Jana Says

Sharing Saturday #6

January 7, 2012 by Jana 9 Comments

The holidays are over!!! And so is 2011! Like most people, I am ready to take on the new year with intense passion and focus. Since 2011 sucked immensely, I’m optimistic for 2012 (even if the world is supposed to end). I started off on a great note, too, with my Financial Checklists post being picked up by The Consumerist and the launch of Bloggers Give Back (more about that soon). I worked with a designer to create a new logo for Daily Money Shot (which you can see now, and special thanks to my friends Andrea at So Over Debt and Jeff at My Multiple Streams for their extra help). I have some new writing partnerships that are launching this month and I even have an outline for 2 eBooks! Oh, and did I mention that FinCon12 is in Denver and I’m going to Disney World in less than 2 weeks? Yeah, there’s lots of excitement swirling around in my head.

But back to business. You’re here because you desperately want to know what I’m reading. Well, I’m happy to oblige. Here are some of my favorite posts from around the interwebs this week:

Personal finance reads (where I showcase some of my favorite personal finance posts)

My friend Eric at DollarVersity lets us know that Like Tim Tebow, Customers Only Care About Your Results. Now, I’m not a Tebow fan or even a football fan (except for the Dillon Panthers) but Eric draws some great parallels between Tebow and customer satisfaction. And for the record? Go Ravens!

Aloysa from My Broken Coin asks Would You Date a Guy From a Trailer Park? A good question. I’m conflicted on the answer (which you can read in the comments) but it certainly made me think about my own values and prejudices.

MomVesting talks about Money and Relationships: Moving for More Cash. Having been in a situation where I’ve had to balance a job and relationship, her post gives some good pointers on what to think about when you’re offered more money but need to relocate.

Mackenzie from The Random Path shares her experience with Extreme Couponing: The Other Side. I am not a couponer and I have very strong opinions on that trainwreck of a show. Mackenzie talks about what can happpen when you fall head over heels into couponing, and it’s not always pretty.

Lindy from Minting Nickels has returned from vacation (which is good because she’s one of my favorites) and discusses how she Delays ‘N Saves. As a fairly lazy procrastinator myself, I could identify with pretty much everything on her list.

Nonpersonal finance reads (where I showcase some of my favorite nonpersonal finance sites)

Blogging With Amy–I forget how I found this site (it might have been a recommendation from another blogger friend. In fact, I’m sure that it was) but it is one of the best resources available. Almost everything on her site is free and is incredibly useful. You see that Bloggers Give Back button on the side bar? I was able to do that because of Blogging With Amy.

Domesticated-ish–A new site I’ve found thanks to a comment the author, Meg, left here. I love what she has to say, her son is supercute and she’s a relatively new blogger so go give her some love.

The Isle of Man–Kevin, my new Twitter friend, is funny and random and loves movies and stuff. He also loves Bigfoot and came up with New Year’s Resolutions for Celebrities.

My other writing (where I showcase myself or where you can find my staff writing)

Part 3 in my series about online learning at Broke Professionals

My Dining Out Challenge: The Groupon Experience at Dining Out Challenge

Finding Money for Debt Repayment at Go Be Rich

Introducing 52 Ways to Be Richly Reasonable at Richly Reasonable

Using your skills to find part-time income

January 6, 2012 by Jana 9 Comments

My little sister is a dancer. She’s been dancing for pretty much her whole life. It is something she loves and is extremely passionate about. In fact, she’s so passionate about it, it was her minor in college and she was on her school’s dance team for 3 years. Even now, she still takes classes to maintain her skills.

She’s been able to do something else with her love of dance. She’s been able to turn it into a part-time income. When she relocated after college, one of the first things she did was find a dance studio and now, she’s a teacher at that studio. She is also working on a business endeavor that will incorporate her love of dance into her current position at another part-time job (have I mentioned that my sister works full-time, has a part-time job, goes to grad school and has an active social life? Yeah, she’s awesome). For her, dance is a skill she’s been able to maintain and turn into a money making side gig.

There’s a lesson in my sister’s story: if you have a skill, it’s possible to use it and parlay it into a part-time (or even full-time) job. This is especially important if you’re looking for a way to increase your income for savings, debt repayment, or if you’re saving up for a ridiculous kitchen renovation. It’s also a counterpoint to the argument “there are no jobs”. I agree; it’s way harder to find a job now than it was several years ago. So, as talented, skillful, creative people, I encourage you to go out and make your own job.

You might be wondering if I have any ideas or suggestions for skills or talents that can be turned into a part-time job. It just so happens that I do. Here are a few:

Music. If you can play an instrument or sing, you can have a part-time job. I had a friend in graduate school who taught piano lessons to supplement our meager stipend and my guitar teacher also had a day job. If you prefer not to give lessons, you can form a band and play various gigs. I have a friend who is a nurse by trade but is also the singer in a band. While the gigs may not make a fortune, people do buy their t-shirts and CDs and they do make money off of that. This is going to take some hustling and some self-promotion but it’s not impossible.
Education. If you are a teacher, you can offer your services as a tutor, either freelance or through a company. I believe there are also online tutoring sites. You can get a part-time job teaching religious classes (if that is in line with your beliefs, of course); my mom used to do this. For extra money, she taught Hebrew school classes at her temple. My only caution for tutoring through a company is to pay attention to how much the company charges the clients versus how much you get paid. If you’re getting screwed, you might want to think about branching out on your own.
Sports. There are opportunities abound for those graced with athletic ability. In my area, the school districts and sometimes even the local community colleges are always looking for coaches. I have a co-worker that umpires baseball games and a friend who is a soccer referee. My YMCA uses part-time staff to teach their group classes. My husband’s cousin was a lifeguard. Some of these options may involve a few dollars of investment in gear or certification, but the earning potential outweighs the upfront cost.
Art. I know several people who have been able to earn part-time income from their craftiness. One woman started a handmade purse business and another would make one of kind picture frames. They would sell their wares on Etsy or at craft shows or home shows, and were able to turn a profit. Other ways you can make money through your craftiness is to teach classes either at a local community center or YMCA or even at in-home parties. I’m sure there’s a market for kids’ birthday parties in there, too.
Cooking. If you have a talent for baking or cooking, you can sell homemade goods or start a birthday/wedding cake business. You can teach cooking classes. Offer to cater small scale events. If you have a full-time job, this is a great place to start to drum up business. And think creatively. Locally, there is a company that makes gourmet pet treats. It was a business that started in one of the owners’ kitchens. They peddled their goods and eventually landed an exclusive contract with the largest local pet store chain.

If you’re serious about any of these, make sure you do the research regarding business licenses, taxes, certifications—anything that may be potentially related to starting your own business (should you go that route). You don’t want to be faced with any problems that might crop up, wiping out all that you’ve saved.

I believe that even in the current economic climate (whatever that actually means), it’s possible to save money and get out of debt. I may be overly optimistic but I think that people need a dose of optimism. I look at it this way–even if you fail, you’ll still learn some lessons. And that’s not really failing.

What skills have you been able to use to create part-time income?

How do you get gazelle when you have nothing to sell?

January 4, 2012 by Jana 31 Comments

When my husband and I were paying off our debt, we followed Dave Ramsey’s plan. For us, it was the simplest and easiest not only to understand but to follow. His plan worked in our life on almost every level. We bought into the idea of the baby steps, the debt snowball and even getting gazelle intense. Except our gazelle intensity wasn’t so much that of a true gazelle, but more of a hungover gazelle. We still moved fast but you could tell there was something a little sluggish about us.

Part of the reason we were a little slow was that we tried to save and pay down debt at the same time. This is really hard to do, but for us it was a necessity. We are in our thirties and are substantially behind in our savings. We had some ground to cover and if it meant throwing $100 or so every month to savings instead of towards debt, then so be it. Truth be told, it was a stupid decision and I don’t recommend it. Focus on one thing at a time. Follow the order of the baby steps. They’re listed that way for a reason.

Another reason we were a little slow is due to the fact that we didn’t have many every day expenses to cut. When we decide that we’re going to get all gazelle in paying off debt, one of the first places we go is to our daily vices and habits. Those small changes add up to big debt snowflakes. However, my husband and I were already packing our lunches every day, we didn’t drink coffee, we didn’t smoke, we didn’t gamble (for the record, we still don’t) and we used the library or Netflix for almost everything else (for the record, we still do). If we bought from iTunes, it was from a gift card. We needed high-speed Internet for our part-time jobs, so cutting that wasn’t even on the table. There were some days I wished for a habit just so I would have something to cut back on and somewhere to find extra money. Those were dark days.

The third reason is that we didn’t have much to sell. Some people are excellent at selling their things. I am not one of those people. For starters, I always forget about our neighborhood garage sale and I don’t have enough initiative to hold my own. Second, I’m too lazy to get organized enough to participate (this would also imply that I am organized). Third, we just don’t have a lot to get rid of. Yes, there’s baby clothes and toys and a treadmill that I’d be happy to let go of but other than that, there’s not that much. I never thought that for the amount we have to sell, it was worth it. So we never bothered to sell anything. I’m not sure that our debt repayment suffered and it was a lot slower than it needed to be.

That’s probably the biggest sticking point for me. When you start reading Dave’s book (we never took his class), he recommends that you sell whatever you can in order to build your $1K emergency fund. While there are other ways he suggests, this is the most common because it’s the easiest. When we took a look around and realized that short of selling the dogs, we had nothing, we felt hopeless. We seriously didn’t know where to start. How do you get gazelle when you have nothing to sell? Or you have no habits to break?

The quick answer? You don’t. The long answer? You do whatever you can and cut wherever you can to make up for the fact that you have nothing to sell. You don’t bother to dwell on it and you move on. If you focus on what you can’t do, you forget about the things you can do. That’s a huge hindrance and deterrent. If you’ve already developed the motivation to knock out your debt, the last thing you need is to focus on what’s holding you back from getting started. Find one place to cut or cash in your change jar. Use that extra money and just get started. You’ll be surprised at how quickly it starts to roll once you finally push go.

As for us, we eventually both landed part-time jobs which more than made up for the lack of anything to sell. On the bright side, it made us realize that we’re not packrats or hoarders. It also made us realize that when we move, packing is going to be pretty easy. That was good to learn. But if you’re like we were, and you have nothing to sell or any habits to get rid of to kick off your gazelle intensity, don’t worry. You’ll find somewhere to come up with the extra money. In the meantime, you can hang out in the lounge with the rest of us hungover gazelles. We may be slow, but we’re fun!

Money Tune Tuesday: Lowlife

January 3, 2012 by Jana 8 Comments

Normally I try to provide a witty story or insightful comments before I present a money tune. This is not the case today. Today, the only thing I have to say is that for some reason, I am drawn to bands from Canada and Theory of a Deadman is one of them. The song I picked for today’s money tune, “Lowlife”, is just freaking awesome and the video is even awesomer. See for yourself:

http://youtu.be/29RnY0H7cj4

Financial checklists

January 2, 2012 by Jana 34 Comments

I am a fan of lists. I keep lists for everything—to-dos, grocery shopping, gifts, blog post topics, bills. You name it; I probably have a list for it somewhere. In fact, I love lists so much that the other day my 5-year-old comes out of the bathroom and says “Mommy, we’re out of soap. Put it on your list”. It’s so rampant that even my 5-year-old knows about them.

List are necessary

I must have lists. Normally, I have the attention span of a gnat. One minute, I’ll be happily working on a blog post and then I’ll decide that I need to take a look at my Google reader which leads me to another blog which leads me to the news and so on and so on. You know the board game, Candyland? How you can get all the way to the top and then pull a card that puts you back down at the bottom? My brain follows that same type of nonsensical path to get to the end goal of completing whatever task I’ve been distracted from. Lists bring me back to my starting point. They keep me focused and on target.

My lists also highlight where I’m succeeding and where I’m failing. For instance, if I have a to-do list that involves writing, laundry, cooking, grading papers and running errands, I’m will most likely cross off everything except laundry. So my to-do list for the next day will also have laundry. This pattern will probably repeat for about 4 days until I finally get around to the laundry. I will find every excuse not to do laundry. That is an area where I fail. If it were not for my list (and the mountains range of laundry populating my basement), it would be hard for me to realize this is an area of weakness.

The financial lists

I use the same concept for tracking my finances. I use lists to keep me on target and focused. To do so, I maintain separate lists for all different parts of my finances. For instance, when I was in debt, I had a list of my debts. I keep lists of my savings account, including how much is in each account. I keep lists of my bills, and a separate list of which bills get paid on each payday. The amount of lists that I can generate to keep track of my finances is endless.

I also keep a list of the general aspects of my financial life. This list is a little different. Let me try to explain.There are certain things that every financially responsible person should have. To determine if I have those, I ask myself the question “Do I have _______?” Then I have a checklist for the blank. The checklist looks like this:

A budget
An emergency fund of 3-6 months’ salary (I prefer salary to expenses)
My most recent credit report
Homeowner’s insurance
Car insurance
Life insurance
A will
Retirement savings
College savings for my daughter

Having a list of these financial necessities forces me to look at where I’m succeeding and where I’m coming up short. I used this checklist to determine some of my financial goals for 2012 and it also serves as a reminder that I really, really need to get certain things done.

If you’re interested in creating your own financial checklist, I suggest that you start simply. Ask yourself, what should I have in my financial life? Then make a list of those things. Your list doesn’t have to look like mine. You may not have kids or your kids are grown, so college savings won’t be on your list. Maybe you’re planning on having a baby; you could add “baby fund” to your list. Maybe you aren’t as afraid of death as I am so you put “burial plot” on your list. Other items to add could include:

Pet insurance
A proper business license
A financial advisor
New car savings

The amount of items to add is infinite. Your list can and should include anything you think is important to you and your financial health. This is not a one size fits all approach.

Maintaining the lists

I update my lists about every 6 months, or as necessary. It’s important to me to give myself enough time to work on achieving my tasks and goals without giving myself too much time. Too much time means I won’t get them done; too little time means I’ll berate myself for not getting it done sooner. This is not a healthy relationship so when I’m establishing deadlines, I try to find a happy medium.

Not every item needs regular review. For some of the items, once they’re checked off, it’s just a matter or reviewing the policy or document yearly to make sure that they’re still accurate or appropriate (and yes, “reviewing the document” does go on my list).

I typically keep my lists in my all-purpose notebook (cooks have all-purpose flour, I have an all-purpse notebook). I’ve tried to maintain my lists electronically. The only time this worked was when I was tracking my debt repayment because I’m terrible at math. For the rest, there is just something satisfying about putting a checkmark or crossing something off with a pen that isn’t captured when I do it on my phone.

Now that the new year is upon us, it’s a great time to get your finances organized (if they’re not already). Lists are a great tool to help.

What does your list look like?