Our secret to success: Part Three: Earn More
This article is part of my “Secret to Success” series. Check my index article to see where it all started and for the other four parts!
For many, including myself, we find it much easier to reduce our spending than to earn additional income. Whether it’s limited availability of jobs, skills, motivation or financial backing, there’s always “something” that gets in our way to gaining higher pay or side-income. Some people are introverts, some are extroverts. Some need to plan everything, while others have a “Just Do It” mentality.
But regardless of your perceived capabilities and limitations, you do have at least one marketable skill; sometimes you just need the confidence that you can ask for that raise or start that side business.
How to Earn More Income
No one is going to become wealthy by keeping the same exact salary every year of their life. Inflation causes the cost of goods and services to constantly rise. “Lifestyle inflation” also causes the need for more money. For example, you want a bigger house, more/newer gadgets, nicer/more exotic vacation, etc.
Our secret to success: Part Two: Live Frugally
This article is part of my “Secret to Success” series. Check my index article to see where it all started and for the other four parts!
Frugality and thriftiness seem to be the new buzz words in this economy, but if you’ve been following CleverDude.com for the last 3 years, you’d know that frugality is not a new concsept here.
I kicked it all off back in January, 2007 with an article titled “5 Xtreme Saving Ideas!“, followed quickly by “How to live without your Tivo” (before Hulu caught on). And my favorite early frugality article was “5 Ways Balding Gracefully Can Save You Time, Money and More!“.
I even have an entire “Ways to Save Money” series.
But I also try to practice what I preach. I (usually) follow all of my 50 ways to save money by not wasting, partly to save money, but also to save a bit of the environment (or just ruin it a little bit less). However, we aren’t always frugal, but my thought is you need a break sometimes or else you’ll get burned out of trying to be good. Then again, some people were born thrifty, while it’s a life-long challenge for others.
DC Blogger Happy Hour, June 2009
Ahhh, beer. That was the focus of this evening’s DC Personal Finance Blogger happy hour, since we held the event at Brickskeller in downtown Washington, D.C. While I’m not a big beer fan, I do like to try out-of-the-ordinary foods and beverages, so I opted for:
- a Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and
- (after trying a bit of Mapgirl’s) a Duchesse de Bourgogne
I realized I had the Young’s in Pittsburgh earlier this year, and it was still just as tasty (I don’t normally like dark beers, much less stouts). As for the Duchesse, I’m surprised I ordered one after tasting it, but it grew on me. It basically tasted like A) cider or B) balsamic vinagrette. But it had a smooth flavor and no bite.
Attendees
The usual suspects were in attendance, but we did have a new face (and a second appearance):
- Mrs Micah (who organized the event)
- J Money from Budgets are Sexy (sporting the mohawk as usual)
- Mapgirl from Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge
Reader Question: Stuck between IRS and a hard place (help!)
Reader Kyle has the following question that I hope some of you can help with. If you have a knowledgeable answer to his dilemma, please comment below:
Looking everywhere for a helping hand. Question about taxes. I’m in a serious pickle it would seem. I am now 3 years behind in taxes and have got some big fees to negotiate. Never mind how it happened, it’s complicated, 1099 and was catching up on rebuilding a life after a brief spout of homelessness and couch surfing. Got out of that hole, but right into a new one.
I was planning to file everything, set up a payment plan and be on a smooth road to recovery when a lay-off struck. Now I am unemployed and just barely getting by again. Even if I get a job soon, I won’t be making close to as much, savings are drained too. What can I do in this situation to approach the I.R.S. for repayment without just losing everything?
Our secret to success: Part One: Spending less than we earn
This article is part of my “Secret to Success” series. Check my index article to see where it all started and for the other four parts!
In my recent article “Everything you ever really needed to know about Personal Finance on One Page“, I highlighted Trent Hamm’s 5 basic fundamental practices in Personal Finance that lead to financial independence. I also told you I would explain how, in our own lives, we’ve practiced these same principals to reach our current level of success. I’ll also add how we plan to continue utilizing these methods to further advance our financial independence and wealth.
The first principal is definitely the most important to financial success:
Spend Less than You Earn!
Doesn’t this idea sound so simple it’s actually pretty lame? However, while you think “spending less than you earn” makes perfect financial sense, you’d be wrong thinking everyone understands the concept.
Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page
Not too long ago, Trent from The Simple Dollar published a list of his 25 favorite personal finance, career and personal development blogs, and guess who made the list. Yep, Trent felt CleverDude.com was worthy of his daily attention. And, thanks to the wonders of alphabetization, I made it near the top of his list, garnering loads of link love.
Well, now that I’m finally catching up on some of my linking duties, I’d like to call out another of Trent’s articles, which is an eBook titled
“ Everything You Ever Really Needed to Know About Personal Finance On Just One Page“:
While the PDF itself is 49 pages, the core is the first page where Trent simplifies the 5 most basic tenets of wise personal finance management:
- Spend less than you earn
- Live frugal
- Earn more
- Manage money
- Control your own destiny
The remainder of the eBook provides a wealth of Trent’s prior writings to back up his one-pager, recommended books and, of course, lists his 25 favorite PF, PD and career blogs.
I saved $3/mth on Comcast internet, but they’re tempting me to spend more!
Right now our internet and phone services look like this:
Cable TV: ~$20/mth - We only have basic cable (network TV, no ESPN, etc.) as well as a digital cable box that gives us hundreds of hours of free On-Demand programming from channels like HGTV, BBC, Discovery, etc.
Cable Internet: ~$33/mth - This service normally costs about $43/mth, but we got a 1 year discount. However, the discount out this month (see below).
Vonage VOIP: ~$24/mth - We’re on their lowest plan (500 minutes/mth), but thanks to new taxes, including a $2 phone tax for Montgomery County, MD as of this month, we’re paying about $5 more per month than just late last year. But our VOIP plan is a topic for a different discussion.
Negotiating a Lower Cable Internet Price
So we got our newest cable bill yesterday, and I received a bit of a shock when I opened it. Rather than our total bill being about $60 for both TV and internet (with taxes/fees), it was just over $80! It was 8:55pm, and customer support closed at 9pm, but I decided to try to call anyway.
Biden disagrees with taxing health care premiums
Not that I put much weight into what Vice President Joe Biden says, but he commented on an issue that I wrote about just last week asking whether Obama’s health care plan really did include taxing health care premiums. The administration was floating the idea around of taxing the employee for the employer-subsidized portion of their premiums, which can range from 50-80% of your actual health benefit costs. That’s a load of money!
Well, today in CNN Money, Joe is quoted as saying:
“We do not think that is the way to go; we think that is the wrong way to finance this legislation,” Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. Pressed on whether President Barack Obama would veto a bill from Congress containing such a mechanism, Biden said Obama would consider the measure in total before making a decision.
He didn’t rule out the idea entirely, but perhaps some of the backlash is reaching their ears to make them think twice? Also consider that this is an indirect tax on those making under $250k a year, which is the same group for which President Obama promised never to raise taxes.
Clever Dude and his bride started with over $110,000 in consumer debt and in just 3 short years, they have reduced it down to a mere fraction. The "Dude" writes about his mistakes in finances and marriage in hopes that you, the reader, can learn just a few nuggets of wisdom.
