Is there a job in your industry where you can get paid to learn about a topic that you need to know about anyways?

Get Paid to Learn
If you’re going to be spending a lot of time at a job, mine as well find one that creates value for you other than just a paycheck.  Of course the income is most likely why we show up every day but if you learn a skill that will benefit you personally or professionally and get paid to do it then you have two good reasons to go work in the morning.

My wife started a job not to long ago where she makes money training or tutoring parents on how they can help their children learn.  Her employer has the mission of helping parents learn the best ways to teach their children as they play and spend time together.  She has received an enormous amount of training and support in this area through her new job.  This is a perfect scenario for her since we can use all her newly gained knowledge in raising our son.

Professional Development
Of course this is a personal example where the skills learned through a job can be applied at home but there are many ways you can make use of things you pickup at work to further yourself professionally down the road. One way to do it is find a job that will teach you specific skills you need in order to break into a certain field. It helps if you have an idea of what you’d like to be doing in the future so you can try and target certain skill sets when interviewing. 

Of course, this can also work to some extent in a job you already have.  If there’s an area you’d like to get into professionally but don’t have the experience you can always work with your boss to see if you can incorporate some projects into your existing job that would help train you in those areas.  Basically this is a way of investing in yourself, not just thinking about your current paycheck but how you’d like to earn your income in the future and positioning yourself so that can become a reality.

Ever since my wife left her full-time job to stay at home with our son our bank account has looked a lot more bare towards the end of the month.  Losing a salary has required us to pay better attention to our nickels and dimes so we can ensure all expenses are covered.

Bye-Bye Buffer
My paycheck is split between our high interest savings account at ING and our regular checking account with our bank.  It used to be we always had a nice cushion in the checking account so there was always a buffer when the bills came in at the end of the month.  Now we’re having to watch that balance much more closely to make sure the funds are available when the checks are cashed.

New Income Source
One thing that has helped cover some of our expenses is a new job my wife started a few months ago that lets her set her own schedule and spend the majority of the week with our son.  Due to some administrative issues direct deposit hasn’t been setup yet so she’s still receiving a paper check each month.

Bounced Mortgage Payment
As of this morning her most recent check has not yet been deposited in our bank account and our mortgage payment goes out tomorrow. Needless to say I’m a little worried our mortgage check could bounce for the first time but she assured me she’s got it covered.

Financial Organization Needed
As I mentioned early, part of my check goes into an ING account so we have the money there to cover the mortgage, the only problem is it takes 2–3 business days to transfer money between the accounts. Basically, it boils down to the fact I need to be more organized in tracking our cash flow. I used to have an expenses calendar that mapped out what part of the month each bill was due and approximately how much it would be.  I need to dig that calendar out and be more attentive to it so we don’t end up in this uncomfortable situation again.

One of the most important steps towards building wealth is learning what NOT to do.  If you can avoid the biggest pitfalls then you have a much better chance of being successful.

As I read through the Quiet Millionaire I ran across a list of things that can be damaging to our personal finances.  I’ve given my take on each one:

1) Undisciplined Spending
Discipline is not a fun word; a lot of times we associate it with the opposite of fun.  However, the truth is that being disciplined doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.  It really just means you have to do a little more planning for your fun and be able to find ways to have fun that don’t cost so much.

2) Materialistic Thinking
Being happy is not about what you own but rather what you look forward to.  Take this sentence for example:

“I can’t wait to drive my Mercedes to our $1 million home, catch an episode of “The Office” on our $2000 TV, and then enjoy dinner with my wife at our $1000 dining room table.”

Now compare that to this sentence:

“I can’t wait to drive home, catch an episode of “The Office”, and then enjoy dinner with my wife”.

Does it really matter whether it’s a Mercedes, a $1 million dollar home, an expensive TV, or high end dining room table?  What is it that you’re really looking forward to, that’s what matters the most.

3) Burdensome Costly Debt
Everyone wants to be in charge of their own future.  How can you be in charge of your own life when you owe everything to debtors?  Not only will debt prevent you from building wealth, it can also prevent you from building a life.

4) Taxes
This is a tricky one.  We have to pay taxes but they definitely eat away at the amount we have to spend now or invest for the future.  Tax planning to minimize or defer the amount of taxes you pay can give you more money to work with.

5) Inflation
This obstacle is a sneaky one.  Since you never have to write a check or pay a bill to inflation it’s easy to forget that it exists. The Quiet Millionaire refers to it as the “silent erosion of wealth and purchasing power”. You should factor the effect of inflation into all of your long-term financial planning and calculations.

6) Poorly Structured Investment Portfolios
“Undiversified investments possessing an unjustifiable amount of risk relative to the potential for reward.” The simplest way to overcome this obstacle is to put your money in index funds across the spectrum of asset classes. We met with a certified financial planner to help us evaluate our current investments and choose the best index funds for us.

7) Unforeseen Life-Changing, Financially Devastating Events
This is the scariest obstacle to me since a lot of it is largely out of our control. The book gives examples of things like medical expenses, divorce, job loss, disability, death, and law suits.  You can work to prevent some of these but the best defense is to insure against them so you have some help if and when they do occur.

When you’re healthy, you can forget how bad it feels to be sick and how fortunate you are to be well.  I guess that’s the one positive thing that comes out of this miserable sinus infection that is still hanging around.  It makes me appreciate my health all the more and realize I shouldn’t complain so much about things that don’t really matter.  One of the many things I’m thankful for is the ability to read, what a boring life it would be if I couldn’t.  Here are some of the articles I enjoyed reading this week:

The Sillicon Valley Blogger is ready to quit the rat race, me too!  Money, Matter, & More highlights some selling tricks, some of which I’ve covered in my sales tactics series.

Gen X Finance is looking for some retirement trivia questions, Lazy Man tells about his experiences being on a TV show set, and The Sun wonders if the do not call list is necessary.

The Mighty Bargain Hunter has a great post on eight ways to invest in yourself, Five Cent Nickel offers a good quote on being rich, and The Simple Dollar discusses how we preserve the things money can’t buy.

No Credit Needed talks about the important issues of term life and long term disability insurance. Consumerism Commentary explains how some lucky Red Sox fans could win free furniture!

Blueprint for Financial Prosperity offers 8 job tips for new graduates and be sure to stop by Free Money Finance since he is giving away a free copy of Quicken Premier 2008!

Thanks to the Dough Roller for hosting last weeks Carnival of Personal Finance and congratulations to MoneyNing, the winner of the Are the Rich Necessary contest!

Have you ever half-followed the financial advice? What kind of results have you seen?

Health Advice
I’ve had the pleasure of living with a sinus infection for the last 5 days and have been using the doctor-prescribed antibiotics with only mixed success.  The symptoms got to the point where I actually went to bed early two nights in a row, something that hasn’t happened in a year or two.  I finally broke down and tried an unpleasant treatment that my physician recommended but I had been avoiding.  Time will tell if this new step will help but it got me thinking about the effects of only following some of the advice we get from “financial doctors”.

Financial Advice
If you get financial advice from a book, magazine, website, or advisor and only follow some of it, are you really helping to cure your financial illness?   The many areas of personal finance such as income, debt, expenses, insurance, taxes, and investments can all influence one another and you aren’t really financially healthy unless you manage every area.  For example:

Start investing but don’t pay down debt.
If you’re earning 10% on your investments but paying higher rates on credit card debt you’re losing more than you’re earning.

Start an emergency fund but don’t buy insurance.
Having an emergency fund is great but without insurance an unexpected event could end up costing you far more than you have saved in your backup fund.

Working to increase income but not to reduce taxes.
You’re working so hard to earn more money but the more you make, the more taxes you pay. Taking the time to do some tax planning could help you keep more of what you worked so hard to earn.

Decisions, Decisions
Trying to keep track of every part of your financial life is difficult since there are so many things to consider and all the options can be a bit overwhelming.  Make sure you don’t get bogged down and take no action since you don’t know where to start; that would be the worst thing to do.  Instead choose one area, get it straight, and then move on to the next. 

Getting Started
Trying to keep track of every part of your financial life is difficult since a 75% solution for each area than a 100% in one or two and no solution in the others.  Once you get a plan in place for each part of your financial life you can always go back and make changes as you see fit.  Don’t know where to start?  Why not checkout a basic personal finance book online or from the library to get you rolling?

Freezing Your Credit Report
Thanks to recent legislation, you may be able to lockdown your credit report so that new creditors can’t access your credit report without explicit permission from you.  This should help prevent anyone from fraudulently borrowing any money in your name.  Of course it also causes a big hassle anytime you want to apply for a credit card or any type of loan. 

I put a fraud watch on our credit history after someone got a hold of our credit card and went on a shopping spree a few years ago.  Anytime someone applies for credit in my name, I’m supposed to get a call before it’s approved.  This doesn’t always happen so I think about into freezing our credit report.

Home Prices Keep Dropping
Good news for people in the market looking to buy a home, prices keep getting cheaper.  Bad news for people trying to sell.

The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell 8 percent in September, the largest decline to show up in records dating to 1999. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 5.04 million existing homes was also the slowest pace on record

The excess supply of homes for sale has put downward pressure on prices, who knows when the fall will stop.

People Keep Using Credit Cards
American Express reported higher quarterly profits due to higher spending on it’s credit cards.  Real estate prices are falling, the dollar is falling, but people keep on spending money and putting in on their American Express.

This post is part of the Sales Tactics Revealed series. Make sure you check out the other Sales Tactics.

Have you read my post on How 5 Minutes Can Save You $120?  If so, beware the advice I gave because it may come back to bite you!

How 5 Minutes Can Cost You $180
Comcast just pulled a version of bait and switch on me today; don’t fall into the same trap. I didn’t give the details in my original post, but I was able to drop my cable bill $20 a month for 6 months by upgrading from Expanded Basic to Digital Cable.  What I didn’t know is that I was actually setting myself up to lose money in the long run.

Comcast Baits the Trap
At the time Comcast offered several tiers of service: Limited Basic, Extended Basic, and Digital Cable.  I felt I was paying more money for cable than I needed to be. We receive many, many channels we don’t watch and wanted something in between the Limited & Extended Basic plans in terms of channels available and rates.  They didn’t offer such a package and wouldn’t give me a discount on Extended Basic but did make the offer to drop $20 a month from my current bill if I upgraded for “free trial” of Digital Cable.  I wasn’t really interested in Digital Cable but wanted the discount so I agreed to the deal.  I specifically asked the phone rep if I could switch back to Extended Basic after the 6 months ended and he assured me that I could.

The Trap is Sprung
My six months has ended so my cable bill jumped back up, not to the Extended Basic rate but the even higher Digital Cable rate.  I took in my digital box today to cancel Digital Cable and revert back to Extended Basic and they informed me that was no longer an option.  Comcast is phasing out Extended Basic and slowly moving channels over to Digital Cable in preparation for a 2009 change to all digital broadcasting.

Comcast’s Bait & Switch
Comcast knew what they were doing six months ago when they baited me into changing over to Digital Cable.  They knew Extended Basic was going away and that I wouldn’t be able to change back to the service when my promotion ended. 

I’m not sure what angers me more, the fact the phone rep lied to me last spring or the horrible customer service they offered when delivering the news today.  Their only response to my protests about being lied to was:

“We apologize an uninformed associate gave you the wrong information but we can’t help you.  We’re not allowing anyone to transfer to Extended Basic”.

A company that values their customers and discovers that one of their employees misled a customer will take the necessary action and correct the wrong in the eyes of the customer.  The fact that Comcast isn’t willing to do that leads me to believe they knew exactly what they were doing when they made the offer and intentionally lied to me in order to convert me over to Digital Cable.

Financial Implications
Now I’m faced with the option of paying an extra $15 a month for Digital Cable ($180 annual increase) or looking for an alternative.  For whatever reason, Comcast is the only cable option in my part of the city so I’ll have to research the Dish network or DIRECTV.  Be aware of this tactic since Comcast seems to be heavily promoting the Digital Cable route.  As I stood in line today I heard the reps try and push the digital box on many other customers.  You’ve been warned : )

I mentioned a while ago the great deal I got on a wireless router.  This is my first experience with using a wireless network and I’ve run into an annoying problem that has me a little concerned.

I’ve started to get an “Incoming Connection Alert” from the software firewall on my PC containing the message below:

Someone from 24.64.66.106, port 3510 wants to send UDP datagram to port 1026 owned by ‘Generic Host Process for Win32 Services’ on your computer.

The message is always the same with the exception of the IP address which changes with each occurrence.  I have the option to Accept or Deny the request and I always Deny it but it still has me worried.

This only began happening after I installed the wireless router.  What I want to know is why I’m getting these requests into my computer all of a sudden and what I can do to stop them. Also, I’m looking for some good online resources on wireless home network security.  Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

What is a Quiet Millionaire?  I’m not exactly sure yet but I imagine I’ll figure it out as I read the book the Quiet Millionaire – A Guide for Accumulating and Keeping Your Wealth by Brett Wilder. The publisher sent me a copy of the book to review and I broke it open this weekend. I’d like to be a millionaire of any type; loud, quiet, or any volume so we’ll see if this book is helpful for reaching that goal. I did particularly like one paragraph in the book intro:

“Financial miracles do happen, but the quiet millionaire does not wait for a miracle in order to become financially successful. Depending on what and how much you want, you need to commit to taking action and to making some well-thought-out, informed choices, regarding what is really important to you and your financial life. This may require you to throw in some willing sacrifices, steadfast perseverance, and rolled-up sleeves hard work.”

The Importance of Money
The first chapter, “What is Important about Money to You”, is really about defining who you are, what your goals are, and what you want out of life.  This is a pretty standard intro for many personal finance books and for good reason.  In the end it’s not really about the money, it’s about what the money does for you.  As Wilder says, “Money is the fuel for achieving your life goals and objectives.”

Personal Self Discovery
The book offers two interesting methods for personal self-discovery that can help us reflect and perhaps re-evaluate our thoughts about money. 

The first is “Listening to Yourself”.  It’s pretty simple really, just setup a microphone and start talking out loud to yourself about your financial situation and what changes you want to make.  Wilder suggests that as you play back your recording you’ll notice places where either you’re not being honest with yourself in your answers or you’re not really sure of what you want.  These are the areas you need to clear up before making financial plans.

The second method is “Writing to Yourself” a daily diary.  Basically, a daily diary of your thoughts; he recommends doing it first thing in the morning with a fresh mind.  The approach he likes to take is to “let it all out” as you write then go back and review it later on.  The goal here is to learn more about your about your inner self and later build your financial goals around your hopes and dreams.

So far, a good start to the book.  I’ll write more in the future when I find time to progress on to the next chapters.

Maybe I’m being a little over the top but in terms of value gained in relation to money spent, the purchase of my Zen Nano Plus mp3 player is the best investment I ever made!  What’s so great about it?  Never ending learning and self-improvement, anytime and anywhere.

Whether it’s driving to work, waiting in line, or doing housework all weekend I’m constantly learning through the audio I download from across the web.  I can stuff tons of financial tips, business building resources, personal development audio, and expert interviews into the 1 GB of storage space. The problem I have is making time to apply everything that I learn!

I bought it for a steal about 18 months ago. The information I’ve absorbed over that time has earned or saved me thousands of dollars and hopefully many more to come : )   Definitely my best investment ever. If you don’t have some kind of portable audio player, I’d recommend searching the web for one on sale and filling it full of information you want to learn.  While you’re shopping, look for one that you can dictate into as well so that you can record mental notes for yourself as you listen and learn.

If only all the personal finance sites would just record their content on audio, I could listen to posts about money all day long : )  Oh well, until that happens we’ll just have to read them, here are some good ones this week:

-What A Financially Painful Childhood Can Teach You about Money @ Money, Matter, & More

-Reader Question: I’m Investing Regularly, but How Do I Know if I’m Doing Well? @ Generation X Finance

-Where Would You Put Money Now? @ Lazy Man & Money

-There are Lifecycle Funds. Then There are Lifecycle ETFs @ Suns Financial Diary

-Yet Another Finance Giveaway! Enter Our First Year Anniversary Prize Giving Event @ The Digerati Life

-Credit Card Debt: It’s About Responsibility, Not Math @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

-Look Before You Leap: Roth IRA Conversions in 2010 @ Five Cent Nickel

–Find Out How Bad (Or Good) Your Situation Really Is @ No Credit Needed

-List of money-related forums and discussion boards @ Mighty Bargain Hunter

-I Almost Saved $100k on a Home! @ Free Money Finance

-When Everyday Life Gets in the Way of Your Dreams - And A Plan To Get Past It @ The Simple Dollar

Thanks to Mighty Bargain Hunter for hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance last week.  I’ve done it once before and know it’s a LOT of work.  Also, I’ve recently become acquainted with another network of personal finance sites that offer interesting money stories and tips you might want to check out, the sites are listed below:

• Being Frugal
• Christian Finance
• DebtFREE-Revolution
• Gather Little By Little
• I’ve Paid For This Twice Already
• Moolanomy
• My Two Dollars
• Plonkee Money
• Single Guy Money
• The Dough Roller