Jana Says

Living life from cover to cover

July’s challenge: Cross That Sh&t Off

by Jana 7 Comments

How’d the use that sh&t up challenge work out for you? I did great! I didn’t buy any new lip gloss, lip balm or any of their relatives. I need to, particularly in the lip gloss category, and I’ve decided that instead of just bringing the new stuff in to add to the collection, I’m going purge the older stuff, too (did you know that Body Shop lip balm has an expiration date? Neither did I).  Not only will it make me seem like less of a lip product hoarder but they’ll be some justification as to why I buy something new.

Except this time, given how infrequently I go places that would implore me to wear lip gloss, I’ll only buy one color. Maybe 2. Definitely not more than 3.

I don’t know about you but I kind of liked having a challenge to work on during the month. It forced me to think about what I was doing in one area and then, by extension, made me more conscious of other areas of my life. I need that.

To keep the momentum going I’m instituting a monthly challenge here on DMS. On the first Monday of every month, I’ll issue a new challenge not only for myself but encourage you to join along. You can discuss your challenge in the comments, on your blog, on the DMS Facebook page5, or keep it to yourself and work on it privately (I totally respect if you choose this method). You can also ignore it, too, and just be a voyeur towards my progress. That’s cool.

someecards.com - Let's see... What else should I put on my to-do-but-probably-wont list.
Punctuation error is not mine. Also on my to-do list: correct everyone’s grammar.

By now you might be wondering just what is July’s challenge? This month, I, along with you, will complete items on our to-do lists that we’ve been avoiding for whatever reason. The big item I’m working on this month is a book proposal, of which I have written approximately zero words. I know exactly why I haven’t and I need to get over it (I have a fear of success. We’ll talk about that on Wednesday). That’s what I plan on doing this month.

If you don’t have a neglected to-do list item, you can do any of the following:

  • Automate your savings or balance your checkbook or any other tedious financial task.
  • Do something that makes you uncomfortable. Take a group exercise class or join On Target Coach’s Winners Wake Up Early challenge. I know waking up at 5 AM makes me incredibly uncomfortable.
  • Try something you wouldn’t try under different circumstances. My friend Martin (of Studenomics) also writes a fitness site, Kettlebell Rebels, and he has a number of great ideas.
  • Contact a blogger whose site you like and would love to guest post on. Ask if you can. (I need to do this along with the book proposal).
  • Clean out a room or closet in your house that scares you and you know that and you’ve been not cleaning it out on purpose but it looks like Monica’s closet and you have to so you don’t die the next time you open it.
  • Get rid of a friend who treats your poorly or just isn’t a good friend but you’ve been hanging on the friendship even though it drags you down because it’s easier (Item #3 on my list this month).
  • Anything else you can think of that you need to do but haven’t.

This challenge is definitely harder than last month’s and it’s that way on purpose. I feel like if I can tackle these items, it’ll get my momentum going for bigger—and smaller—challenges.

So, are you in? What are you going to cross of your list this month?

Succeed like a 6 year old

by Jana 7 Comments

A few weeks ago, I wrote a handy guide of tips for sucking at life. I hope you bookmarked it, shared it, or gave it to a friend with a dream. A lifelong dream that, with hard work, time, and effort, is entirely possible to achieve. A lifelong dream that instead of flourishing, rots because she insists on doing nothing but sit on her couch, spending hours watching TV or browsing Facebook, making excuses for why she simply cannot do any of the work required to reach her goal. A lifelong dream that’s dies because she’d rather wallow in unhappiness and misery and the sense of feeling unfulfilled than spend even 30 minutes per week working on her dream.

I wrote that guide for people like your friend because I wanted her to realize that it’s not the world’s fault she hasn’t succeeded. I wanted her to know it’s her fault. But then I realized that pointing out her shortcomings, while somewhat helpful, is only half the story. People like your friend need the other half; they need to know what rules to follow to be successful. So I decided to help them out once again (because I’m nice like that).

This time, I’ve compiled a list of steps/rules/whatever that will point them in the right direction. Things that are so simple even my 6 year old knows them.

success

Stop asking for money!: 4 questions for managing charity exhaustion

by Jana 7 Comments

Shit like this drives me crazy, too.
Shit like this drives me crazy, too.

A few weeks ago, I attempted to do an online fundraiser for two organizations that I felt were deserving: The Brooke Jackman Foundation and The Red Cross. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say this: It tanked. Badly.

Once I realized that the fundraiser flopped, I pulled it from DMS and have spent many hours trying to figure out what went wrong. I have many ideas. But one idea that I keep coming back to is the fact that most people, myself included, are exhausted from being asked for money. After all, it’s everywhere. At your kids’ schools. At your religious institution of choice. In front of the supermarket. At the airport. At the checkout line at pretty much every store you ever buy anything from. At the gym. On Facebook.

The donation invasion is everywhere. You can’t escape it.

I wrote about a similar topic before, how the charity creep can affect your holidays, but this is something broader. This is the fact that it’s almost impossible to conduct normal, mundane, routine acts of life (like driving a car or buying shampoo) without being inundated with requests for money. And, if you’re like me, I don’t care about having my name written on a shoe or a heart or a four leaf clover and having it proudly displayed for all the world to see. What I do care about is to not being asked for money everywhere I go and then looked at like a total piece of shit when I say no.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

However, realizing that I can only control my actions and not the actions of others, here’s a few I ask to make sure that I don’t respond affirmatively to every request for money:

  • Is it something I’m going to use anyway? Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a great example of this. With so many product lines donating a portion of their sales to the organization, I will spend a few extra cents to buy a product that supports it. I do this particularly with water ice (like Italian ice, only not as good). Our local chain has a lemonade flavor every summer that’s on the menu to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. So, if my daughter wants lemon, that’s the flavor I buy her.  She’s getting the water ice anyway; might as well do a bit of good with the purchase.
  • Will I get something out of it? I’ll contribute a few dollars to a raffle, particularly if there’s a chance I can win a decent prize. I’ll buy entry into a walkathon or Zumbathon because I’ll get to exercise and network at the same time. I’ll buy tickets to an event because I know I’ll have some fun.  It may sound selfish, but if I can’t see where my money’s going or how it’s being used, I want to get something out of my contribution. Remember that conversation between Joey and Phoebe on Friends about how there are no selfless good deeds? Yeah, I agree with Joey.
  • Is it a cause I believe in? It’s hard to say that one cause is more important or more valuable than another. But if I were to give a dollar or two to every cause that I’m asked to help, the charitable giving line item in my budget would equal that of my mortgage.  I can’t afford that. Maybe one day, but not this day. So to keep my charitable giving at a level I can afford, I have to assess if the cause is something I believe in or if the organization is one that I support (because there are a number or shady charities out there).
  • How do they solicit my money? Are they walking up and down the street with a boot, going up to car windows and sticking the boot in the driver’s face? Are they bugging me in the middle of dinner (try reading that sentence without singing Alanis Morissette), pretending we’re BFFs, asking me for cash? Is the unenthusiastic cashier asking me to tack on an extra dollar or two to my purchase? Are they sending me an email or a mailing explaining specifically what they’re raising money for? Is there a website I can use to make an anonymous donation? The tactics behind how money is solicited makes a huge difference in whether or not I’m going to donate.

Please don’t get me wrong. I fully support charitable giving and do so when I can via a means (and an amount) convenient to me. I just don’t appreciate when I’m guilted into giving or made to feel like I’m scum because I choose to take my donations elsewhere.

However, sometimes there are generous people out there who want to give you stuff and you don’t have to spend a ton of money. You just have to do something simple (such as liking DMS on Facebook) in order to gain entry into a raffle that could net you an iPad mini . That’s what Jackie at The Debt Myth is doing to celebrate the launch of her updated Pay Off Debt app (you could win a copy of this, too).  To enter the contest, just follow the directions below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday thoughts: Making good financial choices

by Jana 17 Comments

someecards.com - If I'm constantly asking myself Today is my birthday. And on my birthday, I like to take some time to reflect not only on the past year but also on the path (progression, track, whatever) my life has taken. I think a little introspection is good for the soul and it’s an exercise I highly recommend.

For my self-reflective exercise this year, I chose to focus on some of the good financial decisions I’ve made over the years that have enabled me to leave full-time employment, conquer my fear of self-employment (well, sort of conquer. I’ve at least showed up to the battle), and get to a place where, although my income is pretty low, my happiness quotient is higher than it’s been in a long, long time.

Worked crappy jobs

I think it’s character building to work a crappy job or two. And I’ve certainly had my share, particularly in college when I worked a video store (yes, I’m old enough to have actually held a job in a video store), a daycare, an afterschool program and one painful, horrible month over one summer at a gadgets store in the mall. Let’s not forget the $100 paycheck job I had in high school, either. Although the pay was low, I learned so much and developed so many soft skills (showing up on time, getting along with co-workers, customer service, how to quit politely, stuff like that) that have been so valuable to me in my adult life.

Those crappy jobs also taught me the value of working hard to earn money and the joy I felt when I got those paychecks, knowing that I earned them, made me feel pretty damn accomplished.

Learned to budget

While on the surface, it looks like I learned how to live on a budget in college and grad school, the credit card debt I accumulated tells another story. However, in my post-graduate school years (okay, fine. Post-20s if we’re going to be really specific), I took it upon myself to really learn how to budget. Without the help of credit cards when the cash from my paycheck couldn’t cover what I wanted. When I learned to budget, I actually took the money that I earned, along with my husband’s income, and made our expenses match that money. With some leftover, too!

Living on a budget has made me more comfortable, financially, than I’ve ever been.

Paid of my credit card debt

Being consumer debt free is the best thing I’ve ever done for my finances. Without a doubt. I don’t think I even need to explain why.

Went to graduate school

When I was on the verge of graduating college, I genuinely didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to do it. So I made a decision that I would apply to grad school, but only one program. I told myself that if I got in, with a scholarship and a job, I would go. And I did. With both criteria I wanted. So I went. And I am incredibly glad that I did. Although I didn’t necessarily work in the field I have my Master’s in (Urban Affairs and Public Policy. I know, I know shit! Surprising, right?), the skills that I learned not only made me a more useful employee in a number of my post-graduate jobs (including founding and running Bloggers Helping Bloggers) but I was also able to command a higher salary. And my MA is the reason I have my part-time teaching job.

Graduating with no student loan debt, combined with the extra earnings post-school, has had a significant impact on my overall financial situation.

This post was originally intended to discuss my money regrets. I do have some of those, like getting into credit card debt in the first place, taking a government job over a job at consulting firm upon graduation from grad school (I’ve been debating this as a post. What do you all think?), not studying abroad in either graduate school or undergraduate, and buying a house way too quickly after getting married. I’m sure there’s a few more that my old age is making me forget.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that all of those decisions shaped the person I am now. And if that’s the case, are they really regrets? I think that’s up for debate. For now, though, we can focus on all the good choices I’ve made.

Because it’s my birthday and I say so.

 

June challenge: Use that sh&t up

by Jana 19 Comments

If you guessed from my spending freeze experiment that I like a good challenge, you’re right. I like to see what I can do when I really focus and try. I also think that challenges are good ways to work on changing bad habits, whether you’re looking to stop smoking, start exercising, reduce your weekly alcohol consumption, or eliminate frivolous, unnecessary spending.

It’s this last one we’re going to focus on for this special June challenge.

One thing I’ve learned is that I might have a problem buying things I think I need without actually checking to see if, in fact, I really need them. I’m not talking about conscious stockpiling. I’m talking about thinking I need lip balm every time I go shopping and wind up with 10 different types of it (note: I have a moderate addiction to lip balm. Even when I know I have enough, I still buy more if I think I’ll like the flavor, scent, or consistency. And, for the record, Bonne Belle Dr. Pepper has the best of all 3). Here’s just what I found in my room. I didn’t even look in my purse or include lipstick or my fancy lip gloss:

lip balm
No one needs this much.

Some people do this with craft supplies or nail polish or food or clothes or kids’ toys or hair accessories or golf tees…you get the point. There’s a lot of unnecessary spending and accumulation going on.

But I don’t want you to fall into this trap. Or, if you’re in it, I want to help you out. To make that happen, here’s what I’d like you to do. Please:

Go through your house, focusing on the items that you believe you spend too much unnecessary money purchasing. Note exactly how many of said items you have. Based on that amount, ask yourself if you need to buy any more that item this month (Not want. Need.) If the answer is no, commit to not spending any money on just that thing for the entire month of June. Then, when you come back from shopping trip having not spent money on that item, put the money in a savings jar (envelope, piggy bank, shoe, coffee can under your porch…whatever you’d like). At the end of the month, add up how much money you’ve saved just by using what’s already in your house.

Then, treat yo’self (financially, of course). It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, either. Use the saved money to make an extra payment on your debt. Or contribute it to a savings account. Or start an emergency fund. Or use it as another step towards achieving any financial goal you might have. Just put it towards something productive and positive.

This is not a spending freeze. It’s simply a challenge to use what’s already in your house. You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save when you just use that shit up. Because I don’t care how much money you have, there’s no need to keep wasting money on a collection of products that’s so vast you’ll never get around to using all of them before they expire.

Are you in? I hope so!

P.S.I’ll be talking about the challenge on Facebook, so if you’re not already a DMS fan, please like and join us! I want to hear about your progress!

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