What would your future-you have to say to you?
The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.
What would your future-you have to say to you?
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Holiday weeks are supposed to be short, aren’t they?
I’m 11 days into my 30 Day “Compact”. So far, it has gone well. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of books launched that I’d love to own, and a friend keeps showing me new gadgets that I’d love to get. Not shopping at all is harder than it sounds.
Brian Wood, without a doubt, understood the responsibility he took on as a father. The story makes me get all misty.
On Wise Bread, they asked if you are saving too much. Don’t save as an excuse to stop living your life.
Free Money Finance will help you save money on travel.
Parent Hacks has a great use for a Google Voice number. I have a spare, so I think I’ll start using it.
I’m a big fan of selling on Craigslist. I’ve never sold a car there, so this was informative.
5 Reasons to Quit Saving and Start Living was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Bonding Relationships was in the Carnival of Wealth.
Hippy Month was the Editor’s Pick in the Festival of Frugality!
If I missed a carnival, please let me know. Thanks to those who have included me!
ta·boo
-adjective
1. proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable: taboo words.
There is a societal prohibition against talking about money, especially actual money. Talking about a deal, or the hypothetical bundle you lost on the Super Bowl is ok, but discussing how much money you make, or how much you have saved for retirement is almost as bad as talking about sex. In many social circles, it’s far worse.
Money is one of the primary causes of divorce, second only to infidelity. It can cause myriad problems, including anxiety, depression, paranoia, impotence, impulse spending, gambling, social isolation, suicide, and murder. Yet even therapists hesitate to discuss finance with their patients.
Occasionally to the chagrin of my family and friends, I’ve almost completely destroyed that taboo in myself. After spending a year and a half writing about everything I do financially, I’ve found myself with very little hesitation to talk about my finances in real life. I don’t mind discussing my credit card debt, my projections on paying off my mortgage, or almost anything else, with the exception of my salary. I’ve never seen anything good come from coworkers comparing paystubs. Somebody always gets hurt feelings.
Aside from that one exception, I think it’s healthy to talk about money. How many kids launch into adulthood financially clueless because their parents wouldn’t talk about money? How many marriages could be saved if couples would talk about their financial problems before they became financial disasters?
How can you go about breaking down the mental barrier to talking about money? Starting a personal finance blog and writing three to four times per week for a couple of years isn’t a practical solution for everyone.
Start small.
Mention the fact that you have a credit card balance(assuming you do) when you are talking to a friend. Suggest a coworker appeal his property taxes, or offer a couple of tips to help your cousin negotiate her rent.
Most importantly, start having these conversations with your spouse/significant other/life partner. If you can plan to spend the rest of your life with someone, you can certainly plan to discuss one of the most important topics in your life with her. If you can’t, are you really a good fit?
Try it. Break down that taboo. Your life will be better for it.
Are you afraid to talk about money?
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This week has been terribly busy. I can’t tell you how happy I am for a 3 day weekend. Right now, the 2 week queue of posts I had before I went on vacation is gone. Have a good weekend!
200 year-old, chilled beer found. That’s a party.
Follow your dreams and eff the haters. There’s a life lesson there.
Affiliate marketing basics by Chris Brogan. There’s definitely more than one way to skin the “make money online“(affiliate link) cat.
One of the first things we’re going to save for after we get out of debt is Lasik. Is it worth it?
Crystal included me in the Carnival of Personal Finance with Bonding Relationships.
8 painless ways to save money was included in the Yakezie Carnival.
Work at Home Scams was included in the Festival of Frugality.
If I missed a carnival, please let me know. Thanks to those who have included me!
We are all stuck on the same planet with each other. There is nothing any of us are going to do to get the option of leaving for long. Do you want to live in a miserable, run-down world, or one that’s happy and filled with kittens and ice cream?
The kind of world you live in is more a function of your state of mind than the place you live, the job you have, or the person you married. Here are a few ways to improve that state of mind.
1. Be kind. Smile at a teller. Let someone merge in front of you in traffic. Drop a dollar in a homeless man’s jar. Have you ever had a lousy day make a total turnaround because of some inconsequential bit of yay? Doing some small act of kindness can make a world of difference in someone’s day. Next time you’re in the drive-through at Caribou, buy coffee for the person behind you. That random bit of love will put a smile on both your faces.
2. Be positive. Don’t complain. So many of us live in a negative world, watching the world go buy through coffin-colored glasses. Have you ever considered going an entire day without making a negative comment? A week? A month? Some of you are shaking your heads right now, thinking it’s impossible. Have you thought about how much happier you would be if you banned the negative crap in your life?
3. Be a good neighbor. We’ve all had the same problems: a neighbor that plays music too loud, too late; the jerk across the street who yells at you for park on the street in front of his house; the guy who’s too busy to mow his lawn; or the crazy cat lady who makes the entire neighborhood smell like a litter box. Don’t be that guy. I’ve had 90% of my neighbors for more than 5 years. If we don’t make accommodations for the people we have to deal with every day, we’re going to be miserable.
4. Learn something new. If you feel good about yourself, you feel better about the world. If you feel better about the world, you’re more likely to do things to improve it. One of the best ways to feel good about yourself is to improve yourself. Take a class, read a book, or find a mentor to teach you. The method doesn’t matter, just do something to learn something you’re interested in.
What are you doing to make your world better?
My mother-in-law died two weeks ago.
It’s sad, but I’m not going to get into the emotional devastation that comes with the death of a loved one here. At least, not today.
Today, I’m going to talk about the money, but not the funeral expenses.
I’m talking about the expense of taking over her stuff. When she died, she was living in her own home, paying her own bills.
Now, we have a small stack of expenses we weren’t planning for.
She had 2 cars. She actively drove one, and kept storage insurance on one that was parked in the driveway. Combined with the homeowner’s insurance, that’s $110/month.
One of the cars has a loan. The car is worth $4000 more than the loan, so it’s not worth letting the bank repossess it. That’s another $200/month.
The gas and electric add $50 to the monthly tab.
Setting aside money for the property tax adds nearly another $200 per month and the first half is due next week.
I rounded the numbers off here, but that’s $562.58 that’s outside of our regular budget and doesn’t address some bills that we paid off instead of arguing with bill collectors while we straighten out the estate.
This is the kind of scenario that makes me happy to have an emergency fund. We are able to pay the property taxes and keep the lights on because of it. A few years ago? The car would have been gone and the house dark within a month.
Now? The emergency fund covers the immediate expenses and we have some breathing room to adjust our budget. For example, the money we were setting aside for our next car is now being earmarked for paying off our surprise car loan.