During a business-related trip to Texas last summer, I met up with a blogger who goes by the name “empressjuju” and blogs at (the) Vegas in Austin. Along with her husband we enjoyed a delightful regional brunch (think “breakfast tacos”) and talked about money and life.
Homeownership was definitely on their minds. But months went by and they kept discovering swell new restaurants and activities. Austin can do that to you.
This kind of overspending is insidious, she noted later, and it can feel oddly necessary because we’re all such busy people. In fact, her husband was inclined to think that it wasn’t really a problem.
The empress begged to differ. “How are we ever going to buy a house if we keep spending like this on food? We are eating our house!”
That phrase stuck with me for months. Finally I did something about it: a guest post at Get Rich Slowly.
While it’s got something of a come-to-Jesus mentality – especially the part where I quote Mary Hunt on the (non-) wisdom of using credit cards – the post is more supportive than hectoring. I suggest ways to look critically at six budget categories and offer possible workarounds to overspending.
Speaking of busy people: Are you one of those folks with a side hustle in addition to your day job? Are you also thinking about turning the side hustle into full-time entrepreneurship?
Nice! But there are only so many hours in the day, and in your life. It’s essential to track how many of them are used on work. My recent post at Wise Bread, “7 tips to prevent side-gig burnout,” isn’t a one-size-fits-all batch of advice. However, there’s something in it for almost everyone.
Baby oil and blogging
Need to soften and smooth something? Untangle or unstick something? De-scum, depilate, de-squeak or brighten up something?
You probably need baby oil. My recent post on Money Talks News offers “33 uses for baby oil (most of which don’t involve babies).” Heck, even the Mayo Clinic thinks the stuff is good for a non-baby-butt application – but you’ll have to read the article to find out what it is. (Hint: The application is above the collarbone.)
I’ve done two writing-related pieces elsewhere recently, too. Over on the New Media Expo blog, “Telling more, with less” explains how to use the best details to create blog posts that resonate. The post is based on an excerpt from my recently introduced online course, Write A Blog People Will Read.
(Although the 20 percent discount recently expired, I’ll make you another deal: Purchase the course using the link above, then e-mail me at SurvivingAndThriving [at] live [dot] com and I’ll send you a $20 Amazon gift card.)
Why would you want to start your own website? That’s a question I answer in a WABPWR post called “What’s the point of blogging?” It’s definitely not for the money or the prestige. A whole lot of bloggers – and a whole lot of writers in general – toil in relative or total obscurity and can never afford to quit their day jobs.
Blogging is a lot of work and sometimes your only reward is being strafed by spam commenters trying to sell you handbags or pornography. So why do it? Two reasons:
- You write because it’s in you to write, and/or
- You can change someone’s life by doing it.
Over the past few years I’ve been fortunate to build a great community here at Surviving and Thriving. However, traffic at the new WABPWR blog is still teeny-tiny. I’d forgotten how hard (and frustrating!) it can be to work to interest people in yet another source of reading material.
Thus I’d be grateful if you would check out the WABPWR blog from time to time. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a writer (yet), because not all the posts will be strictly how-to. My goal is to start conversations that are as lively as the ones that get going over here. I could use your help with that.
I used to be a professional fundraiser, which led to me getting an M.A. in Philanthropy, and one of the things that has always stuck with me from that degree is a phrase: “Money is a vehicle for intent.” I think it was in a book written by Lynne Twist.
If you think about it like that, the way you spend your money tells the story about what you think is important – your intentions are written out in every credit card statement.
It’s so easy not to be intentional about spending. When you grow up in a household where eating out is the norm, you may live that way yourself when you grow up. You don’t think about “small” amounts you spend on lunches/dinners out, or movies, or drinks at the club. That is, you never add them up.
Once you’re out of that habit it’s easy to slap your own head when you think about how much money disappeared that way. Don’t do that. Just learn from the mistake.
Oh, and PS: I couldn’t post a comment at your writing blog because I’m not a member – but I would have otherwise!
That’s odd: You should be able to read articles and comment. I’ll check with the web dude. Thanks for letting me know.
Update: Web dude says everyone should be able to comment now — a box that should have been checked was unchecked, or maybe vice versa. I love the web dude because he fixes stuff for me.