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Month: June 2016

Weird Things I’ve Done to Save Money

Weird things I've done to save money. I lived in my car, stocked up on fast-food condiments and more.

What weird things have you done to save money? The personal finance blogging world often throws around different ways to save money. Cut cable! Brown bag your work lunch! Unplug things when not in use!

What do you value most? What are you okay with getting rid of? I’ve heard of people even going as far as taking toilet paper from public bathrooms in order to save money. Ummm, okay, not for me.

Saving money all comes down to your own personal taste and priorities. It’s always funny when I see articles about saving money and in the comment section, there’s usually some disapproving comments about how saving money on this or that isn’t worth the effort, dumb, and so forth.

Why would you do that to save money! It’s not even worth it!

What? That’s crazy! No way I would do that. 

Well, if there is a thing living in Thailand so far has taught me, it’s that 1. hot water is not necessary for a shower 2. 20-30 showers are not a necessity and 3. Many Thai people either don’t have internet at their home or their internet isn’t fast enough to sufficiently stream Netflix *gasp* *chills* 

Let’s go through some of the ways I’ve gone about saving money.

1. I lived in my car for my first year of college

Probably the most extreme thing I’ve done to save money. During my first year of university, I didn’t get enough financial aid to cover room and board for the school year. Rather than take out some private loans (with crazy interest rates), I decided to live in my car.

It wasn’t ideal but I made it work. I hung out in the university library a lot, which had air conditioning, wi-fi, and big desks to work on (the necessities 🙂 ).

2. Getting a job that provided a free meal

Going through university usually means the rite of passage of working low-rung, minimum wage jobs. When I arrived at my college town, I started looking for jobs. I quickly found one at McDonalds (you want fries with that?) and got a free meal with every shift.

Usually I got to add extras to the food and even take some home. It made living the broke college life a little easier.

3. Saving condiments from eating out

Most of the saved condiments came from McDonalds that I took after finishing a shift.

4. Dollar Menu loyal

Sadly, the McDonalds dollar menu no longer exists in most places. Back in college though, it was alive and well. There were McDoubles, side salads, sundaes, small fries, large drink, pies, and 4 piece chicken nuggets, all for $1.00 each. I would usually pair up a “main dish” with fries or a salad for $2.17.

5. I kept store cups

I only kept a McDonalds cup. I would keep it in my backpack, order my food, then take it out and fill it up. It’s stealing, I know, I know. The habit died when I graduated from university.

6. Not washing my hair as often

This can be gross for some people, but it worked for me. I usually washed my hair around two times per week while in university.

7. Getting a “dumbphone”

The opposite of a smartphone. At one point a few years back, I decided to cut more expenses and felt I needed to get rid of my “expensive” $38.50 cell phone bill. I opted for a flip phone and got on a $10 a month plan for several months.

I now realize my “expensive” cell phone bill was probably half the cost of what most paid for theirs. You live and you learn.

8. College campus move out days=gold

At the end of the semester or school year, lots of students would throw out or leave a bunch of the school supplies, appliances, furniture and more (that their parents probably bought them).

Me and a friend went through at the end of one year and gathered up a bunch of school supplies, a small table, and a microwave.

Looking back at the somewhat weird things I’ve done to save money, it makes me curious as to what others have done. During my serving days, I know a big one many people seem to do: ghetto lemonade.

Ever heard of it? It involves getting the free water, then asking your server for more lemons (I can confirm, waiters hate this), then adding sweetener and the lemons to your water. Wha-la! DIY lemonade.

What weird things have you done to save money? 

The Rocky History of an Emergency Fund

What has your history with an emergency fund been like? I share my experience over the years having one.

Emergency funds are kinda hot right now, don’t ya think? Well not really…people have most likely had them for a long while. There has, however, been an increase in posts discussing the nagging but super important topic of emergency funds.

The discussing of these surprisingly not so common savings accounts got set off by a Billfold post on The Story of a Fuck Off Fund.

Age 12: Budding Business Owner?

My first real tango with the aspect of an emergency fund happened when I set out to start a business. I was 12 years old, had just finished 6th grade and felt ready to conquer the world. Sort of.

My mom owned an assisted living business and had just opened a new location. I pitched the idea of having a candy counter to serve the residents snacks and promptly got to work

I had separate bank accounts for my regular savings and my business money. I started buying the snacks in bulk to save money and from there I understood the importance of having a “buffer” in my accounts.

Every month I would stash away some of the money I made and put it into my savings account to be used for “a rainy day” or a business investment, as my 12-year-old self liked to call it.

Age: 18-20 University Life

My years at university consisted of going through different shades of broke. “Being worried but still sort of okay” type of broke. “Not having a lot of money” type of broke. “Oh my gosh, am I going to overdraft” type of broke.

My emergency fund fluctuated a lot during this time. Emergency funds were an ingrained aspect in me because of my car. Faced with the aspect of having to pay for repairs, oil changes, registration, and car insurance costs, I knew very well how expenses could sneak up.

I made it a habit to always have at least $1,500 in an emergency fund during the time.

Present-ish day

For a while after graduating university, I worked a job I that was really exhausting and draining both physically and mentally. During this time, I made solid efforts to not let the job become a long term thing.

In addition to job hunting, I started contributing more and more to my emergency fund. For a while, I contributed a good chunk, until my student loan repayment started. Then I was stuck at a cross-roads.

Contribute more to my emergency fund (it was still small at this point) or pay off more of my student loan debt? What was the “right” thing to do?

After reading a dozen or so articles, I decided to make big payments on my student loan debt, but still contribute a sizable amount to my emergency fund. It’s all about personal circumstances and priorities. I figured out what would work for me.

I am so glad I did. 

My job started to become unbearable, I had a decent size emergency fund, and an opportunity to move overseas for a while presented itself.

I still find it funny how a story on emergency funds went viral around the same time I was making a plan to quit my job without a solid new job lined up.

I quit my job, went to an interactive technology festival, went to Oregon, then started my new job in Thailand. My emergency fund was my friend during those few short weeks, when expenses started to pop up.

Thank you emergency fund. I’ll never stop giving you attention 🙂

What is your history of an emergency fund? How much or how many months of expenses do you consider is necessary to have in one? 

Dealing With Friends Who Are Bad With Money

How to deal with friends who are bad with money.

Friends who are bad with money. Either they splurge too much, save too little, or have a YOLO mindset when it comes to their finances. They need help.

I recently got done having a binge of the second season of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Awesome show with just the right level of wackiness and humor. I also watched the 1994 Winona Ryder film Reality Bites along with a new indie film called Temps. 

All great stuff that had topics related to starting a new life, finding one’s goals, quarter life crisis frenzy and in some way involved the every golden topic of money.

Back in March, before I departed to Thailand, I sat at a friend’s apartment and discussed all the things I was budgeting for when I arrived in Thailand.

Me: I’m just worried about the various unexpected expenses I will encounter. What does your monthly budget look like? 

Friend: *confused stare* I don’t have a budget. I mean, I save money but I don’t look over my expenses or anything.

Me: *stares in confusion for an undetermined amount of time*

Everyone has tales of being around people who are bad with money, myself included. While there certainly are people who are badddd with money, many people just aren’t good with their money.

[tweetthis]Many millennials have the basic “saving is important” mindset down, but not much else[/tweetthis]

Let’s go through an anecdote. One of my friends has been working at her current company for nearly five years. A year ago she went full-time with them. Being a full-time employee, she got a slew of benefits: health insurance, paid time off, and a 401k with 4% match.

Want to take a guess whether she signed up for the 401k or not?

She didn’t.

I had another friend who had a severe misunderstanding of what “treat yo self” meant when it came to splurges and shrugged it off by saying she put money into her savings account every month, so all was good. No, no, all is not good.

How do you help friends who are bad with money? How do you help them set money goals and understand concepts like 401k’s, IRA’s, Index funds, and more without boring them?

Don’t offer advice unless asked

This is the biggest thing I have realized when it comes to dealing with friends who are bad with money. Being a young twenty-something (I’m 21), I want to to tell them all the things when it comes to practicing money management in your twenties (which, let’s be honest, isn’t a whole lot since I’m learning myself).

You want so bad to help them, to sit them down and explain the basic concepts of compound interest, the magic power of a 401k and IRA, and developing a solid emergency fund.

You shouldn’t do any of this though, unless they ask you (whether directly or implied) for help. Only friends who solicit advice are the ones who actually want to get better with money.

Talk about your money experience

People constantly want to see how something relates to them. How they can apply something to their life.

Whenever I talk about my money experiences (both good and bad), is when my friends relate the most to it and start wanting to get better in their own lives.

Back in university, I talked with a friend about the small, but growing emergency fund I had and how I was glad I had it when it when a few unexpected car repairs came up. I discussed how I was able to save while on working a low-wage job (something she was also going through).

Often times, I found I most often had a “money breakthrough” with a friend when I discussed a personal anecdote.

Like many things in life, becoming better takes practice. Money, whatever way in comes in (being debt free, making a higher salary, etc.) isn’t the goal. It’s all about making it work for you!

How do you deal with friends who are bad with money? What ways can you help them? 

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