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Month: March 2016

SXSW 2016: Day 1

everybody wants some

South by Southwest Festival 2016: Friday, March 11.

President Obama Keynote

The lines for Obama were out the door, down the streets, and going on and on. A SXSW lottery was held so regular badge holders could win tickets to the speaking event. Sadly I didn’t win 🙁 I got to watch the live stream though 🙂

It was big news. President Obama was the first sitting president to visit SXSW. Considering the event was held during the Interactive (Technology, Data, Innovation) portion of the festival, a big focus of what Obama talked about was on the way technology is shaping our world.

Obama recognized the importance of embracing new talent and tech developments and how the government should get more involved in adapting tech advancements to better help citizens.

He cited examples including how more simpler and faster process of applying for college financial aid on the FAFSA website and the social security application being made more accessible.

Some depressing figures cited included how the U.S. ranks 31st out of 34 in voter turnout for developed nations.

“It’s easier to order pizza than it is to vote in this country”- President Obama

Obama’s closing remarks were how this country needs it’s citizens to step up, get involved, and look for ways to improve. It was reminiscent of former president JFK’s quote. 

No Tipping. Hospitality Included. 

I was interested a lot in this panel, wondering how a restaurant went about paying their servers more and abolishing tipping. The no-tipping debate has grown in the past year and questions about it have risen. Can restaurants implement no tipping without raising their menu prices surging? Is tipping even constitutional?

Dan Meyer, one of the panelists, owns The Modern in NYC. Since raising server and cook pay and eliminating tipping, the restaurant’s business has surged and become more profitable.

I talked about this with another festival attendee. He informed me of a case on the other end of the spectrum. A restaurant in LA had decided to implement no-tipping back in 2015 and it failed for them.

Joe’s Crab Shack has been experimenting with this. Their servers will start to be paid $12-14 an hour in some of the locations.

Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some

The film called a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused premiered premiered on Friday, March 11th at SXSW. The movie follows a group of college baseball guys in the days leading up to starting the college semester. It made me remember when it was a simpler time 🙂 (the movie takes place in the 80’s).

The line started 3 HOURS before the premiere time. I waited in line for 2.5 hours. It was worth it. First time seeing a film at SXSW!

This first day of SXSW  2016 was awesome! Definite improvement over the last time I came in 2014. Stay tuned for the next few days!

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The New American Dream

the new american dream

What’s this “American Dream” all about? Judging from movies and the ever constant article about its relation to millennials, I think it went like this: work hard in high school and get good grades, go to *the best* college, again…get good grades, graduate, find a good-paying job, get married, buy a house in a suburb with a white picket fence, have 2-3 munchkins, continue working at your job for years to collect a pension+also count on social security to support you, and live happily ever after.

Hahahaha. Sorry,just writing it is funny. It’s interesting to see the shifts in perception millennials (and even younger Gen X-ers) have when it comes to the ever elusive “American Dream”.

Buying a house or…?

When I graduated college, I kept being told by my parents friends and other older adults that I needed to buy a house because “renting is throwing money away”. The statement isn’t quite true. People are doing several things rather than buying a house young.

The first of two big things going on is a lot more people nowadays are moving back home after graduating from college. It’s a buzzkill to relive in a childhood bedroom again but hey, the rent is too damn high and Sallie Mae wants her money.

The second big thing is the tiny house movement. It’s grown a lot in popularity with many articles and shows like Tiny House Hunters and Tiny House Nation covering it. I LOVE the tiny house movement. It’s one of my near goals to be able to build one of my own. 😉

SO MANY people buy houses before they’re ready. The concept of home is changing. One of the things that boggles my mind is the lack of affordable housing. It’s a strong reason why so many are still living with their parents, renting, or living in a tiny house/RV. Why are houses so massive nowadays?!?

Jobs & Stability

What do you define as a “stable job”?

My first thought is the tech industry, many think it’s this lucrative and stable career path yet companies all around are doing mass layoffs. I’ve started to see more and more articles about having an emergency fund with 3-6 months of expenses saved up. Layoffs seem to be happening more frequently than in years past.

With stagnant wages, job security woes, and mountains of debt, side hustles seem like an essential thing.

Retirement

Many people still appear to want to retire at the traditional age of 65. Pensions are for the most part a thing of the past. Every now and then, my mom and uncle (both in their sixties and retired) nag me about how I need to get a job with a pension because “these 401k’s aren’t working for people”.

It made me think about how my generation has to reallllyyy plan for retirement, something previous generations didn’t have to focus on as much. Despite the retirement crisis and social security woes, people still aren’t actively taking charge of retirement planning (<—-amusing article, go read it, I’ll wait).

People appear to be more focused on keeping up with the norm: buying a large house, new cars (with *all* the extras), and $10-15 drinks at the bar.

Kids

So many people ask me when I am planning on having kids, how many I want and so forth. It’s strikes me as a little odd since I’m a 21 years old and single. Nonetheless, it’s worth pointing out kids are super expensive. Really, really, expensive. (#RIPwallet).

The amount of kids people are having is decreasing and some are opting to not have any at all. Whether or not a CNN Money estimate is accurate is beside the point. Raising a kid is expensive. People are becoming more aware of this nowadays.

What’s your american dream? Not sure? I’ll tell you mine…

My personal american dream:

  • Be as financially literate as possible and aware of where my money is going
  • Have a healthy emergency fund at all times (3-9 months expenses depending on where I am in life)
  • Work a job in a career I enjoy, that propels me forward
  • Not have a mortgage control me (Not opposed to buying a house, but when I do it will be something I know I can afford and manage)
  • Be conscious and weighing the options when taking on debt
  • Max out my Roth IRA ever year (not going to happen this year because of debt payoff but within 2-3 years I want to start maxing it out every year)
  • Never let a flashy ad or society encourage me to take on debt I don’t need

There are more, but those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Plus I didn’t want the list getting too long, haha.

What do you think about previous depictions of the “american dream” vs. today’s definition? What’s your idea of “the american dream? 

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Small Ways to Save without Cutting Lattes

smallwaystosave

Is there anything better than sipping on a morning cup of coffee after a groggy wake up? Rolling out of bed after hitting the snooze button three times. It’s one of those days where things just aren’t working. Mornings are crunch time and you have to get out the door before traffic gets bad. The only redeeming quality for this time is stopping by your nearest Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts to pick up that sweeeet and joyful latte.

It’s the the little things, right? Right.

Despite your addicting latte habit, you’re trying to save some money. There are the big ticket items to go through (cutting cable, eating out, looking for ways to save on car insurance) but what about the small stuff? I like to call them money leaks.

Money leaks are areas where you don’t really notice your money slipping away. If you’re a person without a budget (which let’s be honest, most don’t have one), then the money is gone before you fully realize it.

*cue the horror showdown that happens when you look at your bank account*

I wonder what amounts like an extra $30 or $50 or even $100 per month could bring me. Right now it’s all about paying off student loans. Maybe it’s different for you.

Subscriptions 

I love Spotify, I mean I really love it. It’s playlists make it so much better than Pandora. It just gets me, ya know? Haha. Anyways, despite the love, I recently cut it. I mainly used it for ambient music while working and dealing with ads wasn’t as bad as I thought. $10.81 per month saved.

Photoshop was the next thing I cut. I did graphic design stuff in college and used it a lot. As time went on, I realized using things like PicMonkey or Affinity Photo are cheaper alternatives. $10.81 per month saved.

I’m willing to bet, subscription expenses have risen for many people. There are clothing and jeweler services like Bombfell and Roxbox and magazine, music, cloud storage, and other subscriptions that can drain away money.

I saved $21.62 per month eliminating some of my subscriptions, how much can you save?

Drinks

I’m not just talking about alcoholic beverages here. I used to go to the grocery store and get those individual packs of beverages to drink.Snapple’s only cost one dollar, so I would load up on them.

Have people forgotten about drink mixes? Koolaid! That Country Hill lemonade stuff I always see. With these you can make quarts and have beverages for only a handful of change each.

Also, next time you go to the bar for happy hour with friends, just get a water or cranberry juice, it’s cheaper and you’re morning self will thank you. 🙂

Memberships

Be honest with yourself, do you ever actually use your gym membership? You saw that New Years crossfit commercial, dropped the candy and ran to the nearest gym to sign up. Now it’s March and you’ve only been once.

Personally I still have a gym membership since I regularly attend it. My membership is to Planet Fitness and it only costs $21.70 per month. Super affordable compared to most others.

Evaluate whether you use your gym membership or not. There are lots of free workout/yoga/zumba workouts online. Consider looking into lower cost gyms as well.

Expensive Cell Phone Plans

Why. Do. People. Pay. So.Much. For. Their. Cell.Phones???

Seriously though, people spend a ridiculous amount on their cell phone plans every month. Did you know the average American now spends around $110 per month on their cell phones.

I’m with Cricket and I spend $35 a month (taxes and fees included). I get unlimited talk/text and 2.5gb high speed data. Check out Cricket, Republic Wireless, or Ting if you want to lower your cell phone bill.

Credit Card Interest

I don’t have much experience with this considering how I just got my first credit card back in October and it has 0% APR for the first year. But my personal banker did tell me people throw away money on credit card interest a lot. The best way to combat this is to call the company and see if there are any promotional offers or other ways to lower your interest rate.

I’m still looking into different ways money “leaks” from my bank account. I’m stopped renting Redbox movies, don’t get “convenience foods” at the grocery store or gas station as much and cut down on my subscriptions.

I still get to get my morning coffee! Granted I don’t go to Starbucks every weekday (more like 1-2 times a week), it’s still nice to find ways to cut expenses without sacrificing coffee runs.

What are ways you’ve cut expenses? Do you still drink+enjoy a morning latte? 

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