Vacation and Perspective - Simplify Your Finances

Posted on May 6, 2008

jim-thorpe-pa.jpgThe Rock Garden went vacationing this past weekend to Pocono Mountains of Pensylvania just outside of Jim Thorpe, PA. We got a great a good deal on a modern three bedroom house with a scenic view that I will post about later. Despite a wash out on Saturday and some allergies, it was a great vacation. I am not here to talk directly about the vacation though, but rather something peculiar that I noticed.

The Satelitte TV wasn’t working in the house and there was no internet. The amazing thing was that after the 36-48 hour withdrawal period, I began to notice some changes in my brain activity. The further I was removed from overloaded email boxes, must see TV, Twitter, flashing phone messages, to-do lists, and daily bustle of life my brain began to exercise areas that it doesn’t normally use. It seems like the immediacy of our daily lives keeps our brains focused on surface tasks. These surface tasks often impede us from focusing on the things that will truly bring us joy or things that will provide much greater value.

I was able to think about were I wanted to be in a year, or five years without getting overwhelmed. I was able to step back and view some of the daily grind with objective glasses. Our spending patterns became much more visible when I wasn’t focuses on the latest Target receipt. I found new oppurunities for passive income and areas for frugality, all because I had time and mental energy to devote to thinking about such things. One of the big things we realized is that we really need to tighten the reigns on the budget/spending if we want to have the type of down payment we desire to move in around a year.

So what does this means to our finances? It means that our lives and our financial systems need to be simplfied to the point that our brains can jumpstart idle areas of our brain back to life. Areas like creativity, chasing dreams, and romance. I think it will take years constant growth and changes to really understand, but I know that when I look back in five years I will be amazed out who much more my brain is alive.

Here are a few ideas that I will be doing to help simplify and set the daily tasks on auto-pilot:

  1. Cancel Those Extra Savings And Checking And Credit Account - If I am honest, the added headache and management time just isn’t worth it.
  2. Improve Your Bill Pay And Budgeting System - Setup up automatic reminders. Call and change the due dates on bills to be the same time.
  3. Get Out Of Debt And Get Security- Finances are so much easier without debt and with an emergency fund. It really is night and day.
  4. Sell Or Give Away Stuff - Furniture you don’t need. The garage full of junk. Books. You may need it someday, but it probably isn’t worth the hassle of keeping it around just in case.
Related Posts

» Filed Under Chasing Dreams, Personal Finance Systems

Community In Action - Pursue Your Dreams Edition

Posted on May 1, 2008

wheat-sun-field-dreams.jpgFirst was an article on Life Hack called Personal Development, Canine-Style. It is a long read, but well worth the time. It is written from the perspective of a man’s dog while the owner’s life and finances grow over the years. It shares some of the potential dangers that come with chasing our dreams and getting on top of our finances. Great life perspective with an funny amusing edge.

Second, I wanted to highlight one of the best Personal Finance blogs on the net, The Simple Dollar. This story is quite inspirational. Just about two years ago he hit financial rock bottom, and now he has quite his steady job to pursue his dream of making a living as a writer. I suspect that he we will make judging from his motivation and body of work. Here is one of his recent pieces that provides a wonderful framework for making your dreams look possible. If you haven’t ever checked out his blog, I highly recommend it.

Related Posts

» Filed Under Bloggers, Chasing Dreams, Links

149th Carnival of Personal Finance - Chasing Dreams Edition

Posted on April 21, 2008

If this is your first time visiting, feel free to look around. You can join the others by subscribing to my RSS feed or you can receive updates via email so that you don’t miss The Happy Rock’s articles!

Welcome to the 149th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance! Below are 86 personal finance articles from the last week or so. In the articles you will find awesome information, but the real question is…”why do we care”? What motivates us to spend less and save more? Without being lead by our dreams and desires our enthusiasm and motivation can quickly fade, but if you figure out why you want to get out of debt or save money than it becomes amazingly easier to make wise money decisions. This is edition is dedicated to those dreams!

Without further adieu, here are all of the entries organized by category. Pay special attention to the Editor’s Picks which are listed in the first section. As you read through the carnivals, you’ll notice pictures that represent some of our common dreams to help inspire us to greater heights.

Editor’s Top Picks

  • financial-giving.jpgFrugal Babe presents The Choices We Make - Frugal Babe gives an inspiring snapshot of the money decisions that have set the foundation for their happiness and success.
  • MomAdvice presents This American’s Dream - Amy Allen Clark shares an motivating post about their completed journey out of debt and what it means to their family.
  • You Might as Well Burn $5! presents What If Rent Was Already in the Bank? - Margaret tells us how to reframe our emergency fund saving. Sometimes these little tricks can go a long when in seeing us through to the end.
  • Rather-Be-Shopping presents 5 Ways to Survive on One Income - Kyle James writes that having a parent at home with the kids is often more doable then you might think. These personal glimpses into lives of others provide a great backdrop to give us perspective about our own decisions.
  • I‘ve Paid For This Twice Already presents The Psychology of the $1000 Emergency Fund - paidtwice shares his thoughts on why having a small emergency fund helps you attack your your debt. $1,000 is just the beginning, but it shares a big psychological and practical purpose.

Saving

Debt

  • Dreaming of Ferraris presents Preparing for the Debt Attack - Foxie writes that it’s always good to have some idea of what you want to do in the future with your money. and outlines here own future plans for reducing my debt.
  • LivingAlmostLarge presents Should you Pay off your student Loans? - livingalmostlarge asks should you pay off your student loans? Or are they last on the list after even a mortgage?
  • Chic Saver presents Sharper Image? - Chic Saver shares how some business are using debt too much like herself and other consumers.

Career

Money Managment

Finance

Investing

Budgeting

  • TV Girl and Money presents Choosing Fight Over Flight - TV Girl shares about the day she decided to do something about here debt.

Real Estate

Taxes

Frugality

Credit

Reviews

Economy

  • Wide Open Wallet presents Are hybrid’s cheaper - Mom her analysis on why a hybrid isn’t cheaper for them.
  • Journey To Financial Freedom presents Understand Recession in Simple Language - Harrison teaches us more about Recession with the simple language.
  • Pinching Copper presents Being poor is a state of mind - Seb writes that some people are portrayed as poor in today’s society, and they live like kings.
  • Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck presents Retirement for Gen X: Black Hole or Perfect Storm? - Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck writes that some experts blame Gen X’s high expectations for their financial challenges. Yet a recent study found that 43% of Gen Xers don’t ever expect to be able to retire. Sounds like pretty low expectations to me. Maybe the black hole of Social Security should shoulder some of the blame too?

Other

Related Posts

» Filed Under Blog Carnivals, Chasing Dreams

MBA Complete - Was It Worth It?

Posted on March 18, 2008

harvard-business-graduation.jpgThis past Sunday I handed in my final paper for my MBA degree with a Marketing concentration at Drexel University’s Lebow College of Business. The finality is so fresh that end of my long two and half year journey hasn’t sunk in. It is starting though…Tuesday is my normal class night and I got to stay home with my family!

The first question most people will ask is “was getting an MBA worth”? On a personal level, it was a truly great experience. One that has given my a lot of confidence, motivation, purpose, and energy. On a business and pure learning level, I am not so sure. I think something like the Personal MBA or selected great texts from Amazon and a mentor would have been more useful and practical.

The degree cost about $55,000 in tuition and books, but that was 100% covered by my employer. I even made money, since I sold most of my books on Amazon after the class was over. The degree did cost me time, commitment, and the sacrifice of my family.

As for salary, it will be a while before I know, since I don’t get a single penny more from my current employer for finishing an MBA. One article suggests that

According to one salary guide, an MBA is worth about $10-30,000 a year over a bachelor’s degree, but the salary increase you could see may be much less — or much more. Factors that can affect your salary include:

  • whether you stay with your current employer or seek a job with a new employer.
  • the amount of relevant experience you have for the job you are seeking.
  • the reputation of the graduate school you attended.
  • the type of job you are seeking — and the level of supply/demand for workers.
  • the industries where you are seeking a job.
  • the location of the jobs you are seeking.

A fellow blogger with an MBA, FMF @ Free Money Finance, reported that he almost doubled his salary in 5 years during the 90’s. I have no doubt that I might see similar returns.

All in all, I am glad to be done, but it was a great experience. As I collect my thoughts over the next week or two I will provide so more insight on my MBA experience.

Quote Source: Quint Careers
Note: Picture is not me, but a graduation at Harvard the most prestigious business school in the US.

Related Posts

» Filed Under About Me, Chasing Dreams, Salary

How The Happy Rock Went Bold

Posted on March 1, 2008

I talked about how success requires bold decisions, so I figured I should share the decisions that where bold and went against the grain to get me were I am at today. Where am I today, you ask? Well…awesome growing marriage, beautiful wife, two wonderful children, paid off 70,000 in debt, no debt except for a mortgage, 32% equity in a home, $12,000 emergency fund, and a net worth of about $150,000 at age 29 to list a few. I am ecstatic about my as it stands, I truly am, not one complaint.

The question remains, what decisions stand out as catalysts towards achieving my dreams:

Getting Married. I have little doubt that the majority of the positive things I have accomplished in life are directly related to my wonderful wife , our accountability, her inspiration, and our friendship.

Adopting Two Wonderful Adoptions. It is amazing how much children have furthered my desire to change and grow. They haven’t been the hinderance that DINKS and single people told me they would be, in fact they have been a catalyst to positive growth.

Jesus. Some may disagree, that’s fine, but I know first hand the difference that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ has made in my life. This one is a little unique since I feel that the decision found me during my teen years rather then being something I chose to further my life.

Giving Up Debt. Wiped away $70,000 in debt, and we haven’t looked back.

Paying $10,000 Cash For Our Wedding.

Choosing A Small House Very Affordable House. This took some major discipline and teamwork to stick to this wise plan, but our lives and finances have benefited immensely. The choice for a 5 minute commute helps too! Check out my post on delayed financial gratification to see an example of how much difference it can make.

Embarking on an MBA(Master’s in Business Administration). A wonderful 2 and a half year personal journey that has set the stage for the next phase of my career and financial dreams. I have just two classes lef until I am finished!

Driving a Beater Car. My car says a lot about me, and has barely cost me a dime in 5 years.

The key is the intentionality. We must be vigilant about figuring out our goals and dreams and making decisions that align and SPEED you towards those goals. Commit to the dreams.

Related Posts

» Filed Under About Me, Chasing Dreams, Favorites, Materialism

Quitting Cable - The Deed Is Done

Posted on December 11, 2007

After some months of deliberation, I finally canceled cable. For those that don’t know the background, I put out a request for some support while I was considering dropping the tube in July. Then I posted some reasons why I should cancel cable backed by studies, and then finally provided a small blogosphere roundup on the issue.

quit-cable-tv-television1.jpgThe support was tremendous, and in August I got the nerve to cancel cable and buy an AppleTV. I still wanted to catch a handful of my favorite shows. To my dismay, my TV does not have component video jacks to support AppleTV! I searched for a solution and found a converter that would allow AppleTV to work with RCA jacks, but that added another $150 to the solution. Needless to say, the solution died.

In late November, the issue finally surfaced again and I was ready to cancel the cable again. This time I was ready to pull plug and even forgo the few shows that I watched. With the support of The Happy Rockette, I called Comcast. I held firm and canceled cable while saving a $100 across our phone, cable, and internet bills. We still have basic channels for reception sake, but hopefully the TV will be off mostdays. I will report back on how things have changes in a few weeks.

If you want to know what finally caused us to cut the cable, it wasn’t just one thing. It was the sum total of multiple inputs that lead to the courage to finish the job. Here is what I think contributed:

  1. Discussing the issue and attempting to quit in July. Without that, I don’t know if would have been able to follow through. It is so easy to find a reason to keep the cable on. I mean, we have to watch that next episode of Heroes.
  2. Having full support and encouragement of your spouse really goes a long way.
  3. The responsibility for protecting and raising our son. Even at 27 months, he still doesn’t watch TV for more than 5 minutes at a time, but we did. Now the TV won’t be on, and I will teach and play with my son more.
  4. A healthy respect for the amount of money spent over the years and in the future. Thousands!!!!
  5. Filling my life with more important tasks. I found that I often would watch TV for an hour or so which caused me to go to bed without something I wanted accomplish undone. Ultimately, I want accomplish the other tasks more than I wanted to watch TV. The addiction often clouds that judgment though.
  6. The Hollywood writer’s strike. It really did provide perspective on how much our culture is wrapped up in TV.
  7. I knew that once I broke the addiction, I won’t miss it.

If anyone else is considering the same thing, feel free to post a comment and get some support.

Related Posts

» Filed Under About Me, Chasing Dreams, Productivity

Can’t Believe Everything You Read: 1953 Yale Goal Study

Posted on November 13, 2007

“Scientists surveyed the Yale class of 1953, and found that 3 percent had written down financial goals for their futures at their college graduation. When the group reconvened in 1973, this 3 percent of the class that had started their careers with some kind of plan controlled more combined net worth than the other 97 percent combined.” - Ririan Project : The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Moneymakers

yale-1910-wiffenpoofs.jpgAfter I read that, I started scribbling down my goals! Just kidding, but that is some inspiring evidence for writing down your financial goals. Such good evidence that I wanted to take a look at the study to get a better picture of what was going on. I went on a search.

What I found was that Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins quoted the same study in their writing, but I couldn’t find any information on the real 1953 Yale study. It turns out that the story is urban legend, passed from one self help guru to another. Here is an article at Fast Company that does a great job trying to find the real study and wading through the folk lore.

Ok, now that was disappointing. It doesn’t mean the Yale story hasn’t helped many people over the years, but it really takes some credibility away from the story and some of the famous self-help gurus who quoted it. In the age of the internet it is pretty easy to find answers, but it is also easy to get duped. Now go out and right down some financial goals! I will bring some hard evidence on the affects of goal setting in a future post.

As a side note, I also found that the subliminal advertising message scare was based on another urban legend that sited a movie theater that generated increased profits from telling people to “Eat Popcorn, Drink Coke”.

Source: If Your Goal Is Success, Don’t Consult These Gurus
Source: Self-Help Snake Oil and Self-Improvement Urban Legends
Source: Snopes - Subliminal Advertising

Related Posts

» Filed Under Chasing Dreams, Financial Succes

Payments And Credit Aren’t Leading Us Anywhere Good

Posted on October 27, 2007

shackles-chains-debt.jpgOften, a huge part of getting out debt and achieving financial security is removing the option of purchasing with payments and credit from our brains. See, payments set you up to stay in debt and spend more then you can afford. We end up looking at purchases through a short term lens rather then thinking about the long term impact. Breaking things down into small conquerable pieces is a great strategy for achieving goals that seem too big, but when we do that with purchases we are remove ourselves to far from the real impact of the decision.

The drawbacks of credit purchases in our lives are quite numerous, but I wanted to highlight a few.

  • Payments give salesman more room to create profit for themselves. We become so focused on the monthly payment that we miss the fact the loan car note was extended to 6 years, or 9% interest. Salesman would rather deal with payment people, rather than cash people.
  • Payments often mask the fact that we can’t afford what we are buying. $20,000 or $380 a month, which one sounds more feasible?
  • The items purchased with credit often go down in value faster than the principal on the loan. Negative equity is an ugly road, that isn’t going anywhere but towards disaster.
  • With the exception of 0% loans, payments mean you are spending money on interest. To put this into perspective, consider that on a $25,000 car loan at 6% you will pay about $30,000 for the car over five years. A $200,000 30 year mortgage @ 6% will cost you $231,667 just in interest.
  • Payments add stress and rob you of freedom. There was a correlation between the number of payments I had and the amount of stress that my finances caused me. Also, things like moving, changing jobs, moving to a profession you love, and spending more time with your family all become harder and more complicated. Shackles!
  • You don’t actually own the item you have payments on.
  • Each new payment makes the next one easier. You want more, because you can spread the pain out over years. In reality you can only diffuse the pain until the house of cards crumbles, or you wake up at 50 only to realize you don’t own anything.
  • It is quite depressing to know that the money you are earning now isn’t yours, it MUST go to someone else. Cash flow is one amazing benefits of being debt free. Think about the things you could do if you actually controlled your money and not financing companies.

I really could go on, but that is quite a list already! So, next time your discipline is wavering and you want to use credit, come back to this list and use it to renew your strength.

What problems have payments caused you over the years that I missed?

Related Posts

» Filed Under Chasing Dreams, Debt Elimination, Materialism, Psychology of Debt, Psychology of Spending

Friends Matter: Friends Accept Us The Way We Are, But…

Posted on June 21, 2007

We want people to accept us, it is a fact of human nature. Time and again you hear people sharing the same thought on friendship, “I want a friend that accepts who I am”. That sounds noble and uplifting enough, but let’s take a deeper look into that idea. Think about examples of people for whom nothing is ever expected. What becomes of the child whose parents give them everything, yet don’t expect anything?

friends_hold_hands.jpgYour dog Max accepts you, and so does a car salesman, or even a drug dealer. The question remains, “is that enough?”. I say no. Personally, I want to have friends that accept me the way I am, but love me enough to not let me stay that way. I want friends that will smack me over the head when I buy a 36″ TV on credit while having no income. I want a friend who calls me to task when I am not a man of my word. Someone who tells me I am not being patient with my son. Friends who are willing to step in and take your keys when they think you have had too much to drink. These are the types of friends that challenge us and help us grow. These are the types of friends that you need around when you are climbing out of $70,000 in debt. These are the types of friends that surround successful people.

Acceptance is not enough, real friends want the best possible life for us. Not the best life they think we should have, but the best life for us. I didn’t marry my wife, because she was the same as me, or because she is beautiful (although she is darn beautiful). I married her because she opens up my world, makes me see the world in new ways, and challenges me, but always always wants the best for me.

The real challenge is to evaluate your relationships, not only by how much they let you be you, but also how much they want you to experience the best. These type of relationships, like most things in this world, don’t start with other people, but with ourselves. We need to invite this type of accountability and friendship.

  • Be willing to take all criticism, whether right or wrong, and respond positively.
  • Be honest and open up about your dark sides.
  • Truly value other’s opinion. People won’t share if they don’t think you’ll care, or if it will break down the relationship.
  • Finally, we need to be able to lovingly accept others the way they are, and encourage them to change (if they want it).

Related Reading : Scott Young’s 10 Steps to Honest Feedback

Related Posts

» Filed Under Accountability, Chasing Dreams, Favorites, Friends, Motivation

Friends Matter: Support And Education Through Friendships

Posted on June 19, 2007

In the previous post on how friends can shape our perception of reality, I ended with an example about my goal to become an entrepreneur. I came to the conclusion that there is not anyone in my life that can really understand and support that quest; they are all 9-5′ers. Some may even provide resistance. The truth of the matter is that we need some friends in our lives that will be able to challenge us, teach us, and relate to our unique struggles.

I think most of us know this instinctively, but the real work comes when we have to overcome our social awkwardness to seek out these types of relationships. Sometimes we are blessed with friends in our proximity that align with our goals. Often though, this is not the case. These are the times that we need to search out our needs and pursue relationships that will encourage success. This is one of the reasons the blogging community is thriving. It offers easy access to these types of relationship. If I decide to get out of debt, I can easily connect with real people who have gone through or are going through the same journey. They will teach us, support us, and even learn from us. In that vain I have added some entrepreneurship blogs to my reader, but I also plan to try and connect with a person or two in my area. Websites like Meetup can be a valuable tool in forming these types of relationships. Even going to church or community events can be a great place to start your search.

golf course sunsetI won’t lie, this will be a goal that stretches me. I am working hard to become more outgoing, but I am far from extroverted. The reason I will succeed is because I realize these types of relationships will be an integral part of achieving my dreams. The passion for the dreams is what will drive me to step out of my comfort zone.

Let us end with an example. My friend Double Eagle over at Life In The Rough has a dream to be a golf pro. An awesome dream, but a dream that will require friends for support an learning. A dream like this will only happen if him to step outside his ‘normal’ circle of friends. Creating opportunities to train under professional golf pros, creating relationships with other aspiring golf pros, and interviewing pros that have been through a similar journey will be invaluable to chasing his dream.

Related Posts

» Filed Under Chasing Dreams, Friends, Living with Purpose, Productivity

keep looking »

feed icon
feed icon

Archives

Categories