truck broke down.  Your wife took maternity leave.  A roommate moved out.  You took a loss in the stock market.  You didn’t plan!  You had no savings to cover any of those problems because you were too busy servicing debt to pay for your current life.
Me: How was I to know?
FMe: <Slap!>  Life happens!  You never know what is coming next.  You need to plan and save for what might happen.  Otherwise, you’ll just accumulate more debt to be serviced by yours-truly.  That is not acceptable.
Me:  So?  What are you going to do about it?
FMe: <Slap!>
Me: Really?  Again?
FMe: <Slap!>  I’m struggling to pay your debt. Your son starts college next year, but you’ve left me completely unable to help.  Your daughter wants to get married in a couple of years, but the Father-of-the-Bride can’t afford a tux.  My wife, your beatiful bride, wants a vacation that I can’t afford.   You’ve screwed me, dude.
Me: I’m sorry.  What can I do to fix it?
FMe: Buy me dinner, first.
Me: Huh?!?!?
FMe: Stop the excess spending. Spend less than you make, for a change.  No credit.
Me: None?
FMe: None.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  Only spend what you can afford. Budget.  Pay off those nasty bills.  Don’t leave me hanging.
Me: So, what you’re saying is that, if I don’t have the money, I shouldn’t buy it?
FMe: Exactly.  That’s the path to wealth, freedom, and financial independence.  Live in the real world.
Me: Gee, thanks, Future-Me!  Now I know.
FMe: And knowing is half the battle.

What would your future-you have to say to you?

 

My New Windfall

Finance

Tax season is over.

money
money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

This year, TurboTax and Amazon teamed up to offer me a 10% on up to $1200 of my refund if I took it as an Amazon gift card.

$120 free if I spend that money with a company I’m going to spend money with anyway?

Yes, please.

I spend lots of money with Amazon.  I subscribe to many of my household items there, because I use them and I don’t want to have to think about buying them.  I get my soap, shampoo, toilet paper, paper towels, and garbage bags automatically delivered.  There’s a bunch of other stuff, too, but that’s what I remember off the top of my head.  If I have 5 items in a monthly delivery, I get 20% off.

Free money, free shipping, and none of the hassles of shopping?

Yes, please.

So now I have a $1320 credit with the company I use for most of my non-grocery shopping.

I also have 962 items on my wishlist with Amazon.

To recap: $1320 burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket and 962 items that I have wanted at some time in the past, begging me to bring them home.

That’s a dilemma.

The smart answer is, of course, to let that money hide in Amazon’s system and slowly drain out to pay for the things I actually need.

The fun answer is to stock up on games and books and toys and gadgets and cameras and, and, and….

Some days, it’s hard being a responsible adult.

I think I’m going to compromise with myself.  I’ll leave the vast majority of the money where it is, but I’ll spend a little bit of it on fun stuff, and a little bit more on stuff I don’t quite need, but would be useful, but not so useful that I’ve already bought it.

A new alarm clock to replace the one next to my bed that automatically adjusts for daylight savings time but was purchased before they changed the day daylight savings time hit so I have to adjust the time 4 times per year instead of never.  That’s on the list of not-quite-needs.

The volume 2 book of paracord knots is on the list of wants that can’t possibly be considered a need, but it’s going to come home, anyway.

I figure, if I spend a couple of hundred dollars on things I really, really want, I’ll scratch that itch and leave most of the money alone.

What would you do with a $1300 gift card at a store you shop at every week that sells every conceivable thing?  Spend it right away, or stretch it out, or something else?

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Sunday Roundup

Misc

Today, I have a favor to ask.   I want to get to know you better because  I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.  With that in mind, would you take a moment to complete a short survey?

Click here to take the survey.

Thank you!

Best Posts

All of us make assumptions.  Without doing so, we wouldn’t be able to function.   We assume the sky will stay up, the sidewalk will support our weight, and the other cars on the road aren’t going to turn into homicidal maniacs and attempt to kill us at the expense of their own lives.   Generally, those are safe assumptions.   Other assumptions can cripple us, keeping us from attempting to reach our full potential.  Challenge your assumptions.

At the same time, fear keeps us back.  Are you afraid others won’t like what you say, what you do, who your are?   Let your fear fuel you.

I get a kick out of whiny little entitlement kids running around wearing sweatshop-produced “viva la revolucion” shirts.   Similarly, capitalism-haters organizing their protests using mass-produced gadgets invented, funded, and created by successful capitalism, or Jobs-haters announcing their funeral protesting BS over the iPhone also makes me giggle.

Carnivals I’ve Rocked

Time vs Money was included in the Best of Money Carnival.

Beauty School: Cutting Costs While Cutting Hair was included in the Totally Money Carnival.

Discount Gift Cards: How Much Can You Save? was included in the Festival of Frugality.

The Happy Butt was included in another Totally Money Carnival.
Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great week!

Carnival Roundup: Launch Edition

Misc

This week, I’ve launched a new site.  It’s The Money Makers: A Financial Education From the World’s Elite.   This is where we get to learn from the rich and famous.  Unfortunately, that usually means we’re learning by their bad examples.  Take a look.

Live Real, Now was included in the following carnivals recently:

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Financially Digital

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Nickel by Nickel

Yakezie Carnival hosted by The Ultimate Juggle

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Financial Conflict Coach

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #77 hosted by Free at 33

Carnival of Retirement #66 hosted by Dividend Monk

Carnival of Financial Independence #6 hosted by Reach Financial Independence

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Young & Thrifty

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Family Money Values

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #75 hosted by My Personal Finance Journey

Carnival of Financial Independence #4 hosted by Reach Financial Independence

Thanks for including my posts.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great weekend!

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Sunday Roundup: U2 Edition

Misc

Friday night, a friend came to pick me up so I could help him move heavy stuff.

U2 Stage
U2 Stage

He lied.

As soon as we pulled away from my house, he told me we were going to check out the stage they were building for Saturday’s U2 concert.  Now, I’ve never been a fan, but he is, so what the heck, right?

We got to TCF Stadium and geez, that stage is big.  It looks like an invading alien in the middle of the field.   As we were walking up to the gate, we saw two security guards catching a smoke by a rear entrance.    The next thing I know, my buddy’s slipping them some cash and we’re sneaking in the side door to get a closer look.

Our illicit visit lasted about 5 minutes.   The second we made it the the stands, the cleaning crew called security.  Thankfully, we got kicked out by the guys who let us in to start with.

It made a memorable evening.

Carnivals I’ve Rocked

Making Extra Money: Niche Selection was included in the Best of Money Carnival and the Carnival of Wealth.

Thank you! If I missed anyone, please let me know.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great week!

Enhanced by Zemanta

Carnival Roundup

Misc

Sorry for the missing “real” post today.   My mother-in-law’s funeral is later and the day’s a bit hectic.

Live Real, Now was included in the following carnivals recently:

Yakezie Carnival – Earth Day Edition hosted by The Frugal Toad

Festival of Frugality #334 hosted by This, That and the MBA

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Money Cone

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #31 hosted by 101 Centavos

Carnival of Personal Finance #358 hosted by Musings of an Abstract Aucklander

Yakezie Carnival – 4.22 Edition hosted by Faithful with a Few

Financial Carnival for Young Adults #9 hosted by 20’s Finances

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by My Journey to Millions

Thanks for including my posts.

Get More Out of Live Real, Now

There are so many ways you can read and interact with this site.

You can subscribe by RSS and get the posts in your favorite news reader.  I prefer Google Reader.

You can subscribe by email and get, not only the posts delivered to your inbox, but occasional giveaways and tidbits not available elsewhere.

You can ‘Like’ LRN on Facebook.   Facebook gets more use than Google.  It can’t hurt to see what you want where you want.

You can follow LRN on Twitter.   This comes with some nearly-instant interaction.

You can send me an email, telling me what you liked, what you didn’t like, or what you’d like to see more(or less) of.   I promise to reply to any email that isn’t purely spam.

Have a great weekend!