A Tale of Two Athletes - Phil Coke and Antoine Walker

Posted by Debt Destroyer on November 4, 2009

Late October is an exciting time for sports fans. Football is in full swing, we get the World Series and the NBA season tips off as well. A little something for everybody.

With that in mind a couple of stores in today’s news caught my eye.

The first is nothing new. It is one of seemingly limitless talent being greatly rewarded with riches beyond most of our dreams.

Antoine Walker was an NBA superstar. In his 13 year playing career he made $110 Million dollars. The Boston Globe is now reporting that he is trouble for writing $1 million in bad checks to Vegas casinos. Not only that but it also tuns out that he owes other creditors upwards of $4 million. Even his old agent is after him for unpaid bills.

Off the court, there were the cars, the jewelry, the houses, the suits, the gambling. He liked to move in an outsized entourage; his mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. And speaking of his mother, he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court.

Maybe he can move back in with his Mom.

In the middle of stories of Walker living the high life there was a line in the article that stood out to me:

NBA agents and players contacted for this article say an annual “burn rate’’ of $2 million to $4 million isn’t unusual for the living expenses of an elite player.

Yowsers! ”Burn” rate is right.

While I shake my head when hearing stories like this one, I also can see why this sort of thing happens. A lot of superstars (not just athletes, take Nicolas Cage for example) are elite at what they do, but they don’t know squat about money. They don’t spend their time perusing PF blogs.

A good example of this can be seen on the show Hard Knocks.

Hard Knocks is a show that gives you an inside look at an NFL team during training camp. This year the Cincinnati Bengals are the featured team. Chad Ocho Cinco is their star wideout. They show him talking with his coach about what to do with his money. Check it out here. (Go to the 4:57 mark…WARNING, there is plenty of explicit language)

I don’t know about you, but after watching that clip I have a feeling that he isn’t set up for retirement (although maybe he will be fine since he doesn’t waste money on contraptions).

But something tells me that Phil Coke will be.

Phil Coke is relief pitcher for the New York Yankees and according to a Yahoo article he is also one of the lowest paid members of the Yankees. Granted his salary of $400,000 is way out of my league, but I’m still impressed with how down to earth he is.

His first full season of big league paychecks doesn’t mean he’s moved into a penthouse suite on the Upper East Side. Coke rents a furnished apartment in New Jersey, one that runs him about $2,500 a month.

Now that is something that I can relate too.

He may never end up making HUGE money, but something tells me he’ll be just fine when he is done playing baseball.

The lesson these two stories demonstrate is simple. Live within your means.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Careers, Financial Succes

Need a job? Head to North Dakota

Posted by Debt Destroyer on October 18, 2009

A while back The Happy Rock wrote a post called “40 acres and a mule: free land still available in the US.” It describes how in Kansas and North Dakota there are some programs that still give land away, much like the old homestead days.

Normally you won’t hear me say too many good things about North Dakota. As a resident of South Dakota, I’m hard pressed to name anything good coming out of North Dakota besides Hwy 281(I stole that line from Tom Brokaw (former South Dakotan)).

But I feel I must tread carefully. After all I don’t want to upset any of the North Dakotans who can actually read, so I’ll quit poking fun of them before it’s too late.

It pains me to say this, but North Dakota has a lot going for it.

Their economy is doing great. They have a budget surplus and an unemployment rate under 5%.

I first remember seeing this back in June on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian:

Then in August I heard this report on the NPR show Marketplace.

And then just the other day this was on Fox News (so it must be true):

They must be up to something up there, because I see this commercial on my TV almost every night:

So there you have it, if you need a job, move to North Dakota and you’ll be “whistling while you work” in no time.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Careers

Is Capitalism Always The Answer?

Posted by The Happy Rock on September 8, 2009

I know that probably sounds like blasphemy to a lot of folks out there, but I am starting to feel like it is the truth. As much as I like free markets, they don’t magically solve every problem. We all probably have different definitions of what we think capitalism is, so let’s define it so we all start off on the same page. I am not saying this is a perfect definition, but one that is probably is digestible by all of us.

Capitalism - An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods that are distributed chiefly by competition in a free market

I am really not here to bash capitalism, as I can only think of two other system that would work better, a completely benevolent king/dictator or communism. That’s right communism, not Marxism or the cold war kind or even the Communist China type of communism, but voluntary communism. Despite what you think about those two systems and how they might succeed or fail, free markets are wonderful and have a multitude of advantages.

Capitalism in and of itself is is fairly amoral, although one might argue the natural effects of capitalism on the human condition often leads us down immoral paths. With that said, what I really want to do is start a dialogue about some holes I am beginning to see in the American capitalism. I am not going to bore you with economic theory or politics, I would rather discuss actual stories of people that are near and dear to my heart.

Mom - The Hard Working Volunteer

First, let me set the stage for who my mom is. She is a poster-child for free market success and the American dream. As a poor single mother at the age of twenty she hustled her way from nearly homeless and living off food stamps and government cheese, to waitressing, to an associate’s degree, and finally to a $60,000+ a year job in a little over 25 years. She is the type of person that realizes that she needs to get n degree and within weeks is enrolled in classes, regardless of the numerous roadblocks like money, time, and child care. She escaped poverty , owned a home, and had a decent sum of money in the bank. The American Dream in action, with one little problem… she hated her field with a passion and only did it to get me through my expensive private school and provide for us. What an awesome unselfish parent! My life reaped the benefits of her love and devotion many times over.

After I left home, she decided to the sell the house, quit the job, and take up volunteering. This is where capitalism started to turn its back on her. She traveled to Zambia to help out in orphanages, educated children and adults on global poverty and hunger, rebuilt after Katrina, was a community organizer in a forgotten about city, and much more. Through all of this, she is left without being able to afford health insurance, and barely able to afford a car and housing let alone many luxuries. Why, because there aren’t profits to be made when working with poor and needy.

Now this is one of the hardest working ladies you will probably know. She isn’t the stereotype of the lazy person who doesn’t want to help themselves that people often use as reasoning for the government to not help people and for people to justify not giving their time and money. She is ambitious, motivated, committed, and hard working and has exceptional skills that she is bringing to society.

So where exactly does she fit in? I would think as a society we would want to support people like her. People who are willing to move travel where there are needs and give their time, energy, and love are in short demand. The ones that do exist have to barely eek out a financial existence. They have to waste their energy worrying about meeting the basic necessities of life, when instead they want to use that energy to pour themselves into people and problems that could use their full attention. It seems like there has to be a better way.

My Father In Law - The Devoted Farmer

Story number is two about a farmer from birth. He lives and breathes farming, and for those that don’t know any farmers they might work harder than any profession I have ever seen. Imagine working seven days from morning till night. The alarm goes off at 5:00am and he quickly grabs a small first breakfast and heads out to greet a never ending list of tasks often before the sun even rises. As much as he wants to take off on the seventh day or take a vacation, he can’t. Crops and animals don’t stop needing your attention just because it is Sunday. Work must go on whether it is in the blazing sun, bitter cold, or windy rain. Weather can also ruin months of work in a matter of days or hours. No rain for a week or two when the corn is first planted and it all shrivels up. I have gained a new found respect for the food I eat after spending years visiting a farm, it is brutal.

As hard as my father in law works, he will most likely never get ahead. Corporate farms and foreign imports usually ravage any semblance of profit he might of been able to ring out of the earth. He is forced to hop from one thing to another just trying to keep his head above water. I have seen him go from milking dairy cows, to raising beef cattle, to pigeons, to pigs, to raising animals for other farmers, all in less than 10 years.

He also isn’t a business man; that just isn’t one of the gifts that he has to offer this world. He’s a farmer with an awesome heart. He sells his sweet corn cheaper than most people because his customers are mostly fellow church members, friends or neighbors, and his dozen is more like 14 than 12. I remember the first time I helped the family weigh and wrap scrapple to sell. The capitalist in me struggled to watch him always round up and provide more product than he was ’supposed’ too at prices that were already too low. As time moves on I have come to really appreciate the heart and love for people that goes into most everything he does. I know it doesn’t make business sense, but he can’t ignore his heart. It is big like that, with a focus that is always on others. He doesn’t have expensive tastes and he isn’t wasting money either. Even with all his frugality, he won’t ever ‘make it’.

Again this is someone I would think society would want to encourage, not discourage. A man with that type of heart and that type of work ethic deserves to be rewarded not beaten down. He would be happy if he could just pick a crop or animal to raise that would fetch a fair price and rewarded him just reasonably well. But I am just not sure that will happen in this day and age. It seems like the system often discourages certain skill sets that we deem not as important rather than making sure that he has a revered and useful and compensated place. What is someone like this supposed to do?

What’s The Answer?

There you have it. Two beautiful hard working people that are outcasts in a capitalist system. There are others outcasts too(the poor, the sick, and the producers for starters), but these two people are real. I can’t help but root for them, although they won’t ever ‘win’. I know capitalism doesn’t mean them any direct harm, but it isn’t doing anything to help encourage them or even the playing field. The question is what is the answer? Do we need government to step in? Do we need to focus on a guiding morality to help govern our choices within a capitalist society? Should they just get with the program and start trying to acrue as much money as possible? Should they move to a different country? I certainly don’t have any answers yet, but I think the questions are definitely worth asking.

[Title Edit 9/9/09] Changed from Capitalism Is Not The Answer to better reflect the spirit of the post rather than be sensational and distract from the discussion.

» Filed Under Careers, Chasing Dreams, Happiness, Materialism, Salary, Serving Others

Taxes - Love’em or Hate’em, You Gotta Pay’em

Posted by Debt Destroyer on April 15, 2009

tokyo-japan-rollercoaster I bet most of you have already received your tax return before I even filed mine. This year I waited until April 14th to send mine in.

Why did I wait so long?

Simple. I knew we’d be paying in, so I was in no rush. After all if they’re going to give me until April 15th, then by golly I’ll take my time.

Last night when I was putting all the paperwork away I decided to take a trip down memory lane and in doing so I realized that our annual income has been on quite a roller coaster ride.

Since I’ve been writing for the Happy Rock I’ve been showing our monthly expenses, well here now is the last 8 years of our annual income(with some commentary):

$58,787 - 2001 -” Let’s get married!”
$64,674 - 2002 -”Hey we’re making lots of money, let’s buy a house!”
$50,651 - 2003 -“Oh oh, I just got laid off…”
$45,442 - 2004- “Let’s move back to SD and have a kid!”
$37,469 - 2005 -“Maybe we should rethink that idea of you staying home?”
$39,939 - 2006 -“Yes, You would make a wonderful Wedding Photographer!”
$51,021 - 2007 -“Hey I got a new job, Let’s have another kid!”
$64,165 - 2008 -“Since you have a successful business, I’ll go back to school!”

I was a little surprised to see that we were back to our 2002 income levels even though I lost my job this year. But my wife’s business has been stepping up when we really needed it to.

But we’ll be raising our hands and screaming next year because there’ll be a mighty big drop in income for 2009.

Hopefully it won’t be too bad and we can somehow manage just fine. But as I alluded to earlier, the phone has been silent the last couple of months, so we’re starting to worry about future bookings. Perhaps the economy is hitting close to home, or perhaps it’s just a coincidence?

Whatever the case be rest assured that we’ll continue to try to DESTROY as much debt as we can while we learn to live within our means. That way we’ll be in a great spot when I get done with school and enter the workforce again.

So thanks 2008 you were great, but it’s time to shine in 2009! And we’re really going to kick butt in 2010! (sorry…I couldn’t think of a rhyme)

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Salary

Help Wanted - Cobblers Needed During A Recession

Posted by Debt Destroyer on March 12, 2009

Last November I made a post about how I decided to save some money by not replacing my shoes.

Well as my luck would have it, I instantly broke the thingie-ma-bobber which holds the shoe laces in. So over the holiday break I took my shoe in to the shop in town that fixes shoes. They said they’d call me when they were done. A month went by and I’ve heard nothing.

So I stopped in today just to check-up up on how things were going (I really needed my shoes).

They were done! The clerk apologized for not calling, but she said that they only have one guy who fixes shoes and he’s a college student and he is really busy. She pointed to a sign(as if I didn’t believe her).

Due to high demand, shoe repairs will take a minimum of two weeks.

I paid my $5 and left. But I was struck by two things:

That there is a high demand for shoe repair.
That my local cobbler is a college student.

But I shouldn’t be too surprised because at about the same time I was bragging that I decided to not replace my shoes, US News & World Report was telling us all about how Cobbler was becoming a hot job in a recession.

So if the teaching thing doesn’t work out for me, maybe I’ll look into being an apprentice cobbler.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Careers, Money Savers

Your Money or Your Life? Choosing Between Family and Career

Posted by Debt Destroyer on January 27, 2009

As I mentioned in my About Page, “Your Money or Your Life?” is my favorite personal finance book that I’ve read. But this post isn’t about the book.

This is about a decision that my wife made today.

As you long time readers know, I’m going back to school, so we’ve been depending on my wife’s wedding photography business to bring in the bacon around here for the past 6 months or so. And while we’ve had to tighten our belt to make it work, so far it has been just fine.

Today I took a message for my wife from a potential bride who was wondering if her date was still available (a tip for those of you getting married, it’s never to early to line up the photographer). After I passed on the message I had to go to work so I didn’t get to hear whether or not she booked the gig. But before I left, we joked that it would be the weekend that we’re trying to reschedule our NYC trip (late Aug-Early Sept).

I told her if that’s the case that she should book the wedding because we’ve already canceled the trip once, and it’s questionable if we’ll be in a position to go this year.

During supper tonight she brought up the call. Instead of the NYC trip weekend, it was for the weekend after.

The weekend of my cousin’s wedding.

My wife & I are quite found of this cousin. Her parents were wonderful to us when we lived in the Twin Cities. During that time we became very close to their family. But we’ve moved back to SD five years ago (OMG! it’s been that long) and now we only get to see them a couple of times a year.

We were quite pleased to hear the good news over the holidays. This particular cousin had once been the “black sheep” of the family. But as she matured she changed her friends, her surroundings, and her lifestyle. In a very short time, she turned into the “normal” one (if there is such a thing in my family).

In an ironic twist, when my cousin first told me the good news, her original wedding date conflicted with a wedding my wife is shooting. I figured that me and the kids could take a fun little road trip without Mommy around, but my wife was devastated. But when my wife called to inform my cousin that she couldn’t make it, she found out that the date had changed.

So now we have a cousin’s wedding with a moving date. Would she book the wedding or go to one? What would you do?

It’s a tough call for me. As much as I’d like my wife to come with us, I’d also like her to have a few more weddings booked too. That’s one of the problems with this line of work. All the early calls are for the dates you don’t want to work, but you feel pressured to book them in case the phone stops ringing. Especially in a recession where you are the sole bread-winner.

My wife told the bride that she was unavailable.

While I’m quite proud of her choosing family time over working, I’m also nervous that phone won’t ring and that we’ll regret this decision later. But that’s just who I am. In reality it’ll probably just mean that our NYC trip will transform into a trip to the Twin Cities.

And that wouldn’t be all that bad.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Financial Succes

Health Insurance: Can’t Afford It, Can’t Live Without It.

Posted by Debt Destroyer on January 20, 2009

I knew this was coming.

This summer when I lost my job, my former employer gave me a severance package that included paying my family’s health insurance premiums for the rest of the year. Our current health insurance premium for our family of four is $1192.30 paid quarterly ($664.10 every month).

I knew this was coming.

It was due to this looming expense that I had doubts about whether or not going back to school was the best idea for me. Back then there was an opening for a city garbageman. I grabbed the application but instead of filling it out, I registered for classes.

I knew this was coming.

This has been in the back of my mind constantly. It’s a big reason why we decided that we needed to sell the van. It also played a major contributing factor in the decision to take out a student loan.

I knew this was coming.

So now that it’s here what am I going to do about it?

Pay it!

I know that it’s the simple answer, but I also know that it’s easier said than done.

I could choose to be like one of the millions of families who don’t have any coverage. But that’s a risk I don’t feel like taking. If it ever comes to that, then so be it. But right now we’re not in that place yet. Plus with my family medical history, I need to do whatever I can to make sure we don’t get to that place.

We think we can get by until I get a teaching job (hopefully 2 years). We’ve been very fortunate that at the same time that I lost my job that my wife’s business has started doing better. So that is why we’ll try to do our best at controlling our other expenses then take advantage of employer heath care when I get a job.

It’s amazing how easily we took that benefit for granted.

Hopefully President Obama with the help of Health Sec. Tom Daschle (former South Dakotan) will be able actually introduce some “positive” reforms to our health care system. But I’m not going to hold my breath.

I know I’m not the only one out there who has been in this boat. So Happy Rock readers I turn to you once again. What did you do when presented with this situation? Have any of you went without Health Insurance before? Any thoughts on Health Insurance in general?

Keep in mind that this is a family friendly environment

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Careers, Personal Finance

Finding Out What Matters - A Perfect Day Review

Posted by The Happy Rock on August 25, 2008

I recently finished a fiction novel called A Perfect Day by Richard Paul Evans. I am not sure how it got on our bookshelf, but I needed something to read one night and the dust jacket pulled me in enough to start it. I was pleasantly surprised. It isn’t a masterpiece, but it kept my interest and left me satisfied. I was even more surprised that it touched upon a couple of personal finance topics that I find near to my heart and I had no personal finance agenda when I started out.

The story covers a business man that finds himself abruptly out of work and decides to accomplish a life long dream of finishing his first novel. The novel lands him a top the bestseller list and he relishes the whirlwind fame while his wife and daughter are left watching his life from a distance. The main character ends up on an unexpected journey to find out what is important to him in the midst of his new found fame and money.

Below is an excerpt that will give you a flavor of the story behind the story. The scene is towards the end of the novel during an interview between the main character and Diane Sawyer with his wife and daughter watching back home. It is the point were he begins to come to the realization that he lost his way, an apology of sorts.

Diane Sawyer - I imagine that your sudden success has been a little overwhelming.
Robert Harlan - It has. In ways I wasn’t ready for it. Frankly, if I had to do it over again…I wouldn’t
Diane Sawyer - There are probably several thousand aspiring authors watching us right now who would give anything to be in your shoes.
Robert Harlan - I am sure there are. And I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. My readers have been great, so have my publisher and agent. But success can be a trap. Maybe someone else could have handled success better. But I lost sight of the big picture. My book is a best-seller for a little while, at least until the next big thing bumps me off, but I will always be a husband. And I will always be a father. If I give up those things for a temporary seat in the musical chairs of fame, then I am a fool.

If you like that type of fiction or those topics interest you, grab a copy from the local library and give it a read. It might just impact your career and your finances.

» Filed Under Books, Careers, Chasing Dreams

Decisions, Decisions…It Is Hard To Choose A New Career

Posted by Debt Destroyer on August 24, 2008

When I last talked about my future plans I mentioned that I contacted two local schools.

A State School where I’d earn a teachers certificate.
A Private School where I’d become a Rad Tech.

Option #1 would take 3-4 semesters. Option #2 would take 3 years. Option #1 would cost about one third of what option #2 would cost. Option #1 would also make considerably less than option #2 upon graduation.

Hmmmm.

I decided to be a teacher.

Almost everyone who I talked to this last month when I explained my choices has said, “you’d make a good teacher” or something to that effect. I think deep down I’ve wanted to be a teacher for a very long time. But various reasons have kept me from exploring this idea. I think the lack of pay was the biggest. The next biggest would be my mother.

She would always rant and rave when teachers would be on the news asking for more money (South Dakota ranks 51st in the nation for teacher pay…we must be very proud of this fact, because we’ve done nothing over the years to change it). I would always take the teachers side of the argument. At the time I thought I was just playing devil’s advocate to spice up a boring dinner conversation, but looking back I think there was more there. Interesting…two straight posts with some personal reflection.

At least that is the plan today, it could easily change by the time you read this.

I say it could easily change because there are a few concerns about going this route:

Will we be able to afford me going back to school?
Will I find a job upon graduation that doesn’t require relocating?
Will I like it

This first one is my biggest concern (probably because we will face it right away). My wife’s wedding photography business if doing great, but I think she’s still 9 months away from making “real” money.

I of course will be working while going to school, but part time jobs around here pay peanuts (heck most full time jobs do too). So I’m thinking about applying for a sanitation worker opening that is being advertised currently. This way I could work until next fall when my wife’s business should really be going strong and we’d definitely be able to afford sending me back to school.

The second area of concern is also related to my wife’s business. She’ll make more money being a wedding photographer than I will as a teacher. So it will be stupid if I have to move to get a low paying job that will require her to relocate her business and start from scratch.

The 3rd area of concern is one I have with everything. As I mentioned in a previous post I’ve never had a job where I enjoyed what I was doing. So now it’s a constant worry that I have. But I’m not overly concerned with it this time. So far I’ve never really had a job that focused on human interaction, and I think that is what I’ve been missing. Plus the flexibility of two full months off in the summer would be great.

So here I am after 4 weeks still pondering the same basic ideas:

School or Work?

Garbageman or Teacher?

What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Chasing Dreams

At a Crossroads…considering a new career

Posted by Debt Destroyer on July 30, 2008

I have no clue to what the future holds, and it bugs the heck out of me.

To catch you up in case you’re just joining us, earlier this month I started posting here on THE HAPPY ROCK detailing my journey to a debt free life. Everything was going along nicely. I was opening up about my personal finances, and you, the HAPPY ROCK community, were giving great comments/ideas to help me out.

Then last week, just when I was putting the semblance of a plan together, I lost my job.

It was a shock to say the least.

I think I’m just now coming out of the daze I’ve been in (Which is too bad, because the local tennis tournament was this past weekend and I stunk up the joint. People came up and wondered what was wrong and I just shrugged and said it wasn’t my day. Part of me wanted to say that I might be a little preoccupied about how I was going to take care of my family instead of worrying about my backhand, but I figured nobody really cared).

After yet another wasted day yesterday I finally started doing something. Today I contacted two local colleges about going back to school in two totally different fields.

School #1 is a state school and I’m interested in their teaching program.

School #2 is a private school and I’m interested in their Radiological Tech program.

I ended up having to apply to both schools because the people I spoke to on the phone kept stressing that they’d be able to assist me better after I did so (I secretly think that their job is too get people to apply and they don’t really care about me or the questions I have).

I honestly am torn down the middle about which option to choose. I think I’d be good at both, so I’m trying to figure out which one I’d enjoy more. That has been my biggest hang up so far in my employment history.

I’ve never really had a job that I REALLY liked.

I’m extremely jealous of those of you who do have a career in a field that you truly enjoy. I figure this is a good time for me to take a mulligan and start over.

Admittedly it’s not the best time, I have two toddlers running around I have to worry about and a wife who just started her own business (which she loves), but it’s as good a time as any.

Of course going back to school, if I go that route, is going to shoot a big fat hole in my debt defying plan, but I’ll do my best to limit the damage.

The best thing about being a guest columnist (or whatever my title is) here at THE HAPPY ROCK is that I get to run ideas by all of you. So my question to you this time is:

Have you or anyone you knew been at a similar crossroads, and how did it turn out?

Until next time

-DD

P.S. Thank you so much for all support I received these past few days. It’s actually helped me deal with this quite a lot.

» Filed Under Careers

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