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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?

 

Make Money Blogging and a Carnival Roundup

Finance

How I Make Money BloggingAs I mentioned last month, my friend Crystal has launched a book about making money blogging.  This is the book where the biggest blogger ad rep out there shares her price list.  That alone is worth the price of admission.  The rest of the book is gravy and includes things like setting up a blog, disclosures, and connecting with other bloggers.

Because she rocks, she’s offering a $10 coupon.  Use code “thankyou10”.

Because I also rock, I’m offering a bonus.

If you buy the book through my link during the month of August, I’ll hold a webinar showing you exactly how to set up a blog.   It will be a thorough walkthrough of everything you need to get started.   I’ll use one of you as the demo model, so the lucky one will get their site set up for them on the webinar*.

I will show you how to easily get started.

You won’t find a better offer out there.   Get the book.  Get started.

* This does not include graphic design, because that’s not my talent.  It’s also not going to include custom programming.

 

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

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Tackling Our Debt

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Portfolio Princess

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #40 hosted by My University Money

Carnival of Retirement #27 hosted by Good Financial Sense

Yakezie Carnival: TUJ Summer Heat Edition hosted by The Ultimate Juggle

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by My Family Finances

Yakezie Carnival  hosted by Passive Income to Retire

Festival of Frugality #346 hosted by One Smart Dollar

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by 101 Centavos

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #42 hosted by Modest Money

Yakezie Carnival hosted by Kylie Ofiu

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Making Sense of Cents

Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #43 hosted by My University Money

Lifestyle Carnival #13 hosted by Mom’s Plans

Carnival of Money Pros hosted by Finance Product Reviews

Carnival of Retirement #31 hosted by Debt Black Hole

Thanks for including my posts.

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One Year Later….

Misc

In April of 2009, I told my wife we were either going to straighten out our finances or file bankruptcy. At that time, we had $90,394 in total debt, including $30,000 in credit card debt.  It hasn’t been easy, but we are working out way out of that hole.   Since then, we have paid down more than $30,000.  That’s not $30,000 in payments, but $30,000 less debt.  We are now less than $60,000 in debt.   We have entirely stopped accumulating more and I don’t remember the last time we carried a new balance on a card or had to use our overdraft protection.   Next month, my car will be paid off, 10 months early.

Given my new-found fanaticism, I spent the next 6 months or so evangelizing about our debt repayment.   Eventually, I decided to share my thoughts and progress with the world and launched this site on December 1, 2009.   Today is my anniversary.

Here we are, 234 posts, 695 comments, and 17, 661 spam later.   You all rock.  Except the spammers.

To say thank you, I’m giving away a $100 Amazon gift card to some lucky reader.  Yes, I rock, too.

There are several ways you can enter the drawing:

1. Subscribe to Live Real, Now, either by RSS or email. If you are already subscribed by email, you are automatically entered.   To show me you have subscribed by RSS, there is a contest code in the feed.  Just post that in the comments. (1 entry)

2. Follow me on twitter and tweet the following: “@LiveRealNow is giving away $100. Come get some! Follow and RT to enter! http://bit.ly/f1roKM #Giveaway #Yakezie” (1 entry possible per day.  Every day you retweet this is another entry!)

3.  “Like” LRN on Facebook. This is easy, just click the little ‘like’ button on the left.  If you’ve already done that, you have already entered once.(1 entry)

4. Send me an email at Jason <AT> LiveRealNow <DOT> net telling me what you would like to see me write about more (or less!).  You can also use the contact form. (1 entry)

I’m closing this down on the 15th.  That’s 18 possible entries for $100 you may win early enough to help with some last-minute Christmas shopping.

UPDATE:

And the winner is…Claudia!  Congratulations.   Email sent.

My First Major Side Hustle

Business

This post was published a year ago as part of Budgets Are Sexy’s Side Hustle series.

On a chilly February day in 2007, I went with a friend to get a permit to carry a pistol. It was partially on a lark, and partially because a right not exercised is a right lost and I am a strong believer in the right to self-defense.

I spent the morning in an overcrowded classroom and the afternoon on an outdoor shooting range when it was -9 degrees Fahrenheit.  I was cold numb, but I had the paperwork I needed.  As my friend and I slowly thawed out on the drive home, we looked at each other and said “We can do better than that.”

After picking up teaching certifications from the NRA, the Minnesota Dept of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Association of Defensive Firearms Instructors and finally, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, we started teaching as Metro Defense Training, LLC.

We’ve been doing this for 3 1/2 years, holding one class per month. In the first two and a half years, we taught about 80 people what they needed to know to legally carry a gun. Last year, it exploded. By March, we had made more money than we made in all of 2009.  The rest of the year rocked just as hard. We turned ourselves into one of the top 10 training organizations by volume, among a field of 200 competing agencies.

This isn’t a huge market, and it will never make us rich, but it is bringing us a decent chunk of extra cash.   It’s made a huge difference on my debt repayment. I don’t include this money on my budget, so every penny I take as pay goes straight to my debt.  This has pushed me two whole years ahead of my debt repayment schedule.

What did we do right?

The most important thing we did was to partner with each other.   We make a good team.   My partner is a natural-born salesman, while I’m an introvert. I couldn’t have built this without him. I am a super-geek, so our technical costs have been nonexistent, aside from a domain and hosting.   I’m also a bit obsessive about my passions, so I keep us up to date on any legal issues and developments. He’s working on an MBA and has run small businesses before, giving us valuable knowledge and experience.

We’ve never cut any corners. We give the best possible class we can, no matter what. No extra fees, or sardine-packed students.

We answer questions for our students for years after class.  If a student wants a refresher, they can come back for free as often as they’d like.

Word of mouth has been a godsend. The local sheriff–in the most populous county in the state–recommends us when people call. You can’t buy ads like that.

What did we mess up?

Marketing. If a tree falls falls in the business district, does anyone care? If you run a business, put up some ads or fliers and get the word out.  No matter how good your business is, you’ll never make a cent if nobody knows about it.

Scheduling.  The nice thing about a business like this is the flexibility. We can run a class whenever we’d like. Unfortunately, we forget to schedule the next class until the end of the current class. We could do better.  That still leaves a full month’s notice, but some people have to request time off from work far in advance, or do things like going on vacation.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely.   We found an accessible niche that serves a need in the community.   We’ve turned a passion into a healthy side income, without having to devote full-time labor to it.  The buy-in cost was low.  It only cost about $1000 and a few weekends to get the equipment and make our training presentation.

It  has been an excellent learning experience.  I’ve learned a lot about running a business, and I’ve become something of an expert on the related laws.  It’s led to my involvement with a  non-profit, which has put me in contact with a number of lobbyists and politicians.  I’m learning more about how our legal system works than you’ll ever learn watching C-Span and sending letters.   Even if the business failed, I’d still be ahead of the game when you count the skills and knowledge I’ve acquired.

The most important thing I’ve learned is that, when you are looking for a side-hustle, you should find something you care about and chase that until it turns into money.   Not every hobby or interest can turn into a paycheck, but many can.    Ultimately, you have to do something you care about and care about what you do.

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Budget Lesson, Part 3

Finance

I keep calling these lessons, but they are examples and explanations, more than lessons.   Names aside, please see Part 1 and Part 2 to catch up.  The Google Doc of this example is here.

School Lunch

This time, I’m going to review my non-monthly bills.  These are the bills that have to be paid, but not on a monthly basis.  Some are annual, others are quarterly, or even weekly.  Every month, the amount–adjusted to the monthly equivalent–is set aside in Quicken.

  • School Lunch – We don’t qualify for any of the reduced lunch plan, and I don’t know that it is possible to send a brown-bag lunch that is both cheaper and healthier than the school’s menu.  This is automatically replenished whenever it gets below $15.   This actually gets paid about every other month.
  • Property Taxes – Semi-annual and increasing every year.   I know the valuations around me, so I don’t think an appeal would win.
  • Life insurance – We pay this quarterly.   If I die, my family will be completely covered for several years, without adjusting a single expense.   If the expenses are adjusted to account for the fact that I won’t be eating, driving, or using electricity, it will last much longer.  This is a separate policy from the one discussed in Part 2.  GET INSURANCE!  Take care of your family.
  • AAA – Since we got reliable cars, this hasn’t been a money-saver, but it’s priceless in terms of peace of mind.
  • Vehicle Registration – We have two cars and a motorcycle that need registration every year.  I’m planning to sell the bike in the spring, but I was planning that for last spring, too.  It’s easy to put that off, since I enjoy riding.
  • Daycare – Daycare is a weekly expense.  As a two-income family, this isn’t an expense we can do away with…yet.  As time goes on, the bill will be getting lower.   In June, my youngest reaches a cheaper pricing table and my oldest is almost ready to be done with daycare completely.
  • City Bill – Our garbage and sewer are paid through the city on a quarterly basis.
  • Web host – I’ve got this blog, plus a few other side projects hosted here.  I have been simplifying and reducing the projects that aren’t fun or profitable, but I’m not sure this expense will ever go away.

There aren’t too many items here that can be legitimately and responsibly trimmed.