Thanks,

Jaryd

Any step you take to help Coleson would be amazing, but please pray for him most of all.

your budget holds the key to get you out of debt jail

Over the last few months I’ve become increasingly concerned about my financial situation. I’m 20 years old, I already have several (several) thousand dollars in school loans, I have virtually no savings and a credit card balance that was nearly maxed out. I was not liking where I was at so early on in my life.

There’s not much I can do about the school loans right now, at least not with credit card debt hanging over my head and no savings safety net. So I began to change my financial situation. The catalyst for this change happened when I was leaving for work one day, and I was counting my blessings. I’m so thankful for my car, I thought. Some people have cars that they can’t really depend on, but I’ve never had to worry about whether my car will start or not. And then it hit me that if something happened to my car I wouldn’t be able to get it fixed myself. I had very credit left, and pretty much zero savings; I had no buffer. I would be forced to rely on my parents for help. I’ve already relied on them enough and am trying to move more expenses over to myself. They’ve worked too hard and too long for me to keep draining their income.

That was the day that I’ve decided to make a buffer, pay off my credit card, and start paying down the interest on my student loans. I’ve come up with a couple of techniques that have been indispensable. Both financially and mentally.

1. The first thing I did was start reading about finances. I had already been reading Zen Habits for a while. The author, Leo Babauta, touches on financial things through his writings about minimalism. By reading his articles I’ve seen the grand appeal of cutting out all that is unnecessary in my life and learning to embrace a more minimalist life style. I also started reading Frugal Dad which is focused on paying off debt and consuming less.
2. Most importantly, I made a budget. I had made pseudo-budgets in the past, but never stuck to them. But this time I made a budget, carved it in stone, and stuck to it. Ever since I made a budget my spending has decreased dramatically. I can tell because I actually have money left over. A lot of money. And I’ve been putting it to good use. Some people (including the author of Frugal Dad) say to save up three months expenses before paying off your debts. It makes sense; you don’t want to have to fall back on a credit card because you don’t have a buffer. Good advice, but I decided to ignore that when I started because my credit card debt really wasn’t that large. My credit limit is only $1,000. Pittance compared to the $5,000 credit limit some of my friends have on their cards.
3. So I had a budget, but what kept me to it? I thought about making the down payment on a house. How I want to be able to live debt free for my future family. I want my children to grow up seeing how to be responsible with their money, just as I did. Set a goal for yourself and put that image all around you to help keep you in line. If you reward yourself (proportionally, of course) when you achieve a goal, you are more likely to use that momentum to keep moving. My reward was feeling better!
4. This next tip is more of a hack than anything, but I’ve decided to start filling a change jar now that I’m using cash almost exclusively. I used to spend change when buying things to avoid receiving more change, but now I try to get my hands on as much of it as I can. Any change I get goes into the jar, and it only leaves when I deposit it into a savings account. It’s not for impulse buying and it’s not for extraneous spending.(A recent comment on Frugal Dad said something like “Imagine if for every dollar that passed through your hands, you saved 10 cents. Now stop imaging and do it!” I rather liked that idea, and I feel it is a good way to frame the change jar hack.) I do have condition, though: Anytime I’m at a store and they have a change donation jar for disease research, etc., I put whatever change I do have in my pockets in. If change can make a difference in my bank account, it surely can make a difference for someone’s health.

These are some of the things I’ve come up with to dramatically improve my money situation. What have you used? What tips and hacks have you figured out to make a difference in your war with debt? Leave some tips in the comments for other readers to practice.

Why my car? Well, mainly because if I can fit everything I own in one car trip, it greatly increases my range of freedom. No going back for more. No worries about what I’ve left behind. Everything I own, and truly need, is with me and nothing else. But alongside the things I truly need are a bunch of other things. Things that I don’t need, and really shouldn’t even have. Things like the extra printer I have, or my 30 t-shirts, or eight pairs of pants, or eight pairs of shoes, or my whole drawer for things I don’t know what to do with. If I don’t know what to do with it, why do I keep it?

While the Dr. Jekyll in me is dedicated to tearing through my consumerism and returning to a simpler lifestyle, my Mr. Hyde is crazy about gadgets. Specifically Apple gadgets. I’m a student, so it’s not really a question of ‘Do I need a laptop?’ but rather ‘Do I need a MacBook Pro when I MacBook would probably do just fine?’ Since I plan on not having cable when I move into my own place (eventually) I have decided that I will just buy shows from the iTunes store and get them that way. Now, it would be a lot easier and more convenient for me to buy an TV, but should I?

I know the answer to the question ‘Do I need it?’ is clearly no? But, as a Christian, are we called to own only that which we truly need? By purchasing an TV, or a MacBook Pro, or iPhone, or anything superfluous for that matter, instead of tithing, or giving that money to someone who truly needs it, am I disobeying Christ’s wishes for his followers?

Let’s see what the bible actually says about this kind of thing.

We all know the story of the rich man in Luke 18:

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

19″Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[b]“

21″All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

22When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

23When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Now, did Jesus tell him to sell everything he had because that is the answer that applies to all of mankind, or was it aimed specifically at the young man because he had a love of money? Does Christ expect everyone of us to live like monks? If so, then most Christians are failing to meet this expectation. How can a Christian live in the modern world if this is what Jesus expects of us?

Even if I were to give up everything I owned and gave the money to the poor, what does this mean about savings? Am I allowed to work and put some into a retirement account? If I did that wouldn’t sound like I was following what Jesus said in Luke 18.  Jesus said to sell everything. That means absolutely everything.

What do you think? Can a Christian live in a modern world with modern things and still be obeying what is written, or are we all expected to give up everything and follow Jesus? Do you know of any bible verses that really deal with this subject head on? Let me know in the comments!

Further reading: Check out this Ask the Readers post over at Zen Habits (My new favorite blog) about fitting everything you own in your car’s trunk. Be sure to check out all of Leo’s, as well as his contributers great posts at Zen Habits.

But, as the kids get older, I would think that they need to venture indoors and get some other skills. But this is a great way to encourage the imagination that school systems love to kill.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6168260.ece

I like working at the Garland, I really do. But one of the worst parts of working there is dealing with the I-only-pay-for-cheap-movie-kind-of-red-necky crowd. Not trying to be insulting, but that is the general vibe I get  from a large portion of the customers at the theater. The type of people that can hold a bottomless bucket of extra buttery popcorn ($4.75) in their lap for 2 hours, but when it comes time to leave they feel they had better leave it tipped over on the floor with the remnants of their oh-so-American ‘meal’ spilled on the floor. Would it really be difficult to get up, while holding the bucket mind you (this is a very important step), and walk to the garbage can and gently place the bucket there? Keep in mind there is a garbage can next to every exit in the theater, so it is not a matter of convenience for them.

The mentality that, as a theater employee, I am there to pick up their mess is bad, but I can deal with that. It is my job to tidy up the 630 seat theater, in 10 minutes no less. Very true. But do you have to make it harder for us? Apparently, the answer is yes. Not only does your popcorn bucket, two large drink cups, four candy bar wrappers, and even the wrappings of snacks we don’t sell, tell me that you are lazy, it also tells me that you think that your time is more valuable than mine. And that may be true. You may be the most important person in the world and you’re late for some life-saving adventure. Awesome. But you aren’t, so take the extra one second (if that) and please put your popcorn bucket in the trash. It would make my day so much easier.

As mad as that makes me, I can deal with it. That is their choice to act that way, and it is my job to clean up whatever mess you make. I’ll live. But what really chaps my hide is that they teach their kids to do the same things. I’m so glad my parents taught me to think about other people (thanks Mom and Dad!) and how to not be a bastard. Pardon my french.

Sorry for the rant, but these people need to think about what kind of adults they want their children to grow into.

Up next: I will count how many cigarettes I have to sweep up in the parking lot every single day. I am really considering counting. It’s that bad.

So I am finally making some money again, on top of my little bit of work-study I get from the school.

Also, I’ve figured out my housing situation for next year! I am going to live off campus in a brand new house with some great guys. It’s going to be so much better than living on campus. And it is actually cheaper than living on campus. So, bonus!

I registered for the national bone marrow database a month or two ago when I went to donate blood. Super easy: swabbed my cheek a few times and bingo, someone has another shot at life.

The odds are narrow that I will be matched, and I know it will hurt when they are taking the marrow, but something so small can totally turn someone’s life around. I don’t know how I would feel about myself if I didn’t do this.

Matt is a 32-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said “Hey, why don’t you stand over there and do that dance. I’ll record it.” He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It’s actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as “That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I’ll send you the link. It’s funny.”

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he’d be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they’d be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal.

The second video made Matt even more quasi-famous. In fact, for a brief period in July, he was semi-famous.

Things settled down again, and then in 2007 Matt went back to Stride with another idea. He realized his bad dancing wasn’t actually all that interesting, and that other people were much better at being bad at it. He showed them his inbox, which, as a result of his semi-famousness, was overflowing with emails from all over the planet. He told them he wanted to travel around the world one more time and invite the people who’d written him to come out and dance too.

The Stride people thought that sounded like yet another very good idea, so they let him do it. And he did. And now it’s done. And he hopes you like it.

Matt has a new video up from his 2008 trip, and I’d like to share it with you.

I love this video so much! Maybe because I think that’s how kids might’ve reacted when Jesus travelled through their town: just dancing and laughing and smiling. Or even how we’ll react when we see Jesus for ourselves in Heaven. There’s something so… Godly about just having fun with kids, especially the ones that don’t have a lot of earthly things to smile about.

Matthew 18:2-4:

²He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

We could all stand to be like children a little more often.

My parents bought me Casino Royale by Ian Fleming for Christmas. I wanted to read it because I love the move so very much. I’m only about 50 pages in so far, but I’m liking that isn’t the exact same as the movie. Gives me something to actually be suspenseful about!