May

31

Living Financial Freedom





4337_202328675346_547425346_7077774_3454227_nWow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written here. Hi!

I don’t even know how to start out this post, so we’ll just dive right in ;)

It’s been a year now since I became debt free and let me tell you, first and foremost, financial freedom is an amazing thing. I knew that getting out of debt would alleviate my money stresses, but I had no idea about all the open doors and personal development that it would bring into my life as well. It’s been an incredible year.

Since becoming debt free I’ve saved up a three-month emergency fund, bought a new computer and a motorcycle, and traveled at least once a month since to visit friends or family across the United States. One of my lifelong dreams has always been to travel and adventure often, and to be actually living that dream sort of blows my mind. Oh, and I lost 55 lbs!

Along the way, though, I have dropped some of my more frugal habits, and I want to get back to that old way. I am in a curious (while positive) place right now, and I want to examine it here, if for no other reason than to help sort out my mind.

I currently make about $39k annually (considerably more than I was making last year) through this website, my weight-loss blog, freelance design work, and running Marshalla Speech & Language in all respects. About $7000 goes to the IRS annually, leaving me with a salary of around $32k as net income. I receive that income monthly, and it fluctuates anywhere between $2600 and $3500 per month.

I live on about $1600 per month, broken down as rent ($930), utilities ($20-40), phone ($120), food ($250), gas ($30) and play money (~$200). I am incredibly blessed to have health insurance, rental insurance, and internet/cable expenses covered by my businesses completely. I don’t have car insurance (I don’t have a car) but I will have to get auto insurance for my motorcycle as soon as I start riding it again (I currently walk and bicycle everywhere :D).

After all is said and done, I have about $1000 a month minimum with which to play. And yet, after being debt free for a year, I have only about $4500 in savings, and several hundred elsewhere in my checking account, unused bank accounts, money markets, and my pitiful Roth IRA. To some that may look amazing (and I agree, it’s a hell of a lot better than $400 net worth and $8k in debt!), but I feel like I’m far behind schedule.

After a year of debt freedom, I have maybe $6000 in banks, a computer, a motorcycle, and a world of new experiences and friends. :P I am incredibly happy and absolutely delighted at the life I’ve led this past year, but I am left still wondering… Where has all the money gone?

Discounting the $200-$400 I spend in travel per month (which I will continue to willingly spend), the honest truth is that even now as I feel like I have money coming out of my ears, even when saving several hundred per month, I manage to throw a lot of money around that I need not be. Dinners out, clothing I already have, beauty products, workout equipment and clothing… I want all of these things, but I always seem to be accounting for the money twice over and overspending.

Well, this stops now. I am smarter than this.

I know that if I buckle down, I can have all the things I want AND save as much as I want to, simply by managing my money better and being conscious of my spending. I just need to get back to that thing… that dreaded B-word… yes - the budget.

It’s time.

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Oct

14

What Rights Should Debtors Have?





Bank of America - San Fransisco - CC flickr: ghost 952

Bank of America - San Fransisco - CC photographer ghost592

This week at GetOutOfDebt.org, the Personal Finance Brain Trust was challenged yet again!

The question this week was: When debtors are having problems paying their bills, what rights do you think debtors should have with lenders so that they can avoid foreclosure, repossession and/or bankruptcy?

My answer or the Brain Trust this week was long and I still feel I didn’t cover everything. SO… I’ve extended my response here on my blog. For the abridged version, please visit the full post at Steve’s website.

*****

What a loaded question! I have many feelings about this subject -  I am sympathetic to the debtors, but am not too lenient in my solutions. Having been in deep debt myself and having crawled out of that hole solely based on my own efforts (the credit companies sure didn’t do anything to help me), I feel that anyone can overcome their bad financial situations with enough effort.

It’s unfair to say that the lender should take all the burden when he debtor is the one who can’t pay their bills. I agree strongly with WC, who brilliantly answered:

I may sound a little harsh saying this, but I really feel like people that get into products they didn’t a) understand fully or b) can’t afford, should have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Ignorance isn’t an excuse and people should read up on what they were getting into before they signed on the dotted line.

However, I feel the lender should give some help to the debtor because it makes everything go more smoothly. Since we don’t live in a black and white world, I think some different circumstances need to be considered in order to qualify the “rights” of the debtor.

This question boils down to asking: Who should ultimately “win” when a loan situation becomes a struggle - the banks or the consumers? There is no one solution because of the aforementioned circumstances. I think that looking at the debtors’ situations before they took on the debt with this one particular lender is key. Let’s examine two examples…

I feel that if the debtor was not previously in hot water and now is unable to pay some (or all) of their bills, than the fault should lie somewhere closer to the debtor and he/she shouldn’t be granted too much leeway that could ultimately hurt the lender for something that wasn’t the lender’s fault. This is more of a classic lending situation: the bank loans out, the person over-extends themselves, payments aren’t made.

In this situation, the rights of the consumer, in my opinion, should be (at the least) fair and reasonable interest rates on the loan and low, previously-disclosed late-fees when payments don’t come in. Even in the situation where the bank is in the right, they should not abuse their customers by charging outrageous finance charges or dropping hidden late fees out of nowhere. The consumer in this case has every right to fair and legal lending practices, but that’s as far as it goes. I also feel it would be in the bank’s interest to extend some sort of long-term payment plan to the debtor to keep them happy being a debtor, but I don’t feel the bank is under much obligation to do so.

As a side note, it seems - to me - foolish that banks would jump so fast to allowing their customers to fall into bankruptcy or foreclosure because ultimately everyone loses that way. I would think it would be more favorable for the lender to extend the payment plans or lower the minimum payments to keep the debtor paying - after all, interest is where banks make their money. But I guess that’s a whole other issue - one of lenders being aggressive and hard-nosed rather than reasonable. Common sense is lost here…

Now, if the debtor was deeply in debt to begin with and the bank “went after” the debtor, the story has changed completely. If the debtor was clearly targeted as prey in predatory lending practices, than far more leeway should be granted toward the consumer. In this sort of case I feel that lengthy repayment plans, deferred (non-accrued) interest, and possibly lenient settlements are all in order. I think if the debtor is suffering undue abuse from the lender than all actions on the part of the lender should be in the interest of the debtor, not themselves. This is a real gray area, however, since we all know that if some rights are extended to the lesser-fortunate of the debtors, the more-fortunate debtors who dug their own holes will be demanding the same sort of treatment.

Patrick gave a great response which I agree with as well, saying:

I think it is in the best interest of lenders and borrowers to work together in good faith to try and come up with a solution that works for both parties. [...] This kind of thing should be done on a case by case basis, and only after the customer has worked with an approved financial or credit counselor.

On the customer’s end, they need to cut back on expenses wherever possible to meet their obligations - be it a mortgage, car loan, credit card bills, student loans, or anything else. It would not be right for banks to give customers concessions, only to have the customers continue getting deeper into debt. [...] There are obviously a lot of issues on both sides of the fence that need to be addressed.

I honestly can’t see this issue clear-cut, and you’ll find me hard to pin down on this question. I feel that in the end, how the debtor got into the loan initially is a very clear indication of how the loan will end up, and when it’s obvious from the start that the loan will go bad, the loan should not be extended in the first place. That is the responsibility of the lender to determine - and they should not take loans that they know will go bad in such a predatory manner as they do now.

This all goes back to my answer last week - those who should have never been “let” (or more likely, baited) into debt in the first place can’t be faulted for having been extended the loan - that is the lender’s fault. But if the person did it all to themselves, than I say they have to undo it themselves - in a fair environment, with reasonable finance charges and late fees - with everything out in the open.

*****

Thanks for the great thought-provoking question, Steve!

You can read the answers to this question from all the Personal Finance Brain Trust by visiting the original post. You can subscribe to GetOutOfDebt.org to read all the answers every week by clicking here, or subscribe by email by visiting the site.

What are your opinions on the topic? Should banks be more lenient? Is it hypocrytical for banks to be so strict with borrowers when they themselves are now receiving a bail-out from the goverment? Let me know!

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Oct

7

Costlier Credit and the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights





I was asked last week to join the Personal Finance Bloggers Brain Trust over at GetOutOfDebt.org. I was thrilled - the domain name alone sounded right up my alley. For those of you interested, the Brain Trust will answer questions about personal finance once a week and the answers from all of us (for the same question) are posted together. To get regular updates you can subscribe to them via RSS by clicking here, or you can subscribe by email by visiting the website.

The question this week was regarding the new Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights that just passed in the House of Representatives. The American Bankers Association made a statement immediately following the passing of the bill that basically said that this bill would make credit costlier and ultimately hurt small businesses and individuals.

The question posed to us was, in a nutshell: Assuming that this bill really would make debt costlier, should we be afraid of costlier credit if in exchange consumers get greater consumer credit rights and protection against sudden rate changes, elimination of huge fees and clear credit disclosures?

My answer was thus:

There’s no point in being afraid of costlier credit - in the end, it benefits the consumer, even if initially it doesn’t appear that way.

First of all, the “Bill of Rights” that has been put in place is breath of fresh air in what has long been an industry fraught with malicious “small print” and abused and exploited customers. If these laws, which give consumers some safeguard against the tyranny of the credit companies, come with a price, I think we should all be willing to pay it - considering what the protection is worth.

I can’t see why having credit slightly less accessible (because of its cost) is a bad thing anyway. Sub-prime mortgage crisis, anyone? People who don’t qualify for credit shouldn’t be granted it, and I also think that most of those who do qualify really shouldn’t be extended much privilege either. Credit is a dangerous tool that many people abuse and that leads thousands to ruin. By making it costlier, perhaps fewer will try to borrow in the first place - making our businesses and consumers stronger in the end because they are operating on capital and not on credit.

The last thing anyone should want to do during an economic downturn is rely on credit. We would all be a lot more secure during an economic “crisis” if we were financially stable ourselves, and not so indebted every which way. A slow economy doesn’t much touch the man who is financially free. I think the ABA is blowing smoke because they don’t like the laws, period - not because they care at all about the individuals or small businesses.

This is of course my option, which at times tends to be rather extreme - especially when it comes to credit ;)

To read what all the other bloggers had to say (there are some great writers in this bunch!), visit the original post.

What do you think?

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Sep

29

Carnival of Personal Finance!





The Carnival of Personal Finance #172 is up at Debt Kid! My post How to Save Money Every Paycheck was featured in the Savings section. Thanks, debt kid!

If you’re visiting from the carnival, welcome! If you’d like to be a part of the Antishay community, feel free to subscribe to my email updates for free, or sign up for my free RSS feed. Thank you for stopping by!

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Sep

23

How to Save Money Every Paycheck





I’m here today to talk about savings! Yay! :D One of the questions I’m asked with alarming frequency is, “How do I save money?” It seems like such a simple question with a simple answer (”Just save.”) but it really isn’t. Here I’ll suggest a couple of ideas which, when put into practice, should get you into the mode of saving money regularly.

First things first, you cannot save money if you have a negative cash flow. A negative cash flow is when you have more money going out than you have coming in. This is the desperate situation many people who are in debt find themselves - where I was a year ago. It is, in essence, the definition of debt: owing more than you have.

If you are working with a negative cash flow right now, I suggest you first read another article I wrote entitled How to Save an Emergncy Fund When You Have a Negative Cash Flow. Assuming that you have a positive cash flow, there are three things you can do that will really get you saving money.

Plan Where Your Money is Going

One of the main problems we run into when trying to save, even if we’re living in total financial abundance, is that of actually saving money regularly. It’s so easy to just spend the money that comes in as it comes in, and not give a second thought to where it all went. That is, until we reach the end of the month and ask ourselves, “Where did all my money go?”

Budgeting to zero is a great first step in getting an accurate look at your finances. If you haven’t already figured out where your money is going, it’s a good idea to start there.

A Zero-Budget is a total no-brainer and I’m sure if you’ve ever sat down to do a budget, this is the way you did it. (Please note that if you live on a flexible income, you should budget your expenses based only on the minimum amount of money you will make every month. Everything on top of that is extra.)

The simplified version of a zero-budget is this:

  • List the money you have coming in each month (all paychecks and other liquid income).
  • Write down all your expenses each month and total them up - INCLUDING “fun money” that you allow yourself to spend on whatever you want.
  • Subtract your expenses from your income to get a remainder amount (hopefully this number is positive… if it isn’t, you have a negative cash flow).
  • Make a plan for the leftover money (for savings, whatever) until there is no more money left over at the end of the month. This means that all your money is budgeted out, down to $0 (hence the name).

Once you’ve done a rough budget in this form, you should have a good idea of what you can save each month. But now, we find ourselves knowing how much we can save, but not actually saving that amount. Here are my suggestions to move you to the next step: actually saving money each month.

Bill Yourself

If you’ve budgeted to zero, you should now have a good idea of how much money you can comfortably save each month. But taking the leap from knowing how much you can save and actually saving that amount is a challenging one.

The first suggestion I have is that you bill yourself. Using myself as an example, I am determined to save (and am capable of saving) $600 per month. (I hope to save more like $800 to $1000, but sometimes I just can’t with unexpected bills and other larger purchases I decide to make. I’m not too worried about it.) So each month when I gather my bills and pay them, I also pay myself $600 into savings - as if it were a bill.

This distinction might not seem important to some of you, but think of it this way: if you intend on savings $600/month, you may or may not do it. If you decide to pay yourself $600 a month toward savings, you must pay it regularly, and with intent - like a bill.

My suggestion would be to treat it like a bill and really put it in your face so you don’t forget. If you pay your bills on paper, or have a collection of paper bills that you work with, put a sticky note on the top of the pile to also pay yourself savings. If you’re like me and do everything electronically, set up a calendar to remind you to pay yourself savings each month. I use iCal, Google Calendar, and Remember the Milk, all for different things. iCal is my bills calendar, and so every month I get an email from my computer’s calendar reminding myself to pay to my savings.

I find this works really well.

Have a Goal in Mind

Here’s where I’m at right now. I pay my savings regularly, but without a goal in mind I have a tendency to make excuses and slowly fritter away my savings. Even though the money is set aside for “savings,” I’ll spend it on more clothes, a night out on the town, or some other thing that I fancy.

I notice, however, that when I was saving for a motorcycle, I never touched the money in my savings account.

So, if you’re still having trouble actually saving up piles of money, I suggest that you make a goal for that money. It doesn’t have to be an object or a purchase, per se, but have a reason why you’re saving. My current goal (since I realized recently that I needed one) is to save up my $5000 emergency fund. And after that, my goal will be to save $1000 to invest in a mutual fund of some kind. And from there, I’ll make more and more goals - so that my savings always has purpose.

If you’re interested in reading several more (awesome) tips on how to save money all the time, take a look at my post How to Save Money, Big and Small, which covers other tips for encouraging yourself into savings, as well as ideas on how to snowflake savings here and there and how to keep your hands off of your savings.

Questions? Leave ‘em in the comments :D
Photo by Robbie. Thanks!

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Sep

17

Revisiting Investing After Debt





Since becoming debt free I’ve been enjoying the freedom and luxury of having money. I have more money coming in than I have going out, and it really is wonderful, and still totally new to me. :D I have some “fun money” built into every month’s budget, and if unexpected bills come up I have enough extra cash coming in that I just pay them, and that’s that.

And this is all wonderful, but I’m not satisfied anymore :)
While at first it was great to just budget my money out and let the time roll by, I feel like it’s time to take it to the next level. Though I’ve been saving, I haven’t been investing (not really) and I haven’t been using my money to its fullest potential. I am ready for that to change.

I currently make, at the minimum, $2400/month. I live on $1600 (including “fun money”), which leaves me with $800/month to save. Since May, this “savings” money has gone to save up a baby $1000 emergency fund and then to save up for a motorcycle. Now that both those are saved for (and a motorcycle is purchased), I’m just piling up money in my savings account.

As we discussed before, I don’t just make $2400/month. Because I make $600/week, in the months that have 5 weeks I make another $600 on top of the regular four-week-month $2400. I also make money off this blog, various snowflake businesses, and random web design and graphic design that I do as well. All in all, since becoming debt free in May, I’ve saved anywhere between $900 and $1300 per month.

I give you these details so you get an idea of how “healthy” I am right now, financially. I’m proud of where I am; I have more money now than I ever thought I’d have at my disposal. And I only make $33-$35k per year! At any rate, I am doing well and saving what I would call “a lot.”

Currently I have the following set up:

  • Bank of America: Checking and Savings (varies, no interest)
  • Washington Mutual: Checking ($50, no interest)
  • Fidelity: Roth IRA (~$400, aggressive growth)
  • E*Trade: High-Yield Savings Account (~$110, 3.5% APR)

As you can see, there’s not a lot going on. Besides the bank accounts, I just have a retirement account and a high-yield savings account. Both have pathetic amounts of money in them, but I want to change that.

I started my IRA when I was 19 and deeply in debt. I had read The Automatic Millionaire and decided it was time to pay off my debt and start investing! Unfortunately, I did everything out of order (at first) and started by opening the IRA with $100. I invested another $250 over the following 2 years, but that’s it. I haven’t touched it since I was 21 and it hasn’t grown much because there’s not much in there to begin with.

I have thought about contributing to the IRA now, since I am debt-free, but because I’m still intending to be financially free at or around age 35, I’m not sure that I want to invest in the IRA anymore. I could get the same returns in simple aggressive-growth (for now) index funds and have the money freed up - instead of locked up by law (without penalties) until I’m the “proper” retirement age.

As for the high-yield savings account - I’m not even sure why I opened the account, or why I chose E*Trade. But I have it. I think I’d like to pull out all $110+ that I have in there and move it to an ING high-yield savings account. I hear ING is much easier to work with.

This blog entry is not to explain something specific like I would in a how-to post. I do, however, think it’s key to note that finances don’t just solve themselves once you’re out of debt. I don’t quite know what to do with my money right now. I’m certainly not in a dilemma, but I’m left here pondering and needing to do more research.

I have no other money invested/saved outside of what’s listed above. I have about $2500 in my savings account and an ongoing $500-200 in my checking. So all in all, my net worth is still absolutely teeny. :P

My present goal is to save up $5000 for a 4-5 month emergency fund. (The progress bar on the right-hand side is currently set for this savings goal. It will be changed to a new goal each time the current one is met.) I would be able to live on about $1000/month if I cut it down to the bare bones, and WAY less than that if I moved out of my comfortable apartment and into something more economical (or started living with my mom or something). So that’s the most attainable goal, and the one I’m shooting for first.

After that, I’d like to buy a DSLR camera and a lens or two (about $1000-$1200). After THAT I guess it’s all just investing for retirement and maybe a vacation or some shoes ;)
I have been avoiding writing in this blog because I haven’t had any “concept posts” to write for you all, but I’ve decided that since I do think about money every day, it would be worth it to share my rambling pondering with you from time to time.

Hope you’re well! Any advice on my investing?

Photo CC by Kevin Collins. Thanks!

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Aug

5

Life After Debt: The Joy of Buying Properly





1986 Yamaha Maxim 700

I bought a motorcycle! It’s very much like that one, above! (The back seat is different, otherwise it’s the same bike, paint, everything :D).

After having saved and saved for so long, I finally bought a bike and I’m terribly excited :D So far I’ve ridden it about 80 miles in the last week, and none of that has been “joy riding!” I had to get the bike from the point of sale to my apartment, which was about 20 miles, and then to Sean’s and back for the weekend, which is another 50 miles - plus I did a little riding for errands in the middle.

I have been planning to get a motorcycle since 2006, but at the time when I decided I wanted one I was deep into debt and had no real idea when I’d be able to get one. Now, two years later, there’s a beautiful maroon/red/purple 1986 Yamaha Maxim 700 sitting in my parking space and I’m pleased as punch.

What I’ve been thinking about today is how glad I am that I learned to do this whole buying this properly. Whereas a few years ago I would have financed the bike from a dealership, today I bought the bike with cash after having saved up. There are a lot of benefits to saving and THEN buying - as opposed to the reverse buy-it-immediately-and-THEN-pay process that we’re all so used to (and hopefully now running away from!).

Time

ClockAlthough it is eternally frustrating to save up and save up, to wait to buy the thing you want, letting time pass before buying is actually a good thing. Many personal finance bloggers have written before about their “buying rules,” which have time restraints built into their budgeting and saving. So for example, when considering buying something that costs $100, they impose a mandatory two-week waiting period before buying. Or if the desired object is, say, $1000, they may mandate months of wait time - to allow themselves mulling time before taking the plunge.

I personally don’t set restrictions on buying anything, I only must have saved up for the thing before I buy it - whatever it is. I don’t have only one savings account, which helps matters. If something costs $1000, I’m not going to pull it out of my “long-term” savings or any of my investments, and I budget my checking to $0… so to buy something for $1000, I have to save $1000. Inadvertently, I have a waiting period for every larger purchase I make because I have to take time to save - and the more I have to save, the more I have to wait.

I budgeted $3500 total for motorcycle and gear, and it’s taken me about two months to save that up (accelerated by the economic stimulus check in May). During those two months I’ve taken time to really learn about the bike that I want, and done my research properly. That time has been priceless; I’ve gone back and forth between wanting to buy a bike and not wanting to, and have been indecisive about which bike to buy after I finally decided I really did want one after all.

The time has been invaluable, because it made me do the thing right - I was prepared, well-researched, and ready, with cash-in-hand and the confidence to walk away if the price or bike wasn’t right.

Money

CoinsBesides the time I had in having to save up for the purchase, by buying with cash I avoided any sort of debt whatsoever. Debt is a heavy burden, emotionally and financially. Speaking just about the money here, I can tell you that paying for something with cash changes the whole deal.

For one thing, there are no finance charges - obviously - which is a glorious thing. My bike cost what I paid for it, nothing more. On any loan, even with a “good” interest rate, I would have paid well over the value of the bike in interest by the time I got the title free and clear. Instead, by paying with cash, the title is mine and the bike is paid for. Not only is it less fuss, it’s just less expensive. Paying interest is not a direction your money should be going, especially when it’s to buy something you could have saved up for otherwise.

Paying with cash also makes you more careful with your money. I know for a fact that a few years ago, had I decided to get a loan (and had I qualified) for a motorcycle, I would have bought I bike for more like $6000 than the $1800 I ended up spending. It’s a lot easier to spend money on paper than it is to actually spend money. Buying on loan, it’s easy to think only of the $250 monthly payments and forget that, in fact, you’re spending $6k plus interest on the thing.

And finally, along with the time factor, in saving for something, you have the opportunity to really shop. You can price-compare and bargain-hunt your heart out, and when the time comes to buy you’ll have all your ducks in a row. I had originally budgeted $3500 for a motorcycle and gear, but through my frugality and the time I had to look around, I ended up spending only $2360. I am going to get a thorough maintenance on the bike performed, which will cost me about $150, but because I spent so much less than my “max savings,” I have that sort of financial leeway. I bought my gear on sale and got a bike in excellent condition at Kelly Blue Book price (below by $40, actually). The time I took to save allowed me to find deals I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Security and Freedom

Finally, I feel - and I know a lot of other people are with me on this - that it is much more secure, much more solid to buy things with cash. This is my first larger purchase since getting out of debt, and I can’t tell you how liberating it is to buy something… and have that be the end. There are no finance charges, no further payments to think about… there’s no worry that I may lose my job and not be able to afford the payments.

I also feel incredibly secure. The bike is mine - there is no debating; it’s not 20% mine and 80% the bank’s. I also feel more attached to the bike than I have any other larger thing I’ve bought because I handed over a fat envelope of dollars to get it in my possession, an experience not lightly forgotten. And though my “fun money” savings account is now dreadfully low, I know that the money taken out of it has been replaced by a thing I can see, feel, and use.

It’s a rather large, loud, shiny thing with a lot of excitement behind it… but that’s another topic. I couldn’t be more pleased - and my experience buying the motorcycle with cash has taught me that it’s the only way I will every buy.

Photos, in order (excluding the motorcycle photo) are by chrisvick, pfala, and llima. Thank you for sharing your art!

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Filed Under Frugal Living, Snowflaking Debt and Savings, money and finance | 11 Comments 

Aug

4

Antishay is an Editor’s Pick and is on MSN!





The 164th Carnival of Personal Finance: City Slickers Edition is up at Squawkfox! My post In Defense of Expensive Shoes was featured as an editor’s pick! Wahoo! This is a great carnival - well done, Squawkfox! Thank you so much for liking my article! I remember last time she hosted the carnival there was a theme of fruit in undergarments… sadly, this time the carnival isn’t so revealing ;)
Also, my popular post from February, Why I Don’t Buy Cheap - Quality and Its Relationship to Price, was also recently linked to from MSN’s MoneyBlog Smart Spending in a review they did of fellow FBN blogger Kelly’s post The ABC’s of Frugality: 26 Key Frugal Concepts. Congratulations Kelly!

If you’re visiting from the carnival or from MSN, welcome! If you’d like to be a part of the Antishay community, feel free to subscribe to my email updates for free, or sign up for my free RSS feed. Thank you for stopping by!

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Aug

3

FBN Roundup - Summer of Frugality Edition





Frugal Blog NetworkIt’s that time again - time for a Frugal Blog Network roundup! There were some really awesome posts this week from my fellow bloggers. Has anyone else noticed how great summer can be for frugality? I, personally, just feel the need to spend less… but in case you haven’t caught the no-spending bug, here’s some inspiring frugal reads for you ;)

Not Made of Money

Dana wrote Five Fun Things to do on the Weekend That Don’t Cost a Dime - some great things to do when you don’t want to spend money. I tend to try and spend as little as possible on my fun, which makes for a lot of creative planning and spur-of-the-moment adventures to the park ;)
She also wrote Storing Your Financial Documents: What to Keep and What to Shred, which is a good basic list of info to keep in hand when you’re going through your files. I have a similar post coming up that will be a good addendum to this one.

And finally, in celebration of summer, Dana wrote Great Buys During the Month of August, which is really a post worth reading. :D

Frugal Babe

First, I loved her post Using Balance Transfers For Credit Card Debt. I did a bit of credit card juggling as I was paying off my debt and it was a good choice. But for all that I did transfer around, there was a lot I didn’t bother to, either. There are a few key factors to consider when moving your debt around, and Frugal Babe explores them for you. Personally, I only ever transferred if the amount was high enough to justify the transfer fee, and if I could then keep the debt on the new card for something like 0% interest for 6 months. That way I was making more progress on my other debts without accruing interest on that one. It’s a game worth playing if you can get it straight and make your moves wisely.

Second, she wrote Cloth Diapers Really Are The Frugal Way, which I totally agree with. If I ever have children, they will certainly be cloth-diapered, and I will make the diapers myself ;) And finally, she wrote all about her plans to build a hydroponic garden in her home, which is just totally awesome! I love how this lady is making her family so self-sufficient! Way to go ;)

Almost Frugal

Kelly wrote a fantastic post called Eating Out Frugally: Have A Picnic, a marvelous idea for summer and, you better believe it, winter, too :D I have picnics at my dinner table all the time - it’s all in the mindset and what you put into the meal. I think this is a great suggestion.

She also wrote Give Linens a New Lease On Life, an idea totally up my alley. I always give things a few chances before I give up on them - and her decision to dye rather than to buy is exactly what I would have done! I’ve bought pillows, duvet covers, and furniture that weren’t right for the decor or weren’t the right size, etc., but perfect in price. With a little altering, dying, or sanding and staining, the things were perfect in the end. It’s worth it to get your hands dirty if you have the skills - you will save a lot of money and have a lot of fun in the process.

Tight Fisted Mister

Andy wrote about quitting his job, a decision he decided to make because he was robbed and it just seemed like the right decision, all other circumstances weighed as well. In the meantime, he contemplated other income ideas for his between-job time so that he won’t have to dip much into his savings. When getting out of debt, I did at least half of these things for more money with success - so it’s a good list!

Hope you are all having a fantastic Sunday. See you next week!

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Jul

29

In Defence of Expensive Shoes, or “My Way of Thinking Frugally”





Payless Fall 2008Recently, Frugal Babe wrote an interesting post called New Frugal Tips. I agree completely with her points about most everything - especially on those points which are both healthy and frugal - but I had to disagree with one: shoes. ;)
Most of you know how crazy I am about shoes. A large part of my debt was due to the fact that I bought loads of ridiculously expensive shoes (new, even) when I couldn’t afford them. But the truth is, now that the debt is gone, I still buy shoes here and there and I don’t regret having bought the ones I did.

Frugal Babe makes the point:

And I love the tip about wearing sensible shoes. To me, Carrie from Sex and the City [...] is the epitome of someone who never chooses sensible shoes. Was she ever not wearing heels? She couldn’t afford to buy her apartment but she had $40,000 worth of Manolos and Jimmy Choos in her closet. Ouch. My current favorite shoes are a pair of knockoff Keens that came from Payless about two years ago, and cost $25.

I hate to have to disagree. After all, I am not advocating buying yourself out of house and home just to have a bunch of fancy footwear! And I wouldn’t want anyone to misconstrue my arguments as ones in favor that sort of behavior.

However, that being said, I believe that buying more expensive shoes pays off in the long run. If I’m not mistaken, Frugal Babe has been lucky with her pair of Payless shoes lasting her two years. Every pair I’ve ever bought from Payless, Target, WalMart, JC Penny, etc., has fallen apart after only a couple of months of regular wear.

Everyone has their own reasons for buying the shoes that they do. I buy expensive, high-quality shoes because I believe - firmly - that they are the more frugal choice.

Quality Shoes Last Longer

Clearly, the most relevant reason that I buy quality shoes is because they last longer. Usually a quality shoe has been made with finer materials - leathers, metals, woods, beads, gems and plastics - that last a long time. Not only that, but in many cases the shoes I buy have been hand-made - or at least constructed by a human rather than a blind machine - which means that there’s even more attention to detail and refined sturdiness in the shoes.

Because the shoes last longer, I might spend more, but I’ll buy less often; $150 spent on a good pair of shoes, plus maybe $100 in repairs over time, will last me 5-10 years. At the rate at which I go through cheap shoes (every quarter), and assuming $25 per pair, I would spend $500-$1000 during that same period of time if I’d bought cheap shoes.

Quality Shoes Maintain Better

I take the time to maintain my shoes. I have a vast collection of leather heels of all sizes and shapes, and a pile of cleaners and moisturizers to go along with them. Every spring, at least, I take the time to go over my shoes and tidy up any scuffs, tears, and smudges.

Sofft Fall 2008Unlike cheap plastic and imitation-leather shoes, quality shoes can be repaired. Wood can be replaced easily if it snaps, and quality metals and gems won’t get banged up or break almost ever. Leather doesn’t tear or scuff as easily as plastic, and as long as you keep the leather soft and the stitching tight, the shoes are practically indestructible for normal wear.

Whenever the tread, sole, or heel bases of my shoes get worn down, I take my shoes to a repair shop. I’ve had whole heel pieces, treads, and soles cleaned up or replaced, and torn leather stitched up or, in one case, remade after a particularly unfortunate accident involving alcohol and running.

Also, most importantly, higher-quality shoes are made to be deconstructed, so that they can be maintained. For a short while, when I was first buying expensive shoes, I tried to keep my old crap shoes up in the same way that I did my new ones, but to no avail - and they were eventually tossed. I couldn’t remove the scuffs on the pleather toes or cheap plastic heels. I even tried to have the heels that were wearing down on a pair of pumps I had bought at Payless replaced, only to have the shop tell me that the heels couldn’t be replaced because the pumps couldn’t be deconstructed for repair. The shoe pieces had been fused together with heat, and since the shoes were made of plastic, there was nothing to be done to separate the heel from the upper.

Quality Shoes Are More Comfortable and Better For You

There are some that would disagre, so I guess this point is more subjective - but in my experience, by far, higher-quality shoes are always more comfortable. Of course, there will forever be uncomfortable shoes somewhere, but your job is to not buy them! To someone else, they may be supremely comfortable. :)
Sofft Fall 2008Jesting aside, I really can’t say enough about the comfort of a fine shoe. Even if you don’t wear heels, which I do in abundance, the difference is astounding. If you’ve never put on a pair of Ecco shoes, you’re missing out. Dansko and Söfft are also superb in their ergonomics and support. And while I’m not here to say that high heels are good for you, most pairs of Coach, Circa, BCBG Maxazria, and Chloé don’t even feel like heels, they’re so foot-conscious in the way of comfort.

In my opinion, if you’re really all about comfort and your feet - invest in some fine ergonomic, fashionable shoes (yes, the two qualities do come together these days!) and wear them for a lifetime.

And finally…

I Love Shoes

What can I say? ;) When it comes down to it, I want to have a closet packed with shoes that I can tend to, care for, and love. I enjoy making up ensembles to show off my shoes, or wear other shoes to highlight my jewelry or dress. I find such fun in dressing up - I could never give that up.

And while I do buy cheap shoes here and there because the expense isn’t much and I know they’ll be fun while they last, I prefer to collect masterpiece shoes slowly, one small gem at a time, and take pride in my shoes.

I know that I’ll have my Coach heels 40 years from now, barring an unthinkable disaster, and I’d much rather have that than a pair of imposter heels that will fall apart by Christmas.

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