Today is a day of remembrance of an incredibly tragic day in American history. When the September 11th attacks happened, I was a sophomore in high school and I remember sitting in my AP Biology class discussing with classmates the events of what was happening on the East Coast. I remember the sense of incredible sadness and disbelief I felt in knowing that people could perpetrate such an act. On this tenth anniversary, I feel so blessed to be an American and to live in the best country in the world.
In thinking about what to write for this blog entry, I decided to reflect on the quote that the "best things in life are free." Sometimes, it's easy to feel "poor" because we have bills, student loans, and other obligations to pay. Because of this, we may lose sight of the riches that we have in our life including: health, family, and friends--these are invaluable and irreplaceable in my opinion. We may not always have the largest bank account, but wealth can be measured in multiple different ways. With that in mind, I decided to share some of my favorite free things or low-cost things in life:
1) Public Library/Used Book Store: Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a huge nerd. I love to read and I am a big fan of the public library. My parents instilled an appreciation of education and learning in me because they once told me, "You can have all the riches in the world, but all of that can be taken away. The things that cannot be taken away is your mind and your education." Growing up, my family didn't have cable and I read a lot of books. I remember going to library since I was a little girl and getting to pick out any book that I wanted to read. It was always so exciting. I remember getting my first library card when I was 7 and signing the back of it with my newly learned cursive skills. I love that the library offers books, magazines, and DVDs available for checking out. I really enjoy sitting and flipping through all the issues of a certain magazine or even flipping through magazines that I would never spend money on like the tabloids (hahah..yes, I admit..some tabloids are my guilty pleasure) And most library systems are connected in which if your local library doesn't offer a book, you can request a book from another branch. Reading is a great past-time and I don't feel the need to buy a book just to read it once. If I end up loving a book and I need my own copy, I prefer a used bookstore or buying a used copy on Amazon. To me, there is no difference between a new book and and a gently used book since they have the same purpose..for my eyeballs to read. :-)
2) Nature: I think God's paintings are the best paintings in the world. There are no words to describe a beautiful sunrise or sunset. In my opinion, the outdoors and nature are amongst the best free things in life. I have a desk job where I sit in front of computer for 8-10 hours a day. Therefore, whenever I have a chance, I try to get outside and enjoy a run or a walk or a hike. It's hard to always do this since I live in the blazing desert which has some unforgiving temperatures, but for about half the year, it is nice and I live right along a river wash where there's a great trail to run. It's great to find a park or a trail near you to get some fresh air. In San Diego, I love hiking at Torrey Pines since there is nothing quite like hiking a mountain next to the ocean. There are spectacular views, it's a great cardiovascular activity, and it's a good way to be social and catch up friends who join you on the hike, run, or walk. It doesn't cost anything to step outside your door and exercise so take advantage of what the great outdoors has to offer!
3) Podcasts: iTunes offers a pretty good selection of free Podcasts. These are both audio only and some are episodes of shows. Two of my favorite podcasts are financial ones: The Suze Orman Show and the Dave Ramsey radio show. I like to download Podcasts onto my phone and listen to them at the gym when I'm on the elliptical. Seth doesn't understand how I listen to them at the gym, but it gives me something to concentrate on while I'm working out so I enjoy it. The Suze Orman show is the actual show that you can download so I don't even watch it on TV anymore, I just download it from iTunes. Her show is not always applicable, but I do find some of her tips relevant and I like her attitude of People First, then Money, then Things. The Dave Ramsey show was introduced to me a friend and his big message is to live a debt free life and adjusting your life to achieve this goal.
4) Online Streaming & On-Demand: TV is one of the greatest inventions for entertainment. However, there are definitely pros and cons to having cable. One of the definite cons of having cable is the cost of it. However, Seth cannot survive without his ESPN SportsCenter and live sports so we have to have cable in our family. One of the things that we have not subscribed to though is DVR or TiVo. It does seem incredibly convenient to be able to forward past all commercials and record shows so that you don't have to be home at a certain time in order to watch a show, but since we have never had it- it's not something we miss. Instead, we take advantage of our On-Demand that comes with our digital cable package and we watch shows that are available for free on-demand. Not all shows are available, but ones that we enjoy like Top Chef, Wilfred, and Glee are on there. We have the option of pausing, forwarding, and rewinding these shows. I personally like to watch Food Network and they have shows on there that aren't even shown on TV so it's a nice bonus! If you don't have On-Demand or cable, I think it's really neat that you can stream pretty much all shows online now. It's nice that both network television like ABC and FOX as well as cable networks like MTV and Bravo have full episodes online.
5) Skype/Gmail Video Chat: I love keeping in touch with people. Last Christmas, I asked for an address book for Christmas so that I would write down people's addresses to send them mail. I am someone that is always up for reconnecting with people because I believe that everyone we meet affects us in one way or another and we are who we are because of the people that have touched our lives. With technology nowadays, it's so cool to be able to video chat online via Skype or Gmail video chat with people that we may not be able to otherwise see. I love chatting with my best friend, Briana, on video chat because it's good to be able to see her face and her expressions. :-D I have a friend who has Skype dinners with his friends and it's such a good way to keep in touch and be connected with people who are far away.
These are just some of my favorite free things. It's always nice to be able to do things that don't cost money and can still result in great memories. And I will end this blog with a quote from Socrates, "He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature."
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Labor of love
In honor of Labor Day tomorrow, I have decided to title this blog entry "Labor of Love". This expression basically means to do something without expectation of compensation or reward. As we grow up, there are expectations placed upon us by society to act a certain way or to achieve a certain level of success. Then, before we know it, we are "grown up" up and we have responsibilities, bills, and other adult problems. The danger of this is that one day we can wake up and realize that we haven't done anything for ourselves to make ourselves happy.
I believe emotional wealth aka personal fulfillment is equally as important as monetary wealth. For me, these two things go hand in hand. I know that money doesn't buy happiness, but at the same time, I am a realist and I know that it does buy a lot. I don't need to be a billionaire like Bill Gates to be happy, but I do need to be able to support my family and if I want to splurge once in a while on something- I have to know that when I do this, I'm not building debt or putting my family in a worse off financial position. So, here are my 3 thoughts for balancing being fiscally responsible and finding personal fulfillment.
1) Create Goals- I remember sitting in my 8th grade "Life Skills" class writing goals down such as "Get straight A's" and "Go to college". My goals now have obviously changed, but I have found that this exercise of writing down goals is still a good practice because it makes you put your thoughts on paper and it's not just floating around in your head. Seth and I have an annual goal-writing session where we spend 15 minutes just writing down our following financial goals:
- Short term goals: 1-5 years (i.e. Buy a new laptop, have (insert amount) in savings, pay off (insert amount) in school loans, etc.)
- Long term goals: 5-10 years (i.e. Buy a home, fund (insert amount) of children's college fund, pay off school loans, etc.)
- "Wish List" - These are the items we dream about such as a vacation that involves staying at a luxury hotel or buying a Range Rover
We then compare our lists and discuss the items to see if we are on the same page and what we need to do to reach those goals. Some of these items are obviously more realistic than others, but at the same time, just writing it down allows us to dream and maybe work towards achieving those things if we choose to pursue them. I know that a Range Rover and my beloved 10 year old Toyota Camry can accomplish the same thing which is get me from Point A to Point B; but sometimes it's fun to think about getting from Point A to Point B in style. =) Whether or not we actually get a Range Rover one day doesn't matter- it's not really the point. We're always told as kids to dream and to dream big since we can achieve anything we put our mind to. It seems that we lose sight of that as we get older, but when we stop dreaming, we let ourselves forget that we can always better ourselves and become what we want to be. We become victim to our own short-sightedness.
Another item to consider is when you actually write down your goals, are they SMART? This is an acronym we used to use at E&Y and also discussed in business classes that stands for:
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Attainable
R- Relevant
T- Timely
For example- "Pay off school loans" isn't SMART- but if you write down "Pay off school loans by 2020" then we're making it more specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely." The Range Rover doesn't really fit into any of these and thus it's in our "Splurges" section.
2) Reassess goals - There is no point in writing down goals if you are not going to go back and reassess them and tweak them. I recommend reassessing these goals quarterly as finances are volatile based upon the economy and your personal financial forecast. Keep your goals in an easily accessible place for review and adjusting as needed.
3) Do something you love -Once you have your goals in order, consider what you want out of life. We all know life is short and our time here on earth is very limited. Because this is the case, if you really hate your job or hate where you are in life, you need to change it. Don't settle for something that doesn't make you happy. You are the only one with the ability to change your own circumstances. One of my favorite quotes that my friend, Kim, shared with me in high school that I have always hung onto is "If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." For example, let's say you hate your job- well, don't let your job define you. You may spend 40+ hours there, but your job is not who you are. Find something else outside of your job that makes you happy and pursue it because you enjoy it. Pick up a new hobby or a new sport and do it for you! Think about this: What are the things you do just because you love it and not because it's expected or because you should? What makes you happy? Every day is a new day to recreate yourself and become the person you want to be. Find the thing that you want to pour your labor of love into!
So, I hope that this blog entry has given you some good tips and happy thoughts. I will leave you with this quote from Anthony de Mello's book, The Way to Love, "I leave you free to think your thoughts, indulge your tastes, follow your inclinations, behave in ways that you decide are to your liking."
Happy Labor Day!
I believe emotional wealth aka personal fulfillment is equally as important as monetary wealth. For me, these two things go hand in hand. I know that money doesn't buy happiness, but at the same time, I am a realist and I know that it does buy a lot. I don't need to be a billionaire like Bill Gates to be happy, but I do need to be able to support my family and if I want to splurge once in a while on something- I have to know that when I do this, I'm not building debt or putting my family in a worse off financial position. So, here are my 3 thoughts for balancing being fiscally responsible and finding personal fulfillment.
1) Create Goals- I remember sitting in my 8th grade "Life Skills" class writing goals down such as "Get straight A's" and "Go to college". My goals now have obviously changed, but I have found that this exercise of writing down goals is still a good practice because it makes you put your thoughts on paper and it's not just floating around in your head. Seth and I have an annual goal-writing session where we spend 15 minutes just writing down our following financial goals:
- Short term goals: 1-5 years (i.e. Buy a new laptop, have (insert amount) in savings, pay off (insert amount) in school loans, etc.)
- Long term goals: 5-10 years (i.e. Buy a home, fund (insert amount) of children's college fund, pay off school loans, etc.)
- "Wish List" - These are the items we dream about such as a vacation that involves staying at a luxury hotel or buying a Range Rover
We then compare our lists and discuss the items to see if we are on the same page and what we need to do to reach those goals. Some of these items are obviously more realistic than others, but at the same time, just writing it down allows us to dream and maybe work towards achieving those things if we choose to pursue them. I know that a Range Rover and my beloved 10 year old Toyota Camry can accomplish the same thing which is get me from Point A to Point B; but sometimes it's fun to think about getting from Point A to Point B in style. =) Whether or not we actually get a Range Rover one day doesn't matter- it's not really the point. We're always told as kids to dream and to dream big since we can achieve anything we put our mind to. It seems that we lose sight of that as we get older, but when we stop dreaming, we let ourselves forget that we can always better ourselves and become what we want to be. We become victim to our own short-sightedness.
Another item to consider is when you actually write down your goals, are they SMART? This is an acronym we used to use at E&Y and also discussed in business classes that stands for:
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Attainable
R- Relevant
T- Timely
For example- "Pay off school loans" isn't SMART- but if you write down "Pay off school loans by 2020" then we're making it more specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely." The Range Rover doesn't really fit into any of these and thus it's in our "Splurges" section.
2) Reassess goals - There is no point in writing down goals if you are not going to go back and reassess them and tweak them. I recommend reassessing these goals quarterly as finances are volatile based upon the economy and your personal financial forecast. Keep your goals in an easily accessible place for review and adjusting as needed.
3) Do something you love -Once you have your goals in order, consider what you want out of life. We all know life is short and our time here on earth is very limited. Because this is the case, if you really hate your job or hate where you are in life, you need to change it. Don't settle for something that doesn't make you happy. You are the only one with the ability to change your own circumstances. One of my favorite quotes that my friend, Kim, shared with me in high school that I have always hung onto is "If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." For example, let's say you hate your job- well, don't let your job define you. You may spend 40+ hours there, but your job is not who you are. Find something else outside of your job that makes you happy and pursue it because you enjoy it. Pick up a new hobby or a new sport and do it for you! Think about this: What are the things you do just because you love it and not because it's expected or because you should? What makes you happy? Every day is a new day to recreate yourself and become the person you want to be. Find the thing that you want to pour your labor of love into!
So, I hope that this blog entry has given you some good tips and happy thoughts. I will leave you with this quote from Anthony de Mello's book, The Way to Love, "I leave you free to think your thoughts, indulge your tastes, follow your inclinations, behave in ways that you decide are to your liking."
Happy Labor Day!
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