Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

I just got finished reading Save Now or Die Trying by Mark Bruno and for the first time, I realized that there are different ways of reading a personal finance book.

1. Read a book from cover to cover. Just sit down and plow through the material like you were reading Marx in college. Dry and not too fun.

2. Read for research. You’ve got a question and you’re going to find the answer by looking up the subject in the index and reading the 3 pages it lists till you’ve got the answer.

3. Read with a calculator/spreadsheet and your last paystub in hand. You read something and you start calculating what numbers apply to you.

Obviously, we’ve all done these sorts of things before. Some books out there are meant to be read from cover to cover. Others are resource books that can sit on your shelf when you want to reference them. But then there are some books that lend themselves to an interactive experience. There are worksheets printed in them. They command you to take 10% of your gross income and put that aside annually in a savings account. I wholeheartedly believe that if you read a personal finance book slowly and deliberately with your paystub next to you, you’ll get a lot more out of it.

I started out using the paystub as a bookmark and realized I could open it up and really see where the money was going with a personal finance book to guide me through. I could see that I’m doing ok by saving 17% of my annual salary in a 401k account and a Healthcare Savings Account. I could manipulate numbers with a calculator to adjust and see other things happening to my money while absorbing the ideas the book.

Give it a try the next time you’ve got a personal finance book you are reading. I don’t promise an epiphany, but maybe some good insights will come your way.

Mark Bruno’s book, Save Now or Die Trying is a modern, up-to-the-minute book on retirement. It was published in 2007. The author has been covering the retirement industry for Crain’s Pensions and Investments for the last few years. As a newbie who learned everything on the job, he can relate to most of his Generation Y compatriots. His examples are the Jacks and Jills making their way in the world. He delves into their attitudes towards retirement and their fears and aspirations for the future, a lot like Suze Orman does, but his examples aren’t quite as two dimensional. None of us are, but I think the examples he’s picked out are more realistic than you’ll find in other personal finance books.

His title is a strong start and so is the first page. He’s out there to emphasize to today’s 20-somethings that no one is going to pay for their retirement. The only person responsible for it is YOU. I’m right behind him on that concept. Another concept he revisits over and over is that you can borrow a money for nearly everything, except retirement. A better thing to do is to ‘buy your retirement’ now, by saving for the future. I think that’s a great way of putting it.

There weren’t too many new things in this book overall, but a few key things really stuck out at me. 1. Roth IRA’s and Roth 401k’s. I did not know that regular 401k and Roth 401k contributions have a combined limit. I’ll have consider that as I revisit next year’s savings plan. 2. His online resource list has some new websites and resources I’ve never heard of before.

This book is a great gift for a new college grad or anyone under 30.

As we head into the holiday season and enjoy today’s holiday of gluttony, I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the abundance in my life.

During my regular knitting gathering this week, we were talking about S.A.B.L.E., Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. For those of you who don’t knit, ’stash’ is your yarn stash from which you can pull to make projects. It’s your warehouse of yarn. For many women, building stash is a comfort. It’s saving yarn for use in the future, like a quick knit baby sweater when you don’t have time that week to run to the store to buy a baby shower gift or pick up a specific baby yarn. For other women, it’s just plain old hoarding out the wazoo.

In 2007, I’ve purchased very little in the way of new craft items. I think I’ve spent less than $150, whereas I might spend $400 in a typical year. Last year I realized that I needed to stop buying yarns and fiber because I spend a lot of time blogging and no longer craft like I did before starting MFC. My stash is overtaking my small apartment.

One of the knitters, Lanea, is on a book buying moratorium this year because she realized that she and her husband have way too many unread books in the house. I know that I could read every book I have in the house and not buy a new one for at least 2 or 3 years, if not more. And that doesn’t include what’s still at my mom and dad’s house. That’s probably another 2 years’ worth of books.

A friend called me one night recently and I started to futz around and clean up my closet. Ostensibly, I was looking for my sweaters since we had our first hard frost of the season on Monday night. But really I was culling my clothing. A storage box of sweaters turns into a box of t-shirts and shorts for the winter and that means a quick inspection of my drawers and closet racks for things that can be donated to Goodwill. I realize that I have lots of spiffy clothes for work, but I was choosing not to wear the silk shirts and sweaters because I didn’t want to spend the money to dry clean them. And yet, I am loathe to get rid of them. Finding them was finding a new wardrobe for work. What is the cost of cleaning them when it saves me money on buying new clothes?

My friend on the phone asked me how many pairs of shoes I had. I thought this was a trap because he’s a guy and I’ve been accused of being Imelda Marcos. But I felt better when I guessed 30-40 and he said he had the same. (I am now going to have to inventory them for my own satisfaction.) As I told him my guess, I was staring at a pair of boots, thinking of the Baby Phat pair that Single Ma wants. My boots are old and out of style, but they’re still in reasonable condition. They will last me another year. Frumperella isn’t going to mind since these boots won’t turn into shoeboxes at midnight.

If you look around your life will you find what you need within the possessions you have? Think about that because at its core is an assumption that you can discern your needs and wants and separate them like sheep from goats. Do you have unacknowledged abundance in your life? Will finding it help you re-prioritize your spending in the next month?

During the winter season there’s all kinds of propaganda about peace on earth and goodwill towards man. There’s pap about transcending material things and putting other people first. It’s all b.s. since everyone goes into a gift buying frenzy. Everything seems like such a damned good deal so it’s ok to spend on yourself a little while you spend on everyone else. But that’s a false correlation. It’s not ok to spend on yourself if it’s going to break your shopping budget.

If you think before you shop about what you really have in your life, you will see that you probably have plenty. I write about material things, but I know the same principle of hidden abundance counts for immaterial things as well. I have my life, my family, my supportive friends. For the first time in many years, I can say have good oral health. My cup runneth over and I didn’t even know it till I stopped to think about it.

I have added and refreshed my old PF Book Review page.

Please note, I have a few other books I’m working on and so look for some more reviews in October and November.

Titles to look forward to:
The Tao of Warren Buffett
Moving Up To Millions
The Intelligent Investor

For now, I recommend bookmarking the existing page because I will keep adding to it as I read more stuff.

Debt is Slavery, by Michael Mihalik

This book is short and to the point. I liked the direct writing style, but it appears suspiciously thin for a $14.95 volume. Amazon is not currently discounting it right now.

His general thesis is that you have to change your thinking about money and debt is a form of slavery. I think I can get behind that statement. Debt is hard work to pay off and the only way not to enslave yourself to debt is to not have any or manage it wisely.

This is a great starter book to help someone starting out in their financial journey. The definition boxes are great. He has good examples of how much money you’re really spending, but not every illustration is as successful as the others. The cash refinance example isn’t as clear as it might have been. The anecdotal remarks are from his sole experience, and a useful cautionary tale.

His best statement is, ‘Possessions are a prison.’

I agree. It’s true. If you don’t believe me, just watch the George Carlin and the ‘Stuff’ routine. (It’s not safe for work, so don’t click it at your office.)

I am troubled a little by his credit card advice and its impacts on a credit score, but more than anything, I see this as a good gift for high school graduates on their way to college. It’s not an after college book because they need to see beforehand how the debt they incur during 4 years of school will effect them later on.

I don’t particularly find it a compelling story just because he lost his father early. I think if you read a lot of PF blogs, you’ll find stories just as intriguing and inspirational, but his willingness to offer up some of the insane mistakes he’s made (like the SCUBA lessons and gear) make it a very sincerely written book.

I screwed up my WordPress migration so I don’t have any archives by month like other good bloggers do. Instead, I’ve been trying to tag my articles with categories so you can read them topically.

I’m not finished yet, but some old, but I tagged some good articles. I don’t know when I’ll get around to tagging what’s left. I have about 6 more months to tag and then I have to backfill all the other articles that weren’t easy to categorize.

Please enjoy the Books category for book reviews. (A new one will be posted soon!)
Articles I Like: for articles I have plucked from other sites and bloggers, but mostly other bloggers.
Personal Memory: if you want to get to know me better.
DIY: you are inclined to make things. Plus it’s one of my favorite categories.
Emergency Fund: if you want to see my Save-O-Meter progress and thoughts on the subject.
Emergency Preparedness: if you want to know what to do in an emergency or how to protect yourself.
Frozen Dinners: for Frozen Dinner Reviews (or search my blog for ‘FDR’, because not all were tagged yet)
Jobs or Employment: These include some of my best posts like Mapgirl, Inc.

Also remember that a category only appears if there is a post with that tag. So every single category has something. You won’t be clicking nothing if you click them.

It’s time to admit it. I’m a math nerd. I was in AP Calc in high school. But my final grade was a D, does that count? I suppose being on the Physics Team means there’s not talking my way out of the math geek label.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with Moneyball, by Michael Lewis. I’m not a huge baseball fan. But I do like keeping the book. It holds my interest in games. I like making a K for a strike out. I like making the backward K for the pitcher when he throws three strikes in a row. I’m still not good at keeping the book, but it’s fun to scribble on the sheet anyway.

Sabermetrics rocks my socks though. I was a crappy statistics student in college, but when there is some meaning behind the statistics, I go crazy. CDC infection rate stats, Labor and Census stats, everything. This my children is the reason I was a social science major. I’ll get someone to check the math for me, I’ll do the analysis.

Right now in my head I’m pondering math and using slicing and dicing of datasets for work in a similar manner to sabermetrics. (Sorry, but even the name is cool. It reminds me of champagne saberage!)

I use Quicken, and it’s possible to put that information into a spreadsheet. So I wonder if I have a tendency to spend more on the weekend on dining than I do during the week. Can I hold down my dinner expense if I have a bigger lunch? It’s crazy and I have no time for this, but I’m seriously contemplating doing this kind of analysis. I am sure there is a PF blogger out there who’s done this. I can’t possibly be the only one to think of this.

ps - I love Michael Lewis. Liar’s Poker was excellent. I like his writing style and I find his sense of the dramatic rather thrilling.

I know a lot of PF bloggers are selling their books through Amazon or eBay. Great. Good luck to them. I’d rather not wait in a post office line.

Today, with a friend, I donated books to a non-profit literacy charity and used book store. It was awesome. They took every book I had. I made back $4.00 of value for every hardback book I bought on sale for $7.00. How’s that? I donated them to the charity and that’s the fair market value the clerk quoted to me. The paperbacks, trade and regular, were $2.00 a piece. I did include an audio book, which I also valued at $4.00, for lack of a better figure. (And to be rid of it completely.) The total donation was valued at $68 for a 5 minute errand. Well worth it.

1) I got rid of everything. Even at used book stores that give you credit or cash, they don’t take everything.

2) It was uber-efficient. It took 5 minutes! I didn’t even have to park the car, but leave it in the alley/loading zone with the blinkers on.

3) I didn’t incur a cost to do it. No posting an ad. No postage. No shipping materials. Nothing! It was a teeny diversion from our final destination.

4) I made a charitable donation, which is tax deductible.

If you’re living in the DC area, go to Books for America at 1417 22nd St, NW, Washington, DC 20037. It’s a few blocks west of Dupont Circle, just one block south of The Brickskeller. They also take audio books and CD’s. Take a look at their donation page for a full list of items they accept and pick-up services.

Consider donating your used books to your local library. They can sell them to raise funds for the library.

First of all, this post is filled with spoilers. But I’m guessing that Flaubert is not on the summer reading list of most PF Bloggers. Or else you’ve suffered through reading it once already for school. This is not the Cliff Notes. If you’re looking for that, go somewhere else.

1) Ennui - Boredom is not a good reason to spend money. And basically she has affairs out of boredom, which leads to her spending money.

2) Poor financial management - She runs a tab at the haberdashers and doesn’t concern herself with paying the bill in a timely fashion.

3) Lavish gift giving - The objects of her affections receive elaborate gifts (from said haberdasher). One of them attempts to refuse them, but accepts them anyway.

4) Signing financial documents she doesn’t understand - Her biggest mistake in the end is signing to debt instruments she doesn’t comprehend. In fact, in reading this part, I wasn’t sure how it worked either. She should have just settle the debts and wised up.

5) Tragedy - Debtor’s prision doesn’t exist anymore, but how many folks contemplate suicide or bankruptcy over the slow inexorable process of paying down the bills? Rather it seems an inexorable process if you keep running up the credit cards. Truly you can pay off your debts if you try to curb your spending and diligently pay stuff off.

I read this book when I was 12. It was the Holt, Rinehart translation from 1949, hardback. I got it used for $2.95 from a secondhand bookstore. I never really understood it when I was 12, but now that I’m a good deal older than that, I thought I should give it another try. It was a much shorter read than before. (1 day vs 2 weeks) I still don’t understand Emma Bovary very well, but I get the story a lot more.

I don’t think Flaubert set out to write a book that was a cautionary tale of financial mismanagement, but I sure got that message out of it this weekend. (Ironically, I was reading it out of boredom and a curiosity about what I’d missed when I was younger.)

Ricemutt on improving your resume. Excellent advice. Always be specific and quantifiable if you can. If you saved your company $3 million dollars, then say that.

Madame X on home inventory management. I walk the fine line between JIT and hoarding. I hate running out of toilet paper, paper towels and shampoo/conditioner. I will tolerate running out of soap since I can usually find really nice ones in my cache of hotel soaps.

Beancounter Blog on the mysteries of the check engine light. Given my 98K mile service recently, I think this was an interesting post. I admit, the check engine light had been going off in my car intermittently for the past month. Just when I think I was going to call the dealer and take it in, it would turn off. It was quite odd. Finally, my friend thinking of purchasing my car is what pushed me to take my car into the shop. Good thing too since I didn’t know my clutch needing replacing quite so bad. If you’re wondering when or what to do when your car needs maintenance, try Flick & Flack, the Tappert Brothers from Car Talk on Saturday mornings on NPR. (ooh ooh! The DIY guide!)

Jonathan on where to get free meals on your birthday. It’s a pretty long list, but call before you go since the list is a bit old.

Financial Freedumb on his homebuying budget. How much he can afford, what’s trying to buy, etc. I like his tables and his reasoning. Sometimes we all have to scale back our ambitions and he does it very thoughtfully.

Beancounter Blog (again!) on the BudgetBot. I might have to look into this one for tracking those stupid little cash transactions. Caveat though is the charges you’ll ring up for SMS/text messages on your phone. Go read Single Ma on that subject.

Dawn on conserving water and lowering your bill.

A Penny Saved on his book fetish. For a big reader like me, it’s got some good tips on how to save money on reading in the comments.

The Frugal Duchess on her strategies for dining out more cheaply. I think the best part is actually the article at the bottom on changing spending habits in the US vs the Globe. It’s rather interesting to see what Americans are choosing to cut back upon. Now what I would like to know is where we start out as well. For other countries, they may not dine out as much in the first place, which is why they might not cut back on their restaurant spending. Just a thought.

Paul Allen, formerly of Microsoft, currently of Vulcan Ventures, is just a little boy in love with aeroplanes. It’s not really personal finance related, but a description of his vintage warplane collection. It’s kind of interesting to see what a lot of wealth can do.