Hey there, would you like some money?
Would you like free money?
Would you like money you can pick up from the ground and put in your pocket, at least metaphorically speaking?
If so, maybe you should read this post.
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Two weeks ago, I wrote about how money mistakes are temporary. My main argument was that unlike other kinds of mistakes, money mistakes rarely have permanent consequences.
I'll return to that in this post, but first let's consider a few things that have happened this month:
A common TV trope features someone who's down on their luck and forced to borrow from someone with questionable moral scruples: a loan shark, the Mafia, a representative from Wells Fargo.
As fate would have it, they fall further and further behind, until they're in an even greater bind. Soon they'reĀ beingĀ pursued by the loan shark, who threatens to break their legs, or by Wells Fargo, which forces them to remain on hold for hours.Ā The rest of the story unfolds as the protagonist desperately tries to resolve their dilemma.Ā What will they do? How will they get the money?Ā "Getting the money" makes for a good plot foundation, since money is something that everyone wants. And when you don't have it, it becomes all that you think about.
Big news today! I wrote a new book! It's called THE MONEY TREE, and it comes out April 7th. š°š³ā I'm very excited to share this sneak peek of my first *full-length story* that will be published in the U.S. and Canada in April. Yes, it's fiction! Something I've never done before, but I got inspired and started outlining and ended up making something that I really like.ā
The subtitle is "A Story About Finding the Fortune in Your Own Backyard." We decided to be as literal as possible with the cover. š
Link: Freedom Calculator
Will you be ready to retire when the time comes? To some of us, it sounds like the beginning to an ad, or a question from another era. Personally, I donāt care much about the idea of retirement. I believe in finding meaningful work that youāre excited about! Why would you stop doing something you look forward to every day? Read More
Deciding how you value your time can help you make decisions. But how do you really know what your time is worth?
Itās partly a hypothetical question, because you donāt always get to choose how much money you'll make or how much free time you'll have.
And itās partly a practical question, because sometimes you do get to choose. Life is all about making choices, some of which are exclusive and limit us from other opportunities.
A free tool guides you to your own answer of "How much is your time worth" in both hypothetical and practical scenarios.
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I often enjoy the personal finance columns by Carl Richards. In a recent one, he explains how to create an āemotional balance sheetā to quantify (or at least tally) your non-financial assets.
Carl tells the story of how he and his wife Cori made the choice for her to become a full-time mom, despite the fact that the family would lose more than $1 million in earnings over the next twenty years.
Heās quick to point out that the moral of the story isnāt āall mothers should stay home with their childrenāāwhich is good, since presumably many readers would make different choices. The lesson is a) to be clear about your intentions, and b) learn to value non-financial assets.
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When I went to Burma several years ago I stayed in a nice guest house for about $35 a night. The rate included free Wifi and a large banana pancake for breakfast. Mmmmmm.
After I came home, I talked with someone who had also been there. "How much did you pay?" he asked.
"Oh... about $30-40 a night," I said. I may also have mentioned the delicious banana pancake. Mmmmmm.
"Thatās crazy!" He said. "You got ripped off... there are places you can stay for just $10 or less."
I didnāt know how to respond. Was I āripped off?ā Well, I guess I could have paid less... but I was happy with the experience, so for me the rate was a great value.
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"Debt is publicly enforced and highly stigmatized, but is almost always privately experienced."After filing for bankruptcy herself, photographer Brittany M. Powell is traveling across America to interview other people struggling with unexpected debt. I love this multifaceted, non-judgmental project (originally on Kickstarter -- now closed after a successful end). Debt Portrait #28, Detroit, MI 2014
Through the camera, Powell is starting a conversation about debtāsomething many people experience alone but never talk about because of the shame and stigma that can be attached to it. How does debt effect us and our daily lives? Are people as alone in this struggle as much as they feel?
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When youāre a kid, you donāt have much concept of what true wealth isāso you tend to relate it to experiences, or at least I did. In my case, I understood wealth in the context of fast-food restaurants. I used to eat at my favorite restaurants, McDonaldās and Burger King, as often as I could.
Iām writing from the W Hong Kong, where I just arrived after beginning my latest Round-the-World trip. The W here has one of the best hotel breakfast buffets in all of Asia, which for all practical purposes means all of the world.
My breakfast is comped, thanks to my elite status with Starwood. As best I can tell, it costs approximately 10x what a meal at McDonaldās would. But if it wasnāt comped, Iād gladly pay. Itās so good! And Iām having so much fun waking up early, drinking unlimited macchiatos, and thinking about the world.
The lesson? Well, Iām jet-lagged, so you might have to wade through the muddle. But aside from not eating fast food, I think the lesson is to figure out what makes you feel richāand itās best if such a thing is somewhat obtainable.
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Seems obvious, right? We wouldnāt expect that driving past the gym will make us any healthier.
But when it comes to money, those of us who are self-employed tend to spend a lot of time on activities that do nothing to help the bottom line, either directly or indirectly.
I donāt just mean āadministrative work,ā because some administrative work has to be done even if itās not particularly exciting. You still need to do customer service, update outdated info, and so on.
No, I mean the tendency we have to log-in just to see something. Iāll just check one more time... says the addict.
So hereās an idea: the next time you feel like checking website stats or bank account numbers, hold off a moment. First, do something that matters. Do something that will actually increase or improve whatever metrics youāre tracking. Then, go ahead and check themābecause thatās human nature. But make yourself work for it first. Make yourself earn it.
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Iāve mentioned a few times that going to every country in the world wasnāt as expensive as most people initially think. But how much did it really cost?
The short answer is that Iām not 100% sure of the precise figure. I didnāt tally up every expense associated with ten-and-a-half years of travel, and I didn't save all the receipts. Much of the travel (perhaps one-third) was done in cooperation with other work and commitments. The whole time I was living in West Africa, for example, I was visiting a bunch of new countries, but usually in my capacity as an aid worker for a charity.
Even during the time when I was focused mainly on going to countries for no good reason, it wasn't a business project. It wasn't something I needed to account for or get reimbursed. It was a personal challenge that I would have pursued regardless of the cost.
Read MoreResearch shows that money can buy happiness sometimesābut the amount of money isnāt one-size-fits-all. J.D. Roth talked to Gretchen Rubin about how to find the number that works for you. *** J.D.: Once people have a certain amount of money or a certain amount of material comfort, that additional money only brings on a marginal…
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When it comes to money, some people have a floor and some have a ceiling. The floor is the minimum amount of money to live reasonably well. The ceiling is the magic number of what you might possibly achieve in your wildest dreams. Normally thereās nothing wrong with dreaming. But to be happier in life…
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Last week I mentioned a project that’s been in the works for more than six months: a comprehensive toolkit to help artists and designers of all kinds make more money and achieve creative freedom. We started by looking at the story of Jen & Omar, the authors of the new resource. They’ve built a fantastic…
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