It was a dark and stormy night in the bayou. No wait…I’m just joshing you. Ha ha! This story doesn’t start off like a ghost story you tell beside the campfire or even in a bayou. I mean who do I look like, Bayou Billy?
For those who don’t know who that is, Bayou Billy is a fictional character in an NES game from 1988.
As a 90’s kid, I liked playing all types of Nintendo games. What I loved about video games is that not only are they entertaining and fun to play, but they teach you critical thinking and problem solving skills as well. Nevertheless, I digress. Now back to how I paid off this $85k of debt.
Paying down massive amounts of debt involves sacrifice, effort, planning, hard work and fortitude. It doesn’t really happen by accident or luck It is consistent effort over time to keep paying your debt obligation while at the same time not continuing to borrow more of it. This is what I had to do to make it happen.
The number one thing I had to figure out was how much I owed. Opening up bank and credit card statements showed me this. I had to get this debt off by back: a $20,000 personal loan, $30,000 car loan, various credit card, and other debt of $35,000.
Those credit card statements showing me how much to pay over three years before it is paid in full really motivated me. Therefore, I would just put my head down and work. I worked on paying off one debt at a time.
Then I would go to the next one and concentrate all my time and energy on that one until it was gone. It took more than eight years to pay off all that debt.
I had to pay $448.65 monthly on my car note, $333 monthly on my personal loan, and additional over $500 on the other debt. Paying all that money out every month motivated me to do two things: 1) Not to get any more personal loans; and 2) Not to get anymore car loans.
I paid off my car in 2009. I am happy to report that as of 2021, I have not had another car note since. I kept my old car for 17 years total and then the next car I bought, I paid cash for it.
Instead of siphoning off my money to service debt, I began to invest that money in myself. I went back to school and starting dumping my money in my retirement accounts. Got an extra $5. Put in in the Roth IRA. Got a raise or bonus. Put more money in my 401(k).
All these years later and I am still contributing to my retirement accounts.
I have read more than enough articles on the retirement crisis and the shortage in Americans retirement accounts to know I had better take this seriously. I didn’t want to wake up one day and be 50 with no money saved for my golden years.
I know that those years feel like they’re in a galaxy far, far away, but trust me, no one stays young forever.
I want you to protect your 401(k) as Luke Skywalker protected Princess Leia in Star Wars.
Debt are the storm troopers. Your ability to avoid debt is your use of your strong will over your spending. Your checkbook is your light saber.
Your control over how you wield these funds is your Jedi mind trick over all those who try to part you from your money.
I hope that this post helps awaken the sleeping giant within that lets you choose financial freedom over spending.
When I think of 15 items or less it always reminds me of being in line at grocery store. However, it has more meaning to it than that for me. It is not just a line at the grocery store.
That number represents the amount of ingredients I prefer to have in my food or any meals I prepare, the amount of items in my Amazon cart I like to have, and the number of stocks I like to have in my portfolio.
Many financial experts will tell you that you need no more than 20 individual stocks in your retirement and investment accounts to build wealth. Personally, I am an index investor. I put my money in these funds because a single stock can go bust and you could lose every penny.
An index fund can’t go to zero because it is made up of hundreds or thousands of stocks and if one business goes belly up, then it is replaced with another one that is in good standing. Thereby, making sure your investment never goes to zero.
One of the reasons I stick to a budget and adhere to strict investing rules is because I know money is not always so easy to come by. Even though you can earn more money and not time, money is still an important commodity that cannot be overstated.
During COVID-19 lockdown, I got to see up close and personal just how important it is to keep your head down and stay focused on your money goals.
After losing my job during the Great Recession in 2009, I do not take anything for granted. I always try to keep a 3-6 month emergency fund, money in savings and brokerage accounts just in case. At the very least, I try to keep $5,000-$10,000 cash for a rainy day.
Imagine my surprise when the pandemic hit and I was yet again shown numerous cautionary tales of why it is important to have these things in place.
Living on a budget can help save you from going hungry when times are lean. This always gives me perspective. Stay disciplined, save and keep your feet firmly planted in reality and on the ground. Plan for the long term.
Your personal savings account is your own version of having Geico insurance; it is there just in case something bad happens.
These stories reminded me why I save so much. I don’t ever want to be caught out in the rain or a heavy storm without an umbrella.
I’m going to share with you just a few of the things I heard while standing in lines to buy food and other shopping items over the last few months.
The following are some of the things I overheard while millions had lost their jobs and income in 2020:
Cashier: “That will be $8.64.” Customer: Exasperatingly said, “There goes all the money.”
Customer in line on the phone that looked 50ish: “Hopefully, my mother will be able to pay my car payment this month for me.”
Woman shopping for furniture: “I just bought a house at 64. I hope they can finance this for cheap.”
Cashier gives customer total to pay. Grocery store customer to cashier: “I don’t have any money.” The cashier then decides to pay for the customer’s groceries herself out of her own pocket.
A landlord calling a tenant: “Can you pay your rent a little earlier because I need to pay the property taxes on the 31st?”
Why not just have the property taxes wrapped up in the mortgage? Just a thought, but okay, I digress.
A gentlemen speaking with his coworkers: “I’m trying to buy a home. It will cost about $900,000.” His coworkers reply: “But you’re in your 50’s. Why not stay where you are and leave some money to your kids.” His reply to that: “They have to struggle like I did and fend for themselves. This is for me. It’s time to shine.”
Woman talking to her folks : “Private school costs like $1,200 a month. It’s expensive and I have a lot of student loan debt, but I want the best for my kid.”
Workers discussing an overpayment they received from their employer: “If they are going to take back the money they just gave us by accident on our next check, they got to give us a payment plan right?”
A payment plan for a lump sum payment they just got. Why not just set the funds aside that they received by accident? You would only want a payment plan if you already spent the money.
All these stories tell me that these folks are broke and living on the financial edge. I knew I did not want to ever be on the side of a financial cliff ever again. Therefore, I had to get my fiscal act together.
I cut my living expenses to the bare necessities; got my housing costs to under $1,000 a month, paid off my car and got rid of my $450 car payment, and started tracking my net worth.
I felt like Smokey the Bear would always say, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” In my case, it was financial fires that would burn up all my money and leave you broke. I didn’t want that.
I know times are hard, but I hope as I did all those years ago, that people learn some very important lessons from all this tragedy. And that is, the government is not going to save you. No one is coming to save you. We are all on our own out here. You must fend for yourself or be broke.
If you know you would rather be rich, then keep reading the blog posts on this page to stay motivated to leave the rat race sooner rather than later.
You will do it by attracting one dollar at a time and then investing it to turn it into two.
Happy reading and good luck on your road to wealth.
Around this time last year, a bride decided that she should have her dream wedding to the tune of $46,000 USD or $60,000 CAD. A young Canadian woman had a severe sense of entitlement and decided the heck with streamers, rice, and a DJ she wanted the grandest wedding of all.
In what world should anyone have to PAY for YOU to get married! That was your decision not mine. Why should guests have to pay $1,500 to watch you eat cake and dance off beat to My Endless Love? This is insane!
I realize the average cost of a wedding is between $30,000 and $45,000 which in many parts of the country is the cost of a college degree, but is it worth it? Regardless, of your answer when did it become the responsibility of wedding guests to pay for it?
This woman sounds like she has been watching too much of the Kardashian’s. They have the means to pay for their shindigs, she doesn’t. Either change the channel or stop guzzling the Kardashian Kool-Aid because this type of behavior is persona non grata (unwelcome).
The bride actually cancelled the wedding and left her now ex-fiance because guests wouldn’t pony up the money. What does she think this is?
Even CEO’s, senators, movie stars and Beyonce pay for their own parties! If you want someone else to foot the bill, then I suggest you sign a Nike deal as big as the $1 billion one that LeBron did or find a way to turn your wedding into a conference or business meeting and write it off on your taxes!
She at one point said,
“What is $1,000? What is $1,500? Clearly not a lot. It would be quite manageable and within budget.”
Really?!!! Many people have still not recovered from the financial crisis of 2008. The savings rate in America is hovering around less than 5 percent. And many are unable to save for retirement with around 30 percent of Americans having $0 in savings or for retirement.
Since when is a wedding more of a priority than putting food on the table. If I’m writing a check for something, I PREFER to give it to the needy and not the greedy.
Notice how easy it was for her to say the word budget to everyone else except HERSELF.
And at one point she did admit that she wanted to be a kardashian for a day.
Some potential attendees that paid up and then actually came to their senses asked for their money back. The not-soon-to-be bride said no to giving back their deposits until they pay her back for her emotional distress.
At this point, friends and relationships are ruined and destroyed. All over money.
This is my suggestion. If you would like to get married, please set up a budget and not a Go Fund Me. Then stick to it. No wedding or amount of money is worth losing relationships with friends and family.
Money will flow in and out of your lives but good friends and loving family are priceless.
“Simply put, unsustainable debt is helping to keep too many poor countries and poor people in poverty.” -Bill Clinton
I can’t stand debt. In any way, shape, or form.
It robs you (and your future self) of prosperity.
Every time I think of buying an item, I always think what would the future lost investment gains be.
For instance, buying a $40,000 car could end up costing you over $400,000 in future wealth! Pray tell. How can this be? It’s simple math.
Basically, if you invest that same amount and not a penny more, you could grow your wealth over 30 years to $402,506.28 with an 8 percent rate of return. Crazy right? Giving up mediocre present pleasures for incredible future comfort warrants astounding things.
Harry Houdini himself couldn’t concoct a magic trick so ingenious as the magic of compound interest.
Speaking of magic, let’s look at saving money as a magic trick the same way a magician would. Marvelous to behold, but truly done by meticulous planning and practice because as we know practice makes perfect. Isn’t that right Mr. Potter? 😂
MONEY SAVING MAGIC TRICK #1: SPEND LESS
By no means is it rocket science. Much unlike that hilarious scene in Robocop 3 when that guy walks in a donut shop and tries to rob it even though the donut shop is within 7 blocks of a police department. And then the guy behind the counter asks him this, Donut Jerk: “What’s it like being a rocket scientist?” 🤣
Get serious. A donut shop that close to a precinct has to be one of the safest places in America. It might even have double-duty; 1) as a donut shop by day and 2) as a safe house by night.
Who tries holding up a donut shop full of cops?
That is the same way I want you to feel every time you whip out your credit card. Who wants to pay interest on a pair of jeans or table from IKEA for the next 10 years?! Nobody wants that! You must find ways to spend less.
The three biggest expenses for families are: food, transportation and housing. The first trick is to cook more and eat out less.
However, if you can get invited to more dinner invitations, wine tastings, restaurant openings, annual stock meetings, cookouts and other shindigs; well then, you can take doggie bags and stockpile Tupperware with food for days.
Too good for Tupperware and leftovers?
Then please pick a career as a hedge fund manager or petroleum engineer or rocket scientist *cough cough* and start earning $200,000 a year and hire a chef or eat out, as you can afford it.
Need a car to get around? Look for a used $4,000 Ford Focus to pay cash for and then be on your way.
Too good to drive a Ford Focus?
Please reread the top of this article and rethink your priorities.
If you can Airbnb your way to a fortune, good for you. Otherwise, you will need to find a home in a place whose zip code has not been featured as the title of a television show.
That’s right. Does your dream zip code end in 90210? You can’t live there. Why not? When your neighbors are parked cars and moving vans filled with Facebook and Uber engineers, then you may want to really think about where you lay your hat.
If engineers making $175,00-$250,000 a year can’t find affordable housing, then that is a red flag that this neighborhood is probably not for you.
Remember this, if you want to build wealth, find the cheapest and safest place you can to live and save a fortune. Cause you know, it’s all about location, location, location.
Also, no long term house guests that are not paying! Why you ask? Did you ever see that movie Madhouse. Here’s the premise: The luxurious villa of Mark and Jessie Bannister, a yuppie couple, is overrun by loads of uninvited guests who turn the house up side down.
Even if it is a family member or friend, they should pay something.
Even if it is just groceries. Everyone has got to chip in and foot the bill. There is no free lunch or rent! This is my motto: If you can’t pay to stay, then you need to find another place to lay your head cause it’s not going to be on my pillow!
MONEY SAVING MAGIC TRICK #3 THE HAT TRICK: MAX OUT A ROTH IRA
You must invest if you want to one day retire. You do not want to end up a bankruptcy court candidate due to lack of planning and saving.
The easiest way to ensure this is to do the following: 1) Invest enough to get the company match in your 401(k), 2) Then fund a Roth IRA to the Max. And that’s about it.
But wait…there’s one more thing.
You must also invest that money somewhere. You can invest in a 500 index fund with your brokerage.
For example, the S&P 500 index or VFIAX with Vanguard. In addition, if you are looking for total stock market exposure, then you can go for the VTSAX with Vanguard.
Thank you for your time.
After all of that writing and helping the masses, I am exhausted. Please pass me (this non-rocket scientist) a donut.
Full Disclosure: This post is hot off the presses and written by fellow blogger Dr. Breathe Easy Finance This is Part 1 of a 2-part collaborative post with yours truly 😉
This post is on a lighter note but don’t skim over it, I put my heart and soul into it. Kidding. But I tried to make it exciting.
Origin of this post – My beef against ketchup and fries
It was a well-researched post with multiple points and topics covered. We covered a lot of ground in that one article – 10 reasons to budget, 8 steps to create a successful budget, 5 risks of not managing your money, 4 tools to manage your money including our free budget template and to cap it off, we discussed the money habits of millionaires.
I tweeted the post, what happened? Crickets. 2 likes after 24 hours.
That same day, I saw a post about fries and ketchup. Literally, some guy eating few fries with a huge amount of ketchup.
What happened? 23,000 retweets (well including me), not even counting the likes and comments.
Well I retweeted to point out that entertainment sells much more than finance tips that actually helps people.
But then, my own tweet took a life of its own and got lots of comments and retweets. So I gave up.
Not really, my friend Miriam (from Greenbacks Magnet) and I decided to write a blog post about ketchup and fries. She picked fries, I picked ketchup.
I think a simple approach to life is best. If ketchup and fries is what people want to see, we will give it to them.
To better prepare you for this post, check out this very scientific video about why ketchup is so hard to pour.
Seriously though, the ketchup bottle has bested even the strongest men and women of this world.
Literally, 1.7 million views on this 3 minutes video. See what I am saying?
I originally promised a 12 financial lessons from eating ketchup, but I decreased it to 3 just for you my readers, to spare you the agony. You came here for the ketchup anyways, not financial advice right.
3 Financial Lessons From Eating Ketchup
1. There is a sweet spot for everyone in personal finance – Find yours
Based on your goal in life and your philosophy, there is a sweet spot that you are comfortable with. Stick to it and don’t let people try to knock you off your financial mission statement.
If you feel like 30% bonds is where you are comfortable with and you have done your due diligence and researched, then stick to it.
Since I don’t do half jobs, I dived deep into every article I write. I came across an article about the Heinz ketchup bottle and how it could be a nightmare getting the ketchup out when it gets clogged.
I am not much of a ketchup guy, so this was news to me. You do not understand how many forums are discussing this and how frustrated people get.
Don’t even bother asking how many curse words and punching, kicking has occurred because of this phenomenon.
Finally, a spokesman from Heinz revealed the secret. It was almost like Heinz intentionally made people struggle first and after a few years, they felt bad about it and finally said – you have been doing it wrong for years. Imagine that!
A Heinz spokesman said: “To release ketchup faster from a glass bottle, here is a little secret from Heinz.
“The sweet spot to tap on the Heinz bottle is the 57 on the neck. All you need to do is apply a firm tap where the bottle narrows, and the ketchup will come out easier.”
It turns out that all the years of frustration that people experienced, banging the bottom of the bottle, cursing, yelling, throwing the bottle across the room, punching and kicking the bottle and getting nowhere – the answer was simple and it’s been there in front of us all this time. New York Post even wrote about it.
You already have your financial mission statement, why don’t you reread it and reassure yourself. Stick to your sweet spot, it will save you a lot of head banging, kicking and screaming.
2. Ketchup cannot make up its mind whether its solid or liquid – Keep your finances simple.
This one is even more fun. Who knew lots of scientist’s study ketchup. I mean, I would not be surprised if ketchup is being researched more than some diseases. Osler–Weber–Rendu syndrome for example.
Keep your finances simple. This is what I do. Instead of using 72 different funds in my portfolio, I started with the 3 funds portfolio. Also that’s why I wrote about my 12 toddler steps to personal finance. I agree, it’s not perfect, but it gives me the general guideline to follow.
Throughout my fellowship training and first 6 months of my real job, I focused mainly on paying off my loans. Simple enough, that I paid the loan off faster than I expected.
There is an Australian researcher, Anthony Stickland, who made it his life mission to solve the ketchup flow problem.
Dr. Stickland, a senior lecturer at the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Melbourne in Australia, literally developed step-by-step instructions that should help your ketchup flow much nicely. In that instruction, there are lots of physics theories involved.
3. Don’t just jump into investments because an authority figure recommends it – The ketchup cure
I learned this from my short encounter with cryptocurrency investing. So I watched some YouTube video and also followed some big names on twitter at the time.
Many times, they promote a coin for people to buy – for example, John McAfee will tweet about coins, and then people rush to buy it, artificially inflate the price of the coin.
Then a pattern started to emerge, few hours after, there would be a huge dump in the coin. It turned out he got paid to promote those coins. I also believed he bought the coin right before, then dump the coin after people buy up and he would benefit from the promotion.
This might not apply to other investments as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not regulated. However, you get the point.
Ok as promised, the story of the ketchup cure –
Apparently, ketchup used to be a medicine around 1835 and it was sold as tomato pills. A genius doctor at the time spearheaded the project. Dr. John Cook Bennett, the medical department president at Willoughby University in Ohio. The pill was sold as cure for illness ranging from diarrhea, jaundice, indigestion to rheumatism.
Conclusion
While this might have been a funny or unfunny version of my venting, there are some things I felt need to be addressed.
Human nature loves entertainment than something serious, even if it will improve our lives.
You can relate finance to anything, just gotta be creative
There is a sweet spot for everyone in finance – just like the 57 spots for ketchup bottle
Keep your finance simple – don’t be hot or cold. Pick a strategy and stay the course
Don’t jump into any investment without doing your due diligence – Ketchup cure did not work – no magic formula for investing.
Part 2 will be released later today by Miriam. Will be adding it later.
Full Disclosure: This is Part 2 in a 2-part collaborative post with fellow blogger Dr. Breathe Easy Finance This Part 2 is written by yours truly 😉
All artists collaborate sometimes.
I’ll give you some examples.
Drake and Lil Wayne.
Marvel ComicsThe Avengers. It destroyed the box office this past weekend. It just made 1.2 billion at the global box office. So you see, amazing things happen when people collaborate.
Now he has passed the baton over to me and I gladly accept like we are team USA . Like Usain Bolt just handed over the baton. I hear the shouts coming from the stands. Screaming U.S.A..U.S.A!!!! 🤣
We are Personal Finance Bloggers. We will not be overshadowed by some french fires and ketchup! You know why? Because financial literacy is too important. The cream not ketchup rises to the top! Like those bullies said in Race For Your Life Charlie Brown, We’re #1!!!! We are out here to help people improve the quality of their financial lives. See my post of Life Lessons From Race For Your Life Charlie Brown
So we got together and decided to tag team it like Macho Man Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior.
So without further ado. Here it is for your reading pleasure. I give you Financial Lessons from asking, Do You Want Fries With That?!!
I know what you’re thinking? What type of article title is this? But just stay with me.
Another personal finance blogger, like myself, saw a post online of a video of someone eating a French fry. It got 23,000 views. He shared his thoughts about it on Twitter.
He said in the finance community we get nowhere near as many views. His response to that, was that his next post would be titled, “12 Financial Lessons from Eating Ketchup.”
I replied to that tweet, in response to his, that I would complement his post and call mine “Financial Lessons from asking, Do You Want Fries With That?
He thought I was joking. Surely, you jest!
I was oh so serious. As you see, when it comes to money, I don’t joke.
In the illustrious words of Miss Piggy, “Moi,” that’s (“me”) in French, Moi means business. Sorry, had to throw in a French word since we are talking about French fries.
You see that, I just gave you an origin story. Similar to how Marvel Studios gave you X-Men Origins Wolverine.
I will be slicing through the mysteries of money faster than the Wolverine can bring out those claws and the same way Michonne uses that Ninja sword on the Walking Dead.
This blog talks money, but we also like to have fun. We about to have as much fun up in here as if we were going to a U2 concert!
Now that you know how this post got its origins, let’s dive right in!
Financial Lesson One: Hard work builds character
You will find no arrogance here.
I like to live a simple life. More Tom Welling in Smallville less Paris Hilton in The Simple Life.
Fun Fact: I got to meet and take a selfie with Tom Welling at Awesome Con in DC. He was a down-to-earth guy. More on my adventures at Awesome Con to come later in another post 😉
I am no better than anyone else, but I am always just as good.
I have said before in various blog posts, that I am not too good for anything. I am always willing to work. I’ve been a cashier, waitress, and an operator. I prefer to work two jobs if I can. I would spend and live off of one and bank the other. See my post Lipstick Confessions: Confessions Of A Teenage Waitress
