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Archives for September 2015

What I Learn Outside The Classroom

By Frugaling 10 Comments

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“It occurred to me that there were two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful.”
—David Brooks

Earlier this week I chatted with an old friend about my dissertation. I mentioned that I’m having trouble isolating variables, staying interested, and writing the countless pages required of me. But her advice and guidance helped keep me on track, motivated, and psyched.

At some point during the conversation she asked me about my plan. More specifically, what was my plan with Frugaling. I pondered that question and frankly didn’t understand what she meant at first. “My plan?” I inquired. She responded, “Yeah, your plan. You’ve been working on Frugaling for a long time now. Do you ever think it’ll influence or turn into a career?”

I couldn’t help but laugh aloud. Frugaling has never felt like a primary goal or endpoint. Rather, working on this site has been a break from the normal routine — an opportunity to write freely and talk about personal finance in a forum that didn’t exist for me.

Interestingly, I’ve always lived this way: pursuing one avenue while holding countless activities in the background. In high school, I gambled and watched the stock market in every off block or break. I played at lunch with friends and raced home to sign online for hours of entertainment. Poker and stocks superseded high school. As a consequence, my grades suffered and relationships were strained. Nobody liked the person I had become, including me. The lessons of high school paled in comparison to the power of isolation, overwhelming greed, and selfishness. I learned early on that I never wanted to go back to that place.

Despite the lessons, it was the start of a long pattern of side work/play. In college, I was a resident assistant, op-ed columnist for the school newspaper, research assistant, instructor, and served on various committees for suicide prevention and community service. By the end of my tenure I raised over $30,000 for suicide prevention. Here, I learned the importance of selflessness, friendship, and love. None of which were learned in the classroom.

I’ve been in graduate school for… Well, I’m working on my fifth year now because I spent a year at my alma mater in another Ph.D. program. Then, I transferred to my current one for counseling psychology. But in my one year, I became more immersed in the world of suicide prevention via board memberships and invited talks.

My passion for mental health and community engagement grew, but it stood in conflict with academic demands. When I left the program and moved to another, the professors called me it out and basically said, “You’re a great person to have in the classroom, but you’re distracted and your grades have suffered. There are times in life where you must cut back on certain activities to excel in others.”

That was the first time in my life where I wholeheartedly disagreed with feedback about how I conducted myself. My “distractions” were epic side projects, which got me through graduate school, gave me diverse experiences, and exposed me to entire world of learning that occurs out there — in the world.

See, I can’t help but think that these mentalities are something of an “old guard.” In generations of yore, people would become educated, train for a particular career, and then work until they either dropped dead or retired. They did that one thing — over and over again. If all went well, you retired with a hefty pension and retirement package. You could drift off into blissful security, knowing you’d worked hard and earned the riches to live comfortably.

This mentality of education, training, and career has shifted though. People change jobs more than ever — laterally, vertically, and entirely. Now, a job is a temporary weigh station versus a home away from home. Employers tend to treat employees as expendable moneymakers — easily replaced with another head. And the incentives for staying with one company have largely evaporated. Even when pensions are offered, they’re sometimes cut or stopped altogether.

Frankly, I have an utter insecurity for pigeonholing myself to one esoteric career path and never looking back, sideways, or ahead. It’s utterly frightening to imagine doing one thing for the rest of my life, and I’m not sure that any one employer will empower me to do so.

I’ve been in school for about 21 years. The majority has been spent “distracted” and preoccupied with other loves, passions, and motivations. And I can’t help but think about Neil deGrasse Tyson’s belief that discoveries don’t occur in classrooms — they happen in minds, labs, and connections outside. Heck, Einstein didn’t have his eureka moments in a classroom. But largely, most seem caught up in the rat race of education and prestige.

As I reflect on the future of Frugaling, it’s easy to see how it fits into my life. It will likely never be my number one “career,” but there’ll always be a place for this wonderful distraction in my life. These adventures in time and effort have never failed me. In breaking away from the shackles of needing A’s in all my courses or feeling guilty for not working harder, I’m comforted by the fact that work comes in many forms.

Today we live in a world of great change and diversity, to assume or predict what’s necessary for tomorrow would be foolish. Instead, I embrace the unknown by mixing up my life and embracing my wacky, weird, and awesome interests.

How do you approach your career in the 21st century?
What careers are you training for?
Do you ever work outside work or “distract” yourself? How so or why not?

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With: balance, college, education, frugaling, Life, Personal Finance, school, vocation, Work

Living For The Moment – Not Spending It

By Frugaling 18 Comments

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Photo of Buffalos - Herd Mentality

There are constant pressures to spend – especially as a twentysomething. Marketing companies have perfected the appeal to youthfulness and adventure. And sometimes people get trapped in façades of the “good life.” They buy expensive cocktails, go to clubs, and spend til the only thing that’s dry is their wallet.

I’d be lying if I said that doesn’t sound fun from time to time. It’s a blast getting to hang out with friends, blow off some steam, and recognize that life is finite. Let’s have fun when we can and spend in the moment. For a few moments we can pretend like the financial pressures of student loans, income inequality, and variable credit debt don’t exist. When we swipe, the worries disappear.

Why am I talking about spending like there’s no tomorrow? Because two days ago I read something that shocked my senses. An Elite Daily author, Lauren Martin, wrote an article entitled, “If you have savings in your 20s, you’re doing something wrong.”

The entire foundation was on the premise of partying hard, networking, and enjoying life when you can. Instead of saving money or contributing to a 401k, Ms. Martin advocated for being on the edge and nearly penniless.

She explained that you needn’t worry about saving at this time because later in life you’ll be making more. With great simplicity, a friend of Lauren’s says, “Don’t save money. Make more money.” From then on, she’s awakened to the idea that buying expensive items is her right and obligation. When she turns 40 and looks back on her twenties, she feels confident that it will all be money well spent.

Her article wraps up with 7 of the most egregious statements I’ve read about finances:

  1. “When you’re too worried about your bank statement, you’re not making your own.”
  2. “When you’re saving for yourself, you’re refusing to bet on yourself.”
  3. “When you have something to bank on, you have nothing to reach for.”
  4. “When you live your life by numbers, you strip yourself of poetry.”
  5. “When you die, you can’t take your money with you.”
  6. “When you deprive yourself, you don’t learn how to TREAT YO SELF.”
  7. “When you care about your 401k, your like is just a ‘k.’”

Giving Lauren the benefit of the doubt, her words can almost be read as aspirational and inspirational. You might think, “Yes, I’m going to live it up while I can and make a name for myself. I’m going to show everyone who I am. Watch out world!” But read them again, and you’ll begin to notice privilege, ignorance, selfishness, and myopia.

Perhaps most egregious of all her recommendations is the age-old line, “When you die, you can’t take your money with you.” The adage is right, when you’re dead, you’re all dead. Unfortunately, this author is missing many of the reasonable reasons to save. By socking away cash when you’re young, you’ll be better prepared for uncertain medical complications, job loss, and anything life throws at you. But even more, death brings an opportunity to give back. I intend to give what I can to charities and offer the rest to family. If, instead, I spent it all on drinks in my twenties, I’d have nothing for either.

The second line I want to focus in on is, “When you’re too worried about your bank statement, you’re not making your own.” Presumably, Lauren’s suggesting you must spend money to make a name for yourself. Whether it’s the expensive clothing she purchases or fanciful “networking” opportunities at restaurants, she seems to know how to make her own statement.

But making a statement is complex in a society bombarded with advertising. Being unique requires constant reanalysis of culture. To be countercultural and your own person is actually difficult when certain brands aim to sell to that exact demographic. The good news is that statements needn’t cost anything. I can make a statement by saving, and that might be the most powerful of all.

The Internet is vast and diverse. Finding voices that encourage wanton spending is easy. What took me by alarm and spurred a response was two-fold. First, the article was published on a fairly popular news and opinion website. Second, the article had been shared over 35,000 times in two days. Lauren hit on the pulse of a large group of twentysomethings. Her article explicitly supported spendthrift ways. Anyone that needed an excuse to empty their wallets could find solace in her words.

We’re constantly at a precipice between spending and saving. Each day we are confronted with this choice. We can spend our savings away in a flash of 20s, or save for the many moments that life brings. To break away from the herd mentality and save can be challenging, but the choice is ours.

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: advertising, death, herd mentality, Income, Life, Marketing, Millennials, money, Save Money, saving, Work, YOLO

It’s Time! Frugaling Goes Ad Free!

By Frugaling 29 Comments

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Welcome to the new, ad-free Frugaling!

I woke up early this morning from a dream. In it, my brother and I were playing basketball. For some reason, he was dressed head to toe in a cheap Power Rangers outfit. As he helplessly tried to shoot the ball in the basket, his superhero mask would flop and fall in his face. It completely distracted him. At one point he tripped over himself when trying to make a shot. Frustrated, he continued to do the same thing without taking off the mask.

Then, my eyes opened. It was 5 AM and I couldn’t get back to bed. Something was restless inside me. With this newfound time, I decided to check the comments on Frugaling.

I saw a new one and eagerly read through it. The commenter said she had just read my book. She called it “interesting” and “inspirational.” I was flattered and humbled that she took the time to read my book, visit the site, and write a comment. But as I continued reading, I realized she was also writing a critique.

She was disappointed to see advertising on this site.

At first, like so many times in my life, I got defensive. Here’s what it sounded like in my head: “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t put on my site? What would you do if you had five figures in debt and never wanted to live that way again? Google ads don’t even pay that well! It’s not liking I’m rolling in money because those little things.”

After my head exploded, I calmed down and read the comment again. She had a point. On one hand I was advocating for anti-consumption, critical personal finance, minimalism, and frugality. On the other, I was hawking advertisements (and have been since the beginning).

Was I being a hypocrite?
Was I not being true to my own values?
Was I living a lie?
Was I contributing to other people’s consumption by hosting ads?

The answers weren’t pretty: yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Sometimes commenters are dead wrong, confused, and/or seemingly typing while tripping on LSD. Those are easy to ignore. But challenging messages are usually my favorite. They force me to think and react – to qualify and justify my reasoning in life.

While not always right, I aim to do better. I look for these moments and embrace them.

This commenter had struck a chord with me. She highlighted something I’ve long wanted but waited to do: remove the advertisements. I’ve hesitated because income on Google ads has been enough to pay web hosting and domain name fees – basics for any website. Additionally, they’ve helped me pay for ancillary costs associated with running a business (i.e., extra tax help, software, etc.).

Those fees and costs remain. Until another company releases a completely free (of hidden costs and ads) domain names and hosting, it’s going to cost hundreds of dollars each year to run. But the advertisements cannot remain.

Today, I’m taking a risk and officially announcing that Frugaling is now free from ads! That means no pesky advertising trackers or Google boxes anywhere. Nothing will be adapting and changing to your buying/surfing habits. That’s the way it should be – void of third-party distractions that encourage people to spend more.

The Internet is chock full of advertisements predicting your next move, purchase, and trip. Rather than add to the noise, I want Frugaling to be an oasis. And my writings and website should host congruent values.

There are more ways to make an income than ads, and I’m hoping you agree. I no longer want to contribute to that system. I’m hoping you’ll help me in this ad-free endeavor. There are various ways to support me: share and spread your favorite articles, buy the new book, or make a donation.

It’s time to take off the distractions.

How do you feel when websites have ads?
What do you think of authors who accept money to write stories?
How should writers make money?

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: ads, advertisements, advertising, anti-consumption, book, Consumerism, donate, Google, Income, Marketing

Frugality, What Is It Good For?

By Frugaling 15 Comments

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Toronto Harbourfront

When I talk about frugality, I tend to focus on saving money, living simply, and making more. It’s a winning combination. By combining all three components, I knocked out nearly $40,000 of student loans, a car loan, and credit debt.

Unfortunately, I sometimes develop fatigue from concentrating on ways to prevent spending. It’s tiring to always keep watch for wasteful spending, and easier to simply swipe a card.

Thankfully, strong reasons such as reducing climate/carbon impact and disdain for contributing to major banks’ profits keep me motivated. I have a purpose, rationale, and philosophy undergirding everything I do. Without these, I’d fall off the wagon and spend crazily again.

Ironically, part of the reason I live this way is to spend money. I mean it. I save and save and save to spend money. Crazy, right?

The difference, now that I’m without debt, is that when I purchase something, there’s no interest against me. I’m following the age-old wisdom of the financially privileged/savvy to be liberated from banks’ powers to constrict and restrict.

Without loans and carried credit card balances, I’m free. And now, I can spend it the way I’d like. So after all the money gets deposited, invested, saved, what do I actually spend it on? What are all these efforts good for?

Since I’ve embraced frugality, three major spending areas continue to be of importance:

1. Travel

I’m currently in graduate school, which keeps me restrained from many travel opportunities. Frankly, that’s probably a good thing for my budget. But every now and then, I can save and purchase a flight — all interest free.

Most of my money actually gets spent to see family twice a year. Although, this fall break I’ll be going to Colombia!

When I fly, I look for the best deals possible by shopping various sites, check my frequent flyer mileage accounts, and book about 1.5 to 2 months out. I tend to decline most forms of trip and travel insurance, as my credit card provides those benefits for free. When I land in a new destination, I immediately try to find local shops and supermarkets to try and stock up on a few snacks/non-perishable foods. This planning allows me to experience the local cuisine and cultural foods, while managing the budgetary blast.

Travel is exceptionally important to me, but it has a powerful price tag. I don’t offer unsolicited advocacy for travel and don’t recommend that people travel to some faraway place. The fact is that travel remains relatively expensive, and it’s one luxury that I’ve been able to partake in with a positive net worth. It’s okay if you can’t travel today. Save for that opportunity.

2. Charity

Recently, I released my first book, Frugaling: Save more, live well, give generously. The title seemed to summarize everything about this site. The latter aspect – giving – is one of the most significant reasons for my frugality.

Throughout my life I’ve always given money to charity. Regardless of my current debt load, I’ve made efforts to give to others in time and donations. Today, charity holds great importance in my life, as I can give without going into debt. Every dollar to my favorite charities doesn’t represent a dollar to a bank, which will be placed under a horrific interest rate.

I don’t have a set percentage, amount, or expectation for giving each year. Rather, I find causes over the course of the year that mean a great deal and/or donate to what’s consistently moved me. Two organizations that I regularly donate to are Doctors without Borders and the Always Remember Never Surrender Endowment.

3. Professional opportunities

As a graduate student, I get paid a small stipend to work and study. Soon, I’ll be applying for internships (similar to a doctor’s residency) for counseling psychology. That process may cost $2000-3000, but is an essential part of the process to get a Ph.D. Afterwards, I’ll hopefully be hired at a site and begin to have more substantial paychecks.

Having my own savings allows me to pursue various options for employment without going into debt. Additionally, the process of becoming a licensed psychologist, which I desperately want, requires a formal examination. The test costs thousands of dollars – not to mention the study materials. It’s another area I’m saving and planning for.

From travel to charity to academic opportunities, these options became possible after I paid off the debt. Previously, I used loans as a method for travel and adventure and even giving. But I was simply digging into a deep, dark hole of debt. There was little hope or light before. All I can say is that good things come to those who can cut costs and pay off their debt fast.

A lot has changed during my journey to change my debt. What you’ll notice is that I’m not saving for a car, house, or large physical objects. I’m a product of the Great Recession, skeptical of big banks, and not ready to make such financial commitments. As such, I cannot envision taking on a mortgage, car loan, or anything else at this time. For now, I’m free from the trappings of debt and living well.

So what is your frugality good for and where do you ultimately spend money?

Filed Under: Loans, Save Money Tagged With: academics, Charity, college, education, fly, Frugal, frugality, give, Giving, graduate school, money, Save, savings, school, spending, Travel

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