Archive Page 2

30
Jan

Shortcut #2: Swallow Your Pride

By David 1 Comment
Categories: Shortcuts

Shortcuts are an ongoing series where I summarize quick ways to make maximum impact on your finances.

Think about the people around you in life, those who are close to you and not so close. How much do you know about their financial life? Do you know how much they earn per year? How much debt they have? How you can best support them in whatever financial goals they have? Chances are, you don’t know. Even some married couples don’t know about each others finances!

This apparent taboo of talking about money is widely talked about. Personally, I think it’s a hold-over from centuries ago when it was considered polite to squander your money on elaborate decorations and items, but impolite to discuss how much money you inherited in order to be able to buy such nice things. In modern society, perspective is gradually shifting towards the opposite; in the near future, showing off your money through purchases may be taboo, but talking about your checkbook may be considered a matter of relationship with others.

I’m going to go on the record and say that it is almost impossible to truly get hold of finances without being open and honest about where you stand. Without telling people your true condition, where is your accountability in getting into a better condition? How will they need to know what they need to do to help you out of it? For some, maybe start with telling one close friend, and ask them to check you if you are about to make a poor spending decision. For some, it may be starting a blog so that everyone knows your condition. Keeping things in the dark makes them rot. In the same way, either extreme you take will expose your situation to the light. From there, change can begin.

Plus, it will keep self-help gurus from going crazy:

Dear Self-Help-Guru:
I currently go to lunch with a co-worker who wants to spend more on lunch than me. I’m in a ton of debt, and I’m afraid that going to all these nice restaurants will put me even further in debt! How can I tell my co-worker politely that I have to start brown-bagging it?
Sincerely, Broke-In-Chicago

This is a made-up example, but I’m sure you’ve seen similar things on “Ask Miss Manners”. Usually those “P.C. gurus” give some response that they should lie and say they could save lunch time by eating in the office, or other such nonsense. Here’s how it should be answered:

Dear Broke-In-Chicago,
Shame on you! In a vain attempt to look like you have it together more than others, you’ve now sabotaged your financial health even more. You should have told your co-worker years ago the reason that going out for lunch was not good for you. Contrary to common belief, most people are in debt, and they will not only understand your reasons, but they may offer up their own state of debt, and that maybe it would be wise for both of you to bring your lunches and eat together. The only way for someone to know where you stand is to come straight out and tell them, so either swallow your pride, or be prepared to further damage your finances.
Sincerely, Self-Help-Guru

Unfortunately, things are so politically correct I don’t expect to see this happening in the near future. However, each of us can start the process by telling someone else. When I began, I started this blog, and I also told my best friend and my roommate. Guess what? They were in the same boat I was! Now, they are helping me get out of debt and I’m helping them. We share knowledge, keep each other accountable, and we all win. Yes, they know what I make each year and how I spend it, but why should I care if two people close to me know that? If you’re really concerned with telling people, then it must be really bad, and therefore you should tell them anyway.

There’s simply no reason for falling under an archaic system that leads to the systematic destruction of our finances. Maintaining a tiny bit of pride costs us the ability to do the amazing things we want to do in life, the ability to pass that gift on to our descendants, and a bunch of stress and health. Why not spend a few minutes, swallow your pride, and let someone that cares about you know where you stand. Maybe they will be the one that can help you out of it.

22
Jan

Shortcut #1: Trick Your Brain

By David 0 Comments
Categories: Attitude Adjustment and Shortcuts

I am an efficient person, an engineer by nature. I’m also lazy. I love shortcuts, but only when they work. So I’d like to dedicate this post, and future posts like it, to a series I’m calling “Shortcuts”. Put simply, they are tiny activities that take little time yet produce great results. I hope they may be of use to the other lazy people out there that want to get hold of their finances!

The human brain is a complex organ, and there is still a lot of mystery surrounding it. One field of study I have been interested in lately is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, abbreviated NLP. To avoid all the science jargon (which I do suggest researching if you’re interested), it is basically a method (some may call it a form of hypnosis) in which we can suggest behaviors, both to ourselves and others. If you’ve ever seen a mentalist perform, or a mind reader, chances are they are using NLP principles to accomplish their task. However, it also holds some striking benefits when used as a form of psychotherapy. Put simply, you can spend just a few minutes each day to completely change the way your brain thinks about money (and more!).

I know for myself, in my journey to become debt free, I have found many presuppositions towards money and how I feel about it. While my conscious mind knows differently, the unconscious part of my mind that is responsible for binge-spending and making late payments was going strong and keeping me on a path to stay in debt forever. I imagine most people that wake up one day and realize they’ve gone too down that path have similar issues. NLP is one method of changing that attitude.

I won’t go into why it works, but I will give the basics. You can apply this to any area of life, too. Are you trying to lose weight but can’t keep from eating poorly? Do you have self-worth issues when it comes to the opposite sex? NLP is one technique you can use to change that. Basically, there are three areas we can use to program (plant ideas inside) our brains. There is kinesthetic, visual, and auditory, meaning “touch”, “sight”, and “sound”, respectively. If you can create a pattern that keys into multiple areas, then it creates a stronger bond. For example, you may look in the mirror and say something out loud to yourself. Yes, basic NLP is pretty much just the tried-and-true “talk to the mirror” advice!

How many times have you said, “I will never get out of debt” to yourself? Likely a lot, even if you only said it in your mind. The thing you did not realize, is that was basic NLP; you were programming your brain to think you will never be capable of getting out of debt, and surprise, now you aren’t! What you will have to do is reverse that. Just like anything in life, it takes as much effort to reverse something as it does to get there in the first place. Every day, or even multiple times per day, use the mirror method. Tell yourself not that you “will” get out of debt, but that you are out of debt. The problem with using future tense is that your brain will always think this action comes later. Use the present tense, because this is the attitude you want to have right now. If your issue is weight loss, then say “I am skinny”. When using verbs, make them active.

The mirror method ties in both the visual and auditory senses to program the brain. You can also use the kinesthetic by writing statements down on paper. The movement of your hand keeps the notion that you are out of debt firmly in your brain. However, you may have to use multiple statements. Try to identify the things keeping you in debt, and make up suggestions for each of those. Try to make a list of 5-10 suggestions you want to program your brain with. Find the root issues of your money problems, and tell your brain the opposite.

An example list might be:

  1. I make wise spending choices and am a thrifty person
  2. I regularly consult my budget before making a purchase
  3. I pay all my bills early and in full
  4. I do not need expensive things to make me happy in life
  5. I no longer make purchases on credit cards

Of course, this is just an example, and for this to work you should make your own list dealing with your own problems. Hopefully you catch the idea here. NLP really is as simple as that, in its basic form. And while it might sound silly (and somewhat non-revolutionary) to talk to yourself in the mirror, you might be surprised at the effect it has on your outlook on money. They say to be a millionaire you have to spend like a millionaire, but it’s impossible to do that without first thinking like a millionaire. NLP is one method to get your thoughts in the right direction. A proper thought pattern will overflow into your natural habits. Keep in mind that initially, you have to overturn years of bad programming, and you may likely think negative thoughts even now. This is why it’s important to do this every day or more. Get it into your brain. When your brain starts thinking properly, make it start thinking in other ways. Start telling it about how you will invest, or think of business ideas, etc. The possibilities are endless, and yet the investment is literally only one minute per day or less. Even if it doesn’t work for you at all (for whatever reason), it got you thinking about why you behave the way you do, which is still beneficial.

Main Excuse: “I don’t have/want/use a mirror!” Well, there is another way, and since it ties into the emotional, many people think it’s actually better than just a visual. Simply say them out loud like before, only while you say each one, visualize your life with that principle. For example, if you say “I pay all my bills early”, then visualize yourself writing a check and sending it in, or clicking an online billpay. What this effectively does is to tie a particular action to your words, which may give it more weight. Better yet, do both methods if you can!

Super-Shortcut: As an aside, you can also use more advanced NLP tricks to enhance your money abilities. Try tying in the the kinesthetic directly to your mirror exercise. For example, when you say “I spend money wisely”, try touching a particular part of your body in a certain way. Maybe you brush behind your earlobe. Something you can feel easily. After awhile of doing this, when you are in Best Buy checking out the latest HDTVs, perform that same touch. Your mind should actually reject poor spending! This is called anchoring, and is particularly effective in making yourself (and others) behave a certain way when a particular stimulus is present.

18
Jan

Back in Action

By David 1 Comment
Categories: General

Ok, so I’ve not been the best blogger the past several months. I will attempt to rectify that! Obviously, my last several posts detailed how I lost my job, was busy at school, doing just ok with finances. I’m sorry for being away, but I simply had no time to either blog or read other posts from the community, between school and my new job. In addition, the one week I could not work between jobs was enough to set me back three weeks with some of my payments, which was a bit disappointing.

However, I recovered and am back in action. I was not able to get financial aid for this semester at school, which is a long story, but it leaves me with at least a tiny bit of free time I should be able to use here. But I suppose I should offer an update, so we know where this year begins.

For the past 3-4 months, I have made at least the minimum credit card payments, on time. This month, for the first time in years, I received a paycheck which I have still not cashed, and don’t need to! I have at least a few hundred dollars buffer zone in my account, and have not overdrafted. My credit score is now no longer in the red zone on myfico.com. While I still have a long way to go, this is major progress to my financial goals.

At the beginning of this year, I listed several goals, each of which will not be easy and will take the whole year. Two of them are eliminating the majority (60% or more) of my credit card debt, and losing 100 pounds. Each will take a lot of work, for the whole year. At first, I thought I could get rid of all my credit card debt by the end of this year, but when I actually mapped out how much I will actually spend (compared to what I “wishful thinking” would have spent), I will not be able to feasibly do that this year. Now, a secondary goal is to do something extra that will make money come in. I hope to release a piece of software at some point that will reap some dividends, and assuming that goes well I may be able to get rid of all debt by December. However, that can’t be my plan.

I feel good about this year. For the first time, I have a good launchpad to start from, and a good plan of how to meet those goals in time. However, I will have some bad circumstances to deal with as well. First, I had a student loan make it all the way to collections without my knowing (long story for a future post, but being a full time student it was supposed to defer, but didn’t). Second, by not being in school I’m effectively opening up all my other student loans for payments. I can probably defer this again though, since I’ll be back in the summer. The worst that can happen with collections is to have my paycheck docked up to 25% each month, which I have a contingency for (work full time hours instead of part time). Hopefully it won’t come to that, however.

So, here’s looking ahead to 2008 and all the crazy stories I’m sure it will bring. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m excited about the plans I have in place and can’t wait to make a huge chunk in my debt this year!

12
Sep

Thrown Into the Deep End

By David 1 Comment
Categories: Circumstance Navigation and Frugality

The past month has taught me some difficult lessons. In the same way working through college made me grow up faster than classmates who had the parental free ride, losing my job 2 months after starting to get my finances in order has taught me a lot, very quickly. In short, I did find another job that seems to be the perfect opportunity, but I will wind up losing a full paycheck because of the transition. This is my first week working full-time in 3 weeks.

First, I learned that even if I think I have things figured out, but don’t account for major shifts from the very onset, I’m doomed for failure before having tried. I started getting my finances in order in June. In August, I lost my job. Two months could have been enough time to get at least a basic strategy ready just in case something happened. Granted, I thought things were stable, but I still should have had at least one exit strategy.

Second, I’ve learned that it’s possible to be extremely frugal given the correct circumstances. I can say no to going out with friends, I can refuse to drive extra miles, and I can even eat off $100 for two weeks (when I normally spend $100 per week or more). I’ve cancelled every little subscription I had, and tried my best to find every spare dollar I had. If the money is simply not there, I cannot do that stuff. Translating this into my path out of debt, my goal will be to make debt payments first, and live off of what’s left. This means I’m forced to be frugal, where thus far I’ve tried to be frugal on the front-end. It’s hard to be frugal when the money is sitting there waiting to be spent, but much easier when you don’t know when the next check comes in.

Third, I’ve learned that some creditors are sympathetic. Within reason, of course. A few credit cards allowed me to not make payments this month, and resume next month. They are still charging me interest this month, but will not charge me for two months later, will impose no late fees, and will not report me to the credit bureaus. While it doesn’t completely save me from the lack of funds, it will be an immense help, and one less thing I have to worry about right now. It took a lot of time and talking to get it done, but a few hours work to save me peace of mind during this transition was well worth it.

Fourth, I’ve learned the real cost of not having my finances in check already. In June, I wanted to do it for peace of mind and looking to the future and marriage/family. I assumed the job was stable, that I would always have an influx of money, etc. By sabotaging my own future self financially, I made this thing much more difficult than it should have been. After all, I’m only missing one paycheck, not even a full month, much less half a year like some people do. I’m extremely happy I was able to quickly find another job, but if missing two weeks worth of pay messes me up this month, I’m in a very bad condition. If I was not motivated before to get out from under this debt, I sure enough am now.

My new job will be paying me a few hundred more per month than I am making now, but will not be paying my school expenses. After thinking long and hard about it, while school is important, I really need to build up some financial muscles. After this semester, I may put school on hold temporarily if I cannot find financial aid to help me out. At this point, I may even take out additional student loans to cover the cost, and use my extra money to get out of debt even faster. With a few hundred extra per month, and living more frugally, I should easily (or rather, difficult-ly) meet my target of next December. Even more, I should have a decent emergency fund by then. While it may put my education in somewhat of a bind or cause me to gather more debt in student loans, I’d much rather trade my credit card debt for student loan debt! And with the increase in salary, once my debt is paid off that gives me that much extra money to either invest or put towards those student loans, which is nice. Once I have my degree, that’s an immediate $10-15k bump in my value as an employee apparently (though personally I feel the caliber of my work is not affected by a piece of paper), and I’m all set.

And while it’s fun to think about the future, it’s taking everything I have to make it through September. I’ll probably be posting very rarely until money starts coming in, but know I’m getting some good life experience that will give me much better perspective on my posts. I hope I learn some more lessons worth sharing, but until then…

24
Aug

When it Rains…

By David 2 Comments
Categories: Circumstance Navigation, General and Uncategorized

Well, I only thought that going back to school was a major lifestyle shift. Little did I know that there are much bigger shifts that can happen, such as, say, losing my job. Yes, I’ve not been posting for the past week because I have been using every spare second searching for a new job. Luckily, I was given plenty of notice, and it isn’t due to poor performance on my part; they are divesting the entire R&D arm of our company and about half of us will be lost in the shuffle.

On a not-so-side note, I finally learned what not having a degree means in terms of job availability. Even though I don’t feel the degree really means you know more (and personally will never hire people as if that were true), a lot of companies weed out potential candidates based on that little piece of paper. Oh, if only this were happening two years from now when I will have finished school.

So, this is a pretty shaky month. I had to start working part-time immediately, which reduces my cash flow quite a bit. I’ve made some big cutbacks already, and have more to make. If by next week I do not have a job, I’m going to have to call creditors and see if they’re willing to give me a break while I find a job. I do have a few prospects, and if worse comes to worst I’ll have to move back home and work fast food or something. So I’m not sweating it too much; worrying about it will not get me anywhere. I am, however, allowing it to motivate me to keep looking for jobs. Unfortunately, out of about 500 jobs I’ve looked over, only 2 seemed appropriate for me.

I’m also at a disadvantage because I won’t be able to make what I’m currently making at a lot of places, without that degree. In a small business, I provide a lot of value. In a large business, I’m just another programmer, and the pay scales accordingly. I’m hoping I can transition into a position that pays what I’m making now, and also pay for school still (or put school on hold for the immediate future).

So, some lessons well learned about life and how it throws you all sorts of curveballs. Don’t worry, I’ll come out of this stronger. I now see even higher levels of importance in being debt free and having plenty of savings stockpiled. That will motivate me to try even harder.

On a side note, I’m not allowed to talk about it in detail yet, but let’s just say that Mint.com is going to be an incredibly awesome tool, and will blow every other finance tool out of the water easily.

15
Aug

Navigating Lifestyle Shifts

By David 1 Comment
Categories: Circumstance Navigation

Note: If you came here from NCN’s Carnival of Debt Reduction, here is the post he was talking about: Backbone Growth.

Today I start back to school. For those new to my story, I have a full time job and am also going back to school full time to finish my degree. I’ve had the summer off, which has helped greatly in terms of getting back on my feet financially. However, since I’ve had plenty of time to focus on finances thus far, not to mention getting in 40 hours at work every week, going back to school will be a major shift.

The shifts are not inconsequential and many of them are things that got me into trouble in the first place. First, the sheer amount of time school takes up leaves me unable to easily take time out to handle financial matters. Yes, I can still find an hour on weekends, but things like calling creditors, looking through statements, etc. seem like much more of a hassle when the grades start dropping. It shifts my entire daily schedule forward (since class goes until 11:30pm or so), which forces me to do things like eat at fast food places or the campus food court for dinner, and go into work later. I get in fewer hours of work per week on average, usually 35-38. Not to mention I spend about $50 more on gasoline per month. As you can tell, these little things really add up when you combine it with debt reduction.

However, I refused to be caught by surprise this time! Here are some things I did to keep this from being a major burden on my life:

  1. I thought ahead. Really, this is the only thing it took, but I sat down and really analyzed what each semester costs me in terms of money, time, and sleep. I then re-budgeted all three of those to make things work. I made a new financial budget incorporating food and gasoline costs. It will be more difficult to get out of debt, but at least I won’t be getting in any deeper!
  2. I got supplies on sale. I caught the back-to-school sales along with the high schoolers, and got things like pencils, paper, and printer ink for much cheaper, and tax free! Better yet, I kept it within my budget for July, so it didn’t even hurt me. I may even have enough supplies for Spring semester as well.
  3. I didn’t take a vacation this summer. Because of that, I have enough annual leave left to where I can take 4-5 hours off work each week and not have to worry about losing money! Yes, I sacrificed a week off, but when big tests come up I don’t have to worry about finances on top of studying.
  4. I arranged my classes to be all in two big blocks on Mondays and Wednesdays, at the expense of taking 4 difficult courses all at once. I will probably have up to 4 tests on some nights, but this saves me money on gasoline, and makes the food problem only apply to two days per week. Not to mention, it makes scheduling work and study time much easier.
  5. It is my goal to have a 100 average in every class by October, or at least high A’s. This means that when things get most stressful, I can maintain all my schedules without having to take even more time off. Even if my grades drop a little at the end, I don’t have to worry about it because I’m pretty much guaranteed an A or B by that point. This is so much better than slacking off at the beginning and then having to step up the studying and time later on, when you’re already too tired. This also applies to any area of life; work twice as hard when you still have the energy, and then don’t feel bad about slacking off a bit later.

Most of all, I just had to sit down and think about what was about to happen. The worst mistakes that happen are almost always the result of poor planning, or even no planning at all! I wanted to make sure I had the bases covered. I feel pretty good about it. Not to mention that even though I have 4 difficult classes right now, my final semester will pretty much be History, Music, a math course, and a final computer science course. Like I said, work hard now, slack off later.

11
Aug

Backbone Growth

By David 2 Comments
Categories: Attitude Adjustment and Debt Repayment

Note: This post has been featured in the 100th edition of the Carnival of Debt Reduction, hosted by No Credit Needed. Please check out this carnival, as it includes a ton of good articles!

One of the major things I have noticed during my journey towards a debt-free lifestyle is how little of a backbone I used to have! And sadly, still do in some areas. These are things that even before creating a mindset to become debt free, I knew were signs of weakness and were my own fault. Some come down to laziness and the strange idea I could wake up tomorrow a millionaire and all my problems would go away. However, they all come back to the root issue that when it comes to my wallet, I had no backbone.

Here are some examples of my spineless financial behavior:

  1. While activating the credit cards that led to my demise, I would agree to sign up to the so called “Credit Protector” and “Identity Manager” programs these services offered. Many times, these programs would account to $15.00 per month or more! Just to get the people off the phone, I’d agree to the first free month. However, I would let these charges ride for months, even years due to laziness, and guilt that I was already paying hundreds in interest each month, what is $20 more. I estimate I’ve lost several thousand dollars due to this. All it would have taken is a firm “no” and I might be farther along my path to debt freedom.
  2. Something I know I will be buying down the road is on sale today, so I flash the plastic and it’s mine. Sounds good, but after a year I’m still paying for that shirt, and have probably already doubled the non-sale price in my interest payments! Yes, it was on sale, and if I had the money in my budget it might have been smart, but I wound up getting a worse deal. Do this with technology, and it not only doubles in total cost, but you also get an inferior model compared to if you had saved and waited. All it would have taken is a little more backbone to say no to my inner desires and bad mathematics. This is the primary reason for 90% of my current debt. I’m still paying off a laptop I bought 4 years ago, and sold last year for almost nothing.
  3. When the budget (what little I had) ran dry and my credit payments were going to be late, I ignored the calls from creditors. I racked up tons of late fees, and got myself into a situation where it was almost impossible to get out of the cycle of late payments. If I had answered the phone and been forthcoming that first time it happened, they could have easily helped me out, and it might have been the difference in several thousand dollars of my current debt. Not to mention my credit score might not be in the low 500s right now.
  4. For some reason, I always just “expected” to win that lottery (even though I never had tickets for it!) or get that major raise, or have a creditor magically erase my debt. Maybe the creditors would forget about the debt until I finished school and could pay them off. Because of not standing tall and really evaluating my current situation and finding a way to solve my problems, I spiraled down into a situation that actually has become nearly impossible to fix. If I had really evaluated it back then, I could have easily fixed my problems in just a few months, and would be on track right now to perhaps owning a house, or at least being free from debt.
  5. For awhile, I let my insecurities play out in terms of me having to buy cool things. I didn’t just get the cheap Ipod, I had to get the best and biggest. I didn’t just get a basic stereo system for my car, I had to get the best audiophile quality out there (ironically, I don’t even have that car anymore, but I do indeed miss that system). By not having confidence in who I am as a person, that little piece of plastic used those insecurities to make me buy more stuff. Right now, I’m finally at a place in myself where I only buy what I need to get by, and occasionally some of my long-term wants.

Of course, there are many more reasons my spine, or lack thereof, has caused a lot of my debt issues now. They always say the first step to anything in life is admitting you have a problem. I think the second step is admitting that problem is likely inside yourself! Most people skip that, and blame creditors, or fancy marketing, or whatever the villain of the day is. For me, the problem was (and still is, to some extent) inside myself. It’s my own lack of backbone that has caused me to spiral down the path of bad financial decisions.

So how do I fix it, and how can you fix it? First, stop blaming circumstances and others. While it may be partially their fault, that doesn’t help your situation. What does help your situation is to accept the blame yourself, and figure out why you do the things you do. Before you even sit down and list your debts, start an emergency fund, etc., you need to evaluate yourself. In fact, I have a weekly ritual where I check my credit report (one service that has been invaluable), check my accounts online for any strange activity, evaluate my spending and budget, and also evaluate my psychological state towards finances.

Each week I try to find one thing I had problems with in the past, write it down (or blog about it), and become determined to not behave that way again. This week is Spine Week. I’m going to call and cancel those services I still have. I’m going to try to sell the things I bought on credit long ago, and hopefully let it help pay themselves off a little bit. Moving forward, I have learned my lesson and will not slip up again.

In fact, you can do this in any area of life of which you’ve had problems! If you are religious, incorporate prayer or meditation into the process if you wish. For the area you are having a problem with, think back to the situations that got you there. Now, inside each situation, ask yourself what internal mechanism caused that to happen, rather than the external circumstances. Then, think of different ways to correct that personal flaw, and resolve to not behave that way moving forward. Find a few concrete things you can do to combat it right now (calling creditors, whatever), and write down a statement of intent that you read every day in that week claiming you have changed as a person. My statement for this week that I will read every day simply reads:

I resolve to stand up for proper financial decisions when faced with insecurity, external manipulation, or laziness, and commit to always look at the long-term picture before making any financial decision.

Just think, spending a few minutes each week meditating about yourself, in 52 weeks you will have corrected 52 internal problems! For me, being out of debt by the end of 2008 is important, but knowing I will have corrected over 75 internal flaws by then is worth even more. It’s the same idea as debt management, small incremental changes to make a very large long-term change. In a year, I will be a completely different person, but this week I only need to worry about a little backbone growth.

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