Jana Says

Sharing Thursday #4

July 12, 2012 by Jana 3 Comments

I should call this the “I’m not as good at this as I’d like to be edition”. Because really, I’m not very good at this. I’m just glad you all are used to it by now.

It’s not that I don’t try. I want to read more posts. I want to tweet and comment. I want to be more engaged. But in reality, my child refuses to let me. I swear she knows exactly when I’m about to sit down and do those things and that’s when she decides it’s quality mommy/daughter time or she wants to be fed or read to or something else that she clearly thinks is more important than reading blogs. When I’m doing nothing except playing another round of Song Pop or The Oregon Trail? She wants nothing to do with me.

It’s kind of frustrating.

But I’ve found ways to sneak in reading. Like during our mandatory quiet reading time. Or when I just can’t watch her swim underwater for the 80th time that day. Or when I’m waiting for a class to start at the gym. Or at 10:00 at night when she’s finally asleep (which makes the husband a little upset but, well, at this point, no one’s going to be happy). Pretty much anytime she’s not looking. It’s starting to work.

And I’m glad I’ve found ways to sneak in some reading. Because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have read these great posts this week:

How Does the Average Family Budget Compare to Yours? on My Family Finances
Are You Raising Your Kids to be Financially Independent? on Smart on Money
Prepare for the Next Financial Setback: Cut Back Now on Moolanomy
10 Ways to Make Money Without a Job on Living Richly on a Budget
How To Budget When Your Income Changes Each Month on Ready for Zero

I’d also like to thank the host of the the 369th Carnival of Personal Finance, Serendipity, for not only including my post, Find Your One Inch, but for making it one of the editor’s picks (and for those of you surprised that I even remembered to submit to a carnival, well, include me in that category, too).

Money Tune Tuesday: Girl All The Bad Guys Want

July 10, 2012 by Jana 4 Comments

For the purpose of being accurate yet relating to the song, I had to switch genders a bit. You’ll see what I mean.

When my husband and I were in college, we knew a guy (let’s call him Ed. Not his real name) who was horrible with money. I mean really, truly horrible. He was also late on paying bills or never had enough money for bills. He couldn’t hold a job. He borrowed money from everyone, and was the biggest moocher I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. People gave him everything: food, books, homework assignments, rides, their car, their credit card numbers…everything. Because he was such a nice guy, no one wanted to see him in a bad spot. But he always was. Always.

He was a bit of a criminal, too. He got into some trouble running a scam against Sears and then he wracked up a ton of debt in his (now ex) girlfriend’s name. I think there was even an incident where he crashed a car and didn’t tell the owner and never paid for the damage. Ridiculous.

But the icing on the cake was not that everyone forgave him for his financial indiscretions. No, the icing is that this dude had some of the best luck I’ve ever seen. For instance, we once went to Atlantic City. He put a $20 bill into a slot machine, played $1 worth and won $800 (the whole purpose behind playing was to get change. Why he didn’t get it elsewhere still escapes me). Another incident involved him getting into an altercation at a bar; he was injured by a bouncer and won some sort of crazy settlement that sustained him for quite a while. Also ridiculous.

And even though this guy was a financial nightmare, he always had a girlfriend (or two or three. And then an extra girl he was sleeping with). I never figured out why someone so irresponsible and untrustworthy always had girls falling all over him. I guess it’s the whole stereotype that girls like bad guys.

Which segways nicely into today’s Money Tune, Bowling For Soup’s Girl All The Bad Guys Want. Enjoy!

I did something big

July 9, 2012 by Jana 38 Comments

Last week, I did something I never thought I’d do. I quit my job.

Let me explain why.

To say that my job didn’t contribute to my mental health issues would be a lie. Why? Because for the last 10 years, I have seen nothing but some of the worst humanity has to offer. After a while, it starts to take its toll on you. Not only that, I started to realize I could no longer function in such a rigid environment as a government job demands. It’s just not for me, and it was starting to bleed over into other parts of my life. Which really is not good.

So, despite the fact that not every aspect of the job was horrible, I did what I needed to do and let it go.

Before I made the decision, I analyzed every single possible consequence. After waffling back and forth for weeks, engaging in ridiculously long conversations with my husband and therapist, and staying awake many nights stressing about whether or not this was the right thing to do, I came to 4 conclusions that led to my decision. These conclusions solidified that I was making the right choice, and I bit the bullet and resigned my position.

I’ll admit that everyone has a different thought process and what I used to make my decision might not be what someone else would use. But it worked for me, and I thought I’d let you in on what goes through my head in times of big, life altering decisions. These were my guiding principles:

Finances

This where I was most stressed. After years of paying down debt, my husband and I were finally in a position to start catching up, getting ahead, and having a bit of fun with our money. Losing my salary would mean going back to living on a tight budget, watching our frivolous expenditures, and perhaps putting off or readjusting our goals for certain things (like buying a new house). But there were two elements we were overlooking: we had enough to meet all of our necessities just with his salary and in the long run, happiness means more than money (provided our basic needs were met). Yes, it’s going to be a tough adjustment but one that we were both willing to make. It helps that I have a stable part time job that will fill in a lot of the gaps.

We also realized, probably for the first time, just what having no consumer debt means. It means options. And options? Are nice.

Support system

I’m not really one who cares what strangers think of me and my choices. However, I do care deeply about what my family and friends think. It’s not so much that I want them to agree with me; I just want them to support me, even if they believe what I’m doing is horribly stupid. In this respect, I am so fortunate. I have an amazing support system. Everyone I talked to encouraged me to do what I thought was best for me and my family, and many of them even believe I have the ability to make a living doing what I want to do (and have wanted to do my entire life). I would not have had the courage to go through with leaving my nice, secure job if I didn’t have a virtual army of friends and family in my corner. These are the people I know I can cry to, brag to, and lay out all of my rampant insecurities and they’ll be there, picking me up, cheering for me, and celebrating along with me.

This is just as important as having your finances in order.

Short and long term goals

I couldn’t start this new part of my life without any goals. I didn’t want to spend the next few years floundering about, trying to figure out what to do next. Fortunately, I left my job with a purpose. And that purpose is to try to make a living as…a writer. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and in order to make it happen, I had to set both short and long term goals. So I did that. I mapped out exactly what I want to see happen in the next month, six months, year, and three years. Not only that, but I have been conducting painstaking research on getting a book published (you know, since I’m writing a book), setting metrics goals for DMS, establishing a writing schedule, and pretty much organizing myself as much as possible so that I can begin working on my goals.

Goals are crucial to me. They give me a something to work towards and since I hate failing, they push me to work even harder. That is not to say my goals are set in stone. They evolve as I evolve and sometimes, I even change my mind. But I always have goals.

No regrets

In my 35 years, there are only a handful of choices that I regret. And while I try not to focus on that regret and instead try to focus on what I’ve gained by not making those choices, I can’t help but wonder what my life would be like if I had made those other choices (kind of like the whole Sliding Doors concept). I didn’t want a career as a writer to fall into the “what if” category. I need to know if I can do it. And if I can’t, and it needs to remain a hobby, at least I know. But at least I can say that I tried. And I’d rather have tried and failed than spend the rest of my life regretting that I never bothered to try.

What now?

I’m terrified of this next phase of my life. Like really, really terrified. I’m not good at self-promotion and I get writer’s block. I’m scared that we’re not going to be able to pay our bills. I’m petrified that I’ll never find a job or make a dime as a writer. I have insomnia from worrying that people hate my writing and will never want to read a word I write, which really makes this whole venture pretty futile. But I know that my fears are normal (well, most of them). I know, and hope, that they’re temporary. It’s never easy doing what you feel called to do and trying to live the life you believe you’re meant to instead of the life you’re told is the right one.

But I’ve never been good at being normal. Why start now?

How not to invalidate your car insurance

July 8, 2012 by Jana Leave a Comment

The following is a sponsored guest post

Car insurance is a legal requirement, and if you don’t have it or make a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) declaration then you could be faced with anything from a fine to imprisonment. But that’s not the main reason that people buy car insurance – we normally buy it because the cost of having an accident and having to pay for repairs is often very expensive, and if someone is injured and seeks compensation then the cost would increase exponentially.

Yes, we buy car insurance in case we have an accident, and then fervently hope that we’ll never have to claim against it. But you could have a policy in place but inadvertently make it invalid by making a silly mistake – and wouldn’t it be gutting to pay for your car insurance and then not be able to claim against your policy?

If your policy is invalid for any reason, then not only will your policy not cover the costs of any accident you might experience, you would also be classed as not having car insurance and face criminal penalties.

There are a few different ways that you could invalidate your car insurance without intending to. Take note of them and make sure your insurance remains valid!

First up are the obvious ones: driving around without an MOT, and driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs. It’s illegal to drive a car without an MOT; an MOT is proof that your car is roadworthy, and without that proof neither the police nor your insurers would have any reason to believe that your car was indeed roadworthy at the time of any accident. If you drink or take drugs and drive, your insurance would normally pay out for damage caused to someone else’s property or for any personal injury they suffered (on the basis that it would be morally wrong for that innocent person to go without compensation just because of your actions). However, your insurance is very unlikely to pay for damage to you or your car if you were drunk or on drugs at the time of the accident.

Then there are other things that can cause your insurance to become invalid. You know that pre-recorded information they play when you’re on hold to an insurer whilst you’re waiting to speak to someone to take out a policy? Or those online ‘terms and conditions’ that you’re supposed to read before taking out a policy? Well, somewhere in there they tell you that if you don’t tell the insurer the truth about your circumstances or if you don’t mention something relevant, your insurance won’t be valid. Then when they ask you the standard questions about past convictions, past motoring offences and so on, they record your answers.

If you tell them that you have a clean licence and then they later discover that that wasn’t true, your policy will be null and void, even if that particular fib has nothing to do with the accident. That’s because your premium is calculated on the basis of the risk you pose to the insurer (i.e. how likely you are to claim) and if you lie or omit information that could affect that premium, they won’t cover you at all because technically you haven’t been paying the correct premium.

Finally, if you take out a new policy rather than renew your existing one, you will be specifically asked whether your car has any modifications or alterations. If you simply renew your existing insurance, you may forget that you’ve installed a new stereo or added spoilers, and if you have to make a claim you could find that your policy is invalid because that information hasn’t been factored in when calculating your premium.

Find your one inch

July 6, 2012 by Jana 16 Comments

As I’m behind the curve on this whole “I want to be a writer” thing, I have just recently got around to reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It’s an excellent book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is even contemplating doing any sort of writing (yes, blogging counts, too). Anyway, my favorite part of the book thus far is where she discusses the one inch picture frame.

Let me explain.

In one particular chapter, she describes the neuroses that follow most writers, as well as how overcome we can get with our ideas, leaving us paralyzed and unable to start writing even one small word. To combat this, she keeps a one inch picture frame on her desk. When she gets stuck, she looks at it and thinks about writing just enough to fill the space in that frame. It makes the task less daunting and before she knows it, the words start flowing enough to quiet the crazy talk.

Clearly, I love idea. I love it for its simplicity, its genius, its practicality and its application to so many other areas. Especially money.

Like writing, the thought of getting your finances together is overwhelming. You know there are so many places to start and figuring out which part makes for the best beginning fills you with anxiety, dread, fear and self-doubt. There are even the little voices that tell you things like “why bother? You’ll always live paycheck to paycheck” and “debt is just a part of life”. Not exactly productive thoughts (which, incidentally, is what I experience when I start to write). And these thoughts and feelings do exactly what they intend to– they prevent you from doing anything, and you remain stuck.

Stuck sucks. No one likes to be stuck. It’s a terrible place to be. And being stuck only plays into your fears and anxiety that nothing will ever be different. The next time that happens to you, think of the one inch frame. Think of one thing you can do, just one, that will get you started. If you’re not sure of what you can do to start, here are a few ideas:

Create a budget.
List your debts.
Read a finance blog or newspaper article.
Take out a personal finance book from the library.
Balance your checkbook.
Remove your credit card from your wallet.
Open a savings account.
Transfer money into an existing savings account.
Analyze your paycheck.
Start a spending journal.

Remember, whatever you choose to do doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be done. Because once you get over that hurdle of unsticking yourself, you’ll be surprised at how quickly the rest falls into place.

One more thought: don’t let the negative thoughts consume you. That’s what they want. They want you to become so insecure and negative and feel like a failure that you never get anywhere other than where you are. Don’t let that happen. You can conquer your money, debt, bad habits, writer’s block or whatever else is plaguing you.

How can I be so sure? I’m proof.

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