This is a guest post by my lovely bride-to-be:
My fiancé, the goal nerd himself, would be so proud of me today.
Today, I had a wonderful experience of coming ahead of the money curve by $100. How so? Due to an unfortunate buy that would not work for our wedding, I returned the item and received $70. I still needed the item, so I bought it elsewhere for better quality for ten dollars less.
Then I found a gift card to a New York & Co. for $20. It had been sitting inside my house and/or card for over a year. Gift cards may just be my favorite kind of gift since I can wait to buy items and make the money last longer. It's also fun to find them lying around the house way after a birthday or holiday has passed and yet I still get a chance to celebrate. Now the store was having an 80% off sale (gosh I love back to school merchandise switch-overs). I bought just enough clothing items to come to $19 and some odd cents. The salesclerk told me at the cash register that I saved about $71 through the sale.
So to sum it up, I started with -$70 (since I already bought the dastardly no-good-very-bad-item in the first place). By returning an item to the store because it wasn't going to go work, I gained back $70 putting me at $0. Then I bought a better version of the item for less money. Since I only spent $60 instead of $70, I had now gained $10 for the day. Next I used a gift card, which is essentially free money, to buy about $90 worth of clothes. Now I have a $60 item, $90 worth of clothes, and still $10 back in the old bank account.
I was so excited to tell my goal nerd that he suggested I post the story. It is an incredible high to be thrifty and get more bang for the buck these days. Yay us!!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Stop Cussing for $20
Before the experiment
My fiancée Beth grew up in an environment without cussing. I did not.She has always been bothered by the amount I curse. At first I thought she was being ridiculous, and that she should just get with the times. But it persisted in bothering her. A few years before trying the experiment, a swear jar occurred to me. I told her that before we had a child, I would use a swear jar. I also told her that I wouldn't be able to start immediately because there were too many other projects going on in my life.
I refused to promise I would stop without a system. I feel too many people, men especially, promise to change just to stop getting nagged at. There is another term for that: self-deception. Another word: a lie.
I don't like lying. And the worst people to lie to are 1.) myself and 2.) the love of my life. It is ridiculous to think you can break a habit through will power. Instead, I knew I needed a system. So I made a system. My rules were simple: I pulled out $2 for every f-word, and $1 for every other curse word. I had some cash on me because I had come back from a trip, so it was easy to immediately pull out some money for every curse word. Here is a chronicle of what turned out to be a very effective process.
Day 1
The first curse word I caught myself saying I had to do some mental back-tracking to realize I had said it. I want in middle of an impassioned tirade about, of all things, young adult literature. I realized I had gotten myself worked up and speaking quickly, so I paused, and thought about what I had said and realized I had said "by having so many young characters altering the very fabric of society, young adult literature kisses the a-- of kids." Beth and I were in the car, so I pulled out a dollar and placed it on the dashboard.I was up to $4 a hour or so before sunset and thought I was in the clear. But I ran an errand and as I was driving home a car was really close to me. Exasperated, I said the f word, and immediately realized that would cost me $2. It stopped any more cuss words, and I got home safely. Then, later, I was online and saw something I thought was stupid, I said it was "f--ing stupid." Well, that remark was f--ing stupid of me. And it cost me $2.
Daily Total: $8.
Day 2
On this day I also looked around for a bracelet so I could start with a complaint bracelet. Though I think it is a bad idea to focus on too many things at once, I thought it both complaining and cursing were tied to negativity, so I might as well give it a shot. I also learned on the second day that a lot of cursing is built into our automatic phrases that are the building blocks for our speech. For example, I pulled out a dollar after saying "I got (blank) to do." Another example, which I have not said, are "hauling (blank)", and "f--ing funny," which I unfortunately did say.Daily Total: $7.
I had only done this 2 days and I was at $15. I thought it was going to take a hundred dollars, maybe hundreds of dollars to break the habit. The next day, however, lead to a decent reduction.
Day 3
I caught myself a few times in the morning before saying bad words. Also, I listened to "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and noticed how much cursing there was. I couldn't sing along, and that was a odd experience. When I took a shower, it was a bit too hot. I said the s-word. Later in the day when my foot fell asleep, I managed to say "shoot," instead, with much profusion on that replacement word. Unfortunately, I got started on a mini-rant. I ended up pulling out $2 before it was done. But Beth later agreed with me that those $2 probably prevented another 10-30 cuss words. So, I think the system fulfilled its purpose. Also, I of course changed over my complaint bracelet.Daily Total: $4
Day 4
I only had to catch myself once this day. I knew I owed Beth a huge-(blank) apology for something. It was the first day on the experiment I didn't say a single cuss word.Daily Total: $0
Day 5
I listened to the Macklemore song again (what can I say, I am a fan of thrift). In an idle moment I caught myself with my head bopping, mouthing "You hell-a wont." Of all the things in that song, that's what got me.Daily Total: $1
That brought me to $20. Now, it's not that I've never cursed again. But the amount has been drastically reduced. I was amazed by how quickly this procedure worked. Though I will grant that summers are a very peaceful time for me, so that probably had something to do with it.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Cooking Game
Purpose:
Build motivation for cooking at home. Keep track of our savings.
Rules:
Every time we cook at home, we add $10 to our total. We have piece of paper on our refrigerator so we can track. I have the paper divided into two columns: the right column is for how much we have saved since we started, the left hand column tracks how close are to our next increment of $160. When we hit $160, we celebrate with something small (think a movie rental and popcorn at home).
I think $10 for each meal is about right. If we go to a sit-down restaurant, then the cost difference is almost always over the $10. However, it is possible to eat so-called fast food for much cheaper. In that case, I can only try to justify the $10 with future medical bills and future quality of life. If you want to try this and go with $5, or a different amount, that's fine. I'm not the boss of you.
Let's do some fun math for a second:
If we eat in 1 time a week for 10 years, the total will be $ 5,200.
If we eat in 2 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $10,400.
If we eat in 3 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $15,600.
If we eat in 4 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $20,800.
I guess if you wanted to add lunch in that could be:
If we eat in 6 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $31,200.
If we eat in 8 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $41,600.
And 10 times is $52,000. I have seen game-show prizes of that amount. That's life-changing money. If you are willing to patiently work at it for 10 years, then you are able to give yourself life-changing money.
Build motivation for cooking at home. Keep track of our savings.
Rules:
Every time we cook at home, we add $10 to our total. We have piece of paper on our refrigerator so we can track. I have the paper divided into two columns: the right column is for how much we have saved since we started, the left hand column tracks how close are to our next increment of $160. When we hit $160, we celebrate with something small (think a movie rental and popcorn at home).
I think $10 for each meal is about right. If we go to a sit-down restaurant, then the cost difference is almost always over the $10. However, it is possible to eat so-called fast food for much cheaper. In that case, I can only try to justify the $10 with future medical bills and future quality of life. If you want to try this and go with $5, or a different amount, that's fine. I'm not the boss of you.
Let's do some fun math for a second:
If we eat in 1 time a week for 10 years, the total will be $ 5,200.
If we eat in 2 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $10,400.
If we eat in 3 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $15,600.
If we eat in 4 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $20,800.
I guess if you wanted to add lunch in that could be:
If we eat in 6 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $31,200.
If we eat in 8 times a week for 10 years, the total will be $41,600.
And 10 times is $52,000. I have seen game-show prizes of that amount. That's life-changing money. If you are willing to patiently work at it for 10 years, then you are able to give yourself life-changing money.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Why Goal-Nerd, Why?
The only reason this blog exists is because I had a goal to write a blog post every week starting on July 1st, and every day for the last week I have been more focused on my writing than the coding of a new website.
Oh well, a goal completed is a goal completed. It kind of reminds me of those stories where a genie is found, but the genie interprets the wishes however he sees fit. I have no problem being that crafty genie about my goals. Either, I should accept my own creativity, or I should write down far more specific goals, but with tinier, more specific steps. (By the way, managers of the world, that is the same restraints you should put on yourself: either accept the decisions that come from delegation or be hyper-specific, step-by-step on every time bit of the process. Hmm . . . that gives me an idea for a post on what will become my main blog . . . This is how I prevent myself from getting around to creating the new blog).
By getting things done, I learn to trust myself, which gives me the mental lee-way to accept when I pull fast ones like this blog. Which allows me to get more things done. See how this is a virtuous cycle?
I am continue on with my goal of "after July 1st," posting at least every week, with the eventual goal of posting twice a week. When next week comes around, I might be posting here again, or I might have a brand new blog.
To get that new blog, the genie of my future actions must be tamed. Time for a new goal: making a new blog. I should divide that into several sub-goals, and work on those sub-goal each day, perhaps finding out that I need even more sub-goals. Here's the sketch, though:
0.) draw how you want to website to look (did it a week ago!)
1.) watch basic tutorial on how to code a blog from php academy (I'm really rusty)
2.) code most basic blog possible using old domain name
3.) test post using with things like quote marks, etc (see if I can break it).
4.) If it breaks, fix it.
5.) get blog to have all the features I want
6.) test appearance of website to get all features
7.) Get a new domain name (ha! haven't even done that!)
8.) Massive headache of porting pictures, etc.
9.) put in first three posts
10.) link to new blog and start promoting it
I will start on the step 1 tomorrow, and I will only put a deadline on each individual step. That way I can monitor progression through the steps and see what adjustments need to be made. This is just a better way to do it. Writing out these steps took more and thought than just jotting down the general wish of what I wanted to see and appending an arbitrary deadline for "motivation." It didn't motivate me, and I found an easy way out. And this is me managing myself.
I think I might as well be a good manager to myself.
Oh well, a goal completed is a goal completed. It kind of reminds me of those stories where a genie is found, but the genie interprets the wishes however he sees fit. I have no problem being that crafty genie about my goals. Either, I should accept my own creativity, or I should write down far more specific goals, but with tinier, more specific steps. (By the way, managers of the world, that is the same restraints you should put on yourself: either accept the decisions that come from delegation or be hyper-specific, step-by-step on every time bit of the process. Hmm . . . that gives me an idea for a post on what will become my main blog . . . This is how I prevent myself from getting around to creating the new blog).
Trust.
By getting things done, I learn to trust myself, which gives me the mental lee-way to accept when I pull fast ones like this blog. Which allows me to get more things done. See how this is a virtuous cycle?
I am continue on with my goal of "after July 1st," posting at least every week, with the eventual goal of posting twice a week. When next week comes around, I might be posting here again, or I might have a brand new blog.
To get that new blog, the genie of my future actions must be tamed. Time for a new goal: making a new blog. I should divide that into several sub-goals, and work on those sub-goal each day, perhaps finding out that I need even more sub-goals. Here's the sketch, though:
0.) draw how you want to website to look (did it a week ago!)
1.) watch basic tutorial on how to code a blog from php academy (I'm really rusty)
2.) code most basic blog possible using old domain name
3.) test post using with things like quote marks, etc (see if I can break it).
4.) If it breaks, fix it.
5.) get blog to have all the features I want
6.) test appearance of website to get all features
7.) Get a new domain name (ha! haven't even done that!)
8.) Massive headache of porting pictures, etc.
9.) put in first three posts
10.) link to new blog and start promoting it
I will start on the step 1 tomorrow, and I will only put a deadline on each individual step. That way I can monitor progression through the steps and see what adjustments need to be made. This is just a better way to do it. Writing out these steps took more and thought than just jotting down the general wish of what I wanted to see and appending an arbitrary deadline for "motivation." It didn't motivate me, and I found an easy way out. And this is me managing myself.
I think I might as well be a good manager to myself.
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