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Saving and Self-Deprivation, Do They Go Hand in Hand?

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Does saving equal self-deprivation? If you try to save too much today, are you depriving yourself for an uncertain tomorrow? And really, does saving money mean you can’t have as much fun now?

These are some of the questions I have after I read the comment responses to an post featuring Kimberly Palmer of Generation Earn on Bucks Blog (New York Times). In that post, Kim talked about how she was able to save 1/3 of her income during her 20s.

Kim managed to save so much because she had a decent income, kept her expenses down, and was knowledgeable about money. Some comments noted that her lifestyle sounds pretty depressing, or that it was based on self-deprivation.

I am lucky enough to have a decent income, a reasonable debt load and otherwise manageable expenses. So like Kim, I am also able to save a third of my income right now.  99% of the time, my lifestyle doesn’t make me feel deprived.  After all, I have all the necessities met and enjoy many luxuries (small and large).

But if I am really honest, I will admit that on those few days when I am in an ungrateful mood, I have lamented why I can’t go on all my trips around the world, right now, or why I couldn’t frequent my favorite sushi restaurant as often as I want. (Or, why can’t I just win the mega millions lottery and render all these worries moot!).

Savers, have you ever felt deprived because of your saving goals? What do you give up that makes you feel the most deprived?

*By the way, I am holding a Q&A and a book giveaway. Enter for your copy!

You Can Never Start Too Early

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What does saving for retirement, using eye cream, and putting on sunscreen have in common?

Tonight, feeling flush from a small work bonus, I decided to treat myself to a deep cleansing facial at a local spa. After the treatment was finished, my esthetician (a petite blonde lady whom I took to be in her late 20s or early 30s – at most. Turns out she is 38. She is her own personal billboard) handed me a bunch of samples.  “With eye creams, you can never start too early!” she added, dropping a packet of Kinerase Restructure Firming Cream in my bag. Then she added a bunch of sunscreen samples and admonished me to wear sunscreen every, single, day.

Financial experts often say that you can never start too early saving for retirement, or that parents can never start too early saving for college (although retirement comes first, of course!). In fact, even babies and toddlers are already saving (via the efforts of prescient parents).  To the You Can Never Start Too Early list, I’d probably add the following:

  • Appreciate good food
  • Practice a healthy lifestyle
  • Learn how to relax and have fun
  • Build emotional resilience

So, what are the things that you would add to the You Can Never Start Too Early list?

Your Favorite Discontinued Brands & Products

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Discontinued 300x152 Your Favorite Discontinued Brands & ProductsYou find the perfect lip gloss, brownie mix, or Moscato, then the cruel hands of market forces or corporate decisions snatch them away from you. A recent Smart Money article “Chasing Lost Brands” talked about the poor predicament of those who long for discontinued brands such as Flex shampoo and Carnation Breakfast Bars. Shakespeare said that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, but some of these lost brand devotees may not agree!

The discontinued brands I still think about:

  • Trader Joe’s Flore de Moscato: I first had this wine back in the summer of 2009, and I loved it. When I went back a week later, there was no bottle in sight. In fact, the entire shipment has sold out and there were no plans for more. A reader, Will, posted in a comment that he had 2 extra cases of Flore, and THREE people replied to that comment asking him if he had some left to sell. It sounds silly but it makes me sad that I will never taste that particular blend of Orange Muscat and Muscat Canneli again.
  • Jack & Jill: So, this isn’t technically a product, but it is a brand! I don’t know if anyone remembers it, but Jack & Jill was WB series running from 1999 to 2000. It starred Amanda Peet as Jack (short for Jacqueline) and David Sergei as Jill (for David Jillefsky). The first season ended on a cliffhanger, then it got canceled! I hated the lack of resolution and if it came back on, I’d be a loyal viewer.
  • Almay Skin Stays Clean foundation: Probably one of the best drug-store foundations that I have tried. It was discontinued a few years ago and while I haven’t gone through any extreme steps of trying to relocate them, I do wish they were still in production.

So share some of your brand nostalgia in the comments – what are your favorite discontinued brands and products? And to what length (monetary and otherwise) would you go to get them back?

source: 43rumors.com

Help: Google Reader not updating RSS feed

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It seems that Google Reader has stopped updating my feed (http://wellheeledblog.com/feed)  since the post on debt intensity from Monday October 11, even though I’ve had a few new posts since then.

Has anyone noticed this? And more importantly, do you have any idea why this is happening and how I can fix it? I’ve tried googling for a solution but have not come up with a satisfactory answer.

Thank you to anyone who can point me in the right direction!

Business Insurance Experts Premierline Direct

Is Groupon Good for the Budget?

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The past year or so has seen an explosive growth in collective buying sites such as Groupon, Zozi, and LivingSocial. (I am a member of all three sites). Business owners agree to offer a drastic discount on their products or services when a large number of customers make the purchase in advance.  Ahhh yes. The joys of collective buying means that you get to try out new restaurants or activities for 20% to 70% off regular retail price.

groupon 300x268 Is Groupon Good for the Budget?

But is Groupon good for your budget?

That depends. On the whole, I’d say yes – Groupon exposes me to different places in my city, and offers me significant discounts on massages, facials, kayaking trips, online services, and restaurants. But I have also lost money because of the lure of collective buying. The fact that everything is 50% off might make you buy things that you wouldn’t have purchased in the first place!

Tips to get the best deal on collective buying sites:

  • Think before you buy restaurant certificates. I rarely do unless it is for a restaurant that I have gone before and had linked, or it is a place that I have been very eager to try. Restaurant deals tend to be less effective because most of the deals are $15 for a $30 certificate or $25 for $50. This sounds good, but the certificates may only be used by two people, and they rarely include drinks or tip.  Most people don’t order “just” the face value of the coupon – i.e. you might have spent $80 instead of $50 by the time you order drinks and pay tax and tip.  The discount tends to be a much smaller portion of the entire bill.
  • Check the Yelp or Citysearch reviews of every activity featured. There is no point in going with a 2 star rated business, in my opinion. Even a 3 star business that has consistent complaints are not worth it to me.
  • Read the fine print and the community boards to make sure that you understand what is being offered.
  • Lok at the current pricing / promotions available for the Groupon deal of the day, to see if the deal is really that much cheaper.  Most of the times, Groupon is fantastic. But sometimes, you are only paying $5 or $10 less with Groupon than on your own. Groupon featured a Shutterfly photobook coupon a few weeks ago, and when I did the math I realized I could order straight from Shutterfly for about $7 more. The $7 more was worth it to me for the added flexibility.
  • Ask yourself: Will you really use this Groupon before it expires? That has happened to me before. I purchased a $25 series of dance classes that I never took. Groupon is only a deal if you use it before it expires. Otherwise you’d be throwing your money down the drain like I did.

Do you save money with Groupon because of the big discounts? Or are you spending more with Groupon because the deals are too hard to resist?

Generation Earn: Book Giveaway + Q&A with Kimberly Palmer

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Today’s twentysomethings have been called many things – Generation Y, Generation Debt, Generation Next, Millenials, etc. Now personal finance columnist and author of US News’ Alpha Consumer Kimberly Palmer adds another (more positive) label to the mix: Generation Earn.

In her book Generation Earn, Kimberly addresses young adults’ money topics in three key life sections:

The first section centers on the self, covering professional goals, personal spending, debt, and investing. The second focuses on creating a home, including renting, mortgages, marriage, and saving for baby. The third focuses on community and the world at large, including green spending, sustainable donating, and supporting nonprofits.

I am really excited to see a book that talks about young people’s money issues in such a holistic manner – from self, to family, to community. Here’s what Kimberly adds:

The bottom line? We don’t need to resign ourselves to lives defined by debt. We can earn more, save more, and live more richly – largely because we’ve redefined what “rich” means.

Thanks to Kimberly, I have 3 copies of Generation Earn to give away on this blog. I will also be hosting a Question & Answer session with the author next week.

generation earn 300x300 Generation Earn: Book Giveaway + Q&A with Kimberly PalmerTo enter the giveaway, please do one (or all!) of the following:

  1. 1 entry: Leave a comment here with a question for Kimberly to be featured on the Q&A.
  2. 1 entry: Follow me & tweet about it @wellheeledblog with this message: RT to win Generation Earn @WellHeeledBlog see http://tinyurl.com/349sgk9 for details
  3. 1 entry: Subscribe to my RSS Feed (please leave me comment to let me know)
  4. 1 entry: Become a Fan on Facebook (please leave me comment to let me know)
  5. 1 entry: Write about this giveaway in your blog (please leave comment w/ URL to blog post).

Everyone can submit up to 5 entries. Deadline to enter is 12 midnight PST Sunday, October 31.

I’ll do a random drawing to come up with the winners, and announce the 3 winners and Kimberly’s answers to your questions on Monday November 8.

image source: generationearn.com

Becoming Debt Free is About Passion and Intensity

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This guest post is by Brad Chaffee,the author of Enemy of Debt, a personal-finance blog about the consequences of unnecessary and excessive personal debt. He believes that personal responsibility is a key to living an extraordinary life. (As a personal aside, Brad is one of the nicest and most helpful bloggers that I have had the pleasure of knowing. Case in point – him helping me out with a last minute guest post!)

Have you ever really tried to become debt free? If so, you’ve probably experienced that feeling like you are running in place without covering much ground. Becoming debt free has been compared to running a marathon. A lot of people start, but hardly anyone finishes.

I have started a lot of things I haven’t finished so I know exactly how it feels. Frustration, anxiety, failure, and [insert emotion here], comes to mind. You’re not alone.

I don’t think your failure necessarily suggests that you don’t want what you were after. I believe that most people simply do not realize what it takes. The first mistake I think people make is that they mistakenly focus primarily on the math, without understanding that the entire process is more of a mental game.

Doing good math is certainly important, but it’s only a very small piece of the puzzle.

After becoming debt free successfully, I can say the mental and emotional side of debt elimination is very real. If you are not prepared for what it will take then be prepared to run in place.

How Bad Do You Want It?

How passionate are you about achieving debt freedom? If it’s just something you kind of sort of want, then that’s definitely not enough. You have to be mad! You have to be sick of where you are with every ounce of your being. You have to hate your debt with a passion!

Passion is the key because without it, there is no motor driving you into action. If you are tired of living paycheck to paycheck and truly want a different result, you will have to stay motivated in order to reach your financial goals.

What Are You Willing To Do To Make It Happen?

You can want to become debt free until you are blue in the face, but if you are not willing to make the sacrifices needed you will fail. Paying off your debt takes unbridled commitment. If you are still hanging on to the very habits and behaviors that got you in debt in the first place, you’ll go nowhere fast. (Hence the “running in place” feeling most people encounter.)

I can tell you from experience, the one thing that limits a person’s ability to become debt free is their inability to sacrifice. The problem is usually them. It’s not their income, it’s their stubborn mindset.

We tried to become debt free many times before we were actually successful. Each time we’d pay one or two of our debts off, only to find ourselves right back at square one 3-6 months later. The reason was very simple. Our behaviors had not changed, and quite honestly, we must not have wanted to become debt free bad enough.

We only saw an opening to run the card or debt right back up again, because after all, we had a zero balance. Our old attitude about debt deciphered that to mean we had more money to spend.

When we decided to become debt free we gave up so much. We sacrificed our big screen TV, my xbox360, and together we sold our 2004 Pontiac Vibe, stopped going out to eat, and severely cut our entertainment budget. We practically sold everything we could to reach our goals faster, and it was painful. Those changes were not easy, but we were mad, and we were willing to kick our stuff to the curb in order to do it. It was totally worth it!

Tips to Keeping the Passion and Motivation Alive

  • Work together as a team
  • Open communication
  • Willingness to compromise
  • Stop borrowing money
  • Set mutual goals together on paper
  • Set milestones and celebrate accomplishments
  • Don’t expect perfection
  • Remind yourself often why you started the process
  • Believe in yourself, your spouse or your loved one
  • Take baby steps to reach your goals
  • Don’t stop! It is worth it (TRUST ME!)


Leaving on a Jet Plane

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I will be out of the country next week because of a family emergency. This is my first international trip in over three years, and while I am grateful for the chance to see my relatives again, I wish it was under happier circumstances. Everyone is flying back, so I suppose even though the occasion is sad it’s nice that the family will have a chance to be together.

Brad of Enemy of Debt has very nicely helped me out with a last minute guest post (that will go up Monday morning – unless WordPress’s scheduling function fails me!). I have also scheduled a few posts through the rest of the week.

If you’d like to send a prayer or a kind thought my way, we can certainly use some.

Food Waste: Throwing Money Away

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Something I find a little embarrassing is how much food we waste in our home.  There is something unsavory about tossing away food – to have good food to eat is a luxury for many people across the world, and even in America.  Not to mention that I paid good money for the often organic / grass-fed / cage-free groceries I buy and I am literally throwing dollars down the drain (or the trash) whenever I toss another box of barely eaten berries or wilted veggies or mealy apples. At least I have figured out a way for preserving bread.

moldy fruit 300x229 Food Waste: Throwing Money Away When I was living alone, I had to toss out a lot of food because I can never finish them. Now that I live with another person, it is still difficult to finish all the fresh meal, produce and fruits that we buy. Sometimes, we just plain forget about the food that we have, and by the time I remember, it’s already too late. Other times it’s a matter of poor planning – we might shop the Thursday before a weekend get away, and by the time we are back on Sunday we go to dim sum instead of scrambling eggs because no one wants to cook, and the food is spoiled when Monday rolls around.  We are also not big fans of grocery shopping, so my ideal life is to do it twice a month and call it a day. You can imagine how well that works out.

If I am truly honest with myself, I probably throw away $20-$30 a month because of food waste. Looking into my refrigerator right, I see almost a full box of blueberries ($3), a carton of curry ramen ($3), half-eaten rice and beef kebabs ($4), a package of baby bok choy ($2), half a shallot ($1), and half-a-carton of cage-free eggs a week past the expiration date ($2). That is $15 right there, gone to waste.

Lately, I have resorted to buy almost all frozen foods – frozen, pre-cut veggies, frozen salmon fillets, frozen garlic naan, etc.  And chocolates.  At least this way I know my food won’t go bad before we have a chance to eat it. But man (and woman) cannot live on frozen meals, chocolates, and wine alone.  I want to have some fresh fruits and veggies in our diet, so I guess I will just have to be more mindful of when to finish food before the expiration date.

What are your tips and tricks for combating food waste? How much money do you think you lose because of food waste?

Do Schools Have a Responsibility to Teach Us Personal Finance?

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Several years ago I first wondered about the lack of personal finance education in our K-12 education and post-secondary schooling.

My mother taught me the importance of saving, my middle school teacher introduced me to Roth IRAs in college, and everything else I’ve learned on my own through blogs, books, and articles. Given that money management is such an important topic for the rest of our lives, should personal finance curriculum be instituted as a part of a public education?

I say yes. Even though I believe parents are the biggest potential influence on their kids’ spending and saving habits, in many situations parents might not be able or willing to discuss money with their kids. But personal finance is a serious enough topic that all children should have some exposure to it.

Given numerous public school budget cuts, however, it’s difficult to see where this money to talk about money might come from.