I had this friend who measured time in cigarettes. Whenever I asked him how far something was, he'd always come back with the number of cigarettes he could smoke in the time it would take to get there :) So if we were hitting up this bar down the street, say 10 blocks away, instead of just saying so he'd tell me it was "2 cigs" away. Haha...I guess for him this just made more sense.

The same can go for understanding amounts of money too. I like to measure smaller amounts in the number of lottery tickets it could buy ;) To me, that's a great way to spend $1 and it's easy for me to comprehend (in high school, it was double cheeseburgers off the $1 menu!). For larger amounts - $100 and up - I tend to use Air Jordans or whatever else I'm interested in at the time. It doesn't matter what you use really, just that it puts things into better perspective for you - we're all going to differ.

Knowing what $XX can buy is very important - money is some powerful stuff! If you don't think about what it's really "worth," you could blow through it a helluva lot faster (like all those times we drop $10 or $20 bucks on God knows what). And you know what? It helps with motivation too! Similar to my "I can't afford that" post yesterday, knowing that you can buy X or Y or even Z all with $10 is a very cool thing. The dollar is almighty!

Appreciate the power of money, and keep those valuations of yours on tap . The more we understand how far the dollar can go, the easier it will be to make decisions and stick to our goals :) I don't turn down all those cab rides for nothing, baby! For every 6 I pass on, I can get a whole share of Berkshire Hathaway's Class B stock! Haha...and that's freakin' awesome.

Labels: get your brain right, personal finance

Stocks are great to know about, yes, but even BETTER would be basic financial management. Who gets right out of high school and starts investing before landing their first job/credit card/own apartment? I know people do it, I just don't see the logic (although I'd admit it does seem more fun).

Check out this comment by girlwithredballoon on an older post of mine:

"You know, I took Personal Finance in high school, but they didn't teach anything about credit cards, compounding interest, different types of student loans - none of that! They taught us how to write checks, and then we had to play a stock market game where we chose companies to invest in. I know investing is important but knowing the dangers of credit cards ahead of time may have helped me to avoid them in college!"

Exactly! I learned how to write checks and balance a checkbook in Senior year too, but that was about it. There was no mention of 401k, IRAs (were they around in the 90's?), credit cards, or just plain saving. But of course we had to play those stock investing games! God forbid we leave school without doubling up our FAKE money.

Maybe I'm naive, but I just don't see how investing in individual stocks should come before the main pillars of personal finance. Think about it. Say a student triples his/her money in the "fake" market and then thinks he/she can make it big in real life and tries to out game it all? The odds are against them, especially if they think they can do it again in the 3-4 months allotted like in class. They then lose a chunk of their money and end up walking away thinking investing isn't for them.

Only INVESTING isn't about just individual stocks! It can be a main ingredient, but there's plenty of other places you can put your money - CDs, bonds, mutual funds, target-date funds, treasury bills, etc etc. Stocks can do wonders for your portfolio (I love 'em to death!) but you should have a grasp on the rest of the areas before jumping in and playing.

You teach a kid how to save 10% of all their income, or pay their debt off on-time, and it's a whole new ball game! Not as fun to teach I'm sure, but it'll stick with them MUCH longer than some crazy stock game. Am I right? Am I missing something here?

Labels: education, in the real world, money management, personal finance, stock market

Net worths, financial snapshots, personal financial statements - they're all pretty much the same. They tell you WHERE your money is, and give you an overall status on your finances. I've done a variety of these on this site before, but this last one I just filled out rocked.

The wife is in the middle of getting her security clearance (hmm, should I be telling you this?), and one of the billion of papers she had to fill out was a nice and shiny Personal Financial Statement. When I first heard that I was like Aw yeah!! Mrs. BudgetsAreSexy's gonna have to dig into our finances! Which would have been a riot since she a) HATES doing anything associated with money, and b) would have had to research for hours had it not been for someone diligently tracking it for the last 2 years ;)



Needless to say, she gave it to me to do. And I merrily filled it out! Who am I to turn down such a beautiful lady? Or the chance to work on my financials in a new cool way? So I pulled out my financial snapshot, got my net worth breakdowns in hand, and off I went copying & pasting and taking care of my household duty! It was all rather exciting. And easy since I had all the numbers there in front of me - although I did have to tweak and edit a bit to fit in w/ their categories over mine.

But what was ALSO cool about this statement, was that it had you break down everything by MONTH to get at your disposable income! Which if you recall from last week, was the same importance I was stressing when looking at your budget - finding that number you have left at the end of every month. So it looks like the U.S. Gov't and I actually have something in common ;) (why they don't apply it to their OWN budget is beyond me.)

The point of all this is to get ya thinking about the entirety of your finances, and seeing how it all ultimately comes together. Focusing on savings and cutting debt are important parts of the puzzle, but the overall snapshot of your finances is KEY in determining growth. If you've never created one, knock one out today! You shouldn't keep it a secret from yourself...

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PS: Here's the very same personal financial statement I just filled out, and then the clean template for YOU to try out. If you don't have a lot of time right now, plug in estimates and come back to it later :) Then save and print so you can compare again in 6 months!

Labels: money management, personal finance, tools and resources

Welcome to 2010 my friends! It's a new year full of new goals, new ideas, and more importantly new adventures :) We'll have some downs here and there as well, but for now we concentrate on the positives. That means more financial awesomeness, and even more so freedom!

And we do that by taking advantage of what this new year offers us:

• A chance to save more save money!
• A new year to get rid of all that crap laying around.
• A new year to get rid of all that crap DEBT laying around!
• A fresh clean start to get our finances in order.
• A chance to pump up our 401(k) and Roth IRAs! (my personal favorites)
• And a whole other year to work on the things we didn't complete LAST year ;)
  

I started this post in hopes of creating my own New Year's resolutions (click for last year's), but quite frankly I just can't think of any. I don't know if it's because I'm being lazy right now, or if I'm perfectly content (or maybe a nice mixture of both?), but I will say I'm excited to see what 2010 brings. There's something about fresh starts that really get me motivated and ready to take on the world. Kinda like how it was back in school - a new year to reinvent yourself and do your best to impress the ladies ;)

But enough about me. What are YOU gonna do this year to pimp your finances?! Any #1 goals or things that you just *have to* complete in 2010? Share it around my friends! The more you let it loose in this world, the better chance of it coming true!

----------
Okay, so I lied - I just thought of a few ;)
- To max out my 401(k)s AND Roth IRA again.
- To help Mrs. Budgetsaresexy max out HER Roth too.
- To reach a Net Worth of $200k.
- And lastly, to better manage my time! (Why is that always so hard?)

Labels: get motivated, goals, personal finance

There are 3 simple steps I like to tell people when they're interested in managing their money. 1) To seek out the info, 2) to act upon it, and 3) to use time to your advantage.

Right now (unless I've already bored you) you're in step #1 - you're here reading this because you genuinely want to better your financial situation! And for that I congratulate you ;) You could be on facebook, or watching the latest viral video right now, but you're not. You're here with me on this personal finance site. So good work, step #1 has been completed.

Step #2 involves acting on what you've learned from your research. What will you do when you're finished reading this? Will you click away and totally forget what you just read? I hope not! Or else you just wasted 5 minutes of your life ;) Luckily there aren't many "actionable" items from today's post, but when you move to the next one on your list - My Money Blog, MSN, Consumerist, etc - make sure to pause for a second when you're done and reflect on what you've just learned (or what you'll need to do to make something happen!).

It's kinda hard in this fast paced world of ours, but taking that last step before switching over to the next thing really helps allow the stuff to sink in. And if you're too busy to act on it right then, draft up an email and type out what's important right there in the headline - then send it to yourself. I do this at *least* 4 times a day, and I can't express how helpful it is with keeping me on track.

The last step I like to advise (and my personal favorite) is to use time to your advantage! How often do you look back and wish you would have started saving 5 years earlier, or contributed to your 401(k) from day 1? Probably a little too much than you care to admit, and it's crazy frustrating. But you know what? We can change that! We can't do anything about the past, but we can sure rock out the future. If you're trying to get rid of debt, or start saving for a new home or emergency fund, get on it TODAY! Tomorrow you'll be much happier and every single day that follows will only help move you closer to financial freedom.

5 years ago I about $3k in my 401(k) and couldn't care less. Now it's at $110k+ and I appreciate every last paycheck that continues to fund it! $50 here, and a few hundred there is nice, but watching it grow and compound over time is simply incredible. The only way you're gonna get there though is by starting. Do yourself a favor and get on with the game plan! That way when we look back to THIS day, you can give yourself a hearty pat on the back and be that more thankful for taking action when you did ;)

Labels: advice, money management, one of my lists, personal finance

Or what this survey should have been called - "I've got my mind on my money, and my money on my mind!" Haha... AARP revealed some research that in this age of social networking and excessive sharing, the last taboo for young adults is finances - despite the fact it's the biggest concern in their (our) lives.

The report, titled "Personal Finances: The Final Frontier of Social Media," shows that our general reluctance to discuss money with friends and family could have a negative impact on our financial futures. While none of it was all that surprising, it's still something we should keep in mind and continue working to fix. In response to it all (or rather, perhaps to back it up?) AARP came out with a new site dedicated to getting our acts together: LifeTuner.org.

I thought I'd copy and paste some of their findings, along with my own two cents here. The highlights are based on a national survey of 1002 young adults, aged 18-34:

57% of young Americans consider their financial situation to be the biggest concern in their lives.
Eh, not surprising. It sucks, but it's not a big shock. When we're out of high school & college we getting our first apartments and cars and all in order - two of the biggest expenditures right off the bat. Throw in socializing (aka drinking), shopping, and dating and you've got a brand new pile of debits heading your way. Hopefully your spankin' new job pays well enough to keep you out of trouble, but as we all know salaries aren't what determines savvy saving skills.

I'd really like to know what the #2 concern with young Americans is. I bet it's career - which would also cross paths with the financial world as well.

...People are more likely to discuss relationship status (61%), politics (43%), their health (23%), and their weight (20%) than their financial situation.
Of course! Money talk is all sorts of taboo around here (outside the pf blog world, that is). I'd say we're a lot further than we were before this economic crisis hit the fan, but we've still got a ways to go.

66% rate their own financial situation as fair to poor, and almost half (43%) expressed concerns about their ability to make sound financial decisions.
This is scary :( Especially that last part. If you're doubting whether your making the right moves in your financial life, it's time to start learning brother! Close down Facebook and put down the Wii, you need to start reading more financial sites. I'd start out at Money.com, Kiplinger.com, and put in an order for The Richest Man in Babylon and I Will Teach You To Be Rich books. One hour there will get you started in no time.

68% of respondents admit that finances have caused stress in a relationship or friendship.
Yeah, especially when they go around poking you for your salary ;) But sure, this makes total sense. If you're buggin' about all that debt you have piling on it'll of course stick to you when you're out and about hanging out with people. Or even worse on a date! Nothing says I Love You more than when your card bounces or you "forget your wallet" when it comes time to picking up dinner.

*Among those young adults who have sought advice online, 85% report being more confident about their ability to manage their finances.*
Well would you look at that :) You research/read/look for ways to get your finances on track and voila! You feel better about it. While this, too, isn't all that surprising, it IS something to keep in mind. Your finances is one department that 45 mins of your time could literally save you thousands of dollars.

Labels: life, personal finance

While I find finances and spreadsheets REALLY freakin' interesting, there are definitely times when I could care less. It doesn't mean I get myself into trouble or anything, but just that I work best while going with the flow.

I think that's the key to financial management sometimes - you gotta do things when you're in the mood. If you know you work better with numbers early in the morning, maybe it's best to start on it first thing? Or say you have to battle it out with a service rep to get a $35 late fee off your credit card bill - why not schedule it for a time when you can really put your heart into it? Or perhaps a time when you're incredibly pissed off and won't take no for an answer! haha..If you go this route, mind you, just be sure to stay cool and professional. As a manager of a customer service department, I can tell you that you'll get much farther on the call being nice than you would by cursing me out ;)

The downside to this "in the mood" theory, of course, is if you never get to that point. I highly doubt you'd even be reading this if that were the case, but it certainly happens to the best of us. When this happens, try bribing yourself with a dessert or a beer or something. Or maybe get all hocked up on caffeine or energy drinks - that's been known to do the trick as well.

Regardless, I urge you to give it a try. You could even start with other aspects of your life too! Say, with checking email or facebook? I know for me I interact and respond much more quickly and smartier (word?) if I check them before noon. It seems like I gain an ounce of laziness every hour after that until it's time to go to bed ;) So give it a shot. Start paying attention to what your body's telling you and strike when the mood is hot!

Labels: advice, money management, personal finance

Because I have to be honest, I'd totally be cool if the Mrs. made more than me. In fact, I might even prefer it! That would mean a lot more money coming in (esp since she's a grad student right now, haha...) but even more so it would mean her career would be movin' and shakin'. And if we had two people bringing $75k+? I couldn't even imagine what that would do to our finances.

I'll even take it one step further, cuz I'm crazy like that - When it's time to have those babies, I'd even stay at home if she wanted me to! I know it's a lot more work than I could ever imagine, but the idea of blogging full-time and working on all my side projects would be killer. As long as I had the freedom to get outside and mingle with other humans and all I think I could manage it. Plus, don't stay-at-home moms take their kids out to parks and shopping malls and stuff like that anyways? Maybe I could form some "Daddy Daycare" where we take turns watching the brood while playing poker or something ;)

But dream life aside, I really don't see the problem here. Would we suck as men if we can't bring more home than the woman? Does it mean we're not worthy of a happy life? I know it's in our genes to be super competitive and all (as with a lot of chicks I know), but if you're in a truly loving relationship I'd imagine you'd want what's best for the family regardless. Or at least I'd hope. I don't have any experience to back it up myself, but I'm fairly certain the future me would agree.

All in all, I think it's awesome that women are earning more these days. It might hurt a few frail egos at first, but people will learn to get over it. It's when your household is bringing in substantially LESS when you have to worry! So congratulate your girl if she's rockin' it out - she's making your family that much stronger.

Labels: career, life, men vs women, personal finance

Saving and managing our money now goes a long way later! This isn't the first time you've ever ever heard this, especially by me, but it's been rolling around my mind since seeing this quote by a fellow twitterer @JFuntanilla.

There's something about it that really strikes home:

"I live a few years of my life like most people won't, so I can spend the rest of my life like most people can't."

Yes! I know some prefer living like a king now since you never know what'll happen tomorrow (which I can totally understand), but obviously I'm more about preparing for the future ;) I'd love to get my hands on that Benz or splurge on some week long benders to Mexico, but it's just not worth the trade off at this point in my life.

There's something about saving and living a more simple life that comforts me. I like not having to stress over money or wonder what would happen if my paycheck came a few days late. I like knowing we can bring a baby into this world and not have to work 2 extra jobs to afford it. $hit, I like the fact of just being ABLE to afford half the stuff out there! It doesn't mean I'll actually go out and buy all of 'em, but it's a helluva treat knowing I *could* if I ever wanted to.

By saving and living more frugally now, we open up a sea of options for the rest of our lives. We're still free to do whatever we please, but by picking and choosing where our money goes now we gain stability and freedom to take advantage of life on better terms. It's similar to other aspects of our lives: career, education, you name it. Rarely do you hear advice telling you to screw college, or slack off at work and just worry about it all later. You might be able to fulfill yourself temporarily that route (which also implies you'd be smart enough to take advantage of this time created and actually DO the things that truly make you happy), but in the long run it's usually not best.

Think about what truly makes you happy now, and start on it. And if that means blowing through wads of cash like you're the next MC Hammer, so be it! Just be sure you know what you're doing - one day more people will count on you than yourself ;)

Labels: frugality, life, money management, personal finance, saving

Every now and then someone asks me if I ever mess up and waste money. And my answer to that is always the same - Yep, mess up all the time. Just because I blog about personal finance, doesn't mean I'm mr. perfect ;) I'm a lot smarter than I was 4-5 years ago when it comes to money, but I still mess up. And a lot more than you'd actually think.

It doesn't matter if I track my expenses every day or every week, the real world is no match for a human. The only way you could win 100% of the time is if you were locked up somewhere or if you were, in fact, a computer. And seeing how you're reading this right now, I take it that you're neither of the two.

The trick is really just about messing up on the smaller things rather than the BIGGER things. If you can rock out your spend-less-than-I-make-lifestyle & stay away from huge mortgages & car payments, I find no problem with slipping up every now and then. It's not optimal, and you never PLAN to do it, but it happens. It's all a part of life, you know?

In fact, just last Friday I blew $5.00 on these damn cinnamon sticks from Pizza Hut because I wasn't paying good enough attention. Then I spent $3.50 for chap stick 15 minutes later because I didn't take the time to look for my normal .99 kind. Every week I do stupid stuff like this, but I try and not let it get to me. I know I'm handling our finances pretty well 90% of the time, and as long as we hit our major goals every year we're on track.

So do I, J. Money, ever mess up? I sure do. And I'm willing to bet every other person reading and blogging about personal finance does too. You can't make the right call 100% of the time, it's just not possible. It's more about being comfortable in your own financial skin and allowing yourself some breathing room. If you can master that, you'll live a much healthier (and happier) life. And one without going insane, as well.

Labels: about j., blown money, life, personal finance

That is a quote from the legend himself - Thomas Jefferson, aka The Man. (Even though he did pass away w/ a crap ton of debt!) I like this quote because it really is true - the more work you put in the closer you get to your dreams, and the more "luck" finds you. Every successful person I know puts in their time, the trick of it all is to find something you *enjoy* doing so that it's no longer "work," but fun! Or inspiring, or exciting, or it just plain allows you to make a difference in this world of ours.

The same holds true with personal finance. Sure you could win the lottery tomorrow and have all the money you could ever ask for, but will you know what to do with it? Would you become one of those sad statistics where you lose all your winnings only to end up poorer than when you started? I hope not, but it's something to think about.

The thing I like about hard work is that it forces you to LEARN how the world works. You make exceptional mistakes, but then you turn around and blow the socks off something! It's navigating through all these bumps and craters in life that really gets you closer to your goals, whatever they may be.

So keep on saving. Keep on investing and experimenting with different ways to get rid of your debt. It's not always easy, but the payoffs (no pun intended) are guaranteed to be enormous. You might not have the same impact on America as Mr. Jefferson did, but you sure can lead a more debt-free life! And that's something to be proud of.

Labels: life, money quotes, personal finance

Do you guys talk about finances with friends or family members? How about co-workers (hah!)? I'm willing to guess you don't. Or at least not as much as you'd LIKE to.

It's a good thing we have this blog world and the internets or we'd be scrambling for some good financial advice and community outlet. I mean, where else can you post your salary and complete financial history for everyone to see without getting shunned? Kristen from Filife recently left a comment on my last post about learning from the recession, and it really made me happy (and inspired this post). She added a #6 to my top 5 lessons, and it went like this:

"#6: It's possible to have open, honest conversations about money with friends and family!"

How awesome is that? While it seems to be working out for her (hooray!), unfortunately I haven't seen much of this myself. Talking about money is just as taboo as talking about sex, if not worse. I can always hit up my cube-mate and tell him about some crazy drunken "fun" I had the other night, but dare tell him about my salary increase? No way in hell, that's crossing the boundaries my friends ;) And to be honest, I can see where it gets a bit shady with co-workers. I do believe that certain levels of information should be closed off so that no one gets pissed off or jealous.

Talking finance with friends and family

When it comes to our closest friends and family members, however, I think keeping an open door about this stuff can be incredibly helpful. I'm a big fan of free information here on the net, but there's something inherently better when you're face-to-face with someone discussing your situation or pleas for help. These people know more about you than us bloggers or financial T.V. reporters. They know your strengths, your weaknesses, and just how emotionally involved you are. They're your loved ones and they lookout for your best interest :)

So why don't we open up more? You've got me. I'm always surprised by the looks on my friend's faces when I tell them how much we paid for our townhouse ($360k) or when I sneakily insert my salary ($75k) into a discussion just to see what would happen ;) It's possible they're just shocked at the price we paid for our home, or that I get paid so much to do so little (only half the truth btw), but more than likely they're amazed I just spilled our top financial secrets. And if I really wanted to throw out a zinger, I'd tell them how much money we have in our savings! But only if it's appropriate of course, you don't wanna get all showboaty or anything.

Should I be hiding this from them though? Am I an absolute loon for trying to add more substance to our financial conversation? Possibly. I really don't know the right or wrong answers here, just that I WISH it would be a lot easier to talk about. Imagine if everyone dropped their barriers and were more open to detailed discussion! Don't you think we'd learn more or at least understand the reasons why we are where we are? I wouldn't just release the information all willy nilly-like, but there are certainly times and places where doing this be more beneficial.

How about you all? Do YOU feel more free to discuss this stuff? Or am I just a rambling fool trying to stir up a little controversy ;) Either way, I thank you guys for being here and allowing me to bare it all each and every day. Together we really can talk about anything! (Even how to spell boobless upside down on a calculator: 55378008)

Labels: in the real world, personal finance

Every now and then I like to see what people are typing into Google to get to my site. Mainly for some good laughs (you'd be amazed at the different variations of sex terms hitting this site), but also to see if I'm answering any of the questions being entered.

Overall I think I do a good job, but most of the time someone is asking for specifics and facts over general personal finance. Unfortunately I'm no expert so I can never say Absolutely - do this! or No way, you'll go to jail! But I can give you my two cents on just about anything, and it's always free of charge :) So today, I copy and paste some of these terms searched in the ol' Google machine and give you my complete and honest opinions as always:

How much is a leased car worth in your net worth?
$0.00. Same with renting an apartment. You're paying for a service and you don't own anything (unless, of course, you end up buying it out at the end), so at this point it's just another bill you have to pay. I wouldn't put it in your net worth.

Would it be crazy to quit my job
Yes! Unless you already have another lined up. Or you're just plain miserable and would be happier working at McDonalds just to get away from your boss. Not that there's anything wrong with that :) Better yet, hit up Starbucks like I would in that case.

What kind of dress to be worn to attend a wedding
Hah! Contrary to popular belief, I'm actually a guy. I know I use a lot of :)'s and !!!!'s, but I have no idea what kind of dress to wear. Actually, I take that back - wear a freakin' HOT one.

Average net worth in the u.s.
Love these questions! I took a snapshot of the average net worth in the US last year which I liked, or you could check out CNN Money's net worth tool that determines the average worth around YOUR age & yearly income.

Best online budgeting sites
You've come to the right place ;) Here's a great list of free budget templates I've collected over time. OR, if you're truly going for an online budgeting site over spreadsheets or google docs, check out Mint.com. An excellent & free resource for budgeting, learning about mutual funds (bet you didn't know that?), and are now sporting an investment guide.

Should i quit my job my hubby makes alot
Lucky you! Perhaps you can help that person above and start your own side business: How to marry a rich man ;) But in all honesty, you should only quit if you're not enjoying yourself or you'd rather be spending your time doing something else. You're fortunate enough to not have to work for money, so if I were you I'd totally do what makes you happy and use that passion to do something good in the world. At the very least, being out there mingling and networking with people is usually better than being at home doing nothing.

Best pickup line millionaire
Coming right up! How's this: "Call me your mutual fund, honey...'cause with you, I'm showing interest." No? Try these other sexy pickup lines.

Things you do to save money while broke
Walk to places more, read the books you already have, use all the food in your house that you already have - like those boxes of muffins 2 years old or that big sack of flour taking up all that room ;) You could also try picking up hobbies that are not only cheap, but that save you from spending money down the road! Planting vegetables and eating them, drinking tap water over buying bottles, or my favorite - taking things off your walls or from your drawers you don't like and selling them on Craigslist/eBay!

Personal finance is not that hard
I agree! Have you been reading my posts on this? ;)

Why do good poker players lose money at online poker
Because they're too emotional. You can be great at anything in the world, but as soon as you start listening to your feelings and emotions (good & bad) you change your game. This is why I myself suck at poker 90% of the time. I get too excited and/or bored and start playing differently just to entertain myself. Unfortunately you are who you are and you can't really change this much, but maybe if you pay closer attention you'll catch yourself and tweak your game plan before going All In w/ a 7, 2 off suit.

Seth Green worth
A few laughs? I really don't know. This search comes up every few days, very strange.

Max out 401k?
Yes - great idea! You get free money from your company (hopefully), and you reduce the amount of taxes getting taken out of your paycheck every 2 weeks.

High interest savings account do we combine our money or get two separate accounts
I'm thinking you accidentally added the "do we combine our money or get two separate accounts" to your first search of "high interest savings account" here, but regardless I have a post on how we manage our marriage financials.

What to do if you they want you to take a pay cut
Accept it so you don't get fired, and then start looking for what else is out there! Unless you really REALLY love your job or you believe them when they say it's only temporary, it may be a sign of worse things to come. And believe me, I know about this. Spend 20 mins a day poking around Craigslist or emailing friends to see what kind of opportunities are around town. Just don't do it at work ;)

Minimalist living
Something I'm slowly working on! Check out my latest post on the minimalist lifestyle - there's even a fancy doodle.

Would you rather have a well-paid job or that which make you happy?
Usually, I choose the well-paid job. Lately, I've been gearing towards the one that makes me happier though. Right now I'm blessed to have a job that I'm both happy at AND paid well, but in this economy it could change at any time. Check out this very would you rather question I posted back in July to see what others thought.

Gym women free sex
Woahhhh there partner! If you're going to the gym to look for free sex, you better be ripped. And also be a lot smoother than the ones using those sexy pick up lines we already mentioned - they won't work.

That's it for this round - hope you learned something today! If you liked this let me know and I'll start doing it more often. It's kinda fun answering a whole bunch of different questions than just focusing in on one specific theme. Happy Hump Day!

Labels: advice, in the real world, personal finance, randomness 3000

Seriously, personal finance is not all that complicated. Sure it can get crazy when you throw in estate planning and charity foundations, but the principles behind personal finance are as easy as they come.

You can actually strip it down to just a few points:

1. Spend less than you earn.

Make $50k a year? Great, spend $49,999 or less (or whatever your after-tax amount comes out to). Got your paycheck and it's an even $1,000? Awesome, just don't spend any more than that and you're golden. It's really not that convoluted.

2. Don't go into debt.

Don't spend money lavishly and throw all sorts of stuff you don't need on your credit card. Don't take out $40k loans for a new car, or a new boat, or a new electronic robot that makes you coffee and brushes your teeth for you every morning. Again, nothing too complicated here.

3. Save money.

Whether it be in a savings account, a checking account, your 401(k), your Roth IRA, your safe, or even in your bed mattress (which I really wouldn't advise), storing away money is a pretty simple concept - all you have to do is NOT spend it ;)

I bring this up so matter-of-factly because a lot of people I know try to make this much harder than it really is. Wake up - it's not! If you're just looking for excuses to avoid responsibility, then by all means do your thing. But if you really CARE about making a change and laying down your financial foundation, then snap out of it and START. The basic rules of personal finance are easy, it's applying yourself that's the hard part.

Labels: money management, personal finance

Ever since I started tracking my net worth I've had the value of our home in there. I've often considered tweaking it and coming up with better methods of calculating it, but the concept of taking OUT your home (or cars for that matter) 100% boggles me. After all, the definition of "net worth" is the total of all your assets minus the total of all your liabilities, right? At least that's what I subscribe to.

So why do I bring this up? Because the main man himself Trent, from The Simple Dollar, recently decided to take out his mortgages AND cars from the equation. But interestingly enough, he left the mortgage on it. Huh?! You'll have to read his article for all the dirty details, but he basically feels that he can't just cash out his house & cars as he'll always need them to live - thus, they shouldn't be calculated into his net worth. And I suppose the mortgage on it is a liability no matter how you slice it, so he's def. still keeping that in there (although at that point, wouldn't it be more like "rent"?)

I find this interesting in a number of ways, but mainly that there are SO MANY different methods one can go about calculating this stuff. So out of curiosity I thought I'd play around with our most recent net worth and see what it would look like after playing with this house variable.

Our Net Worth (w/out home value): -$186,789.11

Damn, I'm not liking that too much. In theory I like the idea of not counting on the value of your home, but the optimistic part of me says that it WILL sell one day, it's just a matter of when and at what price. Needless to say, I'm not crazy/smart/comfortable with taking out my home value anytime soon - it's still an integral part of the "big picture".

(for all not familiar with our house's value, we calculate it @ $300k - the price our realtor set it at a couple months back. He's the master in our particular neighborhood, and has been selling (and living in) in our area for 20+ years. I also keep an eye out on Zillow & Redfin.com, but sometimes they fluctuate a bit too much for my taste.)

Our Net Worth (w/out home value & mortgages): $163,179.59

I'm liking this number a bit more ;) But while I'd love to sell our underwater house more than anything and break even, it's just not going to happen. Because of this, I still need to include our mortgages in there to keep things more realistic.

Current Net Worth: $113,210.89

For me, this number still works. It gives us a pretty accurate snapshot of our overall finances, and includes all real estate and autos. It's not as sexy as taking out the house situation altogether, or as hardcore as wiping out the value of our house, but it keeps me on track and motivated.

There really isn't ANY "right" way to calculate your net worth, you just have to do what works for YOU (kinda like most other financial situations, eh?). I do, however, give Trent mad credit for standing up and sharing his opinion. He knew he'd get slammed for it (which he did), but he also brought a fresh new way to consider tracking our financial snapshots.

How do you guys feel about it? Ready to nix your biggest assets? ;)

Labels: home ownership, mortgages, net worth, personal finance

1 Year, 5 months, and 17 days ago I wrote my very first post here on a personal finance lesson I learned the hard way. It was broken down into two parts: Operation Heloc: The Good, and Operation Heloc: The Bad, and it was all about how I tried to game the system to save a few dollars ;)

I was reminded of this when Tough Money Love cleverly celebrated his 1 year blogiversary by asking us bloggers to share exactly that - a financial lesson we learned the hard way. I've done a lot of crazy/stupid stuff in the past, but this one clearly stands out from the rest. You can read about it in depth via the links at the top, but here's the gist of it all in one paragraph:

When we first bought our house I started throwing all our paychecks AND savings/emergency funds against our maxed out HELOC (our 2nd mortgage) in order to defray a few weeks of interest. At the end of the month I'd take that credit back OUT and use it to pay our bills, mortgages, etc. This worked for 3 months until the housing market went to $hit and froze our credit line. Since it came without warning, I wasn't able to pull back any of the funds in time and thus denied us almost $10k in straight up cash. We tried to game the system and we lost, and now we keep all savings and emergency funds in a money market account ;)

Ever heard of UFirst Financial or money merge accounts? Well, it was sorta like that except I did it myself without fronting anyone $3,500. And in fact, it was a post of Trent's on money merge accounts that shed some light on this whole thing to begin with! I wouldn't be surprised if it's still one of his top posts, as it continues to get comments every single day. (currently at 2,432)

UFirst agents will still tell you their system works, and it may for some, but I just don't buy it (literally). Over the past year and a half I've come to realize that most things with finance are fairly simple. Anytime you try to cut corners or finagle a genius way to get rich quick, it usually comes back to bite you in the ass (unless you are, in fact, a genius). I'll still go and try out new ideas from time to time, but unlike the old me, I'll be sure to put in a lot more research before jumping in again.

In the meantime, I'll stick with the plain and simple method of personal finance: spending less and saving more. These two friends never steer you wrong ;)

Any of you learn a good financial lesson the hard way?

Labels: helocs, in the real world, mortgages, personal finance

Wouldn't that be nice? Saving big chunks of money focusing on a couple of big things rather than a little here and there on a handful of little things :)

You could always do both, of course, but are you really going to? Concentrating your energy on the main stuff will get you a lot farther than only poking around the small beans. It may not be as fun or easy, but it works. Just ask my man Ramit:

"It's far better to focus on cutting 25% off the two biggest areas of your spending than to worry about saving 5% on 50 things."

He makes a valid point. Why spend all your time on the little things? When you concentrate on the biggies like home mortgages or car loans, you get more bang for your buck. Or bucks for your time, I should say! A lot easier said than done, but in theory it kicks ass.

Instead of driving 15 extra minutes to the grocery store that has the cheapest food, why not try calling your credit card company in that time and asking them to lower your rates? With the latter you could save hundreds of dollars depending on your debt, whereas you may save $5 at Food Lion.

Same goes for spending a few extra hours researching the best mortgage rates or car loans around. The hours you put in there will go muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch farther than not drinking a coffee today or cutting out a few .50cent coupons. We're talking lots of benjamins up in hurr.

Again, you could always do the small things AND the big things to really max out savings, but more often than not you just won't do it. I know I don't - I spend a certain amount of time on this stuff when on my mind, and then it's off to something fun! At the very least it's worth some thought. What's the worst that can happen?

-------
PS: If you liked this, check out my review of Ramit's new book: I Will Teach You To Be Rich. It's my all-time favorite one to pimp out - esp for the younger generation.

Labels: advice, money hacks, personal finance

All the cool kids are doing it! Are you? Okay, well maybe not all the *cool* ones, but certainly the smart ones. it's sorta like milk - the more you drink the healthier your bones get.

Except in this case, it's your finances. And you don't get caught with a stupid milk moustache (how come people never tell you when you've got one of these?)

But anyway, yeah so big props for already coming to this blog and wanting to learn more, but why not do yourself another solid and pick up a magazine as well? I know it's hard to believe, but I really don't know everything about personal finance (gasp!). Luckily though there are plenty of major professionals out there who really know their stuff. I'm actually pretty jealous of them to be honest, but then I always remember I can say things like a$-face, and hooker, and punctuate however i damn well please ;) Pros and cons I suppose.

Still, those kegs of knowledge need to be tapped. And a lot. It sounds cheesy, but I swear every time I pick up one of these mags I learn something new - even if it's small. They'll repeat themselves over and over again like we have dementia, but it all helps to sink it in. Here are my top favs, in order of most exciting to least-exciting (although all are great):

• Money Mag - (money.cnn.com) Crazy simple to read and always refreshing.
• Smart Money (smartmoney.com) - Pretty decent, although a bit plain jane at times.
• Fortune (fortune.com) - More businessy, but awesomely fascinating articles
• Kiplinger's (kiplinger.com) - Also good info, but harder for me to read.

You don't have to read every single one, every single month (unless you have a 2 hour commute every day like me), but even just skimming them gives you great ideas. I tend to skip out on the in-depth stock reviews and go right for the personal stories or tips of the month. Then, if i'm researching a particular subject, or just plain bored, I'll go back and read up on what I've missed.

Try picking one or two out from the bookstore and give 'em a shot. If you like 'em, subscribe. It'll only run ya $15-$20 a year which is not to shabby for hookin' you up with the dirty deets. Plus, chicks dig it. Carrying them around makes you look smart ;)

Labels: education, personal finance

Yup, just 12 hours ago I was surrounded by some of the raddest personal finance bloggers in the DC area. And I must admit, it's a LOT more interesting talkin' face to face than over the interwebs. I couldn't believe it, there are *real* people behind these blogs! haha....


And guess what? They like beer! Well, some of them do anyways....a Mr. "Clever" dude likes pink drinks with umbrellas in them. But I don't judge, I happen to drink blush wine. And since this wasn't my first time attending one of these gigs (i was sooo nervous the first time), I was able to kick back and soak up all the knowledge & gossip a bit more ;) These guys really know there ish!

Here's who showed up, in order of my eyeballs seeing them:

1. Me - Rockin' the hawk & downing the miller lights (@ an irish pub too, luckily I didn't get flogged)
2. Clever Dude (Mike) - Someone told him that he looked the complete opposite of me and I laughed a bit....kinda felt bad for doing so, but then i realized that he called me an "M/M Fanboy" on this blog today. If you don't know what that is, leave it that way ;) I wish I could take back 30 mins from last night.
3. Mrs Micah / Blog Crafted (Mrs. Micah) - Still an expert in wordpress/blogger conversions & a basin full of knowledge! If you ever need any code or SEO help, give her a shout.
4. Counting My Pennies (Megan) - Yes! I finally got to see the elusive Megan in real life :) We happen to work within blocks of each other, so it'll be interesting to see how many times we actually cross paths now that we know what we look like. I wish I could tell you what she does for a living, but my lips are sealed. But I'll give you a hint: She's not a Hooker, nor a Private Eye.
5. Amelia's Healthy Life (Amelia) -Super friendly and a warm soul. First time I've met her too, but been a fan of her goals and healthy lifestyle choices for quite a while now.
   
6. Debt Hater (DH) - Tall & fabulous! And a keen dresser too I must add. Plus she hates debt (obvi) so she's got it going on over there.
   
7. Girls Just Wanna Have Funds (Ginger) - Been a big fan of her blog for months now, so I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. She's def. as friendly & smart as she appears! And her husband who came with was pretty chill as well. Except that he said the Bears will win the Super Bowl next year, and we all know it will be the Redskins.
8. Mapgirl's Fiscal Challenge (Mapgirl) - Still a huge Caps fan and as bouncy as ever :) She also gave me some pretty good advice last night, I'll have to put it into play...
   
9. Budget Pulse blog (Craig) - A new face & blog for me! He's also working on a movie blog which sounded pretty cool. I don't stray too far from the PF niche, but hopefully his blog skills can extend over & help him get up there with the big dawgs. He also likes Penn State. a lot.
   
10. Bargaineering (Jim) - Oh wait, that's right he ditched us...hope kickball was worth it buster! (I don't blame you though, kickball is awesome. Our league doesn't start up for another 3-4 weeks)
    

So overall a most wonderful night out. If you ever get a chance to meet up with your own PF favs, I def. recommend it. Not only do you learn a helluva lot, but you get to talk about FINANCES :) And the more you talk about it, the more comfortable and confident you get! So get out there and start chatting ya bunch of Cathies.....or at least keep reading Budgets are Sexy - I'm liking this gig more & more every day.

Labels: blogging, life, personal finance

I was out on my deck last night talking with our deck neighbor (we live in townhouses), and he asked me something i don't often hear a lot. He asked me "what i like to do for fun". Simple question, but i always get caught off guard with that one. I think it's because i can never actually REMEMBER what i do for fun ;)

Last night, however, i was able to get out how much i enjoy reading personal finance blogs. And it's funny doing this because 3 things always happen without fail:

1. No matter how you bring it up, it always comes out dorky! haha... i don't have a problem with that personally, i just wonder if anyone has pulled it off in a cool way? I can see older people discussing it just fine, but never have i heard it shared by anyone in their 20's...as sad as that is.
2. People are usually shocked to hear it. I don't blame them, really. Have YOU ever been told that reading up on finances were on someone's "Fun List"? And being told on blogs, or comments, doesn't count ;)
3. They want to know "secrets". This, ofcourse, after their shock fades way. It's not every day peers can talk openly about finances, so i can only imagine how far pieces of information could help them.

It also gets tricky because not only do i blog about it myself, but i'm ANONYMOUS! So, it's either let someone else in on my secret, or tell them how wonderful other blogs are to help them get started on learning! And then, of course, secretly hope they come across THIS blog and rave about it ;) OR, better yet, figure out that it's my blog so i can talk openly about it all.

As you may have noticed, i teeter on whether to tell friends and family i do this, or to keep blogging away in secret.

There are pros and cons to both, but it WOULD give them a better understanding as to why i think personal finance is important. And hopefully they'd be willing to educate themselves more, or at least poke around a bit and ask questions.)

I ended up sticking with the Anon. route, as hard as it was, and giving my neighbor few of my favorite blogs to get started (mymoneyblog.com, cleverdude.com, and krystalatwork.blogspot.com). Those are a mix between super informative, a mix of everything, and diary-type writing styles (respectively). Everyone has their own preference, so i'm hoping he'll get something from at least one of them.

I really didn't know how to answer the "secrets" part. It's always hard when you don't know that person's situation, nor finance expertise, you know? I don't wanna go into something they already know, only to have them lose interest and think they "know everything" already and thus not wanting to learn more.

So I started by speaking generally to get a feel for things. Our convo. worked itself to credit cards and credit scores, so i chimed in with a few "secrets" regarding those like:

• The average household has around $8k in credit card debt. At least that's what everyone says, but whether it's true or not, at least you know you're not alone.
• Raise your credit limit, and lower your interest rate. This will help lower your debt to ratio, AND increase your credit score - especially if you don't have much credit at all. All of this can usually be done by making a simple phone call to your c/c company.
• Make a budget - My favorite! (I wonder why?) Try tracking your expenses for 3 months to get an overall picture of everything, and then create a budget out of it. That was one of the best things i have ever done. You just need to do it once, and you're set for the rest of your life (because you'll adjust it as time goes on).

It was seriously one of the best talks i've had with a sorta-but-not-really-stranger :) Not only could i talk about a passion of mine, but i had the potential to help him. Or at least get him going in the right direction. Whether he checks out the blogs or not, at least he knows he can come to me now when financial things arise!

Labels: advice, budgets, credit cards, personal finance