Another year is reaching its end!
For anyone who has stumbled upon my blog and has read any of it. You will know that I have not stuck with it and only write once a year. Commitment is part of success. I've had ups and downs over the last few years and am now ready to share what I've learned.
At times life tends to catch up to us. We miss small opportunities that would lead us to a better, more fulfilling life. I travel for a living and have for the past 8.5 years. I have relocated my family to provide a better living environment and made every attempt to improve our lives. I've made several mistakes along the way but have been able to learn from them. In the interim, I have read several books to help with finances and gathered much knowledge to advance my goals. Does this qualify me as an expert? Probably not but does it allow me to help someone else avoid the same mistakes? Most likely but as the old adage goes "Opinions are like @$$holes, everyone has one". If I offend anyone, that's good, means you're reading, listening and learning. It gets you out of your comfort zone, causing you to form your own path to success. If you're easily offended, then "Suck it up Buttercup" because the road to success doesn't get any easier and isn't for the soft hearted. I'm not saying that you shouldn't be kind at heart or caring but you will need thick skin to advance. You may feel I'm pushing your buttons at this point but that is also good. Everyone needs a little poke now and then to get up and moving towards their goals. Every year I make new commitments. Some I keep, some I lose and forget about. Kind of like this blog, seems to get lost in the shuffle of everyday life.
So lets get started....
First off, my thoughts tend to be a little scattered at times and the order of events may vary from what is told. I will do my best not to jump around but I can't guarantee this. Secondly, although spell check is available for this, my grammar isn't always the best either. As most anyone may know the English language isn't the most friendly to learn. Thirdly, I don't believe in or perform "Political Correctness"! You can see for yourself what political correctness has done to USA so if that's what you've come looking for then you've arrived at the wrong location. Please take your ball and go home, with your tail between your legs or what ever you feel necessary to shield yourself from the offensiveness I may spew out. Don't worry though, I'm an equal opportunity offender and won't discriminate when I do offend.
With the disclaimer out of the way, lets continue....
In 2007 the economy headed into a tailspin that would last what seemed a lifetime. I was actually making more than I had my entire life but still like most living paycheck to paycheck. We lived in PA and over my life the area progressively went down hill. The bad elements from NJ and NYC were slowly moving in as the older generations moved out or died off. My home which had been my grandfathers since 1948, went from having a latch hook on the garage door and a skeleton key for the back door all had to be dead bolted. A security system was installed to reduce the threat of break-ins but to no avail. Security systems had to be installed on the cars that use to be left unlocked only a few years earlier. This was the breaking point. As much as I liked the home and wished to keep it in the family I quickly realized it was time to move on. My wife had prodded my for years about leaving and now was the time. I told her pick a state and I'll find a job there. Our first original focus was on Maine but a recruiter called with a position in Iowa. If I had been a little more knowledgeable of the countries events, I probably would have passed on the opportunity. It was in the automotive parts manufacturing industry. When I interviewed there, it seemed like a golden opportunity to get my family to a better part of the country but little did I know that the industry itself was about to spiral into a bottomless pit. It was the end of 2008, I excepted the position and used my life savings to move the family to a fixer upper farm house in rural IA. At first the position itself paid well with the overtime but then the cutbacks started. Reduction of hours yet to mention the temporary shutdowns that mirrored car manufactures which meant temporary layoffs. I should have figured that there was something up with the new employer when everyone I met and heard where I was working suggested other places that could use my expertise. Needless to say, there was way more drama there than I wanted to deal with. After 8 months, enough was enough and I was in search of something better. In mid 2009 I lucked out and found a position that I already knew the equipment and some of the people that worked there. The pay wasn't as high as I'd like but I figured it would work out. Unfortunately the economy was worsening and everyone was tightening their belts including my new industry. What made matters worse was that I had dug a hole that was a bit of a challenge to dig out of. The car and house were behind and I couldn't afford to lose either one. Another thing that went against me was that the IRS had audited my move and were nailing me with some new taxes for the money I used to buy my house. Life seemed to make a turn for the worst. We were close to losing everything just when things should have been getting better.
The next couple of years almost seem like a blur. 2010 led to many sleepless nights of worry. The problems compounding themselves like catching up on payments and the fixer upper house needing way more than anticipated. Our electric had issues and I had started a claim that didn't turn into anything payable for insurance but my insurance company decided to drop us. Now was a panic to find a provider and after several I finally found one that would work with our otherwise non-insurable house. I had to resort to hiding our vehicle to prevent repossession. My new company gave us 2 weeks of unpaid furlough which didn't help matters. Our church though, gave us some money towards our bills and took a collection that paid our propane for the winter. A change in how we shopped also proved to help in cost cutting. This is when we went to a Thrift Shop that was missions based. Everyone working there were volunteers and all proceeds went towards bible missions. We bought the kids a ton of clothes and I picked up a handful of financial books. Can't be reading material for a quarter. This is what started me on a new path, a new path to financial awareness. This isn't the only thing that helped. My Dale Carnegie coarse also added great value to my knowledge of our financial situation. Due to my hard work ethics and being dependable my salary increased to more livable levels for the family. Also the kids were growing up and moving out.
2011 was the getting over the hump year. It was still tough but the light started to shine brightly at the end of the long tunnel we were in. The Yukon was finally paid off freeing up a substantial amount of cash and lifting a very heavy burden off the family. I was able to slowly make the changes mentioned in the books I was reading to secure financial stability. I pretty much broke even that year with at least making on time payments. The older 2 kids were the new problems where they needed transportation so I forked over money I really didn't have to get so vehicles. Of course this placed new added costs to my bottom line that I wasn't ready for. Let alone things that had to be fixed on the house such as the porch floor, stairs and roof. Seemed like every time I had a plan to save something else would pop up to take it away. This is were I became creative and used forced savings. So before I continue with my trials and tribulations, lets look at what some of the financial books said.
- Pay yourself before all else
This is in every book. You work hard for you money so you should get to keep some of it for your own wants and desires. We are too quick to create bills and make that the focus a priority in our lives. In todays society everything is direct deposit. We don't get a paycheck and then run to the back to cash it, split it up between savings, checking and cash in the pocket for shopping. Those days are long gone. The ATM and credit cards are the norm. With that being the case we have a bad habit of going to the ATM, looking at what's in the account and judging how much we can suck out for cash and what needs to remain to pay bills. This is where forced savings really helps. I have a couple accounts that aren't easily accessible. They aren't with a local bank that I can just go to a grab the cash. I know when my check is deposited so I have a portion automatically rerouted to these "other" accounts. If you start with a small amount, you will never miss it. Once you realize that it doesn't hurt you and you see the cash growing, you'll find more ways to add more. I get paid twice a month on the 15th and 30th every month. So on both those dates I have $5 transferred from my main account to my forced savings account. I also had a written goal of how much I wanted to have in the bank. This amount can be what every you feel comfortable with. I also looked at tax advantages such as my companies 401K that has a match percentage up to a certain amount. That's like getting free money and you should take as much advantage of that as possible. Here again I started small with 1%. Every year when my raise comes up I'll add 1%. I never miss the few extra dollars that are being deferred plus it helps shelter some of my earnings at tax time. I also started putting towards and IRA. I started out small and keep working my way up.
- Give to your church or charity
I understand that this can be as challenging at times the same as paying yourself but it plays a very important part of how money works. The funny thing I've found about this is that although I didn't give regularly, every time I did things seemed to improve. After our church had given to my family to get through the tough financial situation we were in, I made a conscious decision to give back. I had never had an institution give in such a way. I have successfully increased my contribution to them every year since. You can feel good knowing that the money you are giving is going to help others. Along with this it is tax deductible and will help when the tax man comes knocking the following year. Here again it is best to start out small and comfortable.
I know what you're thinking... I can't make ends meet now and you want me to give my money away. Even stash some for a rainy day. It seems ominous and near impossible but here I am today working on my new 2nd level savings goal. I've given more than I have ever given in my life and have put more away then ever before. I now have some cash set aside for true emergencies. Remember, you can have more than one account where you put your money away. I have several and the "total" of all accounts is what sets my goal. I can easily switch funds between accounts via on-line and have debit cards tied to them for true emergencies. A true emergency isn't the need to have Chinese or a movie night. It's for when you need the doctor, car repair or some other unforeseen issue arises. You'll be happy you saved it up. Also make sure there aren't any fees and you're getting interest on your money. If you're not gaining anything or you're paying out just for the convenience of have the money in an account, it's not worth it. Find a bank that allows you to truly save and earn.
I'm going to stop here for today but I hope this gives you some encouragement and a place to start your road to success and financial freedom.
Regards and Happy Holidays
