The Carnival of Personal Finance is Up!
March 10th, 2008
This weeks Carnival of Personal Finance #143 is up over at The Four Pillars. This week’s theme is near and dear to my heart since it has a Canadian theme and is being hosted by a fellow Canadian Blogger. Definitely check it out!
In other news, a new design is in the works for this site. I’m very happy with the results so far and hopefully everything will be in place before the end of the week. In the meantime check out all the articles in the Carnival.
Posted in Sites/Articles | 2 Comments
Don’t be surprised by the Weather
March 10th, 2008
Originally uploaded by RedMonkeyVirus
In many parts of North America we’ve had one of the snowiest winters on record. This shouldn’t surprise too many people yet since living in these areas that risk exists. Some winters there’s more snow others less. Personally I prepare for winter the same way each year. I make sure to give myself extra time and when I’m out in bad weather I take my time. Yet people are still surprised by the bad weather.
Lets be honest in our day and age where there is an overabundance of information there is no need to be caught off guard by something like the weather. Granted weather reports loose their accuracy when you look at long-term predictions. But tomorrow’s weather or even today’s weather will be pretty accurate. Staying on top of this type of information will take all of a few minutes but can save you a lot of grief.
Knowledge is one of those important things in life. Knowing that it’ll be snowy means you can take your time to get where you’re going safely without hassles. But by the same token knowing its going to be scorching hot lets you prepare by taking along a hat, some sun block and a lot of water. The end result is that you’ll be a lot more comfortable without needing to complain or scramble and be surprised by the elements.
To use the summer as an example knowing it’s going to be hot means you can take some water from home rather than buying the $2 bottles of water all the time. This can save you money. In the winter knowing it’ll take you some time means you won’t rush and risk getting into an accident. A little preparation and adjustment to the world around you, like with preparing your budget, can save you a lot of hassles in the long run.
Posted in Budgeting and Planning, Commentary | No Comments
Paying Down Debt Takes Time
March 8th, 2008
Originally uploaded by Garretc
Debt is a way of life for many people; they pay their credit cards in order to be able to use that credit for their day-to-day expenses. They are so tapped out that they simply have no room for error; their day job becomes so important because everything is in a very fine balance. They use one payment to make sure another one gets paid and they are stressed out of their minds. I hope I’m not describing you! I know what its like; I used to live this life. This might not be your exact situation but if you’re in debt you feel its pressure and getting rid of it takes time.
So you’d like to get out! You dream about it, it captures your every thought. Guess what, if you’ve managed to get yourself into some serious debt its going to take time to pay it down and get out. There is no quick fix for getting out of debt unless you make a mountain of money all at once. Paying down debt is a process that takes time. Personally I’m still struggling with this process and I’ve slowly made some headway, but it has been slow.
The perfect example, an inspiration for me, to keep paying down debt and proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel is Tricia from Blogging Away Debt. She knew it would take time to get out of debt and she applied herself and did everything possible. She even worked two jobs for a while. She’s still in debt but I’ve been watching her credit card debt creep down slowly over the past couple years while mine has close to the same. It’s all a long process and you have to apply yourself.
Its not fun to pay down debt versus spending more money but the reality is you need to get that debt paid down to be able to have any financial freedom. You might not have enough money to be free from having to work but that doesn’t mean you have to be weighed down by the debt. Another great benefit once you actually pay off debt is that purchases won’t cost huge amounts of money due to interest. For example I’d like to buy a new laptop for myself but I don’t have the necessary $750, I contemplated putting it on a credit card (briefly). If I don’t pay that laptop off in a year I’m paying $135 in interest (standard 18% card). Being in debt prevents me from making purchases like this because I know there is a chance I won’t be able to pay everything down quickly enough. I don’t want to pay 2 or 3 times for my purchase just because I’m in debt. It’s not fun passing up purchases because you need to maintain a minimalist lifestyle.
The good news is that although this process might take a fairly long time you can see the effects and the light at the end of the tunnel does get brighter. Can you imagine what it would be like to not live from pay to pay? I’m looking forward to that day.
Posted in Debt | 3 Comments
Frugality Sucks
March 4th, 2008
Lets be honest, not too many of us are naturally frugal people. I know that might seem a little strange at first but if you take a moment to think about it how many people do you know that are truly frugal? My guess would be very few. I was thinking about this myself and I could only come up with a couple examples out of the people that I know that are truly frugal. Being frugal isn’t fun and personally I think it sucks. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary.
There are times in our lives when being frugal isn’t a choice but something that we simply have to do. When you have children and don’t make a lot of money you have no choice and you have to be frugal or meals won’t make it to the dinner table. When these times arise you simply do what needs to be done. I think this is one of those adaptabilities that humans posses. We do what we need to survive and what we need to do to protect our loved ones and offspring.
This leaves us with a great big gray area in my opinion. Most of us in debt look at our budgets and we cut back on the things we really don’t need to spend money on. We’ll cut our cost of entertainment or maybe trim down our food bills so that we’re living below our means. But we are being frugal by choice and often times this isn’t fun. This is the part of frugality that sucks. I’m in that boat right now. I’ve decided to cut back on my spending to make sure that I can make ends meet and really make them meet rather than fool myself into a false sense of belief.
Those of us out there that are naturally frugal simply won’t spend the extra money and as a result they would never need to cut back; at least not to the same extent as your average person who is in debt. In my efforts to get my finances under control I’ve stopped spending money on the things I thought I needed and really just wanted. I took a very hard look at what I was buying and why. But cutting those items down and in many cases out of my expenses I’ve been able to cut away the fat that didn’t need to be there. The net result for me has been a more simplistic approach to life in general.
Do I still want the big screen TV? Kind of but I know that it’s a want and not a need. I get enjoyment from watching movies with my wife but I know it’s not essential to my survival and that TV will do nothing but cost me money. If I had spare money I might purchase one but until that time arrives I can walk past them in the store and not think twice about buying one.
I am by no means perfect since I still want some things that I don’t need and worse still spend money on some things that are kind of pointless. For me this has been a process rather than a quick fix. I took a long time getting into debt and I want to make sure that when I’m out of debt that I don’t fall right back in. Finding a good balance between spending for want and for need will, I hope, help me live within my means. This is important to me because I do not enjoy being frugal and I don’t think many of us do. It’s simply something that needs to be done sometimes.
Posted in Saving Ideas, Debt | 3 Comments
Job Search Series – Step 8 – The follow up
March 3rd, 2008
Welcome to the final step in the Job Search Series. Today we’ll look at something that a lot of people tend to forget: the follow-up. Just as we learned in Step 5 – The cover letter you need to distinguish yourself in some way. The follow up is one of the ways that you can stand out from the crowd.
After you’ve had your interview or sent your resume to someone in your network you need to take the time to follow up with them. Make sure they don’t have any questions and if they do get them straightened out. If it was an interview simply send your interviewer a quick thank you note via email. Most people don’t do this and the person receiving this will appreciate it.
Personally I’ve sent thank you notes by email and left voice mails after pretty much every interview I’ve had for at least the last 5 years. What this has done for me is it has kept the dialogue open longer giving me additional chances to impress the decision maker. But the biggest thing a thank you note or call says is that you’re really serious about the job. Skills can be trained but attitude and interest are very hard to implement after you start a job.
From a hiring manager’s perspective the people who I interviewed that left me a follow up note really showed a lot of interest in the position. They stood out more than people with good skills that simply wanted a paycheck. I’ve hired a few of these people and I have to say that the enthusiasm from these individuals is far higher than from people who didn’t follow up.
Another reason to follow up with companies that you’ve interviewed with, and in general, is that sometimes there are changes in the company. There maybe a temporary delay on hiring a position. You don’t know the details but following up if you haven’t heard back from the company reminds them about you and shows that you’re still interested. If the answer ends up being they’ve filled the position you now have an opportunity to ask why you weren’t selected (but be tactful – learn from the experience) and to develop a potential contact for your network.
Following up with people is incredibly important not only in searching for a job but also in your day-to-day life. I’ve seen its benefits over and over again as I’m sure most readers have. Remember to follow up with the people who are considering you for a job. In my opinion: you should send a quick thank you note at a bare minimum.
Thanks for following along with the Job Search Series; I hope it’s been beneficial for those of you out there looking for work. If you have any comments or feedback please pass it along, these have been based off of my experiences and I’d be interested in hearing what you’ve encountered.
