Madd Money: Made in the USA?! Actually, Yes!!!

One of the oft heard quips from many is that "the US doesn't make anything anymore". Well, that may or may not be true, but here's a question... how many of you (and I'm pointing at myself when I use that "Royal You" as well) actually make it a point to look at where your items are made? Do we really care?!

One one side, I'm as patriotic as the next guy and I want to see our country prosper and grow. On the other hand, if I need new shoes and the US pair is $90 and the Chinese pair is $40, well...

...


...and I know I'm not the only one that does that! Truth be told, though, I'm willing to bet that 90% of the time, we don't even give a second thought as to where something is made, just the price and "can I take that home now?!" If we have to do much thinking beyond that or much detective work, then it's likely we'll do nothing, or move onto what is easier for us. 

Just for grins, I thought I'd check my labels. My shoes? Made in China. My swank Gap 1969 jeans? Festooned with references to San Francisco in various places and prominent on many of the labels... but made in Macau. My flannel, actually made by a company called American Living... and manufactured in India. See? I'm in a glass house myself, so I ain't throwing any stones here. Also, there are certain items that I greatly enjoy and I know full well they come from overseas, and I'm cool with that and willing to spend the money for the real deal item. My Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses are hand made in Italy, and I do not mind spending the money for a pair of them because the style and the brand are excellent and high quality (and hey, looking like a bald Roy Orbison is kinda' cool ;) ).

So what's a patriotic person supposed to do? What if we want to buy products that are Made in the USA? How do we even know what's out there? Well, there's a site actually dedicated to that at Made in USA Forever. Now, granted, I can't vouch for anything here yet, as I haven't ordered anything from them, nor am I in the immediate market for anything on this list, but should I find myself in the need or wanting anything, I do plan to give this list a look and see how things rate. If the items in question are of solid quality, I'm willing to pay for them and support local business and economies. If you want to play along as well, please feel free to. At least this way, when we make our comparisons, and if we know there's a viable alternative, we can put our money where our mouth is. If enough of us do it, there just might be a desire for a resurgence in American made goods and, frankly, I would like to see more of that!

New Year, New Presence, Lots More Posts

Hi everyone!

When I said I was going to take a break and focus on my professional blog, I didn't think it would mean I'd have *no* interaction with it. Yikes! that changes starting today (no this is not a new years resolution, but it's a good place to start up an old habit again :) ).

My professional blog is all about testing. This blog is all about everything else, and frankly, there's a lot of things that "everything else" entails. For starters, I decided last week to start up my Ego Over Matter posts again (note, I started on December 26th, not a New Years Resolution :) ). Still on Monday I will be putting in my first week of reality and how it has affected me.

I'm also focusing on Madd Money again, since there's a few aspects of personal finance I've missed writing about and want to cover more of in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Finally, I owe this newfound drive for my personal blog to Gerald Weinberg. His book "Weinberg on Writing, the Fieldstone Method" is opening my eyes to a way to write that I hope will be more effective and more insightful. We shall see :).

On Dealing With Stress

You all will have to forgive me if I’m on a bit of a “Winget” tear these past couple of weeks, but I’ve been reading through the four books of his I’ve picked up from the library, so a lot of his core philosophy is taking up a fair amount of my time lately. Still, there’s a lot that he says (bluntly and with no subtlety whatsoever (LOL!) ) that make a lot of sense, and I really liked the thoughts he has concerning stress (note, this is his concept and his chapter from "Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life" that I'm talking about here, and this is honestly verbatim the exercise he suggests that you do in the book, so here it is for your voyeuristic pleasure :) ).

Now, here’s a rhetorical question… if you could give up all your stress right now, would you do it? I think the answer for most people is a resounding “YES”, but that brings up back to the question of, “how am I getting stressed out to being with?!” There are people that will help you do “stress management” and figure out ways to help cope with stress, manage stress, and work with stress, but wouldn’t it be great if we could all just learn to eliminate stress entirely?!

In Larry Winget’s world view, and one I feel I am agreeing with more and more, (and this is a direct quote):

“Stress comes from knowing what is right and doing what is wrong.”

So what causes you stress? Here’s some of the things that I deal with and often cause me stress:

· getting ready for Scout Outings
· studying for school (when I went) or studying for work (which I do now)
· dealing with yelling and noisy kids
· arriving late to anything
· missing work deadlines
· annoyance at rapid transit for delays
· not being in the physical shape I want to be
· earning enough to cover the basics but wishing I had more for [fillInTheBlank]

That’s a fairly decent and representative list (LOL!).

So here’s the premise and the idea to follow on with. In each of those listed items, what is causing the stress? Is it the item in question, or is it my response to it? Actually, is it the fact that I am not responding to it correctly that’s really the cause? In each and every one of those areas, I know what I should be doing. The fact that they are a stress in my life is that I’m not doing what I should be doing.

So let’s take the list and let’s see what we can do about it:

· getting ready for Scout Outings (this one is actually really simple; just make sure that all of the gear is packed well in advance, that all parties know what they need to do, and then let the chips fall where they may. If the boys forget something, they forget it and they do without. If I forget something, the same applies. Freaking out over it doesn’t help anyway).

· studying for school (when I went) or studying for work (which I do now) (yes, it’s tedious at times, and yes it’s the last think I may *want* to do at any given moment, but it’s these things that reap positive benefits down the road. The answer is to not procrastinate, to do a little each day and focus on small steps instead of trying to accomplish big jumps. Plan the work, work the plan).

· dealing with yelling and noisy kids (is it the kids problem, or is it my problem? Why does this stress me out? Because I don’t want to hear it, or because I have not done the necessary things earlier on to prevent the escalation to this point? Ah, now there’s the rub! Instead of getting aggravated that the kids are yelling at each other, I should be earlier in the process [maybe days or weeks] helping them understand how to deal with and interact with each other).

· arriving late to anything (this is pretty simple, actually… leave earlier and prepare to do something if that action gets me there early. If something happens along the way that delays us beyond our control, well, realize that… it’s beyond my control, and stressing won’t change that fact).

· missing work deadlines (now really, this is just all about the man in the mirror. If it’s because I did all I could and couldn’t get it done on time, then I have to simply state I did all that I could and that the time just wasn’t enough… but often that’s just not the case. The real reason is procrastination or poor planning, or not reading through and understanding how long something will really take. While on a rare occasion there is an unrealistic deadline, ultimately I have to be the one to say “this can be done in X amount of time” and then I better darn well make sure that I allocate enough time and focus to accomplish the task in X amount of time, since that’s my word on the line there).

· annoyance at rapid transit for delays (if I can control it, and if I can make an alternate plan, I should do so. If I can’t, I need to contact those who may be waiting, explain the situation, and then let go of it. I’m not the train conductor; there’s nothing I can do to make them arrive on time. While I’m waiting, I might as well do some other things that require attention).

· not being in the physical shape I want to be (dude, this is entirely “man in the mirror” stuff; no one to blame but yourself. Eat less, exercise more, make the time to do it. Otherwise, just pipe down and deal (LOL!) ).

· earning enough to cover the basics but wishing I had more for [fillInTheBlank] (the real question is “what are you willing to do about it?” Is overtime an option? Can you freelance a little on the side? Would talking a second job be an option? Are you allocating your money correctly to the areas that are most important? Have you asked your manager for a raise? Have you done work of a quality that is commensurate with the asking? Each one of these questions is squarely in MY court. If I have stress here, it’s my own fault, and my own domain to do something about).

So what makes you stressed? And at the end of it all, is it the circumstances, or is it you and how you deal with them? I know my answer after doing this. How about you :)?

Getting Things Done, 15 Minutes at a Time

I've been trying to jump start a number of things that I have wanted to get done, but many of these things have just been sitting around and waiting to get the inspiration, desire and nerve to jump in and do it. This may sound easy to do, but it's more elusive than it seems at times. I think the biggest reason for this is that so many things overwhelm us and we make them out to be larger than they really are.

I have decided that it's important to break these things down and make them accessible, so I'm practicing a new model so that I can get some of those "quick wins" in to motivate me to get going and do more. To do this, I've decided to focus on very specific items, give myself a very concrete time limit, and make a simple criteria for saying "It's Done" or "It's Not Done". Example; I'm currently in the process of learning C# and C# Script. The reason is that I want to be more conversant with the development team that I work with and get a better understanding of the products that we develop and what goes on "under the board", so to speak. A vague and nebulous plan like "learn C#" is a hard thing to wrap one's head around, but "read chapter 3 in C# book and work on the question s at the end of the chapter" is an easy goal to wrap your head around. It fits what I like to call a SMART approach to accomplishing tasks (those Wood badge geeks out there already know what the SMART acronym stands for; Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Based.

I've discovered lately that the last element, "time based" can be my worst enemy or my best friend. When a project is nebulous, and it's needed in a short time, I tend to get hung up on the details and suffer from a, "analysis paralysis", or I get so anxious about it that I find reason after reason to put it off, only to convince myself "ah, what's the use, I can't do it anyway!" Personally, I *HATE* this aspect about myself, and I know that I do it way too often. there are many things that I love to do, and when I love to do them, I can totally dive in and spend hours and hours on them. It's the other tasks that I know I need to do, they will be important and reap dividends down the road, but they are tedious, onerous or just plain hard, and sometimes not in a fun way (I really wish I could say that programming is fun for me. It is, but not in the way that, say, backpacking or snowboarding is).

So how does one get over the hump and start getting some "wins"? For me, it's the 15 minute rule; I break down anything I need to do in 15 minute chunks, and I determine very specific things I need to do in those 15 minutes. Why 15 minutes? Because I can handle anything for 15 minutes! What happens is that, after you get some small victories under your belt (you read through something, you accomplish a small goal, you put into practice something you have learned, you can focus on the next fifteen minutes, and the next and the next). This way, instead of just saying "I tried to do something today, but it didn't work out" you can say, I accomplished eight steps towards my goal today, and those eight steps took me two hours to complete.

One other big benefit of the fifteen minute rule is that, if you see that you are not getting anywhere with something, you can make the decision to stop and do something else, and not feel like you have totally blown your plans or your momentum. I've discovered I'm a terrible multi-tasker. I need and relish the ability to focus on one task at a time, and also, I'm way too prone to give into distractions if I try to do too many things at once. The fifteen minute rule allows me a simple method of focusing on something. It also allows me the option to tell people "sorry, I'm right in the middle of something, but if you give me [component of 15 minutes left, then I can talk with you about [whatever]].

Don Aslett and Larry Winget are two guys whose no nonsense approach to work and getting things done greatly appeal to me, and both of them have the same philosophy when it comes to time management... they think it's a crock; you cannot manage time. You can only use time, and what you choose to do while you use that time is what makes the difference between success and failure. Don't manage time, manage accomplishments; if stringing together ten or twenty accomplishments gets you to the goal of doing what you set out to do, then by all means do that. At the end of the day, you will always feel better saying "I did 20 or 30 small things" or ""I made 20 or 30 steps towards accomplishing my goals" than you will if you said "I worked the whole day, was busy the whole time, but didn't feel like I accomplished much of anything". If you feel like the latter statement (and believe me, I have lots of days like that) try going the 15 minute approach and making lots of small steps. You may find that you get to the point where a given area gets so familiar and so well covered that, over time, you only need 15 minutes to get big things accomplished. Like many things in life, though, that only comes with experience, so start setting your timer (or stopwatch or whatever you want to use to keep you honest :) ) and start setting some 15 minute goals today!

The Philosophy of "Drinking Straight from the Bottle" :)

There’s been a phrase that I love, and I think I first saw it many years ago as a cartoon on one of my co-worker’s cubicle walls. The picture was a silly one of a guy lying down under his bed, with a cyclone of wreckage in the room. The caption was “Some people view their lives where the glass is half empty, some view their lives where the glass is half full. Steve drinks straight from the bottle.” The cartoon is meant to be silly and amusing, but in truth, that phrase has stuck with me for all these years, and I’ll tell you why.

I *HATE* the glass half empty/glass half full metaphor, because it always implies that you have to take the situation as it is. If it’s half empty, then you are a pessimist. If half full, then you are an optimist. My problem with the metaphor is that you have to accept the glass as something that doesn’t change. Like life, it’s to be dealt with and you have to choose how you want to look at it. Personally, I opt for a third option beyond pessimism and/or optimism. Call it “determinism”. My whole point is to say 'why do I have to “accept” a glass AT ALL?! Do I really want to take life based on what it gives me, doled out in a portion in a glass? NO! I’d prefer to take life head-on, thanks, and figure out my own way to deal with it'. While I believe in a Heavenly Father and a divinely resurrected son that is Jesus Christ, I do not believe that they gave me this life to plod on and just accept what comes my way. There’s not just one glass and one apportionment, there are countless glasses, or the way I want to consider it, there’s no glass at all. Life is a bottle, and the only thing that’s absolutely sure is that eventually that bottle will run out for me in this mortal life. At that time, I’ll set it down, and pick up another bottle on the far side of the veil, and life/existence/metaphysical energy/you name it will go on from there.

This, in my world view claiming to drink from the bottle isn’t a funny or silly punch line… it’s the whole point of why we are here :). The volume of the bottle varies, and the only time the bottle will be empty is when I draw my last breath on this Earth. Until then, ultimately every meaningful decision I will ever make, and thus the shape of my life, falls squarely into my sphere of influence. So grab your own bottle and join me. Optimism and pessimism are passé; they require that you accept the world as it is, and either be happy or sad about it. I’m going with determinism, thank you very much… now hand me that bottle (LOL!).


Follow-on: This is an article that is currently runing in the Mormon Times by Orson Scott Card called "Mormon Tribe Feels Like Home". I'll be writing more on this topic in the future, but I want to alert anyone who may find it interesting to read it now :).

Madd Money: The Value of "Doing a Little Every Day"

Having finished "You're Broke Because you Want to Be" by Larry Winget, I found an interesting comment towards the end of the book. Larry described growing up on a farm near Tulsa, Oklahoma as a kid, and some advice that his father gave to him. His father told him, at the time that a young calf was born, that if he would work with that calf, and if he would carry that calf from the mother's pen to the feeding and grooming area, and back, that he would be able to continue to do that almost indefinitely... but he'd have to do it every day for that to happen.

The story goes on to say that Larry did indeed continue this ritual for several months, and in that time, the calf grew considerably, but he was able to still carry it each day. Then because of rain, he missed a day, and when he came back to do it, he found it harder to do, even after missing just one day. Later, there was a series of storms that caused him to not be able to get out and do more than just the absolute basics of care for many days. When that week was up, he went to try to carry the calf again... and couldn't do it. That was the end of the road for that experiment.

This story has a parallel in the ancient world, in the fable told of Milo of Croton (sometimes attributed to "Milo of Crete") where Milo carried a baby calf shortly after it was born on his shoulders, and did so every day until he could carry the weight of a full grown bull on his shoulders. Now, in both of these cases, I don't know how realistic it is (a full grown bull is a mighty big thing, and we're talking somewhere around 800-1000 pounds; maybe a single lift, but carrying it around on a regular basis?! WOW!!!). Still, the stories both present a simple principle that can be used everywhere(in finance, work, hobbies, etc.) and that's the value of practice each and every day.

Back in January, I embarked on an experiment to learn Japanese, and to that end, I bought a video game called "My Japanese Coach". I played that game a little bit every day for three months, and in that three month stretch, I memorized the Kana alphabets and some basic phrases and started learning sentences and practicing longer phrases. Then a couple of games came out that I really wanted to play, and I took a break from the daily Japanese. When I got back to it, I saw that I had forgotten (already!) a lot of what I learned. I still remembered quite a bit, and I'm still learning, but it's going slower and I'm not progressing at the same clip as I did when I did a little bit every day.

When we make new habits, whatever it may be, it's the ongoing daily input that really makes the difference. If we want to get stronger with weights, yes, we will have to wait for the body to recover, so "daily" in this case may not be a perfect metaphor, but regular enough to remain effective has to be in place. Training once a week won't cut it in most cases; we have to be regular, consistent, and we have to apply a little more effort and take on "more weight" each time to keep moving forward. Scripture study, balancing our financial lives, learning a foreign language, developing software, all of them follow the same principle... and for me, so does blogging. the only way to really get markedly better at something is to "do it every day".

My son recently started playing the viola, and we've had chats about practicing and getting more proficient, I told him that there is a book called "Outliers", written by Malcolm Gladwell, where he describes what makes someone World Class at something. Throughout the book, Gladwell mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", the idea being that the key to success in any field is practicing a specific task for a total of 10,000 hours. Roughly put, if Nick were to practice every single day, an hour a day, and never miss a day, he could become a world class viola player roughly by the age of 39 (10,000 hours, into 365 days a year at one hour each day, gives us roughly 27 years). If he practiced two hours a day, that time would be lessened to about 13 1/2 years, or by the time he was 25. 3 hours a day would be 9 1/4 years, or by age 21. Of course, whether or not that is practical is another story, but it illustrates the fact that those who become not just good, but great at what they do, tend to do it not because they are super gifted or extraordinarily talented (though theat certainly helps), but because they put in the work to achieve that greatness... and they do it every day.

My hope is that I may be able to take from this and also start "carrying my calf" and do so daily :).

Happy 233rd Birthday, U.S.A.

It's interesting to me how much time has transpired since my first really memorable 4th of July. That one was 1976, and my family at the time made a trip to the East Coast, bought a car, and traveled down the Eastern Seaboard. I remember waking up in New Jersey the morning of the 4th, and us driving until we got to my parents friends house near McLean Virginia to celebrate the evening of the 4th with Fireworks seen from the Capitol and other parts of the Potomac. I was 9, and from that day on, the 4th was something special (celebrating the Bicentennial probably also made it a little more potent of an experience for many I'm sure.

Since then, 33 years have passed and I've lived long enough to see the ups and the downs of this country, but one thing is certain... it's people are resilient. They are proud, courageous, and they care about their land. That's not a platitude, it's an observation, one Ive seen over the past 33 years many times.

So today, while celebrating the BBQ, the fireworks, and other trappings that we all consider part of the 4th of July, let's also all take a moment to celebrate "Independence Day" and to also remember all of those people who, over the past 233 years, have given their all so that we can still celebrate today our independence. Let us also reflect a bit on those whose Independence we had a hand in taking away (can't have the good without the bad, as I said, and there were 500 nations here before we were here). Let's pledge once again on our country's birthday to make this country one that will be proud to call itself "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave".

Now I Know I’m A Grown Up :(

This one is going to be going into some weird territory today, gang. As I’m sure everyone at this point is aware, two American celebrities died within hours of each other yesterday. The first that we heard about was Farrah Fawcett. The second was Michael Jackson. Both of them had some measure of influence on my life as a kid. Farrah was, in many ways, the first fantasy of an at the time 9 year old boy. Her poster was the most ubiquitous image in 1976 and 1977, and oh yes, I had a copy as well (I didn’t actually have the poster, but I had a smaller 8x10 that I kept; I wasn never talented enough to win it at the County Fair). Michael Jackson was with me throughout my entire life, it seems; I really don’t remember a time as a kid when I didn’t know who the energetic singer of the Jackson 5 and later of solo fame was. I well remember weekends at the Golden Skate when I’d “rexx” to the Jackson’s “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground” and I also distinctly remember dancing at Maverick’s in 1979 (our town had a “Kid’s Disco” that many of us who were between the ages of 10 and 15 went to… imagine trying to pull something like that off in today’s world and climate). Anyway, “Off the Wall” was released that year, and it was one of my most played albums and I danced to many of those songs that year and for many years that followed. Regardless of the unusual and depressing aspects of his life later, this youthful powerhouse is ther Michael that inspired me to perform, and it's the Michael that I am choosing to remember today.

Today, both of these “icons” of my youth are gone. It feels strange when I see people that were directly visible in my life and who were effectively in my consciousness getting sick, having health problems and dying. It reminds me of the fact that someday, I too will die, and it also reminds me that there are “markers” in my family history that I may well have to pay attention to, and one of those markers may well spell complications for me and potentially end my life. The men on my father’s side almost to a man developed prostate cancer in their later years, as did my father. Many of them died from complications surrounding it; my dad however found it early and took preventative measures. This has taught me that prostate cancer is a strong possibility for me once I hit my 50’s. My mother’s side of the family has had a history of heart disease; my grandfather was turned off like a light switch when he was 72, with massive heart problems… problems none of us knew anything about, because “Pop Pop” on the outside looked the absolute picture of robust physical health and was a man in incredible physical shape. Thus I also have a history of heart disease as a marker in my family. Is it likely that I will be stricken with either or both of these, or is it possible I’ll skip both of them? Hard to say, but if family history is any indicator, the odds of me getting off clean on both counts are very iffy.

Thus this brings me to today, strangely feeling a weird kind of void. I realize they were just people, and they were people I did not even know and never met, but they were part of my childhood and young adult life, and now they are gone. More people from the tapestry of my growing up that are disappearing as time marches on. That’s the way life is and how life works. Someday, most of the people that made up the tapestry of my life, both unknown celebrities and intimate friends, will be gone, and for many, I will be the one ultimately gone from their lives. This is just a reminder to live each day as though it were your last, because for many, their last days come when they least expect it.

Fighting “The Spirit of Envy” at Christmas

This post was going to be something totally different when I started writing about it originally. It was going to be a semi-humorous jab at the extension that has been attached to just about every Christmas card I have received in the past twenty years, something I have grown to call “the brag letter”. Anyone who has received a Christmas card knows what this is, it’s the recap of all of the things the family has done over the year. I had intended to poke a little fun and give others a hard time for their letters… except that, as I started to write about it, I stopped and took a hard look at my own motivations for doing so. In other words, “what is it about these letters that gets under my skin?”… and I discovered a few things about myself as I was doing it.

The classic "Brag Letter" mostly follows a format where there are three areas discussed; how great the kids are doing and the amazing things they are doing, what kind of huge promotion that dad or mom got at work (or some award that was received), and some fabulous trip, vacation or amazing undertaking or act of service that was performed. Of course, not all letters look like this, and some families actually poke fun and take some entertaining liberties with the “brag letter”. One family that I know, who truthfully has the ways and means to “really” do up a doozy of a brag letter if they wanted to, always send one out that makes it sound like they are living like “Hillbillies somewhere in the holler” and it cracks me up every time I see it. Another family sent one this year that, while it had the hallmarks of "great things", also made a point to include an amusing or, shall I say, “less than perfectly glowing” report about various things. Honestly, I appreciated this greatly, and I enjoyed this letter more than any other I’ve received for many years. So what is it about these letters that get to me, and more importantly… WHY do they get to me?!

Ive determined that. first, it makes me wonder if somehow I’m short changing my kids, because “my” letters, were I to write one, don’t include stories of my kids doing amazing things and achieving great and stratospheric and unimaginable heights… and yet, as I look at my own children and the things that they have been doing, to many, their achievements are seen as somewhat special and groundbreaking. For instance, I take it for granted that my son is almost an Eagle Scout at twelve years old… well, why wouldn’t he be, with his Dad as the Scoutmaster and one who intimately knows the ins and outs of Scouting and how to maximize the efforts needed? Plus, with his already having had five years cub scout tenure and now two years boy scout tenure, it’s like breathing to us, it is second nature… yet to others, the idea of a boy being just twelve and so very close to becoming an Eagle Scout is considered phenomenal. Likewise, I'm not sure how many girls ages 8 and 10 become super knowledgeable about Native American Dance performance, especially when they are not Native American to begin with, and more to the point go out and perform for others. In this, I started to realize that my kids do a lot of things that would be considered special by others, and that I’m just as guilty of “bragging” on them as anyone else.

The second thing I've noticed is that there tends to be an undercurrent of "implied success"; being made partner in a firm, becoming Vice President of a company, some award or recognition in their professional life… you rarely see someone say “Dad got laid off this year”, "Mom got downsized”, "Junior is holding on by the skin of his teeth to not fail Trigonometry" or "Dad just plodded along doing what he's always done". I’m 40, and I’m an Engineer. Not a Director, not a VP, just an everyday Engineer, and I've been one now for seventeen years, and enjoy being one. It's what I do, and I'm cool with that. At times, though, I've come to feel as though I’ve somehow failed or underachieved. Yet at times like this, I can just as easily look back to this past year and see a number of areas where I have done some special things; some of which have to do with my professional life, and many others having to do with Scouting (which is, arguably, my second "full-time occupation", according to many who know me :) ). 2008 saw me complete my Wood Badge ticket items and receive my beads, as well as be asked to participate as one of the teachers in the upcoming course for 2009. This year saw me become the fully fledged Scoutmaster for our growing Boy Scout Troop, and culminated with two Wards in San Francisco having their Scouting programs folded into ours, with me ultimately leading them and directing them in their Wards while they pursue their advancements. In short, the leadership of the Stake has entrusted me with being the center of the Stake’s Scouting program for three of our six Wards. The Order of the Arrow Dance Team has grown from a small endeavor to one of the most visible faces of the Lodge in the Council and in the community, with requests from schools and even a foregn embassy to have our little troup perform. I’ve come to realize that I have met a level of success in a beloved arena, mainly because it’s the work that I feel truly defines me (don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my work as an Engineer, but if I have to choose between having one marker on my tombstone over the other as what defines me as a person, I’d much rather be known to history as “The Scoutmaster” :) ).

The third one almost always comes across regarding purchases, or trips, or other events that are described in a manner that says “we are so wealthy and it is so great!” This is the one that I find myself feeling most ashamed of reacting to… especially since many of the families I find myself recoiling towards these mentions, are the same ones that, a decade and a half ago, could barely rub two nickels together because they were struggling so mightily to get through various schooling programs, whether they be medicine, law, business, dentistry, etc. During this period of time, Christina and I were the ones living very well with two incomes and an infusion of regular stock options from where I was working. I’m sure that we looked like the “well-off ones” to them back then, and others perhaps looked longingly at us and what we were able to do. I also have to remind myself that we made very specific goals and plans where we decided there were things that we wanted to do, both for ourselves and our children. We decided that we would make do on just one income. We decided that Christina would be a full time mom while our children were growing up. We decided we would be aggressive about saving for retirement and our children’s college savings. We vowed that we would live our lives debt free. Our lives and the things that we do (and just as often don’t do) have grown out of that discipline, and slowly but surely, we are starting to reap the benefits of that. That could likewise be something to put into a “brag letter”.

Thus, I am ending this post today with the admission that I am a total hypocrite… I come down on a practice that, in many ways, is exactly what I do right here in this blog. My kids are special and fantastic, our life is blessed extraordinarily, and I and my family have achieved a unique level of success and security that, perhaps, some of my friends don’t have. In short, I’ve realized that my attitude about Christmas letters is little more than a “Spirit of Envy” that blinds me to the fact that, as Montgomery Gentry put it, “I look around at what everyone has, and I forget about all I’ve got!” What’s more, I realize that any success I have is tempered by the fact that a loving Heavenly Father expects me to *do something* with that success. As I’ve quoted before, and will do so again (somewhat paraphrased and modified for today)… “One hundred years from now, it will not matter to anyone, least of all my Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ, what car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, or how much money I had in the bank, but the world may well be a better place because I was important in the life of a child”. In my world view, if I can be judged by that, and if I can be found weighing in on a positive balance, that would be the ultimate “brag letter” from me. I hope to someday get a chance to write that one and I hope some of you will be around to read it when I finally have :).

Scoutmaster Mike: Series Ball and the Idea of Teamwork

Last night I had a smaller group than normal (it’s to be expected this time of year with the Christmas programs at schools and such; my son decided to support his sisters for their school performance program rather than attend the meeting last night, which I was OK with. The choice was greatly influenced by the fact that there would be cookies and punch at the school program (LOL!) ).

So with just a few boys (we had seven show up last night) I decided to borrow a page from Wood Badge and teach “a game with a purpose”. This game goes by many different names, but the version we played last night is what I refer to as “series ball”. It works like this. Each boy uses a number 3 sized soccer ball. There is a starter and a group of boys in a circle. The number of boys can vary, but you need at least five for a meaningful game, and more than twelve gets really hard to manage. Anything in between is fair game.

The game has three simple rules. Each boy can throw the ball to another player provided the other player meets two criteria:
1. the player cannot throw to a person to their immediate left or right
2. the player cannot throw to the person they just received the ball from
3. the player cannot hold the ball for longer than one second

The game has one objective; see how many balls can be thrown and maintained in the air at any given time. A “perfect game” would be the number of players being equal to the number of balls. Sounds easy? Let me assure you, it’s not (LOL!).

The boys warmed up to the game pretty quickly, but I wanted to see how long they would stay at it, or if it was a game they would tire of quickly. Turns out, they played the game for almost the entire meeting, from 7:00 PM until 8:10 PM. What we noticed as they played was very interesting. My goal was to talk to them about team building and the approach towards accomplishing a goal. To that end, we stared experimenting with how to throw the ball, and who would receive it. One ball, no problem… two balls, still relatively easy… Three balls… now we started to see some break down. Frustration started to develop, and the boys started to get a bit agitated with each other. Different ideas were coming into the picture, and sometimes the ideas were at odds with others. Some boys tried to keep a rhythm, while others tried to get rid of the balls as quickly as possible. Slowly, the boys started to see that they were not going to get “better” at the game unless they all agreed on some ground rules. The first was that they all agreed to a set throwing pattern. Some boys would throw the ball lower, and some would throw the ball higher. Some boys decided that using and counting out the one second (one-one-thousand) before throwing the ball helped maintain a rhythm. As each of the boys started using these methods that they communicated, they were able to increase the number of balls they had in play, at least for a little bit. While the “perfect game” was not achieved, they were able to sustain five balls between seven players for about eight throws. By the end of the game, they were able to maintain a pattern with four balls for even longer.

The point to this exercise was to show the boys that, in all aspects of life, teamwork is essential and building it is a non-trivial exercise. Many people expect that people with similar goals are going to just get in and get something done (even adults think this very often). The truth is, there are a lot of different stages of development in teams. Bruce Tuckman first put a set of names to these phenomena in 1965. He referred to this as the “Forming – Storming - Norming – Performing” model, and each stage is necessary to pass through before a group can become a well performing unit. My goal with the boys was not to frustrate them, nor was it just to occupy their time with a game. Ultimately, my attempts were to help them see how each individual contributes to a project, and how the group succeeds or fails can often be shown to be the results of one or more people who decide not to “play along” with the others. Just as there are times when being an individual is critical, being a part of a team that performs well requires all to get involved together and somehow “get in sync” with one another. My hope is that, last night, the boys that left the meeting had a little more to think about other than a semi-frustrating game their Scoutmaster threw at them. Time will tell, of course :).

Much More than a "Quote of the Day"

Whether or not you are a Democrat, Independant, Libertarian, Republican or any other designation you choose to associate with your political ideology, I think we as a nation would all do well to consider this as a personal manifesto:


"I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon—if I can.
I seek opportunity—not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter incentive for a dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence;
the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations,
and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.
All this is what it means to be an American."

-- Dean Alfange

Madd Money: The Challenge of Unique Blogging

OK, I confess, I am really a man of very limited individual ideas. Almost nothing I write about stems from any terribly unique or creative space. Most of the time, a blog post is spawned because someone else has posed a question, or has written about something similar. Every once in awhile, I get on a high horse about something because an activity in my own life has spurred me to think about something, but honestly, there’s very little out there that I am writing about that hasn’t been covered by a bout a zillion other bloggers (and yes, I know, there aren’t really a zillion bloggers out there ;) ).

I try my best to not deliberately filch other people’s posts, but I have to be honest... Many times an article or a day’s post is spawned because of another blog that I read that has a similar idea. My post a few days ago about sharing conversion moments was a direct development of my reading J.D. Roth’s “Get Rich Slowly” blog. His post wasn’t about conversion; it was about talking to parents and other about making sound financial choices, and how that can often be a difficult thing to do. In these cases, I want to make sure that I do not take any undue credit for something that isn’t really an original idea; I gave J.D. credit for the ideas because, really, his article spawned my own.

At the same time, I’m looking to try to find my own voice, and my own way of reflecting things that interest and intrigue me. Still, even when I do run across or consider something on my own, it’s a good bet that someone else has also already covered it. I find Dave Ramsey and Eric Tyson to provide what amounts to excellent yet slightly differing opinions on Personal Finance. I’ll be the first to admit that these two men and the principles they have written about are where much of my philosophy of investing stems from. There are many times where I realize that my sharing any kind of “wisdom” related to the Personal Finance could also be better served by my just saying “look, do a search for Dave Ramsey and Eric Tyson. Read what they have to say!” Of course, the same could be said for Trent over at Simple Dollar or J.D. at Get Rich Slowly. If they are covering all of this stuff already, why would anyone want to read what *I* have to say about any of this?

It’s taken me a while to understand this, but the reason I read Trent and J.D. and other bloggers is not for their ground-breaking knowledge or unique principles… I read them because they are very much like me… everyday, regular, non professional people interested in finance, that look to their own behavior and actions, and share their own experiments with others. In many cases, this sharing may show good choices, or it may show bad choices. Inevitably, though, it shows their choices in a way that allows me to see how everyday real people with real families and real issues deal with things. Trent is in Iowa, J.D. is in Oregon, so their take of course comes from the part of the country they are from. I’m from the San Francisco Peninsula, so of course my take comes from where I call home. Much of the country, and those who might read my words, may not find much inspiration from what I may say, because they don’t have the challenges I face living in the San Francisco Bay Area… but there are those that do live here, so its possible that my take on these things may have some impact after all :).

A Cause for "Conversion"?

Have you ever found yourself discovering something that makes a difference in your life? Something that, once you embrace it and you decide that “yes, this is something I can relate to” it changes everything that came before and profoundly alters the way that you look at life afterwards? Most people have these experiences many times in their lives. It can be as simple as discovering a new band that speaks to you in a special way and your appreciation for music is changed. It can be discovery of a new hobby or sport. It can be taking on a new career. For many, it can be making a determination to embrace their faith (or completely convert to another one). In fact, that’s the key word in most of these conversations, the idea of “converting” or being a convert.

Many times, we only use this word in the religious sense. A convert in the religious sphere is an easy thing to understand. When someone is born Jewish but later joins the Catholic Church (just using that as an example, no special reason, really) we say that that person is a “convert”. Likewise, my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) also refers to all new members that were not born into the church as being “converts” when they are baptized. However, I think this term gets underutilized in this light, as it’s not an identity, but a process, and it’s a process that happens in many different places, activities and stages in life.
When we have any doubts, it helps to actually decide what a word means. Thank you, dictionary.com. CONVERT is a Latin word based on the word roots CON meaning “to” and VERTERE, meaning “turn around”. Thus, the word Convert implies more than just a change or a modification; it requires a physical interaction, one where a person, entity or thing has to actually do something to make the change.

Many things in my life can be said to be “conversion” moments for me. I consider myself a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, even though I was born into the church (I specifically consider myself a religious convert because I made an express decision at the age of 25 to specifically and purposefully life a religious life to the best of my ability). To some, I would really be considered a “reformed” Latter-day Saint, but I actually had to make a legitimate change in life, motivations and actions, a literal turning around, so I think convert still applies.

I am a convert to the sport of snowboarding. I made a conscientious decision to learn to ride, purchase the gear, and practice the sport until I became proficient at it. What’s more, I embraced the lifestyle and ethos of boarding. Now, I did not cease to be a skier in 1994, since I still know how to ski, and I can easily still pick up skis and go down the hill on them if I choose. However, I don’t, mainly because a day on skis is one less day on a snowboard, and frankly, that would make me sad (LOL!).

Some would say I am a convert to the practices of Native American tribes as relates to dancing and the knowledge I have gained concerning them. There is no mistake that I have been motivated to action to learn them, practice them and embrace the messages and inspiration they contain.

I also consider myself in a way a “convert” to the way that I handle my personal finances, in the sense that I do look to and apply principles I have learned from key sources (it almost sounds quasi-religious to say that I am a “Ramsey” follower or a “Tyson” follower, but it’s not a far stretch to say that the principles I have learned from Dave Ramsey and Eric Tyson are the ones I most often espouse and follow when I talk about or manage my own financial life).

Any change that “motivates you unto action” is ultimately one that gives a person a sense of power; it puts you squarely in the driver’s seat. Sometimes these changes can be so powerful and moving, they can be accomplished in a single day. Some, on the other hand, may take time and long periods of actual planning and deliberate execution. Ultimately, you reach a point to where you control the game, and that feeling of control is just plain awesome!

It’s not at all surprising that those of us who have these conversion moments want to share them with others. Of course, we are often disillusioned at times like this because, frankly, not everyone shares the same level of passion or enthusiasm as us about all of the things we are passionate about. This is true even within endeavors we have common ground with others.

Be it snowboarding, religion, The Total Money Makeover, or my irrepressible love of all things Yoko Kanno, I know not to be all that surprised when others look at me like I’m are a lunatic (or more often just politely humor me and my position). I may think what I have discovered is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but other people may be in different places about their habits and actions, whatever they may be. Sharing what we have learned or what we enjoy gets tricky in these spots, and it’s important to understand why. Some things hit people at an intensely personal level, and shake-ups of those paradigms can be deeply unsettling. It’s for this reason I tend to be careful when I talk about religion or personal finance, since it’s something so intensely personal and central to ones identity. I’m much less careful or concerned when I talk about activities, such as sports like snowboarding or activities like listening to music. The closer you get to ones own personal behavior and integrity (meaning what ultimately makes them tick), the harder it becomes to talk about change.

So how does one go about sharing their “conversion”, whatever it may be? J.D. over at “Get Rich Slowly” addressed this when it came to talking to family members about personal finance, but I think these ideas he described (with some tweaks from yours truly) work in all areas where we want to share what we are passionate about, even when it enters a sphere of “personal space” that may not be wholly welcome or desired by others:

First, Lead By Example (or Be the Example). The key take-home from this is that our actions speak way louder than our words do. Practice what you preach, and let others do the same thing. If you are exceptionally happy, successful, uplifted, cheerful, or otherwise engaged and such involvement intrigues others, people are going to ask what you are up to and what you are doing.

Next, Be Open to Answering Questions (but Just the Questions). I know that I am the type of person who, when someone asks what time it is, I tend to explain how a clock works (LOL!). If someone asks you about a hobby or activity you like doing, make a point to answer their question and answer it directly. Don’t assume they want to know more than the question they have asked. Try to be direct and answer just what they have asked. This has two benefits. First, it allows you to be a quick resource for the information they are after, and you can be seen as reliable. Second, this approach usually invites more questions. Again, do your best to answer just the question (don’t be cagey or evasive, but just focus on the questions asked)

Finally, Be Willing To Drop Subtle Hints. When I try to describe snowboarding to friends who don’t ride, I can either run down a list about the reasons I enjoy it, or I can suggest we go up to the snow together and just enjoy the day. Usually, I make it a point to pack an extra board and boots (this is not so effective if the person you are with isn’t the same size, of course). This way, the skier can see what I enjoy about my sport, it may lead to another round of questions, but most importantly, it gives them an immediate opportunity to try it out for themselves if they are so inclined.

Regardless of what we do and regardless of what the topic, activity or lifestyle is, most people don’t want to be “preached to” (well, my experience tells me that most people don’t want that; some do, but they seem to be a very small minority (LOL!) ). We want to feel like we are sharing a conversation with an equal, with a friend, with a colleague, and in that environment, we feel as though we can take to heart what the other person is saying. Whenever “preachy” attitudes or feelings (intended or not) come out, it creates an imbalance. Gone is the mutual respect and attempt at understanding, now it’s a matter of “I’m right and you’re wrong” or “this worked for me, so *you* need to do it this way, too!” Take the time and make the efforts necessary to be an equal to others, and you will not be one who is seen as looking to convert others to your way. Rather, you may find people converting to your approach and efforts on their own. Same desired results, way more enjoyable process :).

Madd Money: Buying Who We Believe Ourselves To Be

Over the years, I’ve had a chance to look at and see the areas that I spend my money on, and what areas really matter to me and what ones don’t so much. I think it’s interesting to see what holds our attentions and our passions, and how, at least with me, there are clear trends and clear periods where certain aspects of my life are literally defined by the things that I own, purchase or otherwise accumulated.

My first wave of “rampant consumerism” was, without a doubt, my period in high school where I decided to try my hand at being a model. In addition to pictures, I actually made, for the first time, a conscious decision to “invest” in clothes and in a look that would carry over to my “career”. Looking back, it was a bit silly and a bit extreme. For a time, I actually allowed myself to be swayed by the labels I wore. I willingly incurred debt and spent way more than I needed to on clothes that could easily have been had from different sources and, realistically, looked exactly the same. That’s the 40 year old me speaking, of course. At the time, when I was 16, I had a very different mindset, and I felt somehow less of a person because I didn’t spend $175.00 for a Guess Denim and leather jacket (this was in 1984, I don’t even want to think what a jacket like that would cost today!).

My second “identity expense” period was, without question, my time as a musician. This was when I really went into overdrive and purchased just about *everything* on credit. This was a period of my life when I couldn’t fathom the idea of waiting for something. If I wanted it, I wanted it now, or I needed it now. I truly looked at life as a matter of not “how much” but how much a month, and can I handle it?” Opportunity costs for the future was a very foreign idea to me. My attitude was one of “it’s just money, I can make more”. Today, I see the remnants of all that purchasing, some of it very tangible (like my equipment) and some of it ephemeral and long gone… stage clothes, for example… I realized when I looked at old pictures that the only two things that I have left from that period of time that I wore are a broken off piece of Amethyst crystal that used to be part of a bolo tie, and a bone bead hat band I used to wear. As a way to “break with the past”, I made a choice to disassemble that hat band and I refashioned it into a bone choker for my son, which he now wears when he does Dance Team or ceremonial appearances with Order of the Arrow. Recordings of my bands material is now up on myspace, so in that sense, the money that I (we) paid to make those still reaps some small dividends, in that people nearly twenty years later can hear what we once did. All else, though (the flyers, the travel, the “schmoozing expenses”, etc., it’s all gone in the vapor of time, and in many ways, exists no where else other than my memories and a lot of old photographs.

My third “big wave” came when I decided to compete as a snowboarder. Now, understand, I use the term rather loosely here. Shaun Palmer and Craig Kelly never had a thing to worry about from me (LOL!). Still, I wanted for a time to be a part of the snowboarding world (and during my years as a competitor in the USASA and as a writer of the “Geezer X Chronicles”) I had that chance. This was during a period of rapid expansion and growth of my company, and I was reaping the benefits of such a life. To that end, I wanted to be philanthropic and I also wanted to experience the best of what technology was available at the time. When I tell people that I at one point in time was buying ten boards a year, they look at me incredulously (and I can’t say I blame them). To be fair, many of those boards ended up being donated to learn to ride programs, and I even used a board as a bargaining chip to help a boy earn his Eagle Scout award (first and last time I ever did that (LOL!) ). I realized that I was at a stage in my life where I felt that, somehow, I could “give back”, but at the same time, enjoy the fruits of what I was doing to their fullest. What’s proven to be interesting over the past several years, since I retired from competition, is that my favorite and most used pieces of equipment are not the top flight flagship items, but the “rock board” I bought for $100 just so I had a “beater” to drive in less than optimal conditions. That “beater” is now ten years old, and it’s till my most used and favorite piece of equipment. I went through a spate of purchases for clothing related to snowboarding (oh, you have no idea just how much my identity was tied to this sport for so many years) yet the pants and jacket I wear most often were the ones given to me by two dear friends as a way of appreciation for donating snowboards as a raffle item to their series. It’s for this reason that I will not part with them or replace them until they physically wear out. The clothes are just that, they are a jacket and a pair of pants… but it’s the connection to the people that gave them to me, and what that relationship meant (and still means) to me that cause me to still wear them nearly ten years later.

Today, Scouting is far and away my biggest series of ongoing expenses, and that makes sense, because outside of my being a husband and a father, my strongest piece of “external identity” is that of a Scouter. It is in many ways my finally coming to grips with the work that I want to have define me and stand as my overall legacy of my time here on Earth. The old Forrest Whitcraft quote comes to mind here… “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” Ultimately, that is what defines me, and it explains a lot why that is where the bulk of my discretionary money goes.

The things we spend our money on are ultimately reflections of who we are and what matters the most to us, if we are willing to step back and take a cold, hard look at it. We don’t really spend our money as mindlessly as many think. Most of us actually spend our money with great purpose and intent, even if we’re not 100% sure what that intent actually is. Thus, to really grab that tiger by the tail and ultimately gain control of it, spend some time and decide what your money and where you spend it actually says about you… and be prepared to question your findings, because you may ultimately decide that, while your stuff many not literally define you, it can speak volumes about you. Make commitments to either embrace or change those attributes and purposes, and your relationship with money will also most certainly be effected.

Sunday Inspiration: Love this Quote

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value"

- Thomas Paine

Madd Money: Feel Like An Idiot For Following the Rules?

I try my best to steer clear of politics in general since:

a. I’m somewhat non-partisan; I’m an equal opportunity cynic to both major parties, though my registration and general sympathies are as a Democrat (and a moderate one at that)

and

b. I tend to believe that we as people have way more power over our own lives than any politician or government entity.

However, I’m looking around at the way things have transpired in the past few months, and the largesse that is being offered (which we as taxpayers are footing the bill) to individuals and institutions, and I’m getting to be more than a little bit frustrated at a few of these turns of events. See, it’s interesting that the government is rushing to the aid of people and institutions who effectively cooked their own goose, whether through ignorance, negligence or greed (probably a combination of all three). I’m not a completely heartless or clueless git; I realize that not doing anything could cause major repercussions in both the domestic and world economy. Yet I find it ironic that people who made a bad deal and are now suffering for making a bad deal are looking at getting some “relief”, while those of us who worked hard, played by the rules, and lived within our means the whole time will get nothing, nada, zilch, butkis. In fact we will have to bear the burden of these people's mistakes!

Back to the “I’m not stupid” part (well, I pretend to not be, but jury is still out as to whether or not that statement is entirely true), I happen to be in a lucky situation. First, I was fortunate in that I was able to make a large enough down payment to have a small mortgage and, second, through various means over the past ten years, I’ve been able to pay it all off. What that means is that I have 100% equity in my house. However, I don’t treat my house as an “equity position” or an “asset”, I treat it as exactly what it is, paid-for shelter for me and my family. That’s its worth, and what it is worth in the marketplace on any given day really doesn’t matter too much to me. What does matter to me, though, is that, even though I own the house free and clear, I could have it taken away from me if something doesn’t happen. That is, if I lose my job and can no longer afford to pay my property taxes (kinda’ sucks that I can own my own home free and clear but still have to pay rent to the government, and they can take my home if I can’t or don’t pay it).

Even though I have a fully paid for house, I can’t just sit around and be complacent; if I lose my job and cannot get another one sufficient to pay my property taxes, I could lose my home. For those curious, I bought my house in 1999 at the peak of the dot-com boom, after a run-up of housing values, but nowhere near the psychotic level of run-up that followed the dot-com bust. Translation: my property taxes are substantial, and take up a good percentage of my take home pay. I still count on having a job to keep the roof over my head, and when all is said and done, I’d like to keep that job.

Whether or not I like the bailouts of Wall Street, Detroit, homeowners or people with credit card debt that they cant pay for anymore, I have one thing going for me that they do not have, and that’s an almost total lack of anxiety of my own situation. Sure, I was responsible and I took care of my own house and didn’t spend beyond my means (actually, that’s not entirely true, but I’ll save that confession for another post coming soon), but we made it a point to pay for things with assets we had on hand rather than rack up debt. We made a massive down payment for our house that we saved a decade to produce, and we took a mortgage that was no more than twice my annual earnings and that could be paid back with no more than 25% of my monthly take home pay (as related to a fix rate, 30 year mortgage… you know, the rate that was once upon a time touted as what a responsible borrower would take and no more). Yes, people will be getting help. Yes, they may see some debt forgiveness, and yes, they may walk away from some obligations. Many will also walk away from these obligations in a state they probably wouldn’t want to walk away as: ruined.

That’s a word that doesn’t get used much anymore in our politically correct climate of today, but my grandparents used that word a lot, and I still know what it means. To be ruined is to have your credit, your reputation and your name damaged. Credit ratings for anyone who goes through these plans will be trashed for years. Their own reputations may take a hit because of this. Once upon a time, when a man was determined to be "ruined", he often saved face by committing suicide. Now realize, I’m not heartless (really, I swear!), and I'm hardly advocating anyone off themselves for geting into a bad financial situation, but it contrasts the fact that, for many, one’s name and one’s word are less valuable than they used to be. So yes, I guess I won’t be getting any help or any “bailout” from the Government over this, and frankly, that suits me just fine.

Still, before I get too high on my horse and run the risk of being hoisted upon my own petard (wow, now *that's* mixing metaphors, baybee (LOL!)), I just have to remind myself that, if we get into a spot where unemployment runs rampant, and I find myself out of work because of no bailout, with little hope of finding additional work, and I have to give my house up because our system is so broken that even those of us who played by the rules and honored our obligations can’t even pull it off... well, I guess I’m willing to swallow that bitter pill. I come from a line of family that put a lot of emphasis on “protecting one’s name”, and as for me and my house, we intend to continue playing by the rules, meeting our obligations wherever they may exist, and doing all we can to hang on to “our good name”. Here’s hoping that the current round of unpleasantness and the less than pleasant approaches to solving it allow the majority of us to do exactly that.

Madd Money: What's Helped Save You the Most Money?

Trent over at The Simple Dollar had an entry yesterday about describing the most concrete things that he has done to save money. I liked his answer, as it's one that I can totally relate to and agree with: use the public library instead of going to the book store and directly purchasing books and DVDs. For Trent, this was a concrete example that passed on some tremendous savings to him. He described an $80.00 per month book habit that was reduced to close to nothing (I can't say the service is 100% free because the public library is one of those things that our tax dollars pay for, so we do have a direct payment plan into access at our public library, we just don't know how much of it actually goes there :) ). While I do not have that big a habit, I most certainly had a love affair with book shopping at Barnes and Noble, with fits and starts and bank statements with the store's name emblazoned on it.

Over the last several months, I decided to give the public library a lot more of my reading and DVD viewing business, and the results have been tremendous. Our expenditures on books and DVDs has gone *way* down. Now granted, the library doesn't have every movie or every book I want to examine, but they sure do have a lot of them, and many times I get to see books or DVD's I'd otherwise never have considered. It's too early to say for sure how much we have saved, but judging from the lack of purchases from Barnes and Noble over the past few months, I would say we've probably "saved" at least $300 dollars.

That got me thinking more about Trent's article and trying to figure out concrete things that I have done to help me save money. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some areas I personally have seen a difference in both changing my habits and being aware of what I am doing. In some cases, it has allowed me to apply money to different areas where I hadn’t before:

1. Clothing: I’ve made the decision to go with as much of a minimalist wardrobe as possible. Thus, I’ve tried my best to imagine living for two weeks out of a suitcase without option for doing laundry. Whatever can fit in that suitcase, that’s my wardrobe (and that includes two suits that normally don’t get used for anything else other than attending church and church service opportunities, but that’d enough to justify both of them). To this end, I try to pick items that have a classic quality to them and will be able to be worn for many years without retooling or restyling. Net result is that, each year, I spend no more than $500 total on clothing, and some years I spend even less. Also, I tend to look for items that, while not necessarily the cheapest, I have a good feeling will actually last me a long time.

2. Food: I almost never eat out while I am at work. I very nearly always take care of my own food, either from home or shopping in a store to have staple items available. Granted, there are the times the company springs for food, and I certainly take advantage of that (LOL!), but I make it a policy to shop as little as possible when I’m downtown. Also, I'm trying to really make a point of spending the least amount of money possible of food items that just I consume. Thus, when I go grocery shopping for items to make meals out of, I almost always buy generics, I but items in bulk , and I do my best to combine them and set them aside to be used when I need them. I'm also cutting down on meats and other expensive foods, and going with more vegetables and lover priced alternatives. I like to have a varied diet and want to have some fun with the food I eat, but I've realized I don't need to go overboard on expensive meats, as there are often good low priced alternatives.

3. Entertainment: I’ve definitely pared down this area considerably over the years. I used to be the first in line to grab up several video games that I know I’d love to play… problem is that, much of the time, I’d never get around to playing them. I have several games that are on my “to do” list, and have been there now for close to three years. I’ve heeded this attribute in myself, and I’ve decided to be *very* hardcore about the games I buy. Now, if there is no immediate time frame to play it, I don’t buy it, no mater how rare or unique I think the game might be. In general, if I’m not going to play it for a year, it’s likely to be a title I can pick up used at the local game store. Also, as one who loves video game strategy guides (more for the back story and the additional art galleries related to the titles rather than for the specific strategies offered), I’ve made it a point to also scale back here. I only buy the guide if, indeed, the game in question has enough additional artwork and back story items that I will, indeed go back to it again and again to enjoy those things. Otherwise, if I truly only want game hints, I use sites like GameFAQs to fill that need now. DVDs now mostly come courtesy of my public library.

4. Work and Commute: I am overjoyed that I made the decision a number of years ago to work in San Francisco. While I still have commute expenses, they are considerably less than when I used to work in San Jose or Redwood City. My drive to my train station is 4 miles round trip, and on some days, that’s the only driving I do. Were I to live in an area with flatter terrain (my house happens to be near the top of a pretty substantial hill in my town  ), I’d totally consider commuting by bike to and from the train station. Perhaps that’s in my future one of these days, but I’ll need to get into better shape first (LOL!). the fact that I use the Bart Smart Card, which is attached directly to my company’s transportation Flexible Spending Account, also helps to insure that I have tax-free funds to help pay for the commuting.

5. “Keep Us Honest” Accounts: I’ve found that having set these up and sticking to them religiously to be a very valuable thing for us to do. Our ROTH IRA’s, my company’s 401K’s and our children’s 529 plans are all areas that we invest in each pay period, and we make it a point to keep to our agreed-to percentages. We have not automated this process yet, because we want to make sure that we are all clear on the fact that we are adding the amounts that we agree to and that we are comfortable with for these purposes. What’s great about these accounts is that, once the money is in there, we can’t get to it unless its for the defined purpose (college for the kids) or we reach the appropriate age for retirement fund distributions.

Some of these are actual concrete steps taken to help us save money and hang onto more than we spend. Some of these areas are actually more psychological and behavioral rather than just a list of tips to do to save money. Of course, may times, that’s exactly what we need to make the changes necessary. By making sure that we are aware of what we are doing, and are in the correct mind set to do what we want to do, but be open to ways where we can do what we want without having to pay a premium for the experience. So let me know… what are some of the things you have done, whether it be psychological or totally physically tangible, to help you save more of your money over time?

Today's Election Day, and in That Spirit...

... I'm going to share the following with everyone

If You Can't (or Can) Say Anything Nice...

I loved this entry, and I would like it if *everyone* took advantage of such feelings today, regardless of what side of the political fence you are on. At the end of the day, we are all Americans, who all have the best interests of America at heart, and every four years, we get to participate in this incredible demonstration of national solidarity, where we the people get to vote for the person we want to represent us as President, and for the myriad other opportunities we can vote for and offer our voices. I don't care who you vote for or what you vote for so long as you get out there and DO IT!!! Vote your conscience, whatever it may be, with the best knowledge and spirit that you have, and keep our two hundred and thirty two year expirement moving forward.

Madd Money: Sending Your Kids to a Community College First?

I started off my college years at a Community College in Pleasant Hill called Diablo Valley College. For the record, I hated my first years there, but that's because I approached it all from the wrong attitude. I always thought that good, smart and rich kids went to four years schools. Stupid, lazy and poor kids went to community colleges. Looking back, I now realize that I was really stupid for thinking that way. Since my first years at Diablo Valley College, I've had the opportunities to attend two additional community colleges, one University of California extension and the competion of a bachelors degree program through University of Phoenix.

Much of our educational programming has been to look to the four year Universities first and foremost. This blog post intends to shake up that thinking and I'll present my reasons why I think we should.
 
Having now attended three different community colleges for various reasons (most of them having to do with proximity to work), I found that you can take some very good courses up front for very little money. The added bonus is that, in most cases, these classes are close to home, i.e. the family home. Why pay room and board, plus an inflated tuition fee, to take classes like Probability and Statistics, American History or Calculus? Why go away so that you can take Intro to C Programming, Macrobiology, Chemistry or any number of other early exploratory general education related courses? If one were to do a purely economic breakdown, four semesters at a well rated community college would perhaps cost about $2K when all is said and done, including tuition, books and miscellaneous expenses, compared with, potentially, $20K to $30K at a private institution (not counting room and board) or $10K to $15K at a state school (not counting room and board).
 
Community colleges allow the youth in question to still live at home and have a bit of a "maturation accounting" take place. In short, you can see if your kid is truly ready to handle being off on their own for an extended period. I came to the conclusion that the stupidest thing my parents could have done with me when I was seventeen was to send me off someplace all by myself without any controls or supervision. Of course, I might have made radically different choices, but I have a feeling my head wasn't in the game at that point anyway, so why send me halfway across the country to figure that out?
 
Since I am hoping that my son will be turning in mission papers after just one year in school, it seems to make sense to help him prepare at home, knock out the first year close to home, focus on his mission, have him come back from that experience, knock out any remaining GE requirements, and then transfer to the school of his choice at that point, where the full value of the school dollars will be going to the maximum of his determined educational goals. My daughters will not be considering missions until they are 21, which would be well into their Junior or Senior year of college, so this line of reasoning isn't as warranted.
 
Now, with all of this, there are other areas where I would absolutely suggest it is totally worth starting out at a four year institution, especially if the goal is to get a student into a Church School (yes, for me the draw of my children attending any of the Brigham Young University campuses or Southern Virginia University is entirely because they are schools run by and populated by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). A large percentage of a BYU or SVU education is the various Religion courses, which, while offered in Instutute in many other campuses and through CES to students all over the country and the world, are not at the same level as what is offered at a true church school. Likewise, after a lifetime of living in an "outpost" related to the church, there's a genuine benefit to surrounding ones self with other members of the church (of course, this is a double edged sword. I used to believe that there were problems being near too few active Latter-day Saints. I've since learned there are plenty of challenges related to having too many LDS members surrounding you, too. I guess mileage varies on that particular issue :) ). There is also a tremendous value to networking with other people, and getting to know them and their life experiences, and on the whole, it may be best to have those life experiences be with members of the same faith, who share similar values, in communities that are, shall we say, less "tempting" than others (Provo, Rexburg, Laie, and Buena Vista are not exactly hotbeds of ribaldry :) ). 
 
Ultimately, as I've explained to my kids, it all depends on what you ultimately want to do, where you ultimately want to work, and what you really care about when all is said and done. A college education and degree is not necessarily a fast path to a job. You *can* work just fine without one (I did for close to twenty years, though the first six were quite lean ones because I didn't know what I wanted to do. Once I got into tech and doing QA, then I was able to grab tight and develop like a maniac). There's no question that getting a degree helps give the person a well rounded education, and can help fill the gaps a practical, seat of your pants approach like I took produces. 

In most careers, it doesn't matter where you start college, just where you finish. Nobody looks at your transcripts or resume and says "oh, look, you attended Diablo Valley College for your first two years of school. That's gonna' cost you, son!" No, they see "ah, Bachelors of Science from Brigham Young University" or "hey, you got your degree in Finance at U.C. Irvine", or in my case "cool, you got you BS In Information Technology through the University of Phoenix in 2005, good work going back and finishing that!" Interestingly enough, the president of my company found a lot of value in my story of how I learned and the schools I went to previously. He asked me what I did before 2003 through 2005, since the only education on my resume was my actual Bachelors degree. I told him the convoluted path, and the various community colleges I attended and what I studied at each. His answer was "you should include that! It shows that you've had a broad exposure to a lot of different educational experiences, and that's definitely worth commenting on.” 
 
Unless you plan on going into medicine, law or some other very specialized career, where you graduate from is almost not relevant, provided it is from a properly accredited school. What is is the fact that you did graduate, and that you have a work ethic that can get you noticed. As to my son and daughters, I've already made it very clear what will influence the decisions as to where they go and when they go (an acceptance letter from a school of choice will not be the end of the discussion, not by a long shot). The first is their overall grades and the courses that they take along the way. The second will be their own personal financial and personal management acumen. Proof of sound personal management over an extended period of time will be a prerequisite to going away to school. Third will be the full time job they will take on starting the end of their sophomore year, which will be applying for scholarships by the truckload. I have my friend Scott to thank for this suggestion... he made it his full time job from the end of his sophomore year through the end of his senior year and beyond to apply for every conceivable scholarship he had the potential to apply for, somewhere in the thousands. The net result over the course of several years was the fact that he paid for both his bachelors and his masters degrees with scholarship money, as well as room and board for that entire time, and he never had to ask his parents for any money related to his schooling.

I have committed to paying for college to as much of the level as I can (and I think we can probably cover it for all of the kids when their times come) but I've decided that I'm not going to just foot the bill for them. I learned through my own father making it very easy for me to skate through school with no effort or stake required on my part that I didn't really appreciate it, and subsequently I didn't put much effort into it. When I went back to school in 2003, it was mostly on my dime; my Dad did give me some financial help, as he said that he helped all of his other kids through school and graduation, and he'd feel like a complete heel if he didn't at least give me the same level of help he gave them. While I took him up on that, the lion's share of expenses (including living off of my savings while I was in school) was handled by me, and boy was that motivating! I smiled from ear to ear when I gave a copy of my diploma to my parents that said "Graduated with Honors", partly because I achieved something I thought I couldn't, but more to the point, I put a lot of my own money and living into getting that degree. I've decided that the value of that is truly immeasurable, and I will require my kids to do something similar. So even though I could pay for their full school, I'm not going to.

If they perform like rock stars in all three of these categories, and they get into a church school and make that their #1 choice as to where they want to go, then we'll do that. Even then, however, I may well suggest a local approach first. Not because they are slackers or losers, but because it could be a tremendously frugal and practical way to achieve their goals with very little in the way of future debt, lost time and a firm knowledge in what they want to achieve.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I’m reaching a point where I have to admit… my blog is suffering from an identity crisis. What is the ultimate purpose of this thing? Am I blogging for myself? For others? For my posterity? What drives the topics that I choose? Is this a Personal Finance blog? Is it a Religious or Philosophical blog? Is it a Life Hack blog? Is it a “share quirky stories about your family” blog? At the moment, it seems to be “all of the above”, but there’s definitely a trend developing, and I’ll have to see what I want to do about that trend.

First, I’ve gone back to see many of my posts and there seems to be two main angles that get the most stage time, Personal Finance and General Philosophy/Life Hacking. Some could say that these are two sides of the same coin, and I guess in a way, they actually are.

Personal Finance interests me because I see it as a major problem in many people’s lives. I realize I may not be the best example for people as to how I got to where I am today. Let’s face it, telling the world “I worked for Cisco for 10 years, and I got lots of stock options” doesn’t offer much inspiration. It's also not been terribly relevant for the past several years, as it can be said that the glory days for that stock have long since passed. However, it is a hope that the things that I am doing today (focusing on thrifty decisions, placing a truer emphasis on value rather than cost, and letting go of a sense of “Stuffitis”) may very well resonate with others, and I do find that there are areas I do enjoy talking about and perhaps learning and sharing some newer insights.

Life oft-times revolves around our actions and the way that we see the world. I am an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The process of living as a member of that community informs many of my life decisions. Still, there are many things in my life that I do and that I find pleasure in doing, and just want to have make my life better and more effective, that are not necessarily 100% wrapped up in the Gospel or in the scriptures. Many times, of course, there are efficiencies of life that I have learned and that I practice that have come totally from the Gospel and understanding and applying the scriptures to my life. Thus these are areas I want to talk about and encourage others to, if not discuss, at least consider, while providing firm application of the ideas and ideals, and why and how they are effective (and sometimes, how I’ve found them not to be effective without some personal tweaks).

At the end of the day, I have to decide who and what this blog is actually for. Is this blog for external viewers, and do I write this blog for you? Or is this more of an online journal that I’m making public, and in the end, is all of this really just being written for me? While I enjoy writing and pondering ideas, I enjoy it more when I feel there might be some other people who could benefit from what I have to say. I’m not so arrogant as to think that my ideas will somehow revolutionize the world, but it’s possible I may inspire someone, and they may choose to look at how they do things a little differently.

This blog is also an “Accountability Partner”, where I put my ideals out there, and let the site, and the people who view it, take a little piece of that effort and record it for themselves in their thoughts and their hearts. It encourages me to think that people may actually come back and say “so, did you follow through on what you said you were going to do?” That’s encouraging, and it makes me want to keep striving. Partially because I want to move forward anyway, but also because it invests my ego just a little bit to say “I wrote it, and I put it out for the world to see… am I strong enough to live up to what I said I’d do? And if I’m not… am I brave enough to admit I was wrong?” It’s easy to crow when you do something that looks and feels great, when you have an accomplishment to post about. It’s another feeling entirely when you have to “eat crow”; admit that an idea you had, an approach you tried, an opinion you harbored, was actually wrong, ill advised, or just plain didn’t work out. My goal is to actually post successes and failures, the achievements and the shortcomings. If I feel I’m right about something, I’ll try to explain why I think I’m right. If I mess up, or otherwise don’t succeed, I want to hold myself accountable here.

Thus I guess the answer to my title question (Where Do We Go From Here?) is “where I’m already going, and let the chips fall where they may". Not everything I write will be fun, not everything will be informative, and not everything will somehow have some deep cosmic meaning. What it will do, however, is give me a way to put down my thoughts, examine my motives, and keep vigil as to the ideals I seem to profess having. Likewise, it will give me a chance to keep some thoughts, goals, and projects at the forefront of my thinking, and hopefully allow others to either give me encouragement to keep at it, or to say to themselves “Hey, now that’s something that I want to do!” Either way, I’ll be here for you (and me :) ).