financial zen

I’ve been busy reading like crazy - books for work, books for school, books of interest - and it’s made me dwell on the thoughts of why I maintain blogs. I essentially own two - one for code and pop culture with two good friends, and this one.

I started Financial Zen because of a post I saw a post about starting a personal finance blog back when I wanted to et more active in writing - of course, all before the idea of being a father came in to play. I chose the name because I was getting into Buddhism, and also starting to read up on Ben Franklin and his 13 virtues. It lead me to thinking about becoming a better person, and who better to model yourself after? A spiritual person, and a founding figure of this country, who modeled himself in the idea of Jesus and Socrates?

Of course, this all changed when my son was borned. It made me think about it ten-fold if not more! Having a child just made me want to grow to be a stronger person then before - a role model, if you will, in this day and age of “celebrity” role-models where kids are looking at the famous to get their ideas and morals from (which is a tough act to compete with). It’s a main goal - one that surpasses personal finance and more-so focuses on being a good person - which is ultimately the goal of this blog, to track my progress - not just on becoming financially stable - but on becoming stable and strong in all aspects of life. In the coming months (and years) I hope anyone that stumbles upon my writings feels the same.

Mrs. Zen and I have long been battling the decision of a dual income, or having her be a stay at home mom. As much as I’d love to be a stay at home dad, I’m the main bread winner - her income is basically pure profit, free to spend as we desire (and mind you, it’s going towards debt reduction). We recently traded in my 1996 Honda Civic for a 2005 Honda CRV - mainly because we had the extra income to do a large down payment, and trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s with packed bags, stroller, and dog in tow. Once in the Civic was enough - and with a dual income we could more than afford a new(er) car.

As was pointed out - the after tax and childcare income is about 13k. But let’s make some adjustments:

Our childcare is about $2,340 due to our baby-sitter service. We only use them for one day a week - for now. If Mrs. Zen becomes full-time salaried, that will change, but no matter how you look at it - her additional income is after all bills are paid.

Let’s tackle their considerations:

• Career Advancement Goals - There is *always* more to a career than money! What about happiness? Mrs. Zen desires a career in paramedicine - she enjoys staying at home, but she also loves her work (as do I!)
• How to Return To Work? - I can’t really argue this one - leaving for eyars ad coming back in - that’s potentially ‘resetting’ your career unless you continue your work part-time.
• Extra Expenses - I’ve got to agree - working has expenses, just as staying at home. If no one is home, the heater/AC is off, less electricity, and at work you may have “job functions’ - happy hours, lunches and the like (I *DO* consider these essential - I owe my current job due to lunch-time networking! And pizza.)
• Breadwinner May Become Workaholic Career Freak - C’mon, really? This is a personal thing, and if you can’t balance your career and life, you need to reassess your values.
• Coupon Clipping - I’ve got mixed feelings here. My brother-in-law works from home (ebay business) and is an excellent father and cooks, while also shopping at night. He’s thrifty and is business than some other people I know. Coupon clip, regardless, I say.
• Schools - This is something I’m still looking into. I moved into a certain area for its reknowned public schools - you can send your kids to a private school so that by the age of six they know three languages and a head start on other students. Do you really want to make your kid go through that? You’ve got to focus on your kids being kids and not being “intellectual geniuses” or “young athletes” - they’re not here to live out your dreams. Do what you can to provide, but don’t force your kids to be something other than children.

Now the stay-at-home parent conundrum is an interesting one - I’ve talked to work-at-home, stay-at-home and day-care parents, with plenty of pros and cons. Your children need you to be their parent, but htey also need to develop social skills and learn to go out on their own - not developing an attachment on you, needing you for everything. I’m a parent, and the wife and I are working on him not developing separation anxiety, but I’m still reading on the psychology of it all (which is a never ending quest!)

Remember what I said last time?
Some people smarter and more qualified than I - agree:

There has been a lot of hand-wringing about whether or not the U.S. economy is currently in a recession. This morning’s data will, I think, lead to a near-unanimous view that the U.S. economy is in a recession. Not only was employment growth in February negative, but the B.L.S. also tells us that the previous two months were worse than originally thought. Over the past three months, non-farm payrolls fell at an annualized rate of about 0.1 percent.

This is a natural flow of rhythm in the world market, however. I’m thankful I’ve got a good job at a good company. Bush is trying to stave it off. He’s all ready cut taxes, and then came up with this - so he’s appealed to “Big Business” and also “to the common man” - essentially Keynesian economics and not in the same year, of course, being his last year in office he knows he should do everything he can instead of leaving the office in a wreck. Who knows what the next candidate will do?

This Christmas, take a moment to guess a gift - and it’ll give a gift to a child! />

Please, if you like the idea, please digg it - we’re going to give away a lot of gifts with this one! This is something that will lead to a lot of holiday cheer for some lucky kids!

Its been a long time coming, and after the birth of my son, a change of employment, and still married and in school full-time!

So of course certain areas suffer - my writing was side-lined, my goals got side-lined, and my sleep is side-lined.

In terms of goals - in my transfer of employment, I upped my income, my wife took on a part-time job - every little bit helps! This has lead to a reassessment of our payment schedule, and our income. Since I changed jobs, I haven’t set up my new 401k yet - but I’ve sent the emails to get the details so I won’t be losing the company match for much longer! But it’s cause me to change our spending habits, as they were starting to get out of control - large purchases, a lot of “nice to haves” and not “needed to have” items.

So that’s lead me to utilizing the local craigslist to sell a few items I no longer need - an old TV, old game systems - but we’re having trouble coming up with other items we can actually sell! We tend to give away items instead of selling to local charities (church, goodwill, et al.) so when it comes to “selling” it seems we only think of the items like electronics and entertainment!

Put the quest for financial zen hasn’t been ended, it’s still an adventure.

This upcoming Christmas season, take a moment and reflect on the meaning of the holidays.

I bring this up for more than one reason - not just for the financial impact, but more importantly for the impact of gathering for the family. Make your holidays about your families first - the gathering, the food, the festivities - and not the gifts, the giving, the receiving. Drop the holiday hassle, boycott the consumerist angle of the holiday season.

Still want to “give” something?

Why do you have to buy something? Do you ever feel like you’re buying meager offerings because you feel you “have” to? Instead of giving gifts - make something. Make them a Christmas card, make food, make cookies. Why does it have to be material goods? Donate money to charities in their name. Make the money do something instead of spending money on random items that they may/may not want or even NEED.

It’s one thing when you know someone needs something - a heater, an electric blanket, firewood, food, or even company - compared to buying some $20 gadget because you think they’d like it when they’d rather have the pleasure of your company. This Christmas/Holiday season, how about we step back from the consumer rush and just enjoy some time together?

I participate on a few online communities that receive lots of broad comments - local boards, financial boards, and web design/development boards. It’s great to have a helping hand, and it’s nice to be able to assist when you can.

However, often you come across someone who decides to post how down-trodden they are in their current state. They can’t get hired because they’re a particular sex/religion/race/age, or “how dumb I was to get an Art History degree” or other “woe is me” type posts. As a friend pointed out, this person was getting interviews based on their resume - meaning that the company obviously was interested (they wouldn’t waste time interviewing someone ‘as a courtesy’). This person wasn’t hired, so she started listing the reasons for why it was so horrible for her, and she was relegating herself to be stuck in a server position for the rest of her life.

It’s very quick to judge online - and even more difficult to express emotions, sarcasm, and seriousness. So it’s no surprise that any comment that tried to help her was taken as a negative, which only reinforces the idea that “whoa is me - nothing can help me, and you’re an asshole for trying.”

Plain and simple - a degree is merely a piece of paper. I’ve met CEOs that held bachelor’s in liberal arts, department managers with art degrees, and designers with computer science degrees - we determine where we go, not by our degree, but by our own choices! The most important aspect of any degree is the ability to accomplish something difficult, and the critical thinking it takes to get there. Not everyone tries, not everyone succeeds. I’m still in school, and I hold a professional position with no degree and primarily personal experience. It’s not impossible!

This young lady felt that her degree limited her in her abilities, as some people often feel - it is NOT a limitation, but should open new doors for you, should you choose to open your eyes and sell yourself not as someone who majored in XYZ, but as someone who can accomplish your goals, find creative solutions, and keep on truckin’!

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments about the birth of my baby boy! I’m hesitant to post pictures because I enjoy the anonymity of the site, but I have a feeling I will be overtaken with the need to share my parenting experiences and future financial zen moments!

Thanks to everyone, and The Wife and Baby Boy are both doing exceptionally well! (As you can probably tell, he’s got no problem keeping me up, or waking me up - but it’s time for updates as it is!)

I’ve mentioned before you should have an emergency fund - and I hit one of those snags that shows how important it is to have one. We have two cars (both Honda Civics) which both needed major repairs - timing belts, water pumps, and exhaust work. My car - the old beater - was less than $400 (which also goes to show - find a trustworthy mechanic! I was quoted $600 at the first place I went to!)

The nicer, newer car? Nearly $1000. Needs a new exhaust manifold. That, needless to say, was a shocker. With the new baby, I really hate having only one car available at a time, and “exhaust leaks in the front of the car” cause me some concern when I’ve got a growing boy in the back seat, so of course I had him fix it (and I use this mechanic repeatedly because he’s always straight, never lies, and has been a friend of my wife’s family for years).

Luckily, we’ve got nearly $5000 set aside for emergencies, so this will greatly offset any ding that it would’ve otherwise caused. See how important an emergency fund can be when you’re prepared? $1400 is more than my mortgage payment - which means if I wasn’t prepared, this would go onto a credit card, which I couldn’t pay off immediately, giving me interest charges for the next few months (more than likely!)

Because I was prepared - I can pay off these charges right away, without worry! No worrying about not meeting any bills, no worries about “how can I handle this” - a true moment of Financial Zen. My wife was taken back by my tone when I initially told her - and through no fault but my own she was concerned. We try and talk weekly about our finances, but with the baby being born it’s sidetracked us both - but because we are prepared, it’s a non-issue.

Whew!

My baby boy was born July 25th at !:26am!

I’m going to take a brief break from writing while we get settled in and will try to pick back up this week!