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When To Break Away from the Undisciplined Pursuit of More

October 27, 2014 by Justin Weinger

As wonderful as our wedding was, it feels like I am getting back in the swing of things, two months later. I’ve got no less than ten unfinished or ongoing projects in various states. I don’t care how much of a ninja/badass/hustler/insert other trendy workaholic term you are, there is no way to devote quality time and attention to ten different directions.

Maybe even five is too many. That’s being pulled in too many directions to give anything a fair shake. That’s not to mention the full-time and demanding job I have and the hour (minimum) I need to exercise each day. I guess this was the perfect time to run into the book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.

I want to do way too much. I’m trying to write for too many different outlets when I should simply be practicing my craft, either online or offline, audience or no audience. I’m trying to help every single person who comes my way with a business idea when I should be doing that only for a select few, and only when I have a stake in the business or I am getting paid well for it. I can’t afford to waste time.

We only have so many years, and the simple truth is that once you have a family, your time to focus on these pursuits will be even less, so now is the time to lay the groundwork and do the heavy lifting. If you don’t do it now, if you don’t pursue what matters most right now, you will find yourself five years down the road, still working for the same low wages and fees. You need to focus now to develop your best skills to command the highest possible rates.

You do have a number of different options when improving your skills and escaping your current situation. Obviously, going back to school and completing a university degree is an option, but this strategy is expensive and very time consuming. On that same note, however, you could enroll in an online degree program, which would provide you with all of the benefits of going back to school at a fraction of the cost. Earning a new degree online allows you to save on commuting and relocation costs, while ensuring that you do not have to quit your job as you upgrade your education.

Are you being pulled in many different directions, trying to develop and work on tons of things at once, and not really getting anywhere with any of them? I recommend reading Essentialism. This is a book that will be a quick read, but you’ll want to go back and reread the book at least two more times to analyze what’s being said and how you can apply it in your own life.

For me, it’s always been about surrounding myself with way too many small-time projects. It’s time to cut out even the ones that make money.

Let’s be honest, is a freelance writing gig that takes up two hours of your time really worth the extra $30-$50? I used to think it was, but that was when I was up to my eyeballs in debt and my day job income was a pittance. I’ve since improved my lot, but not my outlook. I’ll still accept most jobs when someone needs help and they want to throw some cash my way. But I don’t want more anymore. I don’t need to buy new clothes, I’m not itching to get away, show off in a new car, or even go out to the newest restaurant (although I’m a sucker for Michelin stars).

I’m seeking a simple, rewarding life. The discipline pursuit of less isn’t just about stuff. It’s about guarding your time like a squirrel jealously guards its acorns in the middle of winter.

There are only a few things I seek in my finances and career going forward: establishing the experience to become a C-level executive, owning a profitable business, becoming a writer that can fully develop a story in both fiction and non-fiction, and earning enough income to save and invest the majority of the income earned. The time I spend on everything else professionally is extraneous to those key goals. And those are already several big goals. So what am I doing spending the majority of my time elsewhere? I think it’s time to make some bold moves.

Are you working on cutting down on the tasks that take up too much time and provide little reward?

Filed Under: Frugal, Self-Development

How The New Trend of Measuring Everything Can Improve Your Life

September 12, 2014 by Justin Weinger

I’m sure many people reacted as I did when the new activity trackers started sprouting up in 2012 (although they were around before, they gained momentum only in the last couple years). It’s excessive, unnecessary and just one more data point that a company can track about us and figure out a way to sell us more products. I still think that most of that rings true to an extent, however, since I started wearing my own step and sleep tracker (thanks to a free UP band given to me from my company), the mantra “You can’t improve what you don’t measure” rings much louder. The truth about my fitness is that it’s highly erratic. I’ll run and workout three weeks in a row, and then do nothing for the next two weeks. I’ll eat extremely healthy one week, then gorge on junk food and eat out every day for the next week. But the activity steadily reminds me to do a few key things to improve my health:

  1. Walk 10,000 steps per day
  2. Sleep 8 hours per night
  3. Log foods you eat

Now when a day is almost over and I’ve taken a mere 3,000 steps, I’ll grab the dogs for a long evening walk. When I’ve slept less than 6 hours a few nights in a row, I’m excited to get a good night’s rest in that night. I’ve had the band for a few months, and the more consistently I wear it, the more I am aware of my activities and am motivated to stay on track. There are tons of new apps to keep track of everything, including your spending, your workouts, your runs (I use the Nike running app) and your calories. Are you thinking, is this a bit much? Do we really need to know this much about ourselves? Isn’t it enough just to go to bed at a decent hour and make sure to get a workout in 4 to 5 days per week? Sure, it can be enough. If you’re disciplined. But maybe tracking this stuff for a while can help you become disciplined, getting enough sleep, burning more calories than you eat, and generally staying on top of your physical activity.

It can also be reassuring when you feel like you’re not seeing any progress in pounds lost, to look back and see your activity and sleep steadily improving. If you’ve increased your step average from 5,000 to 8,000, your body will improve in endurance and strength and even better, regular activity will become a vital part of your day. You might think you’re athletic because you’re wearing yoga pants or because you work out three times a week, but what are you doing with the rest of your time? If you’re not eating healthy almost every day, getting up and walking and exercising every single day, and getting regular sleep, you’re probably not as healthy as you think. This can even affect your energy and performance levels.

Tracking what you do is the best way to improve what you do. Why should sleep and exercise be things we wish the best for, but make no effort to track? I wonder how I will feel on a week where I sleep for over 8 hours every single night and take over 10,000 steps every single day, while recording all of my food intake as well? Although right now it feels like those will take up my entire week, the reality is that once I make those activities essential habits, my days will open to tremendous new potential.

What do you think? Are you on the “track and measure” bandwagon?

Filed Under: Self-Development

How to Rent Your House as a Way to Pay Down Your Mortgage

August 28, 2014 by Justin Weinger

Converting your home to a rental property may be a better option than selling in a buyer’s market. If you take the time to educate and prepare yourself to be a landlord, you can gain the benefits generated by rental property income. Do a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of how renting your house can help you pay down your mortgage. Be sure to keep these helpful tips in mind when considering becoming a landlord:

  • Get out your calculator. Add up how much it costs to keep and maintain the property including mortgage payment, maintenance costs, and property taxes. This should give you a base renting price for your home. Consult your real estate agent if you are having trouble coming up with a price that is realistic in your area, beneficial to you, and fair to your renters. You want to make sure your rental property income is enough to pay for the majority, if not your entire, monthly mortgage payment.
  • Read the fine print. If you educate yourself on fair housing laws for your state and what a landlord is legally responsible for when you are renting your house, you will be less likely to encounter problems later on. Search your area for any course offerings about earning real estate income, go to the library for books on the subject, or read blogs online about people renting their home(s). Understanding your rights as well as the rights of your tenants will help you prepare for your role as a landlord and understand expectations from the get-go.
  • Check your sources. Background checks are relatively inexpensive and can be fast and easy way to screen potential renters. A background check, credit report and personal references can help you determine the character of your potential tenant and can give you an insight into their trustworthiness. Also, check with a housing attorney to help you draft a housing application and rental agreement that is both fair, legal, and can stand up if it’s disputed in court.
  • Upgrade. Last, but not least, get the most out of your real estate investment by making upgrades to your home before you start renting your home. Not only will this increase the value of your home when you’re in a position to sell, but it can also increase your rental property income. Look for attractive home loan rates and find the financing solutions you need to make your rental property a success.

Have your investments pay off a mortgage

Whether you eventually want to sell your property and this is a temporary fix, or you plan to stay a landlord for the additional rental property income, it’s best to do your research before you put your house on the renter’s market. Look around at local apartment magazines and online postings in the area to make sure your rental is competitive. Once you are able to rent your house, sit back, relax, and enjoy the investments you’ve made.

Sponsored content was created and provided by RBS Citizens Financial Group

Filed Under: Self-Development

Travel is Simple, Home is Complicated

July 29, 2014 by Justin Weinger

Have you found that when you are traveling, life is much simpler? This isn’t a “no email or phone” thing. When I travel for work, I’m still on my computer and phone. But I might check my email 2 or 3 times per day and send any responses then. I’ll log onto my computer in the afternoon to work on a few things before dinner. Yet at the office, I find myself checking email almost constantly, checking my personal gmail on my phone at every break, answering every single phone call and text immediately, thinking about what needs to get done next and generally not moving through the day with deliberate thought. Instead, it’s an overactive state that ends up in no real action.

That kind of overstimulation is exhausting. At home, the TV is always on. We have family staying with us for a few days who are glued to the TV whenever we’re home, and my husband is also someone who likes the TV on as background noise. I prefer silence. I can usually find silence very quickly when I travel. But home often feels like: BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ. Anywhere I look there is something to do: dishes to wash. Clothes to put away or wash. A big pile of clutter.

No matter where or why we are traveling, we pare down to the necessities. Only the clothes you’ll wear. Only the book or two you’ll be reading. If you’re staying in a hotel, open the bedside table’s drawer and marvel in its emptiness (and maybe a Bible). Having just returned from two weeks of simple, enjoyable travel, it makes me wonder why my bedside table is stuffed with a bunch of papers I don’t look at, old knickknacks, and, inexplicably, my husband’s high school varsity letter? What the hell? In my ideal world, there is one book and a lamp on this table. The drawer should be empty, because as I rifle through it, I find nothing useful.

When we travel, our actions are pared down, as are our possessions. In daily life, I find myself making many unnecessary moves (overchecking my phone and email, letting errands take up an entire day), and not making the effort to reduce our existing stuff. But I believe there is a route to sanity in daily life, it just requires something I have never done before. I need to get rid of all the stuff that no longer has a useful, regular purpose. There are three main categories where I see this in my life:

  • Clothing, shoes and personal accessories
  • Books
  • Papers and Knick-knacks

I don’t need to live on the road, I love having a home. But that home shouldn’t feel crowded or it takes away from its beauty as “object that provides shelter”. We have a large walk-in closet, but it’s filled with stuff we (mostly I) don’t use. If we got rid of a lot of that stuff, we have a space big enough to do something else (work desk, hideout, meditation room). I have probably 8 large boxes of books. But I am not sure I need those books anymore. Once I have read them, maybe I can give them away? Maybe I can start a little library at a community center. I am tired of being weighed down by stuff. That’s not to say all our stuff is useless. I use our blender at least 3 times a week for smoothies. I wear my workout clothes for tennis, hiking, yoga and everything else active regularly. Our couch is a place for us to wind down and chat at the end of the day, and where guests can feel welcome. And we don’t have any dishes, glasses or cutlery that we don’t use all the time. I’m not looking to get rid of everything, but I think there are a lot of things I can do without.

Filed Under: Self-Development

Why I’m Glad We Got Married and Bought a Place at the Same Time

July 23, 2014 by Justin Weinger

Within about 60 days of each other, we bought a condo and got married. When I told people these two items, their reactions ranged from active discouragement to frantic worry. No one thought it was a good idea, not even my then-fiance, although he supported me and said we should go for it if I wanted to. But now that the wedding is over and we’re adjusting to our new place, making the changes we need, the same people are proclaiming that it was a great idea. How nice to take care of both at the same time, now you two can begin your life together! Of course, our lives have been together for quite some time, but I agree. We’re not recently married and in the pain of real estate buying as first-timers. And we’re not first time owners trying to save enough for a big wedding that’s coming up. It’s done. The “wedding spending wormhole” as I like to refer to it, has closed in our universe and migrated to another unsuspecting couple who can start shelling out cash for food, beverages, invitations and all that stuff I am still in relief to be done with.

Weddings are a popular topic for personal finance bloggers, with lots of us on our 20s and 30s and either have had a wedding, plan to have one, or plan to have none at all or something small to forego spending thousands on a single day. If we’re not having the wedding, we’re invited to weddings, so we’re all familiar with the expenditures surrounding a wedding. In our case, it was a big deal but it also wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t have guilt about spending too much or too little, and I didn’t do it to please anyone else. We had our own reasons for having our wedding and I am happy we did it. Strangers, family, friends and popular culture all have their opinions on weddings, but that shouldn’t be the end-all reason for why your wedding is the way it is. Make it personal and memorable and all the “10 Reasons Your Wedding is Lame” posts in the world won’t change your mind. Going small and intimate? Enjoy. Doing larger-than-life and hiring Martha Stewart as your wedding planner? Go all out! It’s fun to see people’s personalities in their wedding, it’s a step away from our everyday interactions and a way to mark a moment in time. We want to be conscious and aware of each moment in our lives, but most of us are not. Weddings remind people of the ones they love and what the value in their own relationships and marriages. We had a couple who attended our wedding get engaged immediately after, thanks in small part to the “super romantic” weekend they had at our wedding (her words!) and that has given me so much joy. I’ve already sent her my budget spreadsheets.

And I stumbled upon our condo a few months before the wedding. I wanted to hesitate. But I also knew that it was within reach, something that I had been trying to figure out for years. Did I wait and hope for another unit a few months after the wedding? What for? We had the down payment, it was in the right location, most units in the same price range were depressing and dark. This had light. Windows! A skylight! Other financially compelling reasons! So yes, there were some sleepless nights as I wondered how we would pay for it all in the past few months, but today, I am excited about what’s next.

Filed Under: Self-Development

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