Jana Says

Married people need side hustles too

March 2, 2012 by Jana 17 Comments

(Before reading the post, read the title again but this time, sing it to Samantha Fox’s “Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)”. Makes it better, right?)

The Single Saver recently wrote a post that discussed why single people need a side hustle. I totally agree with her. Having that extra income does make numerous situations facing single people significantly easier. But I need to add that married people need a side hustle, too.

As one half of a married couple, I’m the first one to admit that married people, overall, have an easier time financially. If both partners are employed, that’s double the income which means more money to cover the bills that single people generally have to absorb on their own. And, if the couple can manage to avoid the lifestyle creep that tends to happen with increased income, it is possible for a family to live on one income and save the other (this hasn’t happened in my house but from what I understand, it can happen). These certainly give a married couple a significant benefit over a single person.

However, married couples do face similar challenges of single people. Married couples still need to pay bills and eat and save. We still need to pay a mortgage or rent. We still have pets and kids to take care of (well, some of us do). But even more than that, having side hustles helps married couples in a number of ways:

Debt repayment. Two people sometimes means double the debt, either individual debt that’s brought into a relationship or debt that was accumulated together. In my relationship, we had both. We each entered the marriage with our own debt and then accumulated even more together. The fact that both of us had part-time jobs enabled us to pay down our individual and collective debt that much faster.
Disposable income. At the beginning of our marriage, and for many years afterwards, we had very little income to go around. Almost everything we earned went straight to our debt repayment as well as our normal monthly bills. Every once and while, we’d work an odd job that we designated as our fun money. We’d use it to treat ourselves to a movie or to dinner. Now that we’re pretty much consumer debt free, it’s nice to have that extra income to put towards savings or retirement.
Income insurance. Not in the sense of car insurance or homeowner’s insurance but insurance in the event that one person loses his (or her) full-time job for whatever reason (layoff, medical reason, injury). For instance, if my husband were to lose his job, he still has his part-time job that provides a decent amount of income. The additional income that he brings in would soften the blow of losing his full-time income.
Death. Spouses die. It’s a fact. If a spouse dies, expectedly or unexpectedly, the financial consequences can be damaging (this is also why life insurance is so important and I’m yet again reminded that I really need to get some) especially if the spouse that dies is the higher income earner. That extra income can help offset the financial stress.
Relationship problems. Speaking from experience, spouses cheat. There is nothing worse than the feeling that you can’t leave a relationship that you are unhappy with because you can’t afford it. By having a side hustle, or part-time job, it’s possible to build up a savings account or have the extra income necessary to leave. I don’t necessarily advocate this as an option but sometimes, a relationship cannot be salvaged. Having the financial means to terminate the relationship provides necessary peace of mind.

As The Single Saver points out, side hustles and part-time income are not intended to replace full-time income; they are merely a supplement. But sometimes that supplemental income can provide a vital lifeline in extenuating, and not so extenuating, circumstances.

Readers: If you’re married or in a relationship, what do you think of having a side hustle or part-time job? Do you have one? How do you use the money?

Sleepaway camp: Not quite a need. But worth the money.

March 1, 2012 by Jana 23 Comments

Recently, my friend Nick went on a ~~tirade~~ rant about how he doesn’t understand why so many people in his area consider sleepaway camp a necessity. As a former camper, I was a little upset at his choice of words. It’s hard to explain to someone who’s never been to sleepaway camp why it’s so important, or why so many people consider it a necessity, but I’m going to give it a try.

For those of you not familiar with sleepaway camp, let me explain. Imagine, deep in the woods or mountains (or sometimes both), a small village filled with cabins, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, a lake, maybe a pool, a whole lot of dirt, trees and bugs. Inhabiting that village are hundreds of screaming children, living for 4 to 8 weeks in those cabins, supervised by just as unruly college students. Three times a day, they’re hoarded into a giant holding tank where they’re fed such luxury foods as pizza bagels, somewhat baked chicken (and not always minus the feathers), and sugar flavored water. Sometimes, during those feeding times, a random song or dance will break out (if you’re lucky, those screaming chants will include immense peer pressure to get one camper to kiss another, quick and on the cheek. Ask me how I know this). Sounds horrible, right?

I assure you, it’s not.

There is nothing better than spending 8 weeks living with your friends, away from your parents, learning to do fun things like canoe or sail or make immense amounts of lanyard bracelets. It’s a time where kids who are too shy to try out for the school play can become theater stars or the nonathletic to participate on a sports team. It’s a place where girls who never get asked on dates always have a boyfriend (ask me how I know this). It’s an atmosphere that allows you to be who you really are and have people accept you for it. It’s a place, truly, where self-esteem is built and it provides an escape from a life that many kids desperately need an escape from. To me, you can’t put a price tag on that.

But in addition to the self-esteem building, there are plenty of other skills that kids learn at sleepaway camp (none of them involving late night raids, practical jokes or stealthily avoiding mandatory activities. Ask me how I know this). For instance, camp is where I learned the true importance of living in a clean house. Nothing says “clean this shit up” like the possibility of a chipmunk, raccoon, squirrel or various 6-8 legged creatures showing up to invade your stuff. I learned how to be organized because when you have 4 shelves for your clothes, ½ a shelf for your toiletries (for a 15 year old girl, ½ a shelf is not at all adequate) and you’re too afraid to store stuff under your bunk bed, you maximize and organize what you do have. I learned that there are consequences for showing up late and sometimes, rewards for showing up early. I also learned that hot water is in limited supply and that showing up late to the shower means an impossibly cold, unpleasant shower (due to this, I can take a complete shower, including shaving my legs, in under 5 minutes. TMI? Possibly. Completely true? Absolutely).

That’s not all. When you spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the same people, you learn how to independently and quickly solve problems as well as let grudges go. In the same vein, you learn that you’re not going to get along with everyone, and that’s fine, but sometimes you’re still going to have to spend time together and you better not complain about it. You also learn that there is a whole world out there besides the small town you come from. Many summer camps employ counselors from other countries and let me tell you, that was pretty awesome. To this day, my favorite accent is that of a New Zealander and it’s all thanks to my counselor Natalie.

I guess, to answer Nick’s concern, sleepaway camp isn’t necessarily a need. Kids do survive just fine without it. But it’s not as big of a waste as it seems to be. Sure you may spend your days doing arts and crafts or playing soccer and your nights participating in talent shows and other ridiculous activities, but when all is said and done, sleepaway camp provides a lot of value to the campers. Many of the skills I have as an adult are either directly or indirectly related to what I learned at camp.

Plus, it’s just damn fun. I enjoyed the hell out of the summers I spent at my sleepaway camp. They are some of the fondest memories I have from my childhood, and if my daughter ever wants to go, I have no problem coming up with the money to send her. It may not be a life or death need but what she’ll gain from going will be worth every penny spent.

Money Tune Tuesday: Why Don’t You Get A Job?

February 28, 2012 by Jana 13 Comments

I have been wanting to use this song for months but for some reason, I couldn’t find the video. But victory is mine! I’ve found it!

Though I’ve never actually said this to anyone, there have been plenty of times I’ve seen able bodied people refuse to work for…whatever reason. Seriously, take your pick of reasons: can’t find a management position, don’t want to lose food stamps, forgot to apply, have no way of getting there, there’s nothing available…the list goes on. And on. And on. It’s a frightening side effect of working in social services.

I’m sure I’m not the only one in that position. What’s the worst reason you’ve ever heard for someone refusing to work? Leave it in the comments below!

While you’re thinking, enjoy this video of The Offspring’s “Why Don’t You Get a Job”:

Being a mother does not need a salary. Stop giving us one.

February 27, 2012 by Jana 38 Comments

It’s not often that I get fired up about any particular topic. But when I do, I fly hot. So sit back and hold on because this is one of those times. Note: I am fully prepared for some of you to disagree with me. That is fine. I welcome dissenting opinions. But please be respectful. Any personal attacks, threats, or nastiness that goes above and beyond common social courtesy and decency will be deleted.

I hate blog posts that break down the value of a stay at home mom (or working moms, though working moms usually get part-time salaries). I hate them for many reasons. First of all, all of those jobs that are used (chauffeur, doctor, personal chef, psychiatrist, etc)? Are bullshit. They are all part and parcel of being a mom and to break them down into separate components essentially eliminates the role of a mother. Why do writers feel the need to compartmentalize the complex and sophisticated job of a mother in order to attach a dollar figure? It’s ridiculous.

How do they even come up with these job titles anyway? Do they sit down and think about everything that they believe a mom should be doing in her day and equate some random profession to it? Do they have a master list that they use and think “Hmm. This could fit. Let’s add that!” And the salaries that they attach to some of the “jobs” are just as insane as assigning the job titles. “Mom” is enough of a title; just that word alone conjures up a specific job description. There’s no need to assign anything else to it.

And while we’re on the subject of money, why does the title of mom even need a salary? Speaking as a mother, being someone’s mother cannot be attached to any sort of salary. There is no way I can put a price tag on the look my daughter gives me when she says “I love you, Mommy” or the time we spend reading books, playing games or even arguing about her going to bed. How can you quantify something that is not quantifiable? I don’t care how many “finance experts” tell me that when I’m talking to my daughter about a problem with her friend, I’m acting as a psychiatrist. I’m not. I don’t charge her by the minute or make her lie down on the couch. No, I sit there and listen to her and I don’t expect any sort of financial compensation in return. Why? I’m her mother. That’s what I’m supposed to do.

Let’s move on from the money aspect for a moment. I may be completely oversensitive (which is actually true) but I find those types of posts to be a slap in the face to working moms. A mother who works outside the home is no less valuable to her family than a mother who stays home. Working in an office or store or in a courtroom or wherever does not make those moms exempt from cooking, cleaning/laundry, helping with homework, driving kids to activities. They still do all of those things for their kids, they just do them in a more compressed time frame. Sometimes, just sometimes , maybe working moms understand what precious few hours they have with their kids and use that for quality time rather than taking advantage of it. How is that not valuable to their families? (And, yes, I know a lot of SAHMs who spend way less quality time with their kids than working moms as well as the other way around.)

But I think what really fires me up the most is the fact that when bloggers and finance experts write those kinds of posts, it deepens the already large divide between working moms and SAHMs. I am convinced that the media-created “Mommy Wars” were constructed to sell books and make for good headlines. The Mommy Wars does nothing but fuel jealousy and competitiveness amongst women. We already do that enough to ourselves. Why do we need the media manufacturing something else to make it worse? We don’t, and I wish a lot of these people would back off. Because no one wins. No matter what, some moms are going to feel superior and some are going to feel guilty.I’m tired of women having to feel like they have to explain whatever decision they’ve made and I’m even more disgusted with the shame that is often attached to those decisions. Why is that? It’s wrong and it’s sickening. No one should ever have to defend her choice and what’s best for her family to anyone else.

Like in the 1% vs. 99% debate, neither side is completely right. Every woman has to choose what works best for her family. If that means staying home, great! If that means working outside the home, great! But for finance writers and bloggers to quantify, or assign a salary to, the job of mother (SAHM or working) is wrong and insulting. Because no matter what, we all add value to our families in ways that go beyond dollar signs.

Got $25 Dollars Spare? Do Some Good!

February 27, 2012 by Jana Leave a Comment

The following is a guest post.

If you’ve heard of mico-financing I won’t bore you, but I for one think that more people need to do it, so let me say this; $25 dollars may not seem like peanuts in today’s economic turmoil, but if you could lend the money to someone in poverty, who could use it to change their life for the better, wouldn’t you want to do that? That’s exactly what the non-profit organisation Kiva helps to make happen.

Kiva started off as a small project to connect people through lending with the aim of alleviating poverty, and now it helps to fund money to thousands of borrowers each week. Each of these borrowers lives in poverty and is seeking a loan to help with a project or small business venture. You and I, can then simply go online at kiva.org and lend money to whichever person or project we wish. The minimum you can lend to any individual or group is $25 and you can review borrowers based on repayment term or project type. It really is a fantastically simple way to help those in poverty do life changing things.

If you run a company, or can influence the person who holds the purse strings, you can also help by either lending money (in the same way an individual might) or by donating money and supporting the organisation. A business that’s recently signed up to do this is Guarantor Loans Company, you can visit their site at guarantorloanscompany.co.uk or even look at their lending page on Kiva. If you choose to lend yourself, you’ll get a similar lending page that can be shared with those you know or who want to follow your lending progress.

Just think, if every business or individual who could afford to, committed themselves to lending regular amounts then the world could be a better place.

When it comes to repayments you can either opt to have the money paid back into your account or you can choose to put the money straight back into Kiva, so it can continue to promote the work it’s doing around the world.

If you’ve got a spare $25, why not start lending today and help people around the world change their lives for the better!