I came across this post on 50 ways to save money, cut back in every day life and save $1000 a year. $1000 isn’t much and sometimes the trade-offs aren’t worth it (make my own laundry detergent? no thanks) but it’s good to keep in mind some “basic” ways we ratchet up our spending without even noticing.
a few months ago, ryan and i decided to live on my income and use his income for mortgage debt pay-down, savings, and investments like current and future real estate properties, our start-up companies, and a few other things. since then, we’ve been looking for ways to reasonably cut back. i say “reasonably” because sure, i could make my own detergent, wash clothes by hand, grow my own vegetables, and cook everyday but we also want to strike a balance between cutting back, enjoying life, and making the most of our time. for example, if ryan or i could charge X for an hour of client work and it takes us an hour to cook dinner and we only save $5 in the process, technically we’ve actually lost money. obviously, this is somewhat of a fallacy, since we won’t be working 24/7 (although it feels like that sometimes …) but the principle stands, and this is often our deciding factor between what money-saving practices are worth it (using the landromat instead of the fluff and fold - a decision that did NOT make me happy!) and which ones are not (clipping coupons - gag).
so back to the list. many of the items on the list we’re already doing - which is good, but i’ll admit i was hoping for a few genius tips i hadn’t thought of. we way cut back on takeout and “going out.” we don’t have a car. we live in a small apartment. we don’t have much - if any - credit card debt b/c we never use the thing (i’ve never even HAD a personal credit card). we eat very little meat. we don’t have a TV or any game consoles and therefore no cable and no temptation to buy games or DVDs.
there are a few things on the list that, of course, i just won’t do to save a buck. i won’t give up my gym membership - i can’t get the same benefits from just going for a walk or a jog a few times a week. plus our membership is like $15/month. obviously we have puppies which are a big drain, but having pet health insurance has helped a GREAT deal. i won’t turn down a night out with friends - but i can only order one drink, or just get by with a salad to save a few bucks.
and here’s a big one: i won’t move. in terms of where we are and what we get, our apartment is a relatively “good deal” though still obscenely expensive compared to middle america, or even somewhere else in california. but i just won’t give up city life - nor do i ever plan it. at some point i’d love to live in new york and/or hong kong but those are also some of the world’s most expensive cities and so we’ve made our decision as to where and why we’re spending the most money.
so out of the list of 50 there weren’t really that many new tips i could implement. are we already maxed out on our “reasonable” cut-backs? is it possible to be “maxed-out” in this area? is saving that extra $1000/year really worth it when looking at the sacrifices you may have to make to get there? i guess these are questions everyone has to answer for themselves - and be happy with the outcome no matter what it might be!
-- Posted in consulting, entrepreneurship, finances, san francisco, the city |
ok, that statement isn’t ENTIRELY true. there are certain types of risk that make me super-un-easy. and i’m not saying i jump in with both feel without doing the research. but i’ve come to realize i’m far more OK with risk than most people. a lot of this has to do with ryan, who also loves risk - he tends to feel that if you’re not risking something, you’re playing it too safe. and of course, there’s the old cliche, the greater the risk the greater the reward.
a lot of it has to do with my friends - many of whom are entrepreneurs - their examples, support, and encouragement. then there’s the factor of where we live. San Francisco and Silicon Valley are areas built on risk. you can’t sit in a coffee shop without hearing several conversations about start-ups, funding, elevator pitches, etc. We live in the “entrepreneurship bubble” and i have to remember that this area is HIGHLY concentrated with unlikely stories of people who have risked it all to hit superstardom, or at least risked a lot to succeed. of course some have lost it all - but if nothing else they risked it for something they believed in.
and … a lot of my risk-loving - especially the components that existed prior to ryan and San Francisco - comes from my military upbringing. it contributes to my feeling that “if you’re not moving on, you’re not challenging yourself.” growing up, “moving on” usually meant literally MOVING, but as i’ve grown up it’s coming to mean other things.
Another reason I’m a fan of risk is that big dreams usually come with some degree of risk. and i was brought up to believe that i can - and SHOULD! - actually achieve my dreams. it’s taken me a while to mold these dreams but as i have, this seeming cliche has become more important to me.
we bought our first investment property at 21 (and the two to follow) with the dream that these will help us on our road to financial independence. i.e. not HAVING to work if we don’t want to.
we moved to the city - to fulfill our dream of living somewhere awesome - with no jobs, no apartment and no furniture.
when i didn’t want to be a slave to an employer any more, i quit my job to work for myself.
i founded an eco-friendly pet product company to get a start on my dream of working with animals and doing everything i can to make their life - and our planet’s life - better.
there are many more in this list, but these show varying degrees of risk. and when i look at some of them “on paper” they look downright stupid. and i’ll admit we haven’t always made the best-advised decisions, but i think as we’ve matured we’ve gotten better at taking calculated risks as opposed to blind risks.
for me, i think it comes down to, “what’s it going to take to make my dreams a reality?” or, “what do i need to do to change the world in a way only i can.” I’m not talking about risking it all for delusions of grandeur, but we each have a passion, purpose and dream that is uniquely ours. and finding the road to fulfilling that purpose will, likely, not be risk-free.
March 1st, 2008 -- Posted in career, finances, san francisco, the city |
i came across this post on one of my favorite blogs, violent acres - it summed up exactly how i’ve been feeling and what i’ve been thinking lately. the basic gist of it is that while being able to “choose our destiny,” or “choose the path that makes us happy,” or “follow our bliss” or “find our true calling” sounds like a great opportunity, it can really be quite maddening.
the author talks about how, when she became self-employed, she felt completely overwhelmed with the possibility that she could literally do WHATEVER SHE WANTED. that’s the american dream, but it’s also a debilitating feeling.
this is probably part of the reason why i’m trying to get another “real” job, as opposed to continuing along the freelancing road. i could take my freelancing in any direction i wanted and that’s part of the problem. i feel like i haven’t been very successful at creating direction for myself and honing my “business” into something i truly enjoy doing. it has, however, helped me figure out what i DON’T enjoy doing.
and maybe that counts for more than i think.
January 1st, 2008 -- Posted in career, consulting, entrepreneurship, family, finances, marriage, military, san francisco, the city |
i hate doing just about any thing “traditionally,” so i really need to figure out another time/way to reflect over the past year. i have a friend who does it on her birthday, which sounds like a good idea. but until i figure something better out, here’s my look back for 2007 in a handy, month-by-month guide.
January: Super stoked because i got an offer for a permanent position at my job, where i’d been on a month-to-month contract since September. additionally, i started thinking about getting into a career in sociology.
February: applied to the School of Social work at the state college near me and started planning a trip to Pakistan to further explore the leanings i had toward social activism
March: birthday month - went and saw “Legally Blonde” before it hit Broadway
April: took on a field producing role at work and got to travel to L.A. to work with our hosts and director to film a special “salute to the troops” for memorial day weekend. definitely the highlight of that job! Also, found out my parents were moving abroad and decided to scrap my trip to Pakistan in favor for taking my vacation time to go and visit them overseas.
May: flew out to DC to be with the fam for the last time before my parents headed to their new assignment. took the red eye there and back and started thinking that living like that was lame - that if i WANTED to go see the people that were important to me, i should be able to - and not have to worry about it eating up my PTO
June: got accepted to grad school and decided i wasn’t THAT into the idea any more (i know, hello ADD). continued my search for consulting and telecommute jobs.
July: went back to see ryan’s parents for the first time since we’d moved away. also went to becky’s wedding while we were there. again, i only made it out for the weekend, further cementing my goal to stop working for “the man!”
August: whirlwind month! after being asked by my boss if i’d want to move to LA if my department moved (HELL to the NO!), ryan told me to go ahead and just quit my job. he quit his as well, and we found out my dad’s promotion would be at the end of the month. my parents flew us out for the ceremony and a week in tokyo!
September: first full month of consulting. ryan made more than twice what he made at his old job and i struggled to break even - at least we balanced eachother out! went to SLO to visit mike for a few days, then took a trip to cancun for ryan’s birthday so he could go diving.
October: spent 10 days on the west coast (i LOVE this telecommuting thing!) going to a family/friends reunion in the mountains of NC with ryan’s family. also visited paul and erin in atlanta.
November: managed to squeeze in an 8 day trip back to see ryan’s family for thanksgiving - his grandparents and great-grandfather were also visiting. ryan hung out with highschool friends and i nearly died of boredom! (so glad we don’t live THERE any more!)
December: after returning from thanksgiving, we had two weeks to get everything in order for our 2 1/2 month trip to asia! we sublet our apartment, put our stuff in storage, packed a shit-ton of luggage and were on our way. christmas was in japan with the fam, and we spent new years’ in tokyo with my old roommate, tiffani, and her husband.
in keeping with the trend and our life choices, i’m sure 2008 will be crazy, too! and i just realized this reads like a bad christmas card, but i’m posting it anyway!
