Live Real, Now

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

Search Results for: three-alternatives-to-a-budget/budget-lesson-part-5/debt-burnout/subscribe-by-email/budget-lesson-part-2/573/budget-lesson-part-3/budget4/experiences-v-stuff/future-dreams

2012: The Year the World Ended

Finance, Life, Relationships

December 21st marks the day that Mayan calendar-makers decided was far longer than they needed to waste their time carving

English: Mayan calendar created by a modern cr...
Image via Wikipedia

days into stone.

More importantly, it marks the beginning of the week before my birthday.   No self-respecting civilization would end the world just a week before my birthday.

This is traditionally the time that people look back at the previous year, and make resolutions they don’t intend to keep in the following year.

Who am I to buck tradition?

In 2011, I became a bit of a workaholic.  

This site has taken off a bit.  I’m not about to retire off of the proceeds, but it has turned into a nice little side income.  Thank you for that.

I launched a marketing company.  We do web design/development, social media work, and search engine marketing.   It’s strictly a part-time gig right now, but it’s growing and taking up most of my free evenings and weekends.

I’ve been working 50-60 hours a week at my day job.

The plus side?   I’ve also paid off almost $20,000 of my debt in 2011, bringing my total to $47,535 left.

It’s been a lot of work, but the harder I hustle, the sooner I can stop hustling.

What’s in store for 2012?

On the work front, I plan to cut my weekly load down to 40-45 hours again.  Life it to short to work all of the time.

I want to expand my new company to the point that my day job is optional.   I’m projecting that by spring.   Call it June 1st.

Here, I want to double the size of my audience.    I don’t just want random people popping in, I want to grow an engaged audience.  That means more comments and more discussion.  Expect to see more along those lines.

I’ve also got a couple of products under development.  By year-end, I’d like to have them both released.

On a personal level, my biggest goal is to carve out a regular chunk of time to spend with my wife.  Working all of the time has cut into our quality time together.  I want to find a way to schedule date nights at least twice a month.   It will cost more money, but that’s part of why I’m working so much.

Financially, I want to kill the last of my credit card debt.    That’s down to about $17,000.   We’ll need to keep working at it, but it’s a reachable goal.   That means we still don’t get cable, I still avoid buying books every week, and my kids still have to live with not getting every whim fulfilled.

To recap: I’m going to work smarter, grow my side projects, and make this site better for you.   In the process, I’m going to kill the last of my unsecured debt, and drag my mortgage down to it’s last gasping breaths.

Here’s to the end of the world….

Enhanced by Zemanta

20 Happy Thoughts

Business, Finance, Life, Misc

Since I’ve been on a bit of a death theme lately, I thought I post something purely happy.

Here it is.  In no particular order, twenty unequivocated things that make me happy.

  1. My three year old has the most beautiful blue/silver/gray eyes I have ever seen.
  2. In the past 32 months, I’ve reduced my total debt load by $42,859.70.  That’s an average reduction of $1,339.37 per month.
  3. My insane work schedule is paying off.  I’m more than halfway to making my day job’s income redundant.
  4. My preteen son is currently showing none of the signs of the horrible rebellion that I put my parents through.
  5. The world hasn’t imploded, exploded, or tilted its axis recently.
  6. My parents did a good job of raising me.
  7. I haven’t touched my overdraft line of credit in more than 2 years.
  8. My wife loves me.
  9. I love her.
  10. Wrestling season starts tomorrow, and Punk ended last season with real promise.
  11. I’ve dropped 12 pounds in the last 16 days.
  12. Bacon is good.
  13. Daughter #1 is starting kindergarten in September and excited about it.
  14. Our cars are paid off.
  15. This site helps me stay motivated to eliminate my debt.
  16. You rock.
  17. I may get out of debt just before the world ends.
  18. The Yakezie Network has helped get this blog to where it is.  If you’ve got a finance blog, join today.  You won’t regret it.
  19. FINCON 2012 is is Denver and I won’t be napping on my motorcycle on the way there, like I did the last time I went to Denver.  It’s not something I recommend, but it makes a neat story.
  20. I have 20 things to be happy about.   That’s a recursive happy-maker right there.

     

 

Enhanced by Zemanta

Can Bad Credit Cost You Your Job?

Business, Finance

Did you know that having a bad credit history could cost you your job? An increasing number of American employers have turned to running credit checks to screen job

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 03: Bill Harris of Brook...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

applicants. Some companies even evaluate existing employees on a regular basis by checking their credit reports. If you have outstanding debts, you might consider getting one of those  credit cards for bad credit to clean up your report before you apply for your dream job.

Not all companies run your credit history when you apply for a position. However, if you’re applying for a job that entails working with money or valuables, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be checking your credit history. Financial institutions, brokerage companies and jewelry manufacturers all run credit checks, as do hotels, accounting firms, human resource departments and government agencies.

Companies run credit checks because they want to hire employees who won’t be tempted to embezzle company funds to pay off large debts. Some companies fear that employees who carry large debt loads are susceptible to blackmail or bribery. The federal government carries this concern even further, indicating that citizens who owe large debts are considered national security risks.

Many companies feel that your credit report gives them a sneak peak at your true character. Having a good credit history indicates that you are a responsible person with excellent character. Having a bad credit history means that you are an unreliable person of poor character. True or not and fairly or not, this is the current belief running throughout company hiring departments.

Unfortunately, you can’t relax about your credit report even after you’ve been hired for a position. Once you’ve given a company written permission to check your credit report, they can recheck it at a later date. Government and financial organizations often run periodic credit checks on all of their employees. Some companies only recheck your credit history if you are up for a promotion. It’s a good idea, therefore, to keep your credit history squeaky clean.

Keep in mind that having a couple of late payments probably won’t kill your chances of employment or promotion. Most employers look for the really big issues, such as high credit card balances, defaulted student loans, repossessions and foreclosures. Some companies also look for charge-offs and consistent late payments as well.

Steps You Can Take

Financial experts suggest checking your credit report before you start your job search. Read your credit report carefully and make sure that all of the information is accurate. If your report contains incorrect details or any unauthorized charges, dispute these errors immediately and have them corrected to raise your credit score.

If you have a host of unpaid bills, find a way to settle those debts to improve your credit history before applying for jobs. Many people turn to credit cards for bad credit consumers. These cards allow you to consolidate all of your debts into a single debt. Just don’t forget to make the payments on this card.

Be upfront with potential employers about any negative marks on your credit history. Just tell them that you have had past issues with your credit and are now working to clear up all of your debt. There’s no need to go into explicit detail.

Once you have a job, be sure that you check your credit report at least every six months to ensure it contains only correct information. Pay all of your creditors on time. Never take out any new lines of credit unless you are absolutely positive that you can pay it back in a timely manner.

 Post by Moneysupermarket

Enhanced by Zemanta

4 Ways to Change Your Finances for the Better

Finance

Finance is made out to be difficult, but it’s really not.   All financial advice really boils down to 2 sentences: “Spend less than you earn.  Save or invest the rest.”  Everything else is an unnecessary complication, unless you need to be told that commemorative plates aren’t actually an investment.   Unfortunately, we’re all people. (Except for you in the back.  I see you, and you are not people.)  People make mistakes.  People sometimes need things spelled out, or at least explained in a way that makes it seem less intimidating to get started.

With that in mind, here are four steps that will get you out of debt and, over a long enough timeline, make you rich:

1.  Lower your interest rates.  If you’ve got debt, particularly credit card debt, you’re paying too much interest.  It doesn’t matter what the interest rate is, it could be better.    It’s time to pick up the phone and politely ask your credit card company to lower your interest rate.  If they refuse, mention that their competitor is offering you 3% interest on a balance transfer with no transfer fee.    Mention a competitor by name, but don’t worry about a specific offer.   There are always offers being tossed about.

If they won’t lower your rate, find a company who will.   5% on a 10,000 balance is $500 per year.   That’s 3 months of payments for free.

2.  Lower your monthly payments.   Do you have a cable bill? A phone bill?  Any other bills?  Put them in a stack and call them.   Every. Single. One.  Ask if there is any way you can lower your bill.   Can you get put on a new customer promotion?   My electric company offers a saver switch for my air conditioner that will lower my bill by 15% just for giving them the ability to toggle my AC on and off.    When we had that installed, I never noticed it in use.

3.  Save $1000.   When you’ve got no money, every unexpected expense is an emergency.  When you’ve got a little bit socked away, you can ride out the problems without much worry.   $1000 may not be enough to ride out an extended bout of unemployment, but it does a pretty good job of taking the sting out of car repairs.   Do whatever you have to do, but get some money in an emergency fund.  Then, don’t touch it!

4.   Categorize wants and needs.  I want a vacation.  My kid needs braces.  I want a big screen TV.  My gas bill needs to get paid.  I want a new car.   My family needs food.  Are you sensing a theme?  Pay attention to what you spend.  Ask yourself if it’s something you need, or just something you really, really want.   Just the act of categorizing it can make it easier to avoid buying whatever it is.

5.  Use the savings from 1-4 to pay off whatever you owe.  Don’t blow your new-found savings on spinner rims or soap made from rich-people tallow.    Use it to finally get ahead of the game.

 

Net Worth Update – September 2014

Misc

It’s time for my irregular-but-usually-quarterly net worth update.  It’s boring, but I like to keep track of how we’re doing.  Frankly, I was a bit worried when I started this because we’ve been overspending this summer and Linda was off work for the season.

But, all in all, we didn’t do too bad.

Some highlights:

  • Both of our properties lost around $3000 in value.  I’m not worried, because we are keeping them both for the long haul.  The rental is basically on auto-pilot, so that’s free money every month.
  • We sold a boat that appraised for much less I had estimated in the last few updates.  I had it listed for $5000, but it was worth $2000.
  • I do have a credit card balance at the moment, but that goes away as soon as my expense check clears the bank, which will be in a day or two.
  • We’re in the home stretch with the mortgage.  There is $11,407 left to go, and we’ve paid down $9105 in the last year.  By this time next year, I want that gone, gone, gone.

Net Worth

I can’t say I’m upset with our progress.  We’ve paid down $6000 in debt in 2014, including 3 months with 1 income.  We aren’t maxing our retirement accounts, yet, but I’d like to be completely debt free before I do that.  It’s bad math, but having all of my debt gone will give me such a warm fuzzy feeling, I can’t not do it.

My immediate goal is to hit a $600,000 net worth by my next update in January.  I’m only about $7000 off.

Time to hit the casino.  Err, I mean, time to up my 401k contribution from 5% to 7%.

Welcome to Unemployment

Finance

Last week, I was let go from my job.  The reasons are unimportant.

http://gty.im/167334756

So now, I am unemployed right before Christmas.

And my renters are moving out at the end of the month.

Normally, this should be a time for panic, but strangely, it’s not.

It actually came with a feeling of relief.  Again, the reasons are unimportant.

But still, my predictable income has suddenly become unpredictable.

It is times like this that I’m glad I’ve spent the last 5 years crushing my debt.  I currently have about $1000 on a credit card from my monthly expenses and around $10,000 on my mortgage.

That’s it.  There’s no soul-destroying credit card debt.  No car payment.

Trimming down to the not-painful-but-not-barebones basics puts my monthly nut at $3300.  Leaving a bit of comfort and savings in place, that jumps to $4000.

Our income from my wife’s job and the renter in our home comes to about $1600 per month.   That’s $1700 per month that we’re off from the basics and $2400 we’re off from a comfortable level.

However, I expect to have our rental house rented by the end of the year.  There are some repairs we have to make after the current tenants leave.  That will bring in a minimum of $1200 per month, hopefully $1500.   That closes the gap to $500-1200.

Now, aside from the biggest benefit of killing out debt(no monthly payments!), we’ve also been saving about 20% of our income outside of our retirement accounts.   We have enough to bridge that gap for 25-60 months.   Unemployment will also provide enough to cover the difference for about 6 months.  That means without doing any side work…sitting on my butt playing video games…I could cover my bill comfortably for two and a half years.  If I cut down to bare minimum expenses, I can stretch that to nearly 7 years.

That’s why I don’t drive a new car or wear expensive clothes.   That’s why I don’t vacation on my credit cards.  That’s why my kids don’t have the latest, greatest video game systems and we don’t have a big screen TV.

It’s because we chose to prioritize our financial security over pure luxuries.  We chose to sacrifice optional things now so we wouldn’t have to sacrifice things like food if life took a surprise turn down a bad road.

Now, before anybody reads this and understands it as “Jason’s taking a decade off”, in the week I’ve been unemployed, I’ve had 2 phone interviews, and a request for another.  One of those has turned into a tentative job offer already.  I expect to remain unemployed for less than a month.