by Chris | Jan 12, 2015 | Personal Interest
It finally got me. After avoiding it through most of the season, one wily cold bug snuck its way past my defences and sent me packing to my bed. Oh well. It’s never to early in the year to spend a few days in bed… right?
So there I was, in bed with my box of tissues watching the Golden Globes, when my (totally legal!) stream got unfairly shut down and I was forced to turn to the embrace of my ever-constant friend… Netflix.
In a delicate place, and not really wanting to be stressed out by the antics of those fast-talking Gilmore Girls, I found my way to the documentary section and settled on “Living On One Dollar”; a film made by a couple of international development students who go to Guatemala and try to live on the average local income: 1 dollar a day. So yeah, basically the equivalent to watching drunken celebs congratulate each other and their altruistic industry, I’d say.
The movie is exactly what you’d expect. Wide-eyed college guys learning lessons. Heartbreaking local stories. And the cutest children ever who are just so eager to learn.
But the number stuck with me. 1 dollar a day. That’s the international poverty line. So many people live precariously hovering around that line. And here I am talking about how poor I am.
I’m not poor.
I’m not even close to poor.
I am rich! Not only in time and money, but in the wealth of choices that have been afforded to me all my life just by being lucky enough to be born where I was.
There’s very little most of us can do to understand, truly understand, what it means to be poor… what it means to struggle in the ways that so many people in the world struggle.
So it’s hard to know what to do when faced with the earnest faces of those children. How do you help? Where do you even start?
Practically, I’m inspired to give in some way. (I went down the rabbit hole on micro-loans… which I’m super pumped about… definitely more about them later.)
But as for the day to day, I just want to be a ton more grateful. And to stop using the words broke, or poor. Ya, I know, it may seem trite and like not nearly enough, but that’s what I’ve got.
The artist life can be a struggle, and a bunch of that comes from having limited resources, But before I start in on the good fight (stretching every dollar), I’m going to say a hearty thank you for having so damn much.
And then live like the richest man I know.
by Chris | Jan 11, 2015 | Budgets
I’ve heard from quite a few people who were inspired by the tracking challenge and are ready to face their finances head on. They started drawing up budgets. YES. A total win, right?
Well, it’s not that I’m not about budgets, but let’s be honest… They totally suck. Plus, mostly they don’t work. At least not most of the time. How many budget horror stories have you heard? How many budgets don’t reach their 1 month birthday?
A budget seems like the exact sort of thing you “should” do….
Well… I also “should” have gone to law school. I “should” floss after every meal. I “should” eat something healthier than the block of cheese that is currently on my plate.
It’s January again. You’ve made your resolutions and channeled all that can-do spirit into being the person you want to be… trying your darndest to start that budget or, if you’re advanced (it is January 10th…), you may have already given up on your budget and are desperately looking for another way.
I totally get it.
But here’s the good news! (more…)
by Chris | Jan 8, 2015 | Budgets
So. Here’s the thing…
Quite a few of you have been asking about MINT. That’s because it’s super popular and pretty dang awesome.
I am a relative newcomer to Mint. I downloaded it this summer, and quickly realized what all the fuss was about. There’s nothing in the market quite like it.
Why is Mint awesome?
When you first sign up for Mint you sync it with all of your bank accounts and credit cards. Mint then pulls all the information in to a one stop shop for your personal finances.
- It can link to most banks, it even linked to my credit union Mastercard, which always seems totally off the grid. GOOO MINT!!!
- Not only do you add bank accounts, you can also add other assets: cars, real estate, etc.., as well as debt.
- It automatically tracks your spending, and puts it into categories. You can set up a budget as well, and it will send you an alert if you’re overspending in a category.
- Mint also sends you alerts if you’re charged something you would normally miss: Like a bank fee. I never realized how many bank fees were coming my way until my phone started buzzing. (more…)
by Chris | Jan 7, 2015 | Budgets, Getting Started
What’s a YNAB?:
If you READ MY STORY, you know that a huge teacher in the early part of my financial education was YNAB (You Need A Budget). It’s a budget software. It’s really easy to use, and it looks great.
But the truth is it’s more than just a software. It’s a budgeting philosophy, it’s a community, and it’s a bunch of fine people who will work with you and help you get back in control of your spending and saving.
The Philosophy:
In the YNAB world there are 4 rules
RULE 1: GIVE EVERY DOLLAR A JOB
RULE 2: SAVE FOR A RAINY DAY
RULE 3: ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES
RULE 4: LIVE ON LAST MONTHS INCOME
These four rules, more than the software itself, are what changed the way that I spend my money. Give them a browse, I lay out the details and talk about how they work with the self-employed life. They may seem simple, but that just makes them easy to follow and they’ve really worked for me (especially Rule 4). (more…)
by Chris | Jan 4, 2015 | Budgets, Getting Started
It’s hard to know where to begin. It’s easy to ‘discuss’ it all in the abstract, but when it comes down to cold hard action where do you start?
You have to find out where the money is going.
Ignorance is bliss. It’s also a really easy way to avoid changing anything. So if you’re looking for one resolution, try finding 5 minutes at the end of every day to write down everything that you spend money on.
You don’t have to do anything but that. Just write it down. Don’t judge it. There’s no right or wrong way to spend your money. (Seriously. It’s your money, you get to spend it how you want, we’re just trying to make sure it’s actually what you want.)
Before you can really take any other kind of action, you have to figure out what your habits are. Some of them you might know, some of them might surprise you.
I just spent some time looking through my first budgets, when I started to track my spending. I remember one of the major surprises being how much I spent on food. It was crazy. Over 700 dollars some months was spent on food. The worst of it was that it wasn’t even on good food (not necessarily meaning organic, grain-fed stuff… I mean sandwiches from Sobeys, and so many shawarmas). All the little stuff added up, and a huge chunk of my income was disappearing.
So. How do you do it? (more…)
