blog.alan.schram

New Direction(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Schram) — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:08:00 +0000

There's nothing quite like a gleeful reference to a relatively fantastic new television show.

So, when I stopped posting here last, it was because I was going to start a new website. Yay! Saving For Serenity - how to achieve personal finance bliss. Well, I must have gotten there, because with the whole getting married thing, I stopped having the time or energy to write for the site, and sadly, I have not been able to regain the motivation to continue.

So I sold the site. Yep, my online digitally created property has worth. Enough so that someone was willing to give me actual dollars for it.

So where to now? I love to write, and I want to continue writing. I have been offered a job writing once a week for a different personal finance site, which I will probably take, and I'm thinking about writing about other things. Maybe I'll get back into writing for Associated Content. I've forgotten about them, but they obviously haven't forgot about me, because they keep giving me $1.50 every three months or so.

So, we'll see where this whole thing goes from here.

Reminder

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:56:00 +0000

Just wanted to remind all of you who are still subscribed/reading this blog, I've moved to Saving For Serenity.

Please update your RSS feeds and readers. Direct them to: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/SavingForSerenity

Thanks!

Saving For Serenity - New Site, Same Direction

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:12:00 +0000

A few days ago my website, Saving For Serenity, launched.

Saving For Serenity is the extension of what I have been writing about here, on blog.alan.schram. It is a personal finance blog where I attempt to help you establish financial freedom, something that I've been writing about. The word "serenity" means an absence of mental stress or anxiety. In this case, it means bringing one's finances to a point where it is not causing mental stress or anxiety. It's the goal, the ethos, the direction of Saving For Serenity.

I've written more about what Saving For Serenity is all about here. So if you're interested in finding a peace, or a state of serenity with your finances, please follow along as I attempt to achieve it for myself.

Also, don't forget to update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, links, and all that other interweb goodness that comes with a new site.

See you over there.

For those of you that don't understand what this post is about, it means that yes, I am using Saving For Serenity as my new blog, and will not be posting on this one anymore. Just for you, Tony.

Weekend Respite

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:36:00 +0000

In the month of March, I posted at least 5 times a week, at or around 6AM everyday. So far this month, that has not been the case. Here's why.

In the last week, I have had a computer die, got a temporary old laptop from Jordan Shaw, ordered a new macbook, got the new macbook, and started the process of launching a new website (or two). Oh, and I'm also trying to move in the next two weeks.

That's right, the personal finance blog is going to its own domain, and its own host, very soon. I just need the weekend (of which I have four days) to finalize some technical stuff, and then I'll link to it from here. I'm very excited to start a year long project into the world of personal finance blogging. It's going to be great.

I apologize for not posting regularly. It shall resume next week.

Illusion of Security

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

My day job requires me to enter into a lot of people's yards. Recently, we've reached a part of Vancouver where the houses are bigger, the dogs are meaner, and almost every house has a gate and a fence. These aren't the normal gates though, the nice ones where you walk up to, open the gate, and walk in. Oh no, these gates are the ones that require you to buzz an electronic system (with camera and speakerphone) in order to gain access. These people have built their fortresses for security, but a lot of the time, it is merely an illusion.

For example, a lot of people will have two gates, one of which is locked, the other is wide open. What purpose does the locked gate serve? Does it keep me out of your yard? Would it prevent a burgler? Other gates are locked, but the fence stops three feet short of the gate, allowing access. Some people have incredible security on the front of their houses, but not the back, signs warning against dogs, but no dogs, and alarm company logos next to doors that are propped open or unlocked.

I've decided that for the most part, people are seeking the illusion of security as much as they are seeking actual security. It is merely the sense of feeling safe that we as humans so desperately desire. It doesn't matter if the fence will actually keep out someone intending to rob us, because in actuality, not even a six foot fence would stop a determined man. But just knowing that it is there, and that it might deter someone, even if just for awhile, is worth it.

I think a lot of us wish that we had more financial security. So we build up an illusion of security around us, by ignoring our debts, or by pretending our credit limit is high enough to handle emergencies. Maybe we have a small emergency fund set aside, but no plan for a job loss or retirement. Financially, there are a lot of things that we could, and perhaps should be worried about, but we think we're okay as long as at least one of our gates are locked.

Where are the unlocked gates in your life? Do you feel secure? Are you one paycheck away from being broke? Do you want a sense of security, a sense of serenity? I know I do.

Combining Finances: Starting to Date

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This post is the second post of a series on Combining Finances.

When two people begin to date, money is often the last thing that they want to talk about. However, money can also begin to cause a number of problems early in the relationship that may not be able to be repaired unless they are quickly and properly addressed.

When a man and a woman go out on a date - who pays? For a number of decades, this was not even a question that ought to be asked. The man would take the woman on the date, and he would pay for the meal, or the movie, or the drinks. Alongside equal employment and wages, however, came a shift towards equal payment on dates. A man and a woman would go out on a date, and they might each pay for their own meal. Or, they might take turns paying for dates, switching between them in order to simplify the dates. No longer can a woman assume that her boyfriend will pay for all of their dates.

Addressing the "who pays for dates" question is one that should come up early on in the dating relationship. It's not the only question that will arise, and its not the only one that must be answered. What happens when one invites the other over for dinner? Does one pay for all the food, and is that going to be reciprocated?

When Ashley and I started to date, we spent the majority of the time at her apartment. My apartment was shared with two other guys, so space and privacy was severely limited. However, that meant that we also spent a lot of the time eating out of Ashley's fridge and cupboards. We had to address if I would bring my own food, if I would feed her, or if she would feed me. I think we both felt the desire to keep it somewhat "fair", but establishing what is and isn't fair becomes and incredibly complicated procedure when you also include who does dishes or cleans up after.

My advice to those that are beginning to date is to talk openly about financial expectations. Your greatest chance for success is going to come when you are able to establish who is paying for what. It is going to be uncomfortable, but a lot of conversations that you have are going to be awkward. Avoiding awkward or uncomfortable conversations is just going to prolong and worsen the situation.

Talk about:

Dates (how often, who pays)
Food (where, what kind, shared or individual)
Commuting (where are you going to meet, hang out, is it farther for one person? does only one of you have a vehicle? will the other share gas costs?)

As it is with so many other things in life, taking action now will reduce the potential for pain later. Establish how you're going to go about dating, financially, and you'll reduce the chance for missed communication and misunderstanding.

Money Well Spent Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

In my previous post on money well spent, I explained some of my thoughts on the relationship between money and experiences. Essentially, I feel that while refraining from spending money on frivolous expenses, such as lattes, is the "right" thing to do financially, it isn't always the best choice. Instead, I argued that certain experiences are worth the money.

Let me take that idea a little bit further. One of the reasons that this whole idea came up was because I have often read about how much money a person can save simply by cutting back on small everyday purchases, like coffee. They say that $4 a day is like $1400/year, and that's a huge amount of money saved, and that's true! You can't argue with the math. Therefore, some financial experts recommend cutting back on certain expenses, like four dollar lattes, in order to save yourself a huge amount of money. And I agree with them.

This might sound like it is in contrast to my previous post, and my previous point, but it is not. While I did advocate certain experiences, I did not encourage certain expenses. The difference comes from the originality and uniqueness of the experience. The reason that the cafe crawl we went on was so good was because a) I had never done it before, b) I had a great time with old friends and new friends, and c) I got a memory I can cherish for years to come. A daily latte cannot, and will not do that.

In fact, I would argue that a four dollar latte on a regular basis would actually cheapen the experience. If I drank coffee every single day, having a coffee is no longer special. Just ask my fiance, who works at a coffee shop. When she first started working, she would drink free coffee (because its free!) until she was sick and couldn't sleep at night. Now, she's learned to moderate herself, but there is nothing unique or special about drinking coffee, as it is done on a regular basis.

As soon as a fun, cherished moment becomes routine, it also becomes mundane. If you are buying a coffee out of sheer habit, then stop. It's not worth the money. Save your money for something unique, an experience, a present, a treat. Not only will you save money, that four dollar latte will become the treat, the present, and the experience. And that's worth paying for.

New Site?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

One of my goals when I started writing this blog was to see if I could start making money online. My day job is a casual position, meaning that when there is no work, I do not work. Most of the time, I get full time hours, but about a month ago I was only getting 3 or 4 shifts a week. Money is tight, what with saving for a wedding, trying to pay rent, and staying out of debt. So after a few days off, I wanted to see if I could start making money while "working" from home.

My initial foray into the world of making money online came through Associated Content. I created an account, started writing content, and even managed to attract the attention of a PR manager and a category editor. I even got one of my articles featured! Now, this hasn't been the most profitable venture to date, as during the month that I've been apart of the site, I've made about eighty cents. Which, actually, is a fair bit more than I thought I would have earned by now.

When I started looking at various online money making sources, one of the one that attracted me was blogging for money. Essentially, you create a blog, get followers, and somehow monetize it, whether through advertising, selling paid posts, sponsorships, etc. I'm not a huge fan of any of those options, sadly, but I do have an idea or two for the future. The problem is, before I want to try to make money off a blog, I need to have a readership. And the best way to get readership is to put yourself out there. And the best way to put yourself out there is to brand yourself. And blog.alan.schram doesn't exactly scream "personal finance".

So I've started messing around with a few options. One of the potential ideas can be seen here. It's a blog that will eventually be called "Saving For Serenity", and that is a potential look for the new site. What do you think? The site explains a bit more about what it would be, the ethos, the direction, the motivation. Let me know what you think.

Combining Finances: Developing Friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This is the first post in a series called Combining Finances.

In just over four months, I am getting married. One of the many challenges that will arise at that point will be the process of combining my bank account with my fiance's. It's one of many huge steps that we will be taking as we seek to intertwine our lives. This series of articles will be a look back over our relationship and how we dealt with our independent and collective finances.

There's no better place to start than at the beginning. When Ashley and I started developing our friendship, it was natural that we got to know how the other person was with their money. The first time that I met Ashley, she invited me over to her apartment, where she lived with a "revolving door" of roommates and guests. It was a very open and inviting apartment, one that included a regular offering of food. One time we went out to a local bar with a couple of other friends, and Ashley offered to pay for my food and my drink, simply saying, "you can get it next time". Ashley was generous with her money, even though she didn't have very much herself.

On the other hand, I came from a more frugal background. I knew how much money I had, and that I had to conserve it for the rest of the year. Therefore, if I was to go out for an evening, that was fine, I just couldn't buy very much - if anything at all. I had no shame in going to a restaurant and not getting anything, and I didn't feel bad if the tip I left was rather small.

Ashley lived in a two bedroom apartment with one other person. She understood that she could not live in a dorm type situation, because she was beyond sharing a room with another person. She wasn't comfortable with that, and therefore was willing to pay the extra money for the extra room.

I lived in a one bedroom apartment with two other guys. The inconvenience of a lack of space, privacy, and freedom came from a desire to save money - not necessarily enjoy where I was living.

So as Ashley and I developed a friendship, Ashley was often willing to pay for things that I would otherwise hesitate on. Should we grab some blizzards from Dairy Queen? I would love to have one, but didn't want to pay for one. Ashley would love one as well, but would want to buy one alone, so she would pay for my blizzard as well. If Ashley knew that I liked something, like a cheese bun from Superstore, then she would pick one up for me while she was there, simply because she knew that I would enjoy it - regardless of the cost.

This definitely developed a bit of a tension in our friendship, as she would often be willing to give, and I would be willing to take. She was expecting a balanced relationship, where I would also offer to take on the cost part of the time, but I rarely would. My priority was saving money, her priority was relationships.

At this time, even before we began a relationship, I asked myself if I would be willing to invest in a relationship with a person that had different financial priorities than me. Would I be willing to compromise, or change my priorities for the sake of the relationship?

One thing that I've learned over the past year and a half is that we aren't going to change the other person. Ashley probably thought that she would get me to loosen up a little bit, and I thought that I would teach her how to be cheap. Neither of these things has happened. We have definitely come to compromise on a lot of things, but we still have our backgrounds and our own ways of looking at money. Looking back, our friendship was a perfect time to get to know each other, a time where we could watch and learn without being emotionally invested. It allowed me to grow in understanding for Ashley's perspective. Even though we had different views on money, we both agreed that our relationship was worth more than our fiancial priorities, and that set the foundation for future discussion on the subject.

Coming up next time: The start of the dating relationship

March Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The first month of blogging has concluded. What have I accomplished this month?

Save $100 Challenge

At the beginning of the month, I promised my readers that I could teach them how to save a hundred dollars by the end of the month. The month has come to a close, and I believe I have given everybody that has read this blog the opportunity to do just that. For those that haven't been reading, here's a quick recap so that you too can save $100 this month.

Start by tracking your spending with a spending record. See where you're spending your money so that you know where you are overspending. Sometimes just being aware of how much money you're spending on something is motivation enough to stop spending that much money. Then open a high interest online bank account so that you can separate your spending from your saving, and automate your savings so that you don't have to force yourself to save. Reduce your fixed expenses so that you save money on a monthly basis without having to do anymore work. Start an emergency fund. Finally, save a bunch of money on groceries this month. How much money did you save this month? Why not set up your finances to automatically withdraw that much money from your account every month so that you can start saving?

The Great Blog Off

The Great Blog Off comes to its conclusion today. I did not win. If you haven't voted yet, head on over to the Facebook Group page and cast your vote for your favorite blogger of the month.

April

I have started to formulate a number of plans for the month of April. One that I am willing to reveal is the start of a series on combining finances. As my fiance and I have progressed through our relationship, we have come across a number of stages of financial independence and interdependence. I will be sharing my thoughts on the stages of relationships, and how they are related to finances. I will also be addressing some of the major obstacles that we've come across, and how we have been tackling those issues.

Any questions? Comments? Concerns?

Money Well Spent Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

There's an oft cited example of personal finance that revolves around the issue of a $4 latte. The typical theory is that if one was to stop buying a daily latte, and instead invest the money, they would be rich. The math and the logic behind that argument is generally hard to refute, but as it is so often with life, the "right" choice is not always the best choice.

While I am in pursuit of financial freedom, I am attempting to rearrange how I think and view money. I have already begun to prioritize, address my ignorance and my fears, and determine for myself what kind of money I want. Along that path I have begun to realize one of the purposes that money serves. For me, money opens up the possibility of experiences.

This issue arose just yesterday as some friends and I went on a cafe crawl across Vancouver. We started at my apartment, where I made breakfast for six people. From there, we went to six different cafes around Vancouver and the North Shore, tasting espresso, taking pictures, and driving around in the drizzling rain. This type of experience is not a cheap one, but I feel as though it is worth the money. Breakfast for six people is not the most efficient way of saving money for a wedding, but it was worth it. It created an experience that I will likely remember and cherish for years to come.

Money in and of itself is worthless. It's only value is the value that we place on it, in exchange for other things. We give up our time and energy for money. We give up our money for food, a place to sleep, and sometimes, for good experiences. Sometimes an experience is worth the money. Sometimes, a latte is worth four dollars. So sure, if I choose to not buy a $4 latte, I'm four dollars closer to financial freedom, or retirement, or getting out of debt. But when I get there, will I be rich?

Weekend Review 28.03.09

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

So The Great Blog Off has entered its voting week. According to my count, I have one vote. From my brother-in-law. Well, I'm depressed, so let's move on.

On Associated Content, one of my articles was featured! This is terrific news, as it has significantly altered how many views I have gotten on my articles. The last time I posted, I had made about a quarter, and now I have earned over double that, mostly from the one featured article. I guess the lesson here is that it is all about exposure. Not only do I have to write a lot of different articles, I have to ensure that they are of a high enough quality to be worthy of featuring. I also have to start finding and adding my own photos, because the one they chose to add there really, really sucks.

The saving $100 challenge could have come to a close this week, if you have followed all of my posts on the subject. I know that I've saved well over $100 a month using these tips, and you easily can too. I think that I will post an official ending to the $100 challenge sometime next week before month's end, just to wrap things up before I move on to another series next month.

Around the Web in Personal Finance

Get Rich Slowly had a great post about the mentality of oversaving. He talks about how as he moved from spender to saver, he may have crossed a line and gone too far. He discusses the small, but important difference between being frugal, and being cheap.

"But at some point I crossed the line from frugal to cheap. I’ve spent the past few months seeking balance: allowing myself permission to spend on a few indulgences while choosing to cut back in other areas."

He also concludes that oversaving does not lead to happiness, and that as long as our saving goals are being met, feel free to spend the rest wisely in order to enjoy living life.

For small business owners, especially those that are just starting up, check out The Simple Dollar's post on confidence. He begins a discussion on the phrase "fake it 'til you make it", referring to how one must exhue confidence in order to build confidence.

"In other words, fake it ’til you make it is a call to arms to act confident in your endeavors, because that confidence will eventually lead to success. It’s a good example of the power of positive thinking"

I think we all struggle with our skills and talents - even more so when we're trying to set a price on our abilities.

Clever Dude Finance posted an article on ways to save money on transportation at college. That reminded me of all the ways that I saved money while at college, like living in a one bedroom apartment with two other guys. Speaking of college, Pimp Your Finances has a post about crucial questions for twenty somethings. I've thought about a lot of the questions before, but definitely not all, and definitely not all at the same time.

So what did you learn this week? What did you like? What did you miss? Anything you'd like to see more of? Less? Sound off.

Grocery Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I'm looking forward to breakfast on Saturday morning. For me, most breakfasts are eaten alone, in the dark, something quickly poured into a bowl or spread on toast. On Saturday, however, I'm planning on making some bagel egg sandwiches with some hash browns and perhaps a nice bit of fruit on the side. Looking into my fridge and freezer, however, informs me that some shopping needs to be done first.

I was planning on writing up how I save money when I go grocery shopping, but I feel as though that topic has been done to death by many writers far more experienced than I. So here are some of their thoughts on how to save money at the grocery store.

Yahoo! Green suggests forcing yourself to shop on a two week schedule, to ensure that you use up all food without it going to waste before you but more to replace it:

"Raise your hand and repeat after me: "I solemnly swear to consume the remaining portions (if any) of meals I failed to previously consume within 24 hours of my failure to consume them."

Seems a little too regimented for me, but hey, if it works for you... I actually think that my mother did this while I was growing up.

Get Rich Slowly rounds up his favorite ways of saving up to $100/month at the grocery store:

"Buy your produce on sale. Purchase produce that is on sale that week. This is often based on what type of produce is in season. This will not only help your pocketbook, but it will also help you explore new foods and experiment in the kitchen."

My roommate Jeff did this the other day, buying himself some "apple pears", or "perapples" if you will. He did not like them.

Bargaineering has 5 easy ways to cut your grocery bill. The one that would be the favorite of my fiance is:

"2. Use less meat.By weight, meat of any kind is the most expensive part of your meal. You should try to use less of it."

I have to admit, because my fiance is a vegetarian, I've started to eat less meat. I've actually never felt better in my life, physically. I have more energy and I never feel bloated like I do when I eat a lot of meat or pizza. Try having one day meat free every week, it makes a huge difference in your diet - and your budget.

To add to the list, I'll suggest that you buy staples in bulk when they're on sale. Awhile back I found our favorite pasta sauce for $2/can, when it normally is $3.5-4/can. So I bought as many as I could carry home, and I haven't regretted it yet.

Back in May I was spending about $300-350/month on groceries. Now I'm down to a much more reasonable figure, about half of that, which is where I would love for it to stay.

How about you? How do you save money on groceries? Why not try just one of the many examples, and see if you can't help yourself save $100 this month.

Potential savings: $17+ per month. Total savings this month: $100

About Me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

As The Great Blog Off enters its final week, I just wanted to give you some insight into who I am, and how I got to be blogging about personal finance on the interwebs. Its not like I woke up one day thinking to myself, "gee, I wonder where I can find the best interest rate in a savings account?"

I believe it all started back in college. At the time, having no income forced me to live in such a way that I could save as much money as possible. I spent four years sharing a one bedroom apartment with at least two other guys, eating a lot of Kraft Dinner, and washing my laundry only when absolutely necessary. Post graduation, I moved to one of the most expensive places in British Columbia - North Vancouver. Along with a 3x increase in monthly rent (while still sharing a one bedroom apartment with a roommate), I also got the highest paying job of my life. I was soon living a much less frugal life, with regular pizza and beer nights, a high definition TV, and a trip to Hawaii. I was making more money in two weeks than I had made the entire year working part time at college.

Six months after it began, it was all over - literally. I was unemployed, and quite broke. All the money that I made was now gone, to video games and a full freezer. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten myself into anymore debt, but suddenly student loans needed repaying, and a wedding was on the horizon.

My television was still getting its regular use, however, and my unemployment was spent watching far too much TLC. One show managed to catch my attention, and I started to watch it on a regular basis. It was called, "Til Debt Do Us Part", and it featured Gail Vaz-Oxlade telling couples who got themselves into a lot of debt how to save their money and their marriage. It intrigued me deeply, and I started getting more and more interested in my own finances. I knew that I was in student loan debt, but I was otherwise okay, as I wasn't racking up credit card or any sort of consumer debt. I wasn't spending more than I was making. However, at the end of every month I would have always spent all of my money, and I didn't know where it was going.

So after I got a new job and started working full time again, I started tracking my spending. Soon I found out that I was spending way more money on things that I shouldn 't be (mostly toys and food), and decided to cut it out. At the same time, I wasn't making as much money I used to be, but I was used to spending a lot more money. I was forced to live more frugally, so I started cutting things out, but I still felt financially stressed.

So I started reading lots of personal finance blogs, learning about how I can save more money. I started enacting some of the things that I was reading about, like setting up an emergency fund, calling my service providers and getting them to reduce my expenses, and automating all my finances. I have started to see a difference, perhaps not in my bank account, but in my attitude. I have found a joy in saving money, and I feel in control. I'm making less money than I was before, and when I get my paycheck I still get worried about all the bills and how I'm going to save for a wedding, but I feel as though I'm headed in the right direction.

I'm excited for the future, because I can see a day where I won't feel financial strain or stress. I can see a day where I can afford to live how I want to live, and feel financial freedom. That day is coming, and I hope that you can come with me as I learn by living.

How to Start An Emergency Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Do you want to feel free financially? Do you want to reduce stress on your life, feel more comfortable at the end of the month, or even start to sleep better? All you have to do is start an emergency fund.

What is an Emergency Fund?

An Emergency Fund is a savings account set aside for emergencies. Quite simply, it is a set amount of money that you will not touch unless you absolutely need to. Emergency, in this case, does not mean a sale at Winners, or a new CD that you absolutely must have. It is something more significant, like unexpected car maintenance, sudden unemployment, emergency dental work, etc. An emergency fund is money that you would otherwise have to borrow to deal with the inevitable unexpected expenses of life.

Why Do I Need an Emergency Fund?

Life, as we all know, is full of unexpected surprises. I entered into my last year of college with an old(er) PC that had been sitting around all summer. After we got moved in, I set up my computer, plugged it in, and turned it on. It worked for about 6 minutes, and then "poof". Black screen, smell of burning, no more PC. Whether it was the power supply or the motherboard, I will never know, but I do know that I was suddenly facing 8 months of papers without the ability to type.

A few months later I was driving my then girlfriend now fiance to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry in my sister's little Toyota. The engine decided to leave all of its oil somewhere in between the terminal and exit 4 on the No. 1 Hwy, and suddenly car repairs were a necessity.

Emergency funds allow us to not only pay for those expenses when they do come up, they allow us to relax beforehand, knowing that when they come, we will be okay. After I returned from a vacation in Hawaii, I was facing the rather immediate prospect of unemployment with a very small amount of money in the bank account. An emergency fund would have significantly reduced my stress over the six or seven weeks I went without work.

Isn't that What Credit Cards Are For?

No. Credit cards are necessary evils, but should never be relied upon. For one, anything you put onto your credit card can be charged interest. So if your emergency is costing you $200 and you can't pay it all back within the next 30 days, then you'll be paying $220 for your emergency instead of $200. Twenty bucks not so bad? What if the emergency is $2000, and you have to pay $2400 after interest charges? What if you can't pay it back at all?

In addition, credit card companies enjoy doing mean things to their customers. Like, cutting your credit limit - even below your balance, or canceling your card altogether while you're traveling. What a lot of people forget is that your credit limit is something that is arbitraily decided by your credit card company, and can be changed whenever and however they see fit. Your credit limit does not have a guarantee on it. The bottom line is that you cannot rely on credit to be there when you need it.

How Much Money Do I Need For An Emergency Fund?

If you read personal finance blogs, you'll read advice that ranges anywhere from $1000 to six or nine months worth of monthly expenses. Trent from The Simple Dollar wants an emergency fund that would cover 12 months of expenses. JD from Get Rich Slowly has an emergency fund of $5000, enough for three months of his mortgage payments, or two months of full expenses. The truth is that your emergency fund is a form of risk management, and its size is dependent on how much risk you are comfortable with. Apparently, for the majority of us, we are willing to take a huge amount of risk, because we don't have an emergency fund. I, for one, am not terribly comfortable with that risk, and am therefore starting to save an Emergency Fund bit by bit.

You are the only person that can decide how big your emergency fund can be. Many factors will contribute, including the stability of your income/employment, your monthly expenses, if you have any dependents relying on you, etc. The point of the emergency fund is to reduce your stresses, so save up enough so that you feel comfortable. The article that I first linked to by MSN Money recommends that you save up at least $500. The study referenced suggested that $500 in the bank will improve your life, both financially and mentally. I agree.

How to Start an Emergency Fund

If you've already opened a high interest online savings account, and if you have been following the advice to start saving some money, then you are already set up. All you have to do is create a sub account labeled "Emergency Fund" and start up an Automatic Savings Plan (ASP) to regularly deposit a small amount of money into the account. It doesn't need to be a lot, and it doesn't need to be a full $500 right away. I've been allocating $25 per paycheck to my Emergency Fund, which is currently around $200. It is money that I won't miss because it is gone before I even had the chance to count it, and it gives me an incredible sense of peace because I know that I have a few hundred dollars waiting for me, just in case.

So go ahead, set up your bank account to take a few bucks off each month. If you're worried about your finances, start small, with ten or fifteen dollars. I promise that you won't miss it.

Potential savings: $20+ per month. Total savings this month: $83

A Look Forward

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Last week I wrote about the slow start that I was having trying to make money online. I had only earned a few cents, I was frustrated because I wasn't finding enough time to write, and I was becoming worried that my time investments may never pay off. At this point, I am proud to say that I have significantly increased my earnings. I have earned over a quarter! In even more exciting news, one of my articles was featured on the Dating and Relationships category page! I am not sure how being featured is going to affect my pageviews, as AC hasn't updated their stats since Friday. In addition, the PR manager from AC commented on my Weekend Review post, encouraging me to continue writing articles for them. Looks like someone is getting some attention. Laura, from AC, reminded me that while I might not have made very much money so far, "the longer your articles live on AC.com, the more they'll continue to earn for you". This is something called "passive income", something that I would like to continue building upon.

Passive Income

Passive income is money that you are earning without doing anything for it. You put in an initial investment (time, money, etc), and then as time progresses, you continue to earn additional money from that investment. For example, interest earned in your "high" interest online savings account is passive income. In my case, I make the initial investment (time) into an article, and I earn passive income from it for the rest of the time that it is featured on Associated Content. Granted, sometimes certain articles will not make much, or any money, and will with time most likely fade, but there is always going to be a chance that another six people will view that article, and I will earn one more cent.

I used to scoff at this type of income, because it is so minuscule, and it takes forever. What I've begun to learn, however, is that time is on my side. While it might be a small amount of money now, it just may grow into a decent amount of money in a year or two. All it takes is a few minutes writing, something that I've been enjoying doing, and I have set up the potential for some future income.

The Great Blog Off

In other news, The Great Blog Off is entering its final week. I've been enjoying reading these guys blogs, and it has certainly motivated me to blog consistently. I know that I am planning on continuing to blog even after the votes have been tallied, and I hope that they will join me.

For this last full week on blog.alan.schram before The Great Blog Off vote, I will continue to write about how you can save $100 this month. I will also be outlining some of my goals for the blog and for Associated Content as I strive to continue to make money online by writing. New and exciting things are on the horizon, and I hope you join me as I learn by living.

How to Reduce Fixed Expenses in Three Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

What is a good hourly wage to earn while you are not working? What's your time worth? Need to save some extra money quickly? Want something to put into your online savings account? Then perhaps you should invest a little time and a little effort over the next few days and you could earn yourself anywhere from $20 to $100/hour simply by saving money on your fixed expenses.

Expenses

When we talk about expenses, there are two basic categories. There are fixed expenses, and there are variable expenses. Fixed expenses are the bills that you pay on a monthly basis, bills like your cell phone, your TV, your internet, your electricity, your rent, etc. Variable expenses are expenses that change on a monthly basis due to different circumstances. That would be purchases like food, clothing, or entertainment. So when you are looking into saving money, you should consider cutting both variable and fixed expenses.

Personally, I like cutting fixed expenses, because it offers the highest reward for the least amount of time. You cut one monthly expense, and you can continue to reap the benefit every month thereafter.

How To Easily Reduce Fixed Expenses

There are two main ways to easily reduce fixed expenses. The first is to eliminate everything that you don't need. The question of what you need and don't need is a complicated one, and is something that you have to come to terms with yourself. The second method is relatively simple. You get in contact with the person that is providing you the service you require, and ask them to let you pay less.

This may sound ridiculous, and there are plenty of reasons why the company you are dealing with would never just give you back your money. However, about two weeks ago I called my TV and internet provider, and within 15 minutes I had reduced my bill by $40 a month for the next six months. That's a total savings of $240, for a few minutes of work. But wait! Before you call your provider, you are going to need to be prepared.

Step One: Determine Which Bill You Are Going to Reduce

There are plenty of possibilities here. Almost all of us have some sort of fixed expense that we could use reducing. We might be paying for a mortgage, for rent, for utilities, for phone service, for internet service, for television, for rentals or anything else. Now, narrow down your choices by prioritizing the bills by how much extra you think you are paying and by how easily they might be reduced (mortgage would need to be refinanced, so not so easy). Once you have an idea of which expense you are going to try to save money on, go ahead and get the last copy of your bill.

What I did was head on over to my cable provider's website (I get e-bills). I was actually able to look over the last year of my account with them. It listed all the different charges that I had through the company, as well as the different promotional discounts that I was also eligible for. I found out that I was paying $55/month for internet, and because of a promotion, $19/month for full cable television. The total was about $80/month after taxes.

Fig. 1 - Cable/TV bill post-negotiation

Step Two: Research Alternatives

After I saw how much I was paying for cable, I checked out all my options for internet and television. I looked at Telus's internet packages, and their television promotions. I also looked at Roger's website, but they don't offer what I'm looking for. Finally, I remembered to check out Shaw's bundle pricing, to see if they were offering anything to new subscribers that they weren't offering me. What I found out what that I was already paying a pretty low price, because of the TV promotion that I had signed up for back in the summer. If I kept the same features, I'd be paying at least $80 a month (same price I was already paying), and with Shaw, I would be paying $97 a month!

So am I resigned to continue paying my $80/month bill? No! There are yet other alternatives. Do I need the internet? Do I need television? I found out that I wasn't watching too much of the tele, so perhaps I could eliminate it altogether and save myself $20/month. Do I need the internet? Well, yes, but do I need to pay an extra $10/month for a slightly faster internet? No, I probably don't. So there's $30/month.

If you're looking to do the same, check all the competitors in your area. If you live in British Columbia, in Canada, then check out the following major providers. Be sure to check for local providers, as they tend to offer nice deals that only small providers can.

Internet:
Shaw Cable
Telus
Rogers
Bell

Television:
Shaw Cable
Telus
Bell
Star Choice

Cell Phone Service:
Rogers
Fido
Bell
Telus
Virgin Mobile
Koodo Mobile

There may be more options out there, but that list should get you started.

So you've determined which bill you are going to reduce, you've found your latest copy of your bill, you found out the best deal that you can get, and now you're ready to call your provider.

Step Three: The Phone Call

Before you pick up the phone and dial the number, take a deep breath and remind yourself of a few important principles. First, you are not entitled to a deal, you are asking for one. Act and speak humbly. Two, the person you are talking to is a human being, so treat them as one. They are just doing their job, and if they deny your request, feel free to be persistent, but do not be pushy or arrogant. You can always hang up and try again with another call center representative.

Now, call the number. Your first intention is to get in contact with someone who can get you a deal. Either use the phone tree to direct yourself to "downgrade service", "cancel service" or to a "retention" representative, or just mention that you'd like to eliminate or cancel your service to the first person you speak with. This is because the regular reps will not have the power to change your service, cancel it, or give you a discount. The employees working for retention can.

When you get the right person on the phone, state clearly what you're looking for. I said that I couldn't afford to keep the services that I had, so I was looking to eliminate the television service from my account. I also mentioned that I could get Telus internet for cheaper than Shaw. At this point, the rep got a little upset, and started explaining why Shaw was so much better than Telus. I just calmly explained that cheaper is cheaper, and that I needed to save some money. I also admitted that I did not want to switch services, as I had been with Shaw for awhile and did not want to go through the hassle of switching. So I asked if they could do anything for me to keep my business.

The rep went on hold for a minute, and came back with an offer to keep my TV bill $30 lower than it ought to be for six more months, and to give me an upgrade to a higher speed internet (which I was paying $10/month for) for free. So $40/month savings, total. I gladly accepted, thanked the rep, and called it a day.

15 minutes research, 15 minute phone call, $40/month for 6 months = $240.
"hourly rate" = $480/hour

Think you can do better? Sound off.

More Information

How to Reduce Your Credit Card Interest Rates
How One Guy Reduced His Television Bill By 15%
Television Alternatives
How to Optimize Your Cellphone Bill

Potential savings: $20+ per month. Total savings this month: $63

Weekend Review 21.03.09

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

This past week on blog.alan.schram I managed to post once a day, every weekday at (around) 6AM. I managed to do this by writing the posts out a day or two in advance, and scheduling them to go up. So continue to check back on a daily basis, new content is going up all the time.

The week started off with a spending record. From there, I talked about motivation as well as the credit crisis. I then tried to tackle our own personal behavioral barriers in regards to money, like our ignorance and fear. Finally, I concluded the week with the conclusion that the biggest barrier to financial freedom is ourselves.

Next week, look forward to the continuation of the saving $100 challenge, as well as the beginning of a new series of articles.

My earnings at Associated Content continue to slowly rise, even though I haven't been posting any new articles. I have now earned twenty four cents, only a penny away from a quarter! My most popular article, to date, is How to Plan an Inexpensive Wedding. My least popular article is the newest one, How to Read Bass Tabs. Some good news on that front, I can now publish articles instantly, no longer do I have to wait and get them approved. Now I just need to write more articles.

Around the Web In Personal Finance

The carnival of personal finance (collection of personal finance links) went up Sunday night at Four Pillars. My favorite article from The Simple Dollar this week was "Quality of Life and Consumer Spending", an interesting read on the connection between spending, frugality, and what we deem as quality of life. Get Rich Slowly starts a conversation on what to do when saving money doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere. I also enjoyed reading how one woman became a millionaire.

What was your favorite article of the week? What are you enjoying reading? What do you wish you could see more of? Sound off.

The Biggest Barrier to Financial Freedom is Ourselves

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

If personal finance was easy, everyone would be a millionaire.

Financial freedom, as I'm learning, is a relatively easy process. All you have to do is spend less than you earn, save as much as you can, and then make that saved money work for you. All the rest, how to get out of debt, how you keep track of your money, what kind of car you drive, are details that might slightly affect how fast you achieve financial peace. There's no huge secret, and there's no magical formula. Spend less than you earn. Save as much as you can. Make that money work for you. Three simple things, and yet each of those is so incredibly hard.

Why? We're fighting ourselves. We know we have to spend less money than we earn, but we're given credit cards, and told that we need to build a credit history. We know we should save as much as we can, but then on what shall we watch TLC? We know we have to make our saved money work for us, but hey, I worked hard for that money, I deserve to go on a vacation.

The reality is, we have nobody but ourselves to blame for our financial situation. When I was in high school, I hated going to school. I eagerly anticipated leaving high school behind and going to college. It didn't matter to me how much money college cost, I was going to college, and I was going the year that I graduated from high school. While I was in college, I continued to not care how much each semester cost. Once I started, I figured I might as well go to the end, even though each semester was about six thousand dollars. So after four years of college, I ended up with seventeen thousand dollars of student loan debt, and no plan on how I was going to pay that back.

Sure I can blame the fact that I made the decision to go to college when I was 17 and didn't know what I was doing, or how much college really costs. I could point out that I had never even held a job for longer than four months at that point, and that I had never had to pay rent before. I was financially ignorant, but ignorance does not pay back my loans.

Now that I'm slightly older and slightly wiser, I find myself continuing to make less than wise decisions. While I do feel as though I have a better understanding of my finances, and a clearer goal of where I want to go with my money, I still make decisions based on the short term, and rarely think too far into the future. I buy dinner out because I don't want to cook, not thinking that twenty dollars could go towards debt repayment. I buy a game for my PlayStation because it looks like fun and I want to entertain myself, not realizing that it could have been fifteen dollars towards our wedding fund. I'll buy a beer or two without considering that the next day I have to work with a bank account ten dollars smaller than it was the night before.

My solution? I trick myself into saving by putting automatic withdrawals on my bank account for payday, leaving me with less money to work with in the first place. My ability to justify lattes and pizza is greater than my desire to save for my retirement.

Becoming financially free is not going to be easy. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing.

Ignorance and Fear

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I think a lot of us are afraid. We're afraid because the economy is in the tank, people are losing jobs, there are multiple wars that we're engaged in, there are shootings where we live, and we don't know how the problem is going to be solved. We are afraid because we cannot see a solution to a problem we have a hard time defining.

But why are we afraid? What are we afraid of? Are we afraid that we might lose our job, and not be able to afford rent? Are we afraid that we won't have enough money to pay all the bills? Are we afraid for what our bank account might look like five years from now, or ten? Are we afraid of that looming debt, afraid that we might never pay it off? Are we afraid of the sacrifices we might be forced to make just in order to survive?

A lot of the time, I believe that we are merely afraid of the unknown. We fear the possibility of evil, the chance of adversity, the potential of pain. Take our finances for example. It is feasible that we might lose our jobs. We could run out of money, and not be able to pay all of our bills. We might not be able to afford to give a rent cheque next month.

These are problems, and all problems have solutions. The dilemma comes not from the problem, but from the reaction we have to the problem. Does the unknown scare you? Does that fear keep you from action? Do you know where your money is going?

The best response to this financial fear is abolishing the ignorance surrounding your money situation. If you are so afraid of your finances that you are scared to open up your bank account, or rip open the credit card envelope, then you need to take action now. Sometimes the truth will be better than what you thought, and sometimes it will be worse. Regardless, the only way to overcome the problem is by properly identifying what it is. Only then can you begin to come up with a solution. You can't solve a problem you don't understand.

Are you afraid? Don't delay. Don't think the problem will solve itself, or that someone will bail you out. Its time for us to grow up, own our money, and take responsibility for ourselves. Don't know where to start? Try keeping track of your spending with a spending record. Can't keep from spending every dollar that you earn? Try automatically putting it into a high interest online bank account. Face your financial fear. Understand and accept your situation, and from there, we can work on a solution.

The Credit Crisis Explained

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

So, apparently the economy is in a "recession".

Now, I know enough about what is going on in the United States there to understand that it does not really affect me. In fact, it someways, is quite good for my personal situation. However, a lot of people seem to not understand what is going on, and that ignorance has led to fear. So, in order to help you understand what exactly happened, please watch this video.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

How Does/Will This Affect Me?

As the video explains, the credit crisis in the states has resulted in two primary consequences. First, housing prices has dropped. This does not really mean anything to us up here in Canada, because our housing market is quite separated from the United States. Economically we are closely tied, so the value of homes may drop as well, but not nearly to the same extent. Only a few people are losing their homes (as far as I am aware), and most people who owned their house were planning on staying in it anyways. The dip in the housing market will only affect those who were already planning on purchasing or selling real estate within the next year or so. After that, things should be back to normal.

The good news is that for those of us that are renting, the rental market (at least in North Vancouver) has dropped significantly over the last 8-12 months, meaning that I can now afford more home for less money!

The second consequence from the credit crisis is one of the more publicized areas of effect. The stock market has taken a bit of a tumble. You may have heard of this "Dow" figure dropping. The Dow is merely an indication of how well the stock market is doing, and currently, it is not doing so well. A lot of people have invested money into the stock market because historically it earns a high interest rate. Unfortunately, because of the dip in the market, some people have lost around 40% of their portfolio. For example, a person would have bought 1000 shares of Stock A over the past five years. Each month, they would get a statement saying what their 1000 shares were worth. This number would slowly increase, telling them that if they wanted to, they could then sell those shares for a profit, the point of investing.

At the moment, those same investors still have 1000 shares of Stock A, but that stock is worth much less than it used to be. This is a cause for concern only if that person were planning on selling that stock right at this moment. Otherwise, if you look at the stock market historically, this recession, this dip in the market, is temporary, and the worth of that stock will eventually return to what it was worth a year ago, and continue to rise.

So for me, the credit crisis means nothing but opportunity. I do not own a home, nor do I have any investments. The majority of the people that I spend time with are in similar situations. If anything, this credit crisis is the birth of possibility. Housing and rental prices are down, a perfect time for me to move (which I was planning on doing anyways). Stock prices are down, meaning that I can get the same commodity at a much cheaper price. If I believe that the stock market will rise over the next five to ten years (and historically, it always has), then now would be a perfect time to start investing.

I just wish that I had some money to invest, because now would be a great time to get involved in the market. Does the credit crisis worry you? Did you lose any investments? Are you worried for the future? Sound off.

Motivation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

One of my dreams is to be able to earn an income writing. A few weeks ago I took the first baby step by signing up to produce content for Associated Content. It was a slow start, but that was exactly what I expected. So far, I've earned a whopping twelve cents from AC. That number is based off of the 5 articles that I've written for the website, all of which were published. My most popular one, to date, is the introduction to mixed martial arts. If I look at that as an hourly rate, I am probably make one to two cents per hour of work. Not the best return for my time.

At the same time I signed on to be a part of The Great Blog Off, a month long foray into the world of competitive blogging. This means that I have a lot more writing to do in my spare time compared to what I did a month ago. Combining these two new projects alongside my regular work schedule, planning a wedding, looking for a new place to live, and maintaining friendships means that I don't always have the chance to write when I want to.

Lately, when I do get the chance to write, I don't always want to write articles for AC. I have a couple ideas for articles that I want to write, I just haven't had the motivation to sit down and work through them. Instead, I've had a number of ideas for this here blog, and have pre-written a number of potential posts. A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday writing and I wrote three of the articles that are now on AC, yet I couldn't find anything to write for the blog.

The wonderful benefit of writing for myself is that I can work on whatever I'm inspired to write on. If I want to blog about budgeting, I can do that. If I am excited about the articles that I wrote for AC, I can publish a post sharing my excitement. If I want to write about MMA, I will do just that.

This is why I want to be a writer. I want to be able to work on what I want, as I want, when I want, and where I want. It is part of the ethos of personal freedom, financial and otherwise, that I am striving to achieve in my life.

How To Track Your Spending With a Spending Record

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

How intimate are you with your spending? One of the first things that I did when I started getting interested in my personal finances was to develop a spending record. It took on a number of variations at first, starting as a few scribbled notes on a piece of paper, or a list in a text document. Eventually, it turned into a multi-paged spreadsheet, and someday I am sure it will evolve yet again. All of the different versions boiled down to the same basic principle - where was I spending my money?

I think a lot of us think we know where our money goes. We might not write it down or record it, but we don't need to. We know approximately how much money is in the bank, and we know about how much we've bought. If we think hard, we might even be able to label prices with purchases. For example, a Subway sandwich costs three and a half dollars, and when we went to see the movie last week we spent $20. However, I think the reality of our spending is completely different from what we think it is.

For example, when I started recording where I was spending my money, I was shocked to see how much money I was spending at the grocery store. I knew I was eating a lot of food, and that I especially enjoyed ice cream and snacks, but I had no idea I was spending $300-350 a month on groceries. I thought I was spending $150, maybe $200, but certainly not twice that. It is downright shocking to add up how much money I was spending on certain categories. Not all the surprises were bad. I thought I was buying a lot of beer, but it averaged to about $20 a month, not including if I purchased something while I was out for dinner.

Tracking my money was the first step towards financial responsibility. Before I was keeping track of my spending I thought I was being responsible, because I wasn't spending more money than I made, at least most of the time. Financial ignorance, however, is often irresponsible, and there are no excuses for it.

Now, keeping track of spending doesn't have to be a difficult thing. You might think that you'll have to start getting receipts for everything, or writing down all your purchases as you make them throughout the month. While this does work, and is highly recommended for some people, I think that we are of a generation that will not put up with that hassle. Instead, I use the benefit of technology to assist me. I make almost all of my purchases using a debit or a credit card. I very, very rarely pay cash. This allows me to go back over my bank and credit card statements, and everything that I've purchased is listed for me. I just copy the numbers down onto my spread sheet and into the appropriate category. The spreadsheet even does all the adding for me, so that the totals are easily viewable. This works for me because I very rarely use cash. If you do use a lot of cash, it is not traceable after the fact, so you might have to start collecting those receipts. This whole process only takes me about 20 minutes every month. Sometimes I'll wait a couple of months and then go back over them all at once.

For me, I managed to bring down my average grocery bill to $190/month over the last three months. That's a savings of about $110/month. I think that just the recognition of the overall monthly cost of silly snacks or food that went bad made me a little more hesitant in Safeway and at Costco. It's a quick and easy way to save money, and at the same time, you're informing yourself of your spending habits so you can plan for them in the future.

What about you? Where are you spending more money than you thought you were? Where are you spending less? Any place you think you can reduce costs without much effort? Put that savings into your high interest online savings account!

Potential savings: $30+ per month. Total savings this month: $43

Want a copy of that spreadsheet for your own, personal use? Comment below, or on the wall of The Great Blog Off and ask for one.

A Slow Start

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:35:00 +0000

Through Associated Content, in the past week I've managed to earn three cents. Granted, there have only been two articles that were published, and both of them were album reviews. There was the Synchronicity review, and there was Pink Floyd's The Wall review. Both of these were test articles more than anything else; something to put up to see how long it would take to get published, what the process is like, etc. When I wrote those reviews I was writing for myself as the audience, but as I read more articles on AC I think I've begun to tailor my writing towards that specific audience.

For me, personally, I've been enjoying writing "How To" articles. Such as, How To Propose, an article where I give some thoughts on what I learned from proposing to Ashley. Within the article, of course, there are some personal examples as illustrations. I also wrote How To Plan an Inexpensive Wedding, something that I'm learning about as I'm doing. My third article of the week was A Beginner's Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Mixed Martial Arts. It is partially informational, partially a tribute to men wearing nothing but shorts and trying to hurt each other.

So that's the good news. The bad news is two fold. For one, as mentioned, I've only made three cents. I can recycle a can for more than that, so why should I put significant time into writing, editing, and publishing articles. The second is that all those articles that were published (finally, yesterday and today), were written and submitted on the weekend. So not only does it take forever to get it up on the site, but I also haven't had a scrap of time to write more for the site.

It's frustrating, to have a number of ideas for short articles, or a series of articles, and not be able to express them. I suppose it would be like having a song, or a photo, or a video in your head, and be without the tools or the time to pursue it. So a very frustrating week. This weekend is also extremely busy, so amongst wedding planning, visiting friends, and attending an engagement party (rough life, I know), I must find time to continue to write, so that I can earn three more cents, and hopefully, save you a hundred dollars.

A Priority Shakedown

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:49:00 +0000

I often have the chance to go into schools while I'm reading meters. A couple weeks ago I was in a high school where Caucasian was the clear minority. On Tuesday I upset some preschool kids as they had to move their desks so I could access a closet. Today I was in an elementary school, and while I was waiting for the engineer to let me into their electrical room, I read some of the work the students had posted on the hallway walls.

With St. Patrick's day coming up, the kids had all drawn four leaf clovers on a big sheet of paper. In the middle, they were clearly instructed to fill in the sentence, "I'm lucky because..." I read about a dozen of these one sentence insights into the human soul, and it was easy to recognize a clear pattern as there were only two responses. I am lucky because I am in relationship with a person, or I am lucky because I have this cool toy. Now, they weren't exactly in those words. They were more like, "I am lucky because I have a PS3/Nintendo DS/lots of Wii games", or "I am lucky because Nicky is my friend/I have a cool teacher/I have a nice family". Of those dozen responses, only one was different. They were lucky because they had a sweet teddy bear.

It shocked me, because at such an early age kids are already prioritizing what is most important to them. When they think of their life, and what makes them lucky, it is either a person or a thing. It makes me wonder what I prioritize in my life, whether that's my PlayStation 3, my fiance, or my teddy bear. What makes me lucky? Sure, I am lucky to have a video game console, a nice TV, and a bottle of scotch. But even if I didn't have those things, I would still be lucky because I have a number of good friends, and my girlfriend said yes when I asked her to marry me.

So if people and relationships are my priority (and I think that it should be), then how does my money reflect that? As I mentioned in my last post, I think we would agree that it would be great if our lives were a little less complicated, and a little less stressful. So how do I go about making my financial life work for me, towards my priorities? If my priority is a financially stress free life, with a focus on my relationships, how do I make my money work for me? How does my spending reflect my priorities?

I want to be clear though. The purchase and acquisition of things is not wrong, it is not bad, it is not sinful. Buying a television or a new pair of really nice jeans is something that should be enjoyed, and treasured, and cherished. For me, however, that joy should not supplant relationships, and it should not put me in a financially precarious situation. Each of us is going to have to figure out that balance in our own lives.

So what about you? What are your priorities? How does your lifestyle and spending habits reflect that? Want something to change? What makes you feel lucky?

Have you opened an online savings account yet? Don't think you need one? On Monday I'll show you how I put $30 in my account for just a few minutes of work.