Getting ready to shop the upcoming holiday weekend sales? Maybe you’ve already been busy with back to school shopping. Have you ever thought to calculate how many hours of work those dollars spent just cost you? It’s a powerful tool that might make you step back and reevaluate how you shop and what you buy. I’m sure you have an idea of your gross salary, but lets look at what you actually take home after Uncle Sam, health insurance, and your 401k among other things take their share. Go and get your most recent pay stub. It’s in your organized file cabinet, right? Divide your take home pay by the number of hours the paycheck covers. What did you come up with?
Lets say your result is $20 per working hour. So now we’ll apply that to your purchasing power. Your $6 a weekday morning coffee and muffin habit means you have to work an hour and a half to pay for it. The $60 video game, 3 hours. Those must have designer jeans at $200 a pair cost you 10 hours at work. $460 car payment is 23 hours in the office. That one payment is over half a week of a standard 40 hour work week and we still need a place to live and food to eat.
Want another view? Include the hours you spend commuting to and from work and any other work related activities you do outside of the hours that paycheck covers. Sadly, that $20 just dropped even lower. This isn’t a way to shame you into not spending your money, just a tool that might make you think about how hard you really work to make that purchase. Remember it’s not just a dollar amount, but your precious time spent working to earn that dollar.
We all know by now we should be using compact fluorescent light bulbs, unplugging electronics and appliances that aren’t in use, washing our clothes in cold water, and adjusting our thermostats when we aren’t home. These will all help save us money every month on our utility bills and it’s just better for our earth. But what other ways can we be green in our lives and help us keep more money in our pockets?
Some retailers will pay you to recycle! Office Depot and Staples offer a store credit for every ink or toner cartridge you recycle with them. M.A.C. cosmetics will give you a free lipstick when you return 6 of their primary packaging containers. Recyclingforcharities.com allows you to recycle electronics such as cell phones, cameras, and PDAs. You select the charity you want your unused product to benefit and then you can take a tax deduction (assuming you itemize your tax returns).
Another great idea is Freecycle.org where you can find items other people no longer need and get them for free! No, you aren’t going to find a brand new stainless steel fridge, but if you want to try your hand at camping, you can probably find someone who has an old tent lying around that they no longer use. In fact, it’s a great way to help clear out some things you no longer need but are still in usable condition. After all, we want to enjoy life, not just a garage full of clutter.
Does God really care about all of the choices you make? I’m faced with some big decisions right now and am trying to figure out a direction. What do you think? Does God care about all of the decisions you make?
Seriously, I want to know what you think. Where’s the line?
Alright, I’ll admit it: I get some twisted form of guilty pleasure from a few reality shows. Last night I was watching “Dating In The Dark” – ABC’s show about twenty- and thirty-something singles who go on dates in a pitch-black room. At its core this is a social experiment (which is the only way I can attempt to justify watching it – it’s science). The show is trying to answer a timeless question: is love really blind, or does physical attractiveness control everything?
So, naturally my mind wandered into the realm of personal finances.
For those out there who are in engaged to be married, are you dating your spouse-to-be in financial darkness? Do you know how your fiancé behaves with money? If he has debt? If she likes to save money?
What if you’ve been married for awhile? You probably have a very good understanding of your mate’s strengths and weaknesses, but do you know how to handle money together in a productive, intimacy-building way?
When I was doing research for Get Naked: Stripping Down to Money & Marriage, I found a study revealing that 84% of married people cite money as the primary source of tension in their marriages.
There isn’t even a close second.
Whether we are engaged or married, many of the couples in this country are operating in darkness. Either we don’t know about our fiancé’s financial habits, or we don’t know the peace and passion we could be experiencing with our spouse.
The first step is to have a conversation and just talk about what money means to each of you. Prepare for this by reminding yourself to extend grace if you’re learning of habits or financial skeletons you didn’t know about before.
If you’re committed to each other first and foremost, you can work toward a position of unity, which feels as reassuring as finding a light switch in the darkness.
Growing up, I recall my dad regularly saying, “I don’t need much; I can live a Spartan existence.” I was confused by that, because didn’t the Spartans hide in a huge horse and then jump out and attack their enemies? (No, it turns out, those were the Trojans.)
Spartans led a particularly simple lifestyle. They didn’t accumulate much and, aside from the clothes on their backs, could probably count on two hands the material possessions to their names.
One social change researchers are beginning to see take root in the wake of the recession is a return to simplicity among a growing segment of Americans. Not only simplicity in living, but downright purging of stuff. New websites and blogs are popping up all over the place chronicling the journey these Americans have embarked upon in an effort to let go.
Tammy Strobel (www.rowdykittens.com) and her husband have made it a point to live life with no more than 100 personal items. They live in a 400-square foot apartment in Oregon. She owns four plates, three pairs of shoes, and two pots. They got rid of their cars and dumped $30,000 in debt.
Today, Tammy is a freelance writer making just over half of what she used to as a project manager for an investment company. And yet, she and her husband can afford to take trips to visit family and friends, focusing more on building relationships instead of accumulating possessions, because they have very low expenses.
Researchers are studying the impact of these decisions and have found that humans are happiest when involved in strong relationships with others, not when they are spending money. However, when spending money, the greatest levels of happiness are derived from spending on experiences – travel, recreation, leisure – that facilitate the building of strong relationships.
So, if we choose to live like Spartans, it appears we’re choosing a life of simple significance over a life of stuff (including big wooden horses).
I’m not one for fanfare and my wife will tell you God has to work a miracle in order for me to go to the doctor. When the mirror told me this was the kind of day I was going to have, I knew I had to do something.
Turns out I had poison ivy…in my bloodstream. Poison ivy spreads by contact with an oil from the plant. Since it was in my blood, I didn’t even have to scratch my body and it would pop up. Yeah, not fun, right?
I was actually smiling in this photo by the way. I was so swollen though, I couldn’t make my face do more than this.
I saw the doctor right away that morning and was back to talking with clients (on the phone) that afternoon. I even ended up hosting this episode of Coach Radio from my bedroom. (Boy, I just realized I may have shared too much about poison ivy in that show. Sorry).
So now I’m back to normal and thinking this situation is similar to life; at least my life at times.
I started a business in 2006 and didn’t know what I was doing. It took me 12 months to reach out to a coach. I think that’s weird since I was a coach but still hadn’t hired one myself.
Some of my coaches help people manage their finances. They see people that wait until the last possible moment to reach out for help, like they’re waiting for a miracle to happen first.
I need your help. If you see me struggling and know what I need to do to get help and move on, will you tell me? Seriously. I can take it.
For you it may mean hiring a coach. It might be going to the doctor. It might be going to church, having a conversation with your friend or family member.
If you need to take that step, will you do it? What’s stopping you?
I love reading consumer spending reports. The way they are written just makes me laugh because all the “bad” news is right up front:
“Last week the government said economic growth for the second quarter slowed to 2.4 percent. Many analysts believe it will dip further in the second half of the year as high unemployment, [...]
If you could go back and talk to your teenage self, what would you say? I can think of a whole host of things. My guess is many of us would tell our teenage selves what to do differently.
“Don’t bother with that girl, she’s a heartbreaker…”
“Don’t ‘borrow’ mom and dad’s car without them knowing, you’ll [...]
You’ve likely heard me talk about money as a motivator at before. The truth is, money can buy happiness, if your basic needs aren’t being met. But once your needs are being met, what’s next?
Money CAN Buy Happiness is here if you can’t view the video
My wife and I were in Bed, Bath & Beyond last weekend for a particular set of cups we’ve had our eye on for a while. The place was crawling with people (which usually bothers me – I don’t like to shop with 800 new friends), but I found myself observing them like little mice [...]
Alright, I’ll admit it: I get some twisted form of guilty pleasure from a few reality shows. Last night I was watching “Dating In The Dark” – ABC’s show about twenty- and thirty-something singles who go on dates in a pitch-black room. At its core this is a social experiment (which is the only way I can attempt to justify watching it – it’s science). The show is trying to answer a timeless question: is love really blind, or does physical attractiveness control everything?
Growing up, I recall my dad regularly saying, “I don’t need much; I can live a Spartan existence.” I was confused by that, because didn’t the Spartans hide in a huge horse and then jump out and attack their enemies? (No, it turns out, those were the Trojans.)
I’m not one for fanfare and my wife will tell you God has to work a miracle in order for me to go to the doctor. When the mirror told me this was the kind of day I was going to have, I knew I had to do something.
So now I’m back to normal and thinking this situation is similar to life; at least my life at times.
