by Jory Butler on September 3, 2010
Teachers and parents alike ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The answers come back as: teacher, doctor, lawyer, policeman, or fireman. We begin to plot our courses to pursue these jobs.
As we become adults, for some reason, we keep our thinking narrowed to those childhood answers and get stuck. In a sense, we have blinders on for one job. When we begin to feel that there only a few job opportunities out there we can become frustrated.
Some of my clients have become this frustrated individual, feeling stuck in their career search. For this client I am reminded of a book titled “What Color Is Your Parachute”, by Richard Bolles in which he talks about finding fields of interest. In Mr. Bolles book, he writes about visualizing a career as if it were literally a field. For example, if someone is interested in helping others, that individual could get into the medical “field.” Within that particular field there are many jobs and roles that a person could pick to help heal others. Possibilities include: Doctor, Nurse, Radiologist, Physical Therapist, medical equipment sales, and the list could go on and on.
So as you begin your career search, change your perspective to look at the opportunities within a “field.” This will help you see many opportunities and give you hope.
(Photo by: Julie Falk)
by Jaime Thompson on August 31, 2010
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 typical 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.
Photo: Time Card by flickr user TheGoogly, used under CC license
by Jaime Thompson on August 28, 2010
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.
(Photo credit aussiegall)
by Derek Sisterhen on August 18, 2010
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.
Teachers and parents alike ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The answers come back as: teacher, doctor, lawyer, policeman, or fireman. We begin to plot our courses to pursue these jobs.
