The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Endless Winter Edition
This has been the worst winter I have seen in my adult life. We have had several snowfalls of more than six inches over the last two months and the snow has always been at least several inches deep on the ground constantly since early December (starting with the amazing December 8 blizzard).
This winter has finally pushed my wife and I to purchase a snowblower, something we’d managed to avoid for the past two winters in our home. I had been able to keep up with a shovel (and occasional generosity from a very kind neighbor), but after the third or fourth significant snowfall, it didn’t cut the mustard any more. I researched the snow blowers available near here, purchased one, and have used it seven times already to blow snow from our driveway and sidewalks.
Even worse: the long term forecasts have at least five (!) more significant snowfalls by the end of the month.
It’s deep enough that I’m going to clear off my deck today (by hand) because I’m worried about the sheer weight of the snow sitting on it.
I am really looking forward to spring at this point.
The world’s easiest first step into growing your own local food This actually works really well. It’s one of those things you can do in your own kitchen and it’s easy enough that kids can really get into it and learn something about where food comes from as well. (@ no impact man)
The World Belongs to Those Who Hustle Not hustle in the “rip people off” sense, but in the “strive harder” sense. The person who goes home from work and pushes themselves to improve will always eventually come out on top. (@ art of manliness)
Who’s In Charge of Your Life? We all like to think that we are, but if we find ourselves saying “How high?” when someone else tells us to jump, who’s really in charge? Who’s in charge of your life? Who would you like to not have in charge of your life? (@ dumb little man)
Reader Story: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Moved in with Mom Moving back in with mom and dad doesn’t have to be a sign of failure if you come at it with the right plan and the right attitude. It can be the boost you need to move forward from where you are right now. (@ get rich slowly)
How to enlist Gmail to sell your Craigslist items for you I have an item (or maybe two) that I’m seriously considering putting up on Craigslist, but I was worried about how to handle another deluge of questions. This seems like a brilliant idea, one I’m going to use. (@ mighty bargain hunter)
Continue reading The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Endless Winter Edition …
From The Simple Dollar.
The Sleeping Fox Catches No Poultry
I love reading essays, and I have a collection of essays that have truly inspired me and made me think. Among these is Benjamin Franklin’s classic The Way to Wealth – something I often read when I need a piece of financial inspiration. If the circa-1750 language is rough on your eyes, here are the principles summarized well by Art of Manliness.
Just a few days ago, I read The Way to Wealth again. I was inspired to read it by our survival of the “summer of low income” – I made a tough choice to switch my advertising revenues for The Simple Dollar that resulted in basically no income during the summer, but we made it through to the other side with little problem.
As I was reading through The Way to Wealth, one phrase really stood out at me this time:
The sleeping fox catches no poultry.
What exactly does that little phrase mean in terms of our modern lives? I see it as a call to five things.
It’s a call to be alert. Our world is full of opportunities. Sales. Small investment opportunities. People trying to get rid of things. New jobs. New careers. Love interests. Friendships. Ideas. Purely lucky events, like finding fifty dollars in a parking lot. Every day, we’re brushed with many of these things. If we’re alert, we can see them – and if we choose to, we can take advantage of them, jumping in with abandon. You’ve got to keep your eyes open and see the world as a field of blossoming opportunities.
It’s a call to have resources in reserve. Of course, many of those opportunities are hard to pluck if you don’t have anything to pluck them with. It’s incredibly useful to have some money in reserve. However, money is just one of many resources that’s useful to have in reserve. Do you have relationships you can tap for advice or other things? Do you have time – are you not booked to the maximum with no flexibility in your schedule? Do you have patience to wait for good things to come? Do you have skills and talents that you can apply and share? Resources mean more than just money – much more.
It’s a call to know what you want. The fox sleeps outside the henhouse because he has a hunger for chickens. What are you hungry for? What are your passions? Figure them out and follow them, because when you’re chasing your passions, you’re showing others – and yourself – that this is a life direction that you want. You see more opportunities because you’re passionate, and you’re able to follow up more often because of the knowledge and insight you’ve picked up chasing your passions.
It’s a call to be aggressive. If you’re sleeping, you’re letting the world pass you by. Instead, seek out the opportunities in life. Instead of glancing at that yard sale, stop there. Instead of debating whether to pay $35 for that oak desk, offer $20 for it. Instead of thinking how fantastic that job would be, ask for it. Learn how to be assertive and go after the things you want.
It’s a call to get out there and DO something. Today.
Are you the sleeping fox? Or are you out there, alert, aware, drawing on all of your resources, and catching those hens that you hunger for?
Continue reading The Sleeping Fox Catches No Poultry …
From The Simple Dollar.
The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Freebies Edition
There is no such thing as a free lunch. From my experience, that’s completely true. Yet, I constantly advocate using free services all the time – the library, the parks, and so on.
Lately, a few readers have called me on this seeming contradiction, pointing out that, indeed, these things have costs. We pay those costs when we pay our taxes. And some people with a certain political perspective think it’s wholly unfair that we should pay for libraries and parks and the like.
Here’s the thing, though. It’s a sunk cost. We’ve already paid our taxes – and those taxes paid for those libraries. The money is already paid – so why not enjoy the fruits of those dollars? If you politically disagree with such services, act in a political fashion against them – but don’t eschew services. You’ve already paid for them. Use them.
Tyler Durden’s Guide To Personal Finance This is a humorous reworking of “Fight Club,” translating the themes of the movie into pretty sensible personal finance advice. I enjoyed reading it. (@ man vs. debt)
Thomas Carlyle’s Advice to Young Men This is brilliant advice for everyone today. Don’t follow advice to the letter – instead, explore and learn what works for you. A truly worthwhile person is able to find their own path and utilizes advice only in terms of trying to see things through another’s eyes. (@ art of manliness)
In Defense of Solitude (Part Two) I spend multiple workdays in solitude. For me, being alone is essential – a key part of being able to bear down and focus on tasks at hand. I find that interruptions make it much more challenging for me to complete anything well, so solitude is a key tool for my work. (@ soul shelter)
Banishing the No Momentum Monster Without some sort of crutch, I find it’s really hard to maintain the momentum of continuous work, like writing or exercising every day. For me, the “chain method” works well – I have a printed calendar on the wall in my office and each day I accomplish my specific goal, I put a big colored X on that date on the calendar. When I get a string of them going, I *really* don’t like breaking that chain, so it gives me motivation to do it. (@ unclutterer)
Off My Giving List I do the same thing – if a telemarketer from a charity interrupts me, I cease giving to them. I am a charitable person, but I value my family time and I don’t want it intruded on by some ham-fisted telemarketer. (@ free money finance)
Are Online Savings Accounts Worth It? We use an online savings account (ING) for most of our banking, but we also have a local bank for some specific teller services (cashing checks, mostly). We have the two accounts linked and everything just works like a charm. (@ bargaineering)
20 Cheap and Fun Date Ideas Most of these sound like a whole lot of fun to me! My wife and I already do several of these things, sometimes even with the kids in tow. (@ christian pf)
How to Destroy Your Investment Portfolio You can solve all five of these problems by simply buying a broadly based index fund and just sitting on it. Sure, you won’t hit a home run, but you will have consistently strong investment results over the long haul. (@ frugal dad)
Continue reading The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Freebies Edition …
From The Simple Dollar.