Be free to live the life you choose.
Becky’s latest rummage sale find… $1 Anne Klein wool pea coat. It’s a classic. In good shape, just missing a couple buttons. Bec spiced it up with eight new fun buttons for $6.
Now she’s ready for cold weather in a $200 coat that she spent $7 on.
Proof that you can update your wardrobe and look great without pulling out the credit card.
Where do you find the best deals on clothes?
This summer we cancelled our DirecTV subscription. My wife and I have been married 20 years and this is the first time we’re without cable or satellite TV. Initially the kids were sad about missing out on a couple shows they used to watch on Disney and Disney Jr. They got over it quickly and now we don’t miss it. In fact, I’m feeling great about the decision.
Here are a handful of the reasons I don’t miss it:
Speaking of daily habit–I recently saw a statistic that Americans watch something like four hours of television per day. I know that once I sit down it’s easy to turn my mind off and be passively entertained.
My wife compares watching tv to eating potato chips. You sit down to enjoy one or two and the next thing you know the bag is empty! Or you’ve watched the whole season in one sitting—pick your poison.
What do you think? Is television a guilty pleasure or a legitimate learning source for you?
Becky hits the $.50 bread sale once a month. It’s day-old bread, but we freeze it and use it all month. The eight packages in this picture cost less than one loaf in the grocery store.
This is just one way to save on your grocery bill. But it adds up fast if you buy the good stuff…like multi-grain bread.
What kind of food sales do you have in your area?
Here’s the thing about a 401k plan…if your employer is contributing a matching percentage you’re a fool not to participate.
Why do I say that?
What else are you doing to save for retirement? Don’t depend on social security!
I’m not a financial advisor, so I can’t tell you what to do in your specific situation. But here’s what I’d do…skip some dinners out, hold off on the new car, wear those shoes one more season, borrow if you must—get your full match!!
While I can’t give specific personal financial advice, I’d love to answer general questions about 401k plans you have. Post them below.
I’ve struggled over the past couple years to find my entrepreneurial outlet. I’ve had a few good ideas about websites, blogs or podcast businesses to start. I’ve even started some of them. But until now, I stopped each of them when I hit roadblocks.
Some of the roadblocks (at least in my mind) were:
I suppose we all feel we don’t have time to add more activities to life. Yet we all have time to do the things we really want to do.
So WHY do we really want to start something else?
Coming up with your why is critical to keep your side business/hobby going. Create your own short list for this to really stick. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
That’s why. Keep your list of why’s in front of you.
Now figure out how. There’s always a way. A few keys that are helping me with the how:
I’m having a blast writing these posts each night. After setting up the time and place and making Doing The Work a habit, my mind is freed up to have fun writing about topics I enjoy. Hope you enjoy reading them.
Next Action: Come up with a strong enough WHY to push you to try for the how. I’d love to hear what you come up with.
An easy way to save on fruits and vegetables is to buy what’s in season. We find ours at a local fruit shed for rock bottom prices.
Here’s a picture of a box of 50 peaches for $10. At the grocery store we pay $5.99 for 5 peaches! Buy in season locally!!
For extra savings, buy in large quantities and split the price with another family. Or if you like, chop and freeze them for smoothies throughout the year.
You might like to know that you’re not alone in this question. According to Google over 27,000 people are searching for “what is an emergency fund” each month. I personally know some that should be searching. Sadly, many 40, 50 even 60 year olds have no savings set aside.
Simply put, an emergency fund is a pile of money set aside to sustain you through unexpected circumstances.
The history of my own emergency fund
Here’s how I came to believe in the importance of having an emergency fund. Years ago I found myself in my boss’s office being yelled at. Literally yelled at. I don’t even remember now what the reason was. What I do remember is that I went back to my office and contemplated quitting on the spot. At that time–with a family and mortgage and no savings built up–I felt trapped. I didn’t feel that I could quit and be okay for a few months while I looked for another job. I told my boss the next day that I would have quit if I had the money and if he ever yelled at me again, I’d be in a position to leave. Then I started saving. That feeling stayed with me. I never wanted to feel trapped again.
I didn’t instantly have a stack of cash, but now I had motivation and slowly built up a protection against feeling trapped. For the past few years, I’ve kept at least a year’s worth of savings close by in case my job and I get separated.
What an Emergency Fund is NOT:
New car fund. Having wheels is not unexpected and you should be saving up for your next car in a separate account.
Trip to Vegas fund. Start a separate savings fund for vacation and fun money.
What an Emergency Fund IS:
An emergency fund is a cushion of cash to protect against:
How much should be in an Emergency Fund?
That depends on your personality and circumstances. How stressed will you be if your refrigerator stops working tomorrow? How will you respond if you lose your job? How quickly will you be able to replace your income?
I can only answer for me and tell you that I sleep better at night knowing I have a large cushion that will catch my fall from different angles. I also speak up when I need to at my job knowing that if I lose my job my family and our lifestyle will not suffer at all. That reduces stress knowing that I have over a year to replace the family income.
I would encourage EVERYONE to make this a high priority in your financial planning. It’s been a huge step in my financial freedom lifestyle.
Any questions about Emergency Funds?
How easy is it to get sucked into the daily grind? The chores of life. A job we’re not looking forward to. Meeting with people we don’t want to meet with. Going through the motions without any emotion.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I really have to fight off the funk.
And sometimes I don’t win that fight.
When I do win, it’s usually because I’ve got these things going on:
+ Something to look forward to. A goal. A trip. A reward. I listed this first because it’s huge for me. If I can get to the next event, I’ll generally be okay.
The event can be a personal thing (concert, date, vacation) or a business trip, seminar or trade show.
Sometimes having a goal to shoot for is enough to get me excited. Pulling the focus off the grind that I’m working through and looking toward the goal that I hope to accomplish often reorients me in a good way.
I don’t use the reward option much, but I know a lot of people find setting a reward for themselves when they push through the tough part of a job and accomplish a goal to be very motivational.
+ Read. I have a lot of go to books that I find super useful depending on what I’m stuck on: Steve Chandler, Jack Canfield, Steven Pressfield, Shawn Doyle.
+ Eat right and exercise. We know some foods give us more energy. Why are other foods so good?! If you have an office job, you know how easy it is to slip into bad habits of inactivity. Of course I need to unwind with a bag of chips and my favorite tv show after a tough day at the office, right?
+ Pray, meditate, gratitude. Spend time counting blessings anytime you feel the funk coming on. Of course, it’d be even better if you practice gratitude every day. Prayer and meditation are also useful tools to work on daily. Now if only I can keep my thoughts at bay long enough to pray and meditate consistently.
+ Investing in myself. Truly the greatest investment in the world!
+ Positive, inspiring, sometimes funny things in front of me. Inspiring pictures, infographics on social media, daily emails or blogs. Darren Hardy has a great daily email. A few years ago after Becky watched Nate Berkus explain on TV we went through and updated our surroundings. See the note I wrote about that here. Don’t keep anything around that doesn’t inspire you!
What keeps you going when the funk comes after you?
It turns out that it doesn’t necessarily “take money to make money.” Some of the highest yielding investments you can make don’t require any money at all.
Investments in yourself–in your learning and in your experiences pay a higher financial return than any other investment you could make.
I’m taking my cue from one of America’s earliest philosopher/entrepreneurs, Ben Franklin: “If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
A couple other philosopher/entrepreneurs I respect said similar things:
Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said “You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet.”
Jim Rohn said, “If you want change, you must change! You must work harder on yourself than you work on anything else. The greatest investment you will ever make is in yourself. Don’t invest in the stock market, if you haven’t first invested in yourself.”
Finally, one of the greatest stock market investors of our time, Warren Buffett said, “Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents.”
If it’s good enough for those guys, it’s good enough for me.
Here are a handful of ways I’ve found to invest in myself:
Time. If you have time to sift through the tons of stuff out there, you can learn just about anything you can think of by searching the internet. Google it! Youtube it. Turn off the TV and learn something productive.
Books and audiobooks. For just a few dollars or a trip to the library you can read the best of what experts have to say on topics. Look up the three highest regarded books on a chosen topic by reading blogposts from people you respect or checking the online reviews of the books in question. Read the top three books and you’ll be on your way.
Magazines. There are still some great articles being written on certain topics. The other way to use magazines is for researching the influencers in your topic’s industry. Use the magazine to find out what events are coming up and who you should reach out to (network with) in the industry you’re interested in.
Podcasts. Listen to interviews on topics you want to learn. Subscribe to your favorite podcasts and they’ll be waiting on your favorite device for whenever you have a few minutes of downtime.
Online courses. You can learn as much as or more than you would sitting in a college classroom from the comfort of your couch.
Seminars and conferences on DVD or online. You’ll miss the networking and camaraderie that is part of attending live events. But you gain advantages of relaxing in your pj’s and having the option of pausing when you need to go pee. In addition, you can replay the parts you need to hear again as you apply what you’re learning.
Seminars. Live events like seminars, conferences, even trade shows can be extremely valuable. Stage speakers are usually excellent. You will often find like-minded people at live events. Don’t be afraid to talk with people. Many times the most value will come from side conversations. You may meet people you end up doing business with or becoming friends with.
Coaches/mentors. If you want to become top-notch at something, you probably need coaches/mentors. Professionals in all arenas of life use coaches to perform at the highest level.
College courses. I don’t necessarily recommend going for a four-year degree. It depends on the field you want to go into. Sometimes a degree is required. If not required, I believe college is often overrated. Check out the quality of classes and the professor that teaches. Often you can pick and choose specific courses that you want to learn without going for a degree.
Networking. Finding others that are working on similar projects as you can encourage you to keep going on a project. Reach out to people on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and MeetUp.com.
Experience. Volunteer your time to learn from someone who does what you want to do. Take a job somewhere for a couple of years to learn skills you’ll need. Don’t be discouraged if your project doesn’t yield the exact results you hoped for. Review, Learn and Pivot. You just learned something valuable to apply to your next project.
Experiences. Do you have a bucket list? I used to think this sort of thing was self-indulgent. I now see taking a trip with my dear wife as an investment, not an expense. Sometimes a trip you’ve always wanted to take can be rejuvenating. Even life-changing. Can you think of a better investment?
So there you have it. The greatest investment in the world is YOU. What other ways do you invest in yourself?
Recently, I’ve heard several college grads say “I’ll never be able to buy a house.” I know the feeling. College debt, car payments, rent, insurance, groceries all suck up the little bit of paycheck you have left after the tax man takes his chunk. It feels like it will never get better.
I’m here to tell you that it will get better.
I’m also here to caution you about the house bit.
Don’t get in a hurry to live the “American dream.”
The thing about buying a house–with or without the white picket fence–is that the down payment and mortgage might just be the cheapest part of the whole experience.
The time, energy and money that go into owning your home can cramp your lifestyle and put strain on your marriage.
I’m not trying to be a downer. It’s just that I remember when Becky and I bought our first house. All those monthly payments left us with not even enough money to paint over the nasty green paint that was throughout our house.
Allow me to run through some of the expenses and/or work of “owning” a home.
I don’t mean to scare you—just want you to have a realistic view of what it means to own a home. You may not have time and money to enjoy your house as much as you thought.
What I’m trying to say is: Don’t be in a hurry to settle in and live a traditional life. Experience the world. Travel. Savor the flexibility that comes with apartment living.
The real American dream is about freedom. Enjoy as much of it as you can before you tie yourself down to a location and commit to buying a house.