Invest It Wisely

What Are You Doing to Turn Your Discomfort into Action?

Kevin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:00:05 +0000

Image by eikootje via Flickr

Do you ever feel uncomfortable in certain situations? Maybe you spend too much time worrying about your debt and making ends meet? Or perhaps you are feeling at unease in your current job and looking for a way out?

These feelings can be uncomfortable, but I also believe that they are perfectly normal. When we feel discomfort, our bodies (or the universe, if you will) are trying to tell us something: they are giving us a sign that something is not right, and that we have a problem.

Every problem is also an opportunity for change, and an opportunity to make things better.

Like anyone else, I sometimes get hung up on the past. I think to myself, “Why couldn’t I have done things differently? Why can’t I just be happy like everyone else? What is wrong with me?”

We can then take one of several actions:

We can do nothing. If the cause of our discomfort is transitory, then this may work, but most of the time, the cause of our discomfort is still there. Though we may forget about it for the moment, it will eventually rear its ugly head, again.
We can beat ourselves up over it. This is a normal human reaction, especially if the discomfort is strong and is due to something like failing your final exam for a course. This is somewhat rational, because it increases the pain. As humans we tend to avoid pain, so magnifying the pain of an event tends to make us avoid repeating similar events in the future.
We can take action. At some point, beating ourselves up over the mistakes that we’ve made is self-defeating and self-destructive. The past is the past, and in the end, we need to find solutions to our problems.

Here are some simple steps to identifying the source of your discomfort:

1. Where, and when do you feel uncomfortable?

We tend to feel recurring discomfort on given cues. It might be a credit card statement, our final grades, or the feeling of going out the door and going to work. This discomfort is our body’s way of telling us that something needs to be fixed.

2. What is making you feel uncomfortable?

Once we’ve identified the location of the discomfort in our lives, we can look at what is causing us to feel uncomfortable. It could be the large balance on our credit cards, it could be the fact that we know we didn’t study hard enough, or it might be that we feel like our careers aren’t advancing down the right path, and we are simply “showing up”.

3. What will fix the discomfort?

Once we’ve evaluated the source of the discomfort, it becomes easy to identify what would make it go away. We would all be happy to see a clean credit card statement, get great grades or get a nice salary to do a job that we love.

Take action!

Now that we know where the destination is, we can take action to get there. The path might not always be known to us, we know what we need to change, and where we want to be. The uncertainty of getting from here to there can cause immobility and fear, but understanding is the first step to action. You will feel much better once you move from dwelling over your problem to planning the solution.

Dear reader, is anything in your like making you uncomfortable? If not, I’m very happy to hear it! If so, what would improve the situation? What action steps are you taking to get there?

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Five Personal Finance, Economic and Life Lessons Learned from “The Lion King”

These Three Jobs Are a Great Way for a Teen to Earn Money and Learn Something About Life at the Same Time

Kevin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:47 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

The benefits of working as a teen

Not too long ago, a reader asked me about making money as a teen. It’s becoming harder and harder for young people to get jobs to gain experience and earn spending money for today and for the future. If you’re a teen, how do you get money to start paying for stuff budget for your future?

I believe that one of the best ways for a teenager to learn about making and saving money is to get a summer-job, or work part-time. This is an absolutely amazing way to make a bit of money and gain valuable experience in helping others, and learn about responsibility, endurance, and teamwork in the process.

If the time is managed properly, there is no need for the work to impact negatively on school or other activities. Kids are not fragile vases; in some ways, they need to be protected and nurtured, but in other ways, they are much stronger than adults, and they need the opportunities to get out there, make mistakes, and learn in the process.

Three jobs, and three great learning experiences.

I first started working well before I hit puberty; in fact, I’m not sure I was even in the double-digits. It was so far back that I don’t remember too well now. I had my first full-time summer job the first year I was legally able to do it, which was at sixteen. It was a great experience that taught me a lot about life, and it helped to prepare me for a better future. I had a less than ideal childhood, and the lessons I learned was part of the foundation that helped to see me through it.

Paperboy

Image via Wikipedia

The first paid job of my life was a paperboy, way back in the days when my age had just barely crossed over into the double-digits! It was such a long time ago, but I still remember what it was like: I woke up in the dead of night when everyone else was still fast asleep, and I delivered newspapers in the cold winter to the houses in my local neighbourhood. On Saturdays, I nearly fell over with the weight of the papers in the bag resting upon my shoulder. There was no minimum wage, as my salary consisted mainly of tips only!

It sounds like it was really tough, but it wasn’t, and it was also a lot of fun. It was my first real job, and I learned the value of dedication, persistence, and most importantly, endurance. I would go door to door to collect money at the end of the month, and I remember that I got pissed at those that paid with a credit card because I didn’t make any money from them; I was also very happy to converse with those that paid with cash and make some spending money! I no longer remember how the finances actually panned out, but at the time, that’s how it felt.

Let me tell you, as a kid about 20 years ago, getting $100 a month or so in cash was HUGE spending power. As I have mentioned before on this blog, I didn’t have the best background, and the money even came in handy when I lent it to my parents on occasion.

I was a young and immature kid, so I admit that I wasn’t always dedicated and there were some days when people would get their papers past 7 am. I liked to take shortcuts, and more than one person got pissed at seeing my footprints in the snow in their backyard, as I hopped across their fence to take a shortcut.

I don’t remember how the job ended — I might have gotten canned for the fence hopping, or my parents might have pulled me out due to school picking up in the spring. In any case, it was an awesome experience to have as a kid, and I learned a lot from it.

Landscaper

Image via Wikipedia

The first summer where I was 16, I went to work as a weeder and landscaper. The first day was tough as I stayed under the hot sun and spent 8 hours pulling out weeds. I think I was full of scrapes by the end, and the “guys” were really surprised because I was just a highschool kid, and they really didn’t expect me to survive. I showed them!

I got used to the job over time, but I will admit: There were times when it was really boring, and I looked forward to lunch time so that I could take a break. I was unsupervised, but the boss could come by at any time so I needed to get the job done.

I later got a high-school friend in on the job; he would bike 15 kilometers or so to my house every morning and our boss would meet us there and pick us up in his car around 6:30am as it was on the way for him. This made the job a lot more fun, and there were fun times where we caught a couple making out in a car behind one of the warehouses, or the day when I ran around with a bunch of angry bees chasing me!

Yes, we were teenagers, and a couple of days we really goofed off, getting into mud fights and pelting each other with mudballs. We accidentally got someone’s car full of mud and got in trouble with the boss; I feel really bad about it now.

Although there were the fun times and the times we really goofed off, in retrospect I think we both learned a lot about the value of hard work and getting things done, even during a hot day under the sun. We also learned about responsibility and that there are consequences to behaviour, such as getting into trouble after getting someone’s car full of mud. It was a good lesson to learn!

First factory job

Image via Wikipedia

The next summer, I had my first job ever that paid more than minimum wage (in fact, it paid double!): I applied for employment at the local fish factory and I was accepted. I can only imagine that my previous experience in delivering papers and working as a landscaper was a help in getting this job.

I had a rotating position on an assembly line, and this was the hardest job I had ever had to date: I had various responsibilities such as inspecting and sorting the fish fillets, packing them into boxes, and stacking the boxes onto pallets. It was extremely monotonous and boring, not to mention stinky, but it was the best money I had earned to date and I was going to college after the summer, so I needed the money.

I met a lot of various people at that job, such as a 25 year old computer programmer that was doing this as a second job to pay tuition, and people from all walks of life. My favourite co-workers were the older women: They were all so kind and helpful, and they were always in good spirits. It was the first time I had ever worked in an industrialized setting, and I learned that I really didn’t like it. Staring at a moving conveyor belt made me feel quite ill at times. I also learned how to put up with things that one doesn’t like, in order to reap a greater reward: going to college, and getting an education.

I also learned about the tricks that union guys played on their management! The bosses were often referred to as “bastards” and other names which I won’t print here, and we had a “game” where we would go to the bathroom and we spent many minutes goofing off while the older guys smoked. I was young and impressionable, and I took part in those charades.

In all fairness, I also saw that while unions could be quite stupid, they also served a valuable purpose: they served as an effective counterweight to the demands of management and saw to it that the workers’ rights were respected and that the workers were treated fairly. I think that it was an invaluable part of my education to be able to see things from both sides of the glass.

Tightening regulations are making it harder for the youth to get jobs.

Image via Eagle Cartoons

These jobs were a great way for me to earn some money when I was younger and gain some valuable experience at the same time, but unfortunately, our government is making it more difficult for young people to find a job today . This is terrible, since it means that many young people are missing out on a great chance to learn some real life lessons that they can then apply to their futures. Some people try to get their first job only once they’re done college, and they are completely unprepared for that world.

How are governments making it more difficult?

Some jurisdictions have minimum wages that rise faster than inflation.

The minimum wage is, on the surface, a well-meaning regulation meant to protect submarginal workers from exploitation, but what it actually does is rather more sinister: An employer will only hire a worker if he will not lose money by doing so. Not only does the minimum wage prevent new and inexperienced workers like teens from getting hired and gaining the valuable experience they need to move up in the workplace, but it also encourages employers to hire illegal immigrants and do more work under the table. These illegal immigrants do not get to enjoy the same legal protections that the rest of us do. The minimum wage, in effect, hurts those that it purports to help.

There’s no way I would have gotten that landscaping job if the minimum wage had been a couple bucks higher, and that would have meant no fish factory job the next year and less money for college.

Would you rather see these kids gaining valuable experience through a job, or going down the wrong path on the street where nobody watches or cares? I have been in that environment, and the easiest way to hurt poor people is for rich people to pass laws and regulations that pretend to “help” the poor, but have the opposite effect.

Some jurisdictions have excessive child-labour laws that prevent legitimate and safe work from being done.

Where I live it is more reasonable, with those under 16 excluded from riskier occupations and those under 14 still allowed to work (i.e. deliver newspapers), but needing parental permission. I think this is reasonable, but other places go too far in their efforts to “save the children”. In these places, it is illegal for teens to engage in most types of employment unless they are at least 16 to 18 years old.

I think this is ridiculous. I understand that kids are physically and emotionally immature, and I am not proposing to put them in a dangerous workplace or in charge of heavy machinery, but at the same time, there are plenty of safe things that a kid could do, like learning how to program, write websites, simple carpentry work (stuff we did in shop class at 14 or so, anyways), helping out in a general store, and stuff like that. Why should a kid be deprived of this chance to gain valuable life experience? Soon the only option left will be to become a kid actor/actress, at least until 16 to 18 years old.

Life is about learning, and we are never too young to start learning valuable lessons for the future.

I was by no means a model worker and I did my fair share of goofs, nor was I a financial wizard that masterfully invested what I had earned. I wish I knew back then what I know now, but the whole point is that these opportunities were a learning experience. It was much better that I started learning these lessons at a young age and not for the first time at 25. Life is all about learning, and we will never learn unless we have the opportunity to get out there, make mistakes, and learn from our experiences.

These part-time and summer jobs were a great way for me to start gaining that experience, and if you are a teenager, I highly recommend trying out a part-time or summer job: you will gain a lot from the experience, and you may very well enjoy it and have stories of your own to share some day.

Dear reader, what are your own experiences from working when you were younger? I am looking forward to hearing your stories!

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The Tools of a Blogger and Developer

Kevin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:00:25 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Every profession needs a toolkit, including bloggers and developers. Here is my hardware toolkit:

DIY desktop

I built my own desktop out of off the shelf parts with good performance and lots of space. I actually do more gaming and stuff like that from this machine, though I do development work as well.

Working on a desktop is more comfortable since you can lean back on a chair and you have plenty of desk space to work with. It’s also the least expensive as you don’t care about portability and you can build something that matches $3000+ laptops for only $1000.

Macbook Air

I never would have considered myself a Mac user in the past, but the battery of my previous laptop was dead. It still worked fine when plugged in, but I needed something that would be portable, as well as something a bit newer, so I have since given my laptop to charity and I decided to go for the Mac Air.

Why a Mac Air and not another cheap Dell or something like that? There were a few reasons. Maybe Steve Jobs‘ passion has finally won me over into the dark side.

Here are five things I like about the Mac Air:

Light & portable. The Mac Air only weights a couple of pounds and it is very thin. This makes it easy to carry around.
Mac OS-X means I can develop for iPhone without worrying about TOS violations or hacks. I am not planning to actually develop anything this instant, but I would like to learn more.
Silent! Nothing annoys me more than a laptop with a loud fan spinning all of the time.
Long battery life. Even when brand new my previous laptop only gave two and a half hours tops. The Mac Air can give up to 8 hours depending on what I’m doing. I’m not always next to a plug so this helps out a lot.
Solid state drive (SSD)! This makes an unbelievable difference in terms of performance. Overall storage space is limited at 128GB, but for what I’m doing with the laptop that is still plenty. The added speed is a huge advantage, and during normal use this laptop feels as fast as my much more powerful desktop.

Surprisingly enough, the 13″ model has not proven cramped even for my large hands, though that is partly due to my forcing myself to learn to touch-type the correct way.

Android phone

When I’m not using the laptop, I’ll use my phone to catch up on emails and blog posts. Replying to comments from a phone is a bit painful, but short replies to emails and starring stuff I’d like to follow up on later works out fine.

A quick session of Angry Birds or Train Conductor 2 helps to break up the day a bit, too. For more “studious” reasons, I even have a Chinese dictionary that helps me a lot when I’m in my Mandarin courses and trying to figure something out.

Pen & paper

Yes, the low-tech world is still important, even to a developer/blogger. I use paper all of the time to keep track of quick notes and make todo lists, as well as scheme out stuff that I am thinking about, but don’t yet have in concrete-enough terms to put into words. This is especially helpful when I’m working out how to solve a problem.

Backup & sync

With all of these tools, it’s important to keep regular backups. Thanks to the suggestions of Miss T from Prairie Eco-Thrifter, I am now using Crashplan and I backup both to their cloud and to my girlfriend’s laptop.

I also use Dropbox to keep my files in sync between two machines. I don’t sync everything — only the stuff I actually need in both places. I also use Truecrypt to protect my files from theft, and it works out well so long as I remember to close the volume on my desktop before opening it on the laptop, and vice-versa.

What tools do you use to get your work done? These expenses can add up, but I find it’s better to pay a bit more and get the quality you need to do your work efficiently and effectively. This can actually help you to cut expenses in the end.

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Weekend Reading: Financial Blogger Conference Edition

“The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World”: A Book Review and Giveaway

Kevin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:38 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of reading “The Art of Non-Conformity“, by Chris Guillebeau. I actually won the book via a book review and giveaway hosted by Dr. Dean at the Yakezie. Thanks Dr. Dean and Chris for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

The premise of the book is simple, yet enticing: “Set your own rules, live the life you want, and change the world”. It sounds quite promising, but does the material of the book live up to the hype?

In this book review, I will be giving you my own personal interpretation and thoughts. This is the type of book that can elicit very different reactions in different people. I started out reading the book with the viewpoint of a cynic, but by the time I had reached the end, I was passionate, and inspired.

The art of non-conformity

Chris Guillebeau is an individual who has decidedly lead an non-conforming life. He has worked for years as a volunteer in Africa, spending time in many different countries and working with many top government officials. He is also a prolific writer and traveller, with the goal of visiting every country on the Earth as well as writing at least 300,000 words a year.

When I first started getting into the book, my initial reaction was on the cynical side. My first thoughts were “Ok, great, but not everyone has the personality or circumstances to just drop everything and do what you did.” It felt a little bit like reading the autobiography of a top Olympic athlete or singer. Anybody can preach from the top, but that doesn’t mean that it’s realistic or applicable for the vast majority of people. I wasn’t sure if I was reading something that would actually be applicable to my own life, or if this was a book only for people like the author and he was preaching to the choir. Chris even has a warning in the beginning that it will take a certain mindset to really appreciate the material.

I took a look at his checklist:

“You must be open to new ideas.”
“You must be dissatisfied with the status quo.”
“You must be willing to take personal responsibility.”
“You must be willing to work hard.”

I can procrastinate with chores, and I can get lazy if I don’t see the point, but ultimately, I’m down with all four of these. I decided to give the book a chance and I kept reading.

Breaking out of the mold

Chris starts out by talking about what it means to non-conform, and how we can break out of the mold and the walls that surround and bind us. Too many of us are trapped in jobs we don’t like or in situations we are not totally happy with, and we put up with it because we feel that we don’t have any other choice. We may feel the need to follow a traditional path and not disappoint our loved ones, or we may feel attached to the money.

As important as money is, we cannot ultimately enjoy it unless we are living a life in accordance with our highest values and passions. The fear of uncertainty and change holds us back from exploring, but we don’t need to be afraid, and we don’t need to be a victim of our circumstances. For those of us who have grown up in less than fortunate circumstances, we have unparalleled opportunities to improve our lives for the better. For those of us who have been blessed throughout our lives, this is our opportunity to make the fullest use of our gifts, instead of letting it to go waste.

With the rise of civilization, mass production, and big government, life has become increasingly regimented and industrialized. People have come to value standardization and throughput over trial & error and exploration. There is a time and a place for both, but I would personally argue that the excessive bias toward the “standard” way is due to the growing influence of government and the forced mass standardization of many aspects of society, including public education. I would also say that our true nature as human beings lies closer to the second path.

Both paths are important, but Chris argues that true progress comes from the explorers and innovators, and those who challenge authority instead of following it blindly. I would tend to agree.

You have to want it

I am personally an introvert, and I am often nervous about new situations and of change. I did not have the best beginning to my life, but the past is the past, and there is no reason to let it continue to place chains over my present and future.

We not only have the ability to shape our futures, but we bear the primary responsibility to do so! We can’t rely on someone else to make the decisions for us, as nobody has as much of a stake in our own personal success as we do.

Getting over your fear

Fear is an emotion, and emotions ultimately exist only inside of our heads. They are not things with real substance outside of our minds. Therefore, we have the ability to control our fear, and reframe the situation. Take the example of someone thinking about quitting their job. Many people believe that a full-time job is the safe and secure way, but that is not necessarily the case. It is all in how you frame the situation.

Traditional framing

I need a job to pay off my mortgage and car payments, and send my kids to college.
A job is stable and secure.
A job presents a good path to career growth and advancement.
Self-employment is risky and dangerous.
Most businesses fail.
I don’t have the ability to be entrepreneurial.

Contrarian framing

A job is voluntary servitude, where I help someone else realize their own dreams while I put my own on the side, and I pay off debt on a house and car that I paid too much for.
The future will need more kids that are independent thinkers and creators, not followers and memorizers.
People get laid off and companies close doors all of the time. My own job is not immune.
A corporation cares about its shareholders and exists to serve its customers. Employees are only a means to that end and are only valuable insofar as they match the corporation’s goals.
A job takes away time from following my own true passions and dreams.
Most entrepreneurs start more than one business.
All people are entrepreneurial in many decisions of their lives, such as who to marry, what to study, and where to live.

The truth is that there is limited security when you place your destiny in the hands of others. Self-employment is risky in a certain way, but working for others is risky in another way. The biggest risk lies not in the seen, but in the unseen: the stuff we never get to realize because we never gave ourselves the chance. Our true security lies in ourselves, in our own competence, abilities, and passions.

Financial freedom

Chris compares and contrasts income-based financial freedom to capital-based financial freedom. These correlate to stages 2 and 3 of my road to financial freedom. I agree with Chris that capital-based financial freedom is amazing, but we don’t need to wait until we get there. Having the ability to work for yourself and support yourself on your own income is a great goal to achieve, and offers true independence from having to work out of obligation. Then you can work on your own terms and choose work that you enjoy, rather than working out of necessity.

Financial freedom will give you the ability to decide what you want, and follow your highest values.

Creating true value

Ultimately, we only have one life to live. One day, everything we do will be ancient history and we may no longer be of this earth. Most of our small concerns will not measure up against the vast immensity of time, and will not make a difference. Everyday, we only need to ask ourselves: does this make a difference and add real value to others and to the world? Let that be our guiding light, and the rest will fall into place.

Ordering the book

Clicking the picture of the book below (disclaimer: affiliate link) will bring you to Amazon, where you can order a copy of this great book.

Giveaway

I enjoyed “The Art of Non-Conformity“, and in the spirit of passing the knowledge on, I will be passing along my copy in a giveaway. The author, Chris Guillebeau has also kindly offered to sponsor a copy via Amazon to any address in the U.S.! Please see below for details:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So, reader, have you ever thought about following the less-conventional path? I would love to hear more.

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Weekend Reading: Sopa Edition

Kevin — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:00:26 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

On Wednesday, many large sites around the world blacked out their sites in order to protest SOPA and PIPA, including Wikipedia and Reddit. It was probably the largest Internet blackout ever, and it may have had a bit of an effect as thousands informed their representatives of their displeasure and support has slipped. The fight is not over, though.

Here were the posts of the week:

With Valentine’s Day coming up soon, you may also like to read my 3 Frugal Ideas for a Romantic Valentine’s Day.

Weekend Reading

My favorite post at the Yakezie recently was Helping Others Succeed, by Wealth Artisan. I have seen their site evolve over time, and it is looking pretty good these days! There are a lot of great series there as well, and I would recommend that you head over and check it out.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job also had a great post up about stopping SOPA and PIPA.

Blogversaries

Yes, I Am Cheap is giving away a bunch of great prizes to celebrate her 3rd blogversary! My Personal Finance Journey is also celebrating his second blogversary, and as a special twist, he is giving away 5% of his blog income, with another 5% going to charity.

Career

Looking for tips on landing that hot job? LaTisha tells us how to write a job getting resume.

Investing

Looking for investment ideas in the oil & gas sector? Beating the Index takes a look at Hyperion Exploration and Palliser Oil & Gas.

It can be tough to keep up with inflation, especially in today’s artificially low interest-rate environment.

SPBrunner looks at investment results in 2011 and the last quarter, looking at the TSX and specific picks.

My Own Advisor has posted his favorite takeaways from the MoneySense guide to the perfect portfolio, with a follow-up post.

Rob Bennett on Balance Junkie gives us the Gene Mauch rule for investing success.

Miscellaneous

Have you ever wondered if Immigrant Workers Are Coming to a Shore Near You to Steal Your Jobs!

Marissa tells us her five ways to raise entrepreneurial kids.

Is it possible to get a side income from snow removal? There’s been less snow than usual here for this time of year, but it’s always possible.

Are New Year’s resolutions a waste of time? Having ongoing goals is also a good way to approach the problem, but the important part is being able to hold yourself accountable. I believe in aiming high to get most of the way there, but the path should also be lined with discrete steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all.

Personal Finance

Derek tells us why he didn’t end up going for a new laptop.

Jackie thinks that her husband should buy a Lotus Elise.

What are 5 terrible ways to pay off your debt? I suppose that one way would be to cut up the credit cards and ignore the mail and collection calls that come.

Smart Family Finance talks about how to get your family out of debt.

My Money Design talks to us about how to make budgeting easy with Mint. I have personally been iffy about putting all of my banking info in the hands of a single company, but they have built up a good reputation over time by following secure practices and safety protocols.

Political

We must always be vigilant against threats to our freedom: If This Bill Passes, Say Goodbye to Free Speech on the Internet.

Real Estate

YFS tells us about his old property manager from hell.

Is real estate worth investing in for rental income?

Technology

Apple’s new campus looks pretty spectacular.

Carnivals

Curious Cat Investing, Economics and Personal Finance Carnival #23
Diva In Debt Hosts the #344 Issue of Carnival of Personal Finance
Yakezie Carnival – Credit Cards Edition

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

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Problems with Akismet? Try These Great Free Alternatives.

Kevin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:54 +0000

A little more than a year ago, I was frustrated about being stuck in spam jail. It was difficult for me to comment on other blogs, and other bloggers shared the pain with me.

So, how do things look today? I wish I could say that they have improved, but they haven’t. I still have a problem whenever I comment on new sites for the first time. Nothing is more frustrating than when you comment on a new blog and your comment immediately gets tossed into the spam. You then have to fire off an email to the site owner, and pray that they see your email and get you out of the spam.

Unlike other plugins, Akismet charges for their services unless you run a personal blog. Even then, they try to make you feel bad about not giving them money:

I have nothing against a business trying to make money, as everyone needs to pay their bills. In that case, however, I would hope for at least some decent support. Instead, I never hear back or I am finally greeted with terse replies such as:

“Hi,

This is fixed but we cannot continually undo what bloggers are telling Akismet.”

According to Akismet, they do not run a blacklist. Therefore, even if one or two bloggers have somehow marked me as spam, another 40-50 high-quality blogs running Akismet approve my comments all of the time, so the problem should be limited to a small subset of blogs.

This is not what I have seen in practice.

The problems with Akismet

Akismet clearly has a problem with blocking legitimate commentators while still letting real spam get through. If they didn’t, then we would not be seeing the rise of alternative plugins. Here are the major problems with Akismet:

It blocks legitimate commentators.

You’ll know when this has happened. This is whenever you leave a comment on a site, and after a refresh, your comment is nowhere to be found. Usually you’ll see your comment right away, or you’ll see a message like “Waiting for moderation”. When Akismet blocks you, however, your comment simply disappears into a void.

At least with Akismet alone, you know when you’ve gone into the spam. With Intense Debate using Akismet as the back end, the problem is made significantly worse. Intense Debate will lie to you and pretend that your comment has been published, but when you check in another browser your comment is nowhere to be found. To make things worse, the site owner may not know how to see spammed Intense Debate comments, so you are effectively barred from ever commenting on that site.

You don’t know how frustrated I became when I took the time to leave thoughtful comments on some sites with Intense Debate and then I found out that my comments were lost forever.

It uses faulty heuristics.

The Akismet team claims that they don’t use a blacklist, but regardless of the technical details, the process works exactly like a blacklist.

How do I know this?

It’s easy. I am on their blacklist. All I have to do is to go any new site that is running Akismet, and try to post a comment with my name, URL and email address. Instant block. What if I change my name, URL, and email? Then the exact same comment will go through! If it looks like a blacklist and acts like a blacklist… it’s a blacklist!

Because they use blacklist-like behaviour, they make it more difficult for real commentators and easier for spammers. A real commentator usually sticks to the same name, email, and URL, so once they get on the blacklist, they’re screwed. It doesn’t matter how many sites approve their comments after that. A spammer, on the other hand, will use a combination of names, emails, and URLs so that they can work their way around the blacklist. Akismet still manages to catch a lot of these guys, but it doesn’t catch all of them.

What ultimately ends up happening is that some of your legitimate commentators get blocked, and unless you like sifting through hundreds of spam comments a day, you’ll probably never notice them. At the same time, some spammers get through. I always know when this happens when I get an update on a post I subscribed to months ago (once the owner got me out of the spam), and it’s some spammer trying to sell shoes or something like that.

The alternatives

Akismet was once the only game in town, but this is true no longer. Here is a list of plugins that can improve upon or even replace Akismet entirely:

Conditional Captcha

Conditional Captcha extends Akismet and shows a captcha only to those commentators that were going to end up in the spam, anyways. It greatly reduces false positives, and it actually greatly reduces spam at the same time because most spammers do not complete captchas. You can send these into the trash, leaving a much smaller pool of comments to moderate. Conditional Captcha also works with Typepad Antispam.

This plugin has been a lifesaver for me where other blogs have added it, and the author has been very receptive and attentive to feedback.

Typepad Antispam

This is an Akismet-like plugin, but without the false positives problem. You do need to moderate every trackback, though.

GASP

If you have ever seen those sites with the “Check if you are NOT a spammer”, then that site was probably running GASP. These checkboxes are much easier to use than a captcha, but most spammers don’t check it so they get effectively filtered out.

If you use this plugin, there’s no need to run Akismet at the same time!

DISQUS

Disqus is a commenting system that replaces the traditional WordPress system. I can only remember having a good experience with DISQUS on every site that has used it.

LiveFyre

LiveFyre also replaces the traditional WordPress commenting system, and it writes back comments to your DB so you can still remain in control. It also catches spam, but since you can register and authenticate yourself you don’t need to worry about getting blacklisted (unless you’re a real spammer, of course! )

Bad Behavior

Finally, Bad Behavior also deserves a mention. It takes a different tack by blocking spammers from being able to submit using your comment form, but unfortunately it is sometimes too aggressive and blocks legitimate people from using your contact form!

You can fix this by using the whitelist file:

Copy whitelist-sample.ini to whitelist.ini and add this:

url[] = “/contact/index.php”

url[] = “/contact/”

url[] = “/contact/*”

I am not sure of the exact format, so I just added all three and that seemed to work. Be careful as the whitelist gets overwritten whenever you update.

So, reader, I hope this post proves helpful. If you are a blog owner, I hope this convinces you to look at alternatives! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Improving Graduate Employability – Why Internships Are Important

Guest — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:48 +0000

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The following guest post is brought to you by RBS Insurance.

Employment in young people is at an all-time high in the UK and stories of graduates being unable to find employment in a restaurant, let alone something in their degree subject, is more common than drunks in a bar.

Our economy is threatening to dip back into the realms of recession and it’s becoming ever more obvious that a degree no longer puts you at the front of the pack when applying for jobs.
Many of you will be put off by the thought of internships – initiation rights, office tea-monkey and a minimum of three months working for free. The horror stories have done their rounds, but they are to be ignored (mostly because they’re just not true). Putting yourself out there will improve your employability and make you stand out from the crowd. Here are our top reasons why an internship will boost your CV.

[Kevin] I really agree with this! I was able to launch into my professional career thanks to the experience I had built up doing internships.

Who you know matters

The age-old expression “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know that matters,” does hold some truth when entering the big bad working world. Of course, an internship will build your confidence in the work place, hone your skills and expand your knowledge of the profession you’re trying to enter. However, whether you are trying to get your nose into the hard-nosed world of journalism or looking for insurance jobs when you graduate, an internship is the ideal platform for networking and building up industry contacts.

[Kevin] This also applies to other industries, such as software development.

A degree isn’t enough

Workplaces are rapidly demanding more specialised needs and employees with higher levels of skill, twin this with rising numbers of graduates year on year and competition for good jobs can only increase. Gaining a degree is a step in the right direction, but showing commitment and drive towards your career goal will make your name stand out in that long list of applicants. By working as an intern you enhance your real world experience and your commitment to working, even if you do dip into your travel savings.

[Kevin] I learned a lot about working in my field by doing internships, and as only the first internship was completely unpaid, I was also able to raise money for school.

A real-world social network

Forget LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, interning is the ultimate social network; the people you meet along the way may just be able to help you five years down the line, or even write a sparkling reference for your next job. The value of an internship usually lies with the people you work with – take advantage of industry social events as well as Friday night drinks with the girl at the desk next to you.

[Kevin] Agreed with this, though LinkedIn is better than the others. It all depends on the niche you are in, and the value of the online social networks lies more in keeping things professional, or remove the embarrassing stuff completely.

Remember that many companies use internship programs as a way of screening and training students for potential full-time work once you graduate. Stay in contact when your placement is over and your internship may turn into a job.

You may be working for little or even no pay during an internship, but the advantages of working in the field you want to work in over a job in the local pub will pay off in the long run. The key to justifying working for nothing for three months? You’ll get a higher paid job at the end of this whole education malarkey than you would if you had no experience.

[Kevin] Dear reader, how have internships helped you out in the past? They made a really big difference for me, especially coming out of school.

This guest post was brought to you by RBS Insurance.

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5 Signs You May Be Trapped in a Dead-End Job

Kevin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:54 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever been trapped in a dead-end job before? Being stuck in a dead-end job can be one of the worst feelings to have.

How do you know if you’re trapped in a dead-end job?

It depends on what type of job you have and what you are looking for, but few of us want to feel like a hamster in a cage: spinning our wheels like crazy, but getting nowhere fast. Here are five signs you may be caught in a dead-end job:

1. You count the minutes and do your hours

When you are happy with a job, you don’t stare at the clock. When you feel like you are going somewhere, you don’t try to figure out when you’ve done exactly the required amount of time so that you can jump and skip out.

When you stop caring about your job as much and start feeling that it’s taking away time from more important things, that’s the first sign that you are starting to become trapped.

There are many reasons why this could be happening. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you feel that there are adequate opportunities for advancement?
Do you feel that your boss and the management cares about you?
Is there a sense of camaraderie and a common purpose at your workplace?

Answering no to one or more of these questions can be a sign that things are starting to go downhill.

2. You feel like management is staffed by a bunch of incompetent buffoons.

It can get annoying to feel like management is not listening to the reports from the ground. Employees want to feel like they are working on projects that will make a difference, and that their concerns are being heard. Nobody wants to be stuck working on a manager’s bridge to nowhere.

One could have a cozy job with a nice benefits package and a decent salary, but it can still be tough to work on a soul-sucking project, fraught with problems that management is unwilling or unable to address.

At the same time, management doesn’t always know how to best motivate the employees. They may be taking a short-sighted approach to bleeding the employees dry, instead of giving them the tools and opportunities to succeed. Salary and compensation may be arbitrary instead of performance-based. This is a sure recipe for damaging morale and encouraging the best talent to look for better pastures.

What are some of the signs that the ship is starting to sink?

Departures are happening more and more frequently, and new hires are rare.
There is little communication between management and employees. Employees do their job without necessarily understanding why, and management only speaks in terms of generalities and vague statements.
Most of the real news comes only through the grapevine.

These are signs that management is not steering the ship in the right direction.

3. You spend more time looking at Facebook and other websites rather than doing your job.

Once these little trends have started to set in, then the next step is for employees to start spending more time surfing the web instead of doing their actual jobs. There may not be that much actual work to do, or the employees might simply be demotivated.

If you catch yourself falling into this routine more and more often, just be careful that you don’t end up in the unemployment line!

This trend can only last for a time, of course, before management starts to crack down and starts imposing stricter measures in order to get their employees back to work.

This phase usually lasts until there are mass layoffs or management starts a bridge to nowhere (or the company turns around — it can happen!)

4. Your manager keeps promising you that the promotion will come soon, but it never comes.

Managers know that they have to keep their employees motivated, but they may not have the budget to hand out salary raises or they may simply not have the will or desire to do so.

In this situation, they may hold back from sharing the bad news, as a blunt “don’t count on it” may demotivate the employee. Once resentment sets in, it becomes hard to coax it back out. A motivated employee is a more productive employee.

How long has it been since your last promotion? Has your management given you lots of hints but no concrete action steps? Is there even room for you to promote? If the upper ranks are completely stuffed, then you may be getting stringed along for a ride.

5. You have the responsibilities of a senior but the pay of a junior.

Imagine that after a couple of years, you finally get the raise and promotion you were waiting for. The problem is, the company’s base salary has risen with inflation so you now have the responsibilities of an intermediate or senior, but your pay is not that much higher than that of a junior’s! That doesn’t do very much for your financial motivation.

If you work in an environment that has been going through the symptoms described above, then you may also receive no recognition for your promotion: management may prefer to keep it hush-hush so as not to engender further resentment amongst those still waiting.

A dead-end job doesn’t mean that you don’t get along with your bosses and coworkers. You might have a good relationship with your immediate supervisor and your immediate colleagues, but if you’re not going anywhere and the ship is sinking, then you could still be trapped in a dead-end job.

Have you ever been trapped in a dead-end job before? What were some of the signs? I would love to hear your stories.

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Weekend Reading: Cold Snap Edition

Kevin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:00:22 +0000

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The temperature will be dipping to -30C overnight (that’s -22F), which is cooooold. Winter reminds me how much more I prefer to be under the hot sun, rather than in the freezing cold. I simply don’t have the body type for the cold!

Nonetheless, I am embarking on my first ski lesson, which I am doing every Sunday for the next couple of months. This will be my winter sporting activity, and hopefully by the end I will be good enough to tackle the slopes with ease. If I don’t turn into an icicle first.

Posts of the week

5 Tips for Your Personal Finance in 2012 - A guest post by new Yakezie challenger Finance Wand.
Book Review and Giveaway Part Three: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School - The third and last part of the review of this great book.
Why I Am Switching Career Tracks - A guest post by Corey and his plan to retire early, by the age of 27!

Thank you everyone for the great guest posts and discussions!

Blogosphere happenings

Sustainable Personal Finance picked Invest It Wisely as one of their best reads of 2011!
Check out Romeo Clayton‘s new book: How We Prevent Wealth.

On to some great weekend reading:

Weekend Reading

Goals

2012 Personal Finance New Year’s Resolutions (Young & Thrifty)
Our Ambitious 2012 Personal Finance and Investing Goals (My Own Advisor)

Investing

DeeThree Exploration: Are Investors Missing the Forest for a Tree? (Beating the Index)
How NOT to Invest in Water (101 Centavos)
NAL Energy to Underperform in 2012? (Beating the Index)

Lifestyle

How to Love Cooking (Consumerism Commentary)

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, and stay safe from the cold.

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5 Tips for Your Personal Finance in 2012

Guest — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:00:49 +0000

The following is a guest post by new Yakezie challenger Finance Wand.

Image via Wikipedia

The new year has recently passed, with lots of hope for all of us. We all have gone through financial stress for the last few years and now it is the best time to think about your financial fitness for the year 2012. The market has its own rules to follow and there may be changes in those rules in 2012.

Here are 5 tips for your personal finance in 2012 to take care of your financial fitness:

Negotiate with your banker: Many a times, with the coming of the new year, the bank comes up with new fees. Most of us will walk away from that bank if we find that our bank is charging us excessive fees. But it will be a better option if you can try to negotiate with your banker so that you can avoid these fees. Banks wants to retain their customers. So, if someone genuinely wants to retain the accounts with them, the banks may give special facilities to them. Your negotiation skills will play a big role here.

Be prepared with all documents while purchasing home: Your home is the biggest asset of your lifetime. So, when you purchase a home and take out a mortgage, you should keep all the documents ready. You will be surprised to note that many home purchase deals fail because the home buyers cannot provide the lender with the required documents. You should make a duplicate copy of all of these documents so that you can furnish them in case the lender loses any of the documents.

Make your credit cards active: You may have frozen your credit cards in order to save money and control your spending. As a result, your credit card company may have marked those credit cards as inactive. Inactive credit cards do not contribute to your credit report in any way. Thus, it will be better to contact your credit card company and try to make them active. Instead of avoiding the use of credit cards, it will be better if you can make disciplined use of them. If you make small purchases using those cards and then pay it off on time, then it will have a positive effect on your credit history.

Check your credit report: Whether you have a good credit report or bad, it is very important to check your credit report at least once a year. This will let you know what kind of items/accounts you have on it. You may dispute any type of wrong information that you find on it which will in turn help you in improving your credit scores.

Take care of your credit before you refinance: Good credit is always considered golden, especially in today’s market. You need to have good credit to refinance with the good interest rate. Avoid making late payments on your credit cards or auto loans just before mortgage refinance as it affects credit badly.

If you keep in mind these tips, you will find that your personal finance is at a good standing in 2012. Your finances will be in control and you may have also improved your credit to a great extent.

Jonny: My experience, knowledge and network of financial professionals makes me a more valuable resource for individuals and small businesses, I am trying to improve their current financial position as well as their future prospects. Check out my blog on personal finance and budgeting.

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Why I Am Switching Career Tracks

Guest — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:00:57 +0000

The following is a guest post by Corey from Passive Income to Retire, where he keeps track of his progress to retire by the age of 27.

Image via Wikipedia

With the economy in the current state that it is, it isn’t too uncommon for family members to spend more time working in order to either make more money or keep from getting fired. While I don’t have any major statistics to prove it, it only makes sense that families are struggling in this current economic environment. For example, I know several families where one of the spouses was forced to take a job that is multiple hours away from their home. They either choose to take a long commute or live close to the new job (away from the family) during the week. The economic downturn actually coincides with my current shift in my career plans that resulted partially from a desire to spend more time with my wife.

My Old Career Track

I am currently in Graduate School (and working full-time to pay for school) pursuing a masters degree. Up until recently, my plan was to continue on to Ph.D. work and later get a job teaching at a university. If you are unfamiliar with the academic lifestyle, it is quite rigorous. It requires you to not only prepare for your classes that you are teaching (usually 2-3 hours of prep for each class, if not more), but there is also a pressure to publish scholarly work.

Between all of the meetings, grading, teaching, and prepping, it is not uncommon for a college professor to work 60+ hours each week. Many people see this as the ideal job. I know that I did. The most often mentioned perk is the annual summer break. Who wouldn’t want 10+ weeks of summer vacation each year? At first glance, it seems that it would be worth the long hours during the school year. Yet, when you add in the constant need to research and stay up-to-date with the most recent scholarly conversations, the summer is also not much of a vacation. It makes you wonder if it is really worth it.

Why I Changed Career Paths

If it is not already obvious, I changed my mind about wanting to follow the track to become a professor. When I realized how much more work it would require to even be eligible for these positions, I was forced to reconsider. In addition to this, there were two major factors that turned me away. First, the fact that I would be constantly busy until late at night throughout the school year did not sound appealing. I want to spend time with my wife and live life with her. I can’t imagine working my life away and missing out on all of the shared opportunities. Secondly, I realized that professorship positions in the Humanities field are few and far between. This means that in order to get a job, I would have to be willing to move anywhere and I am just not sure I am willing to do that.

My New Plan

After I became quite successful (financially) with my first blog in only a short period, I began to think of the possibilities that the internet gives me. After giving it some thought, I developed an early retirement plan. My plan is to expand my online efforts to the point that it replaces day job. Once this happens, I plan to work on creating truly passive income streams that can be managed in less than 3 days each week. I plan to incorporate real estate and dividend stocks to complement my online business. Since my wife plans to continue working, we won’t need my income. This will keep me from overworking and stay committed to my working 3 days each week regulation.

Not only will this provide an excellent alternative to my previous career track, but will give me much more time to spend with family and friends. I will no longer be forced to spend entire weekends working on school work, but instead have time to enjoy life now (instead of waiting for the traditional retirement age). Overall, I am excited about the change in career path. While some may think that I gave up my dreams for my wife, I see it as understanding what is truly valuable.

Have you had a similar experience of realizing what is most important?

[Kevin] Corey is aiming for a very ambitious yet awesome goal of being free of the rat race by age 27. I think I would disagree with the term “retirement” because it’s really about financial freedom and having the freedom to decide when to work and how much, and retirement makes me think of someone sipping pina coladas all day. I wish him the best of luck on his journey, and I can’t wait to hear more!

This was a guest post written by Corey from Passive Income to Retire, where he keeps track of his progress to retire by the age of 27.

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Book Review and Giveaway Part Three: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

Kevin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:00:47 +0000

Welcome to part 3 of my review of “Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School“! If you don’t have the book yet, there’s a giveaway running across all parts of this book review with 5 copies of the book to be given away in all!

Read part one: Book Review and Giveaway Part One: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School.

Read part two: Book Review and Giveaway Part Two: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

7. Peek inside a pilferer’s playbook

This is an interesting chapter about the ways of financial advisors and how they manage to prevent clients from jumping ship, even those clients that have been armed with new knowledge about the facts behind mutual funds and index funds, and how the two stack up against each other.

What are some of the arguments that advisors may use against you?

“Why settle for average returns when we can outperform the markets?”
“Why go in a “dangerous” index fund when we can actively keep your money safe?”
“We’ll pick the best funds and beat the indexes.”

I know all too well about the tactics of these financial advisors. A “friend” of us sold us some back-ended funds once, when we weren’t as financially fluent as we are today. She probably didn’t mean no harm — after all, she was just a student, and she needed to put bread on the table, too.

What about those advisors that earn enough to buy themselves a Mercedes and a sweet home? Do you really want to be giving up your money so that they can enjoy it, at your expense?

I remember similar tactics that were used when we were buying our home to push us into an expensive five-year fixed mortgage instead of a cheap five-year variable. “The interest rates will be going up soon”, “You don’t want to be caught with higher payments”, etc…. Of course, they failed to mention that the world economy was still on the rocks and they were asking for a hefty premium for the privilege of a five year fixed rate.

We don’t have cheap 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgages here in Canada, so I filtered out the noise and went for the variable. One year in, the rates are exactly where they were. The rates will have to hike up quite a bit in the next four years in order for the fixed rate to end up the cheaper option, but in the meantime, that is extra money I can put towards the principal.

8. Avoid seduction

This is the chapter where Andrew warns us to avoid falling into the siren’s trap a la Bernie Madoff! He shares an interesting story where he watched a friend pull out fantastic returns at seemingly very little risk… until the truth came up and most people lost their shirts! He goes on to talk about rich people stealing from other rich people via hedge funds.

He also offers a point on how gold is not an investment in the sense that a stock or a bond is. On that point I agree with him, and I don’t want to see people duped by unscrupulous dealers. Nonetheless, I still believe that gold is an important asset.

9. The 10% stock-picking solution… if you really can’t help yourself

Finally, Andrew offers up some advice for those who just have to do some individual picking of their own. He talks about simple techniques that can be used to identify a great business, as well as the price/earnings ratio and how it can be used. He shares some of his own experiences, here, and wraps up the book with a great primer on how to select individual stocks.

Conclusion

Andrew is an excellent teacher, and he continues to inspire and motivate me through his passion toward finance and life. He uses humour and anecdotes to get us interested in the message, and then to show that he’s serious, he backs it up with a comprehensive set of references and research. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn more about personal finance or increase their knowledge, and share in the stories of a masterful teacher.

Ordering the book

Clicking the picture of the book below (disclaimer: affiliate link) will bring you to Amazon, where you can order a copy of this great book.

Further Reviews

Please let me know if you’d like to be added to the list.

Giveaway

This is a continuation of the giveaway started in part one and continued in part two of the review. There are five copies of the book to be given away in all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So, reader, have you read this book? If so, let me know your thoughts. If not, then enter the giveaway! The giveaway is running across the entire book review, with 5 books to be given away in all.

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Reading for Your Week: New Year Edition

Kevin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:58 +0000

Happy New Year, all! I can’t believe it’s already 2012. I know that it is already January 9, but this is also the first roundup I do in the new year.

Did you enjoy the holidays and the new year?

Here are some recent posts at Invest It Wisely that you may have missed:

Reading for your week

Blogging

December 2011 Blog Statistics and Income Update PLUS 2011 Annual Totals (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)

Carnivals

Best of the Best Personal Finance Investing Blog Posts of 2011 (Arbor Asset Allocation Model Portfolio Blog)
Canadian Finance Carnival #68 (Canadian Finance Blog)
Canadian Finance Carnival #69 (Canadian Finance Blog)
Carnival Of Financial Camaraderie # 13 – Christmas Edition (My University Money)
Carnival of Financial Camaraderie #14 (My University Money)
Carnival Of Financial Camaraderie #15 (Boomer and Echo)
Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #216 – December 23, 2011 (The Skilled Investor)
Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #217 – December 30, 2011 (The Skilled Investor)
Totally Money Carnival: First Foot into 2012 (Help Me to Save)

Government

Canada is More Economically Free Than the U.S. (Financial God)

Investing

2011 Year End Investing Survey (The Passive Income Earner)
A Chat With Vanguard Canada: Part 1 (Canadian Couch Potato)
Building Your Perfect Investment (Couple Money)
Dividend Growth Index Q1 Results (My Own Advisor)
Portfolio Update: 2011 Results (Beating The Index)
Stock Picking Contest: 4 Stocks to Buy in 2012 (Beating The Index)

Miscellaneous

Incandescent Lightbulbs Are Banned! Here is How You Can Work Around the Ban. (Financial God)
Patri Friedman Talks About Free Cities and Seasteading on the John Stossel Show (Financial God)
Travel Journal: Brazilian Traffic (101 Centavos)
What If You Want to Work Far Away After College? (Green Panda Treehouse)

Motivation

Are We Defined by Our Mistakes? (So Over Debt)
Waking Up to Reality (World of Finance)
You Are In Control (Consumerism Commentary)

Personal Finance

A financially responsible 2012 (Smart Wealth)
APR vs. APY (Net Worth Journey)
Creating A Passive Income With a System (Creating a Passive Income)
I don’t care what you do with your money. (Thirty Six Months)

Real Estate

How To Buy A House Without Mortgaging an Arm and A Leg (Yes, I Am Cheap)
My Plan To Help the Housing Market (Everyday Tips and Thoughts)
Should you buy a home in this economy? (Aaron Hung)

Technology

Technology: The Impact of Personal Drones (Online Investing AI)

Have a great week, everyone!

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Do You Really Want To Know How Much Others Make?

Kevin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:00:28 +0000

Image by wallyg via Flickr

I recently had a post about “When Can You Talk About How Much You Make?“, and I recently followed that up with a post on the Yakezie about “Do You Really Want To Know How Much Others Make?“. The discussion was started when Financial Samurai had a great post about why we should never tell anyone how much money we make.

What do you think? Are we too secretive about our finances in the Western world? Here is some of what I had to say:

The advantages of a more transparent society

Pay would be more closely tied to performance. What often happens with companies is that some people are friends with the boss, or some people just happen to have been around a long time, and during better years they were awarded big raise after big raise. After some period of time, their pay is out of line with their peers.

This isn’t such a big problem so long as newer employees, who may be working harder and doing more, don’t know about the injustice. Eventually, though, word gets around, whether accurate or not, and because everything is so hush-hush, HR and management don’t react until after many star players have already left.

What if things were more transparent?

The company would have to adjust pay to actual performance. Simple longevity or being friends with the boss wouldn’t be enough.

The company would have an easier time attracting and retaining star employees. They would have to justify giving a higher salary, of course, but these employees would be motivated to work harder, since they would know the boundaries of what they could achieve if they applied themselves.

It’s simple: Those who believe they are giving back more than they receive will move on to greener pastures, while those being fairly compensated or those who are receiving more than they give back will stay behind. The company, and the shareholders by extension, lose out.

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My Personal Goals for 2012

Kevin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:43 +0000

I recently had a recap of my goals from 2011; overall I did decent, but not as well as I would have liked.

I am constantly wondering how I can do better and how I can improve. I’ve learned that when setting goals, it’s better to aim high, fail slightly but still end up higher than you expected, rather than aim lower and hit your target 100%.

Here are my ongoing personal goals for 2012:

1. Write a book.

As I have plunged deeper into the blogging world, I have found myself gaining a greater appreciation and enjoyment of writing. Sometimes the more you do something, the more you enjoy it, or something like that.

I would like to write my first book this year and have it published. I am not talking about one of those free e-books; no, I am going for the real deal. I cannot reveal too many details just yet, but this will be one of my goals for this year. I’d love to hear from any of you that have already done it!

Goal: Get it done!

2. Triple overall blogging traffic.

I want to triple my overall blogging traffic from where it is now. I have had some good growth with Invest It Wisely over the year, and I would like to continue that this year. I am going to focus and learn on how I can improve, and also build up traffic on Financial God and Learn OpenGL ES.

Goal: Hit 350,000 unique visitors across all the sites this year.

3. Hit 100 pushups without falling on my stomach.

I made some progress in exercise last year, but not as much as I would have liked. Time to get more serious.

Goal: 100 pushups without failing.

4. Wake up at 5:30 consistently during the week.

Waking up early was the toughest goal of mine last year, and I failed miserably. Nonetheless I am going to be even more ambitious and aim for 5:30. I have been waking up regularly at 6:00 to 6:30 lately (except for the holiday week!) so I am getting there.

Goal: Wake up by 5:30am every day of the week except the weekends. Wake up by 8:30am on those days.

5. Learn a winter sport.

I am a bit ashamed that as a Canadian, I completely fail when it comes to winter sports. I have just paid a good chunk of money to rent ski equipment for the season and to book six all-day sessions, including two hour lessons each time. I am really hoping that I will be decent when I finish up, as my first experience skiing is better known as “1001 different ways to tumble down a mountain.”

Goal: Tackle a beginner or intermediate slope without falling down all the time.

6. Develop my self-confidence.

Once upon a time, I was a turtle in a shell. I am better these days, but I still get too nervous for nothing. This is hard to measure, but the way to grow here is to continue to challenge myself and push my boundaries.

Goal: Go to at least one big event and several smaller events this year and network with strangers.

7. Earn as much working for myself as I did working in an office.

The last goal to achieve, but probably the most stressful of all. I believe in financial independence and the diversification of income in order to grow net worth. The onus is now on me to deliver!

Goal: Earn 100% of my current net income, after taxes, from side income.

8. Reconnect with old friend and colleagues

There are old colleagues and friends from earlier years that I haven’t seen or spoken to too much lately. It’s good to keep in touch just to see what everyone’s been up to and share stories.

Goal: Reconnect with at least five people that I haven’t spoken to in too long.

Dear reader, what are your goals for 2012? Please share; I’d love to hear all about them.

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How to Make Money from Renewable Energy

Guest — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:00:26 +0000

The following is a guest post by Good Energy.

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Investing in renewable energy projects is not only good for protecting the world, but for generating revenue. Climate change is an issue that affects us all, and things need doing about it, and the investment required can only be drawn if there is a feasible return out there for those who do invest.

[Kevin] I wonder where we will end up by 2050. The good thing is that renewable energies are continually improving with time.

In a time of recession, the UK has failed to kick on in its quest to address climate change. Despite a £2.5bn investment, this isn’t enough. Good Energy is working with homeowners to find a solution to this problem.

Of course, that’s on a wider scale, but for house holders, anyone generating their own energy can be paid per unit of power, tax-free thanks to using one of the renewable energy companies found across the United Kingdom.

Known as a “feed-in tariff” (FITs), they are available to any household, business or community that generates electricity from solar panels, wind turbines or hydro power. A generation tariff is earned as a sum paid for each kWh of electricity generated by renewable means, an export tariff is a guaranteed sum paid at 3p per kWh for each kWh export to the grid.

Some examples:

Solar panels – typically placed on house roofs, solar panels capture the sun’s energy using photovoltaic cells, which convert the sunlight into electricity, which can be used to run household appliances and lighting.

[Kevin] Soon, solar panels will be cost effective with fossil fuels and won’t even require a subsidy. This is already the case for some situations.

Wind turbines – these use the power of the wind to generate electricity, on a large scale and a small scale. For householders, a micro-wind turbine can produce electricity to help power the lights and electrical appliances.

[Kevin] Some of the big windfarms have been boondoggles, but I like the idea of this on a smaller scale.

Hydroelectricity – this is when running water is collected from streams and rivers, which contain potential energy as they travel downhill. Hydro power systems convert this potential energy in to kinetic energy in a turbine, which in turn drives a generator to produce electricity.

Heat pumps – there are a range of heat pumps available, ranging from ground source pumps which use pipes buried in the garden to extract heat from the ground, to air source heat pumps, which absorb heat from the outside air.

There are “start-up” capital costs to implementing renewable energy devices, but there are instant returns on the energy provided not only to the household, but back to the grid too. Typically, a heat pump may cost £8,000, solar panels £6,000 and a 5kW wind turbine £25,000, a total of £39,000. Although a significant amount, the estimated immediate return could be as much as £3,300 per year, which means it would take just over a decade for a house to fully sustain itself and make a long term profit.

Of course, the biggest issue is generating the start-up funds to begin with. And you need a suitable plot or property, and long term plans to stay there. Developers could help too, by ensuring house designs are configured to minimise energy consumption and maximise potential of generating renewable energy.

This was a guest post by Good Energy.

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5 Mistakes Which Could Be Stopping You From Achieving Financial Success

Guest — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:00:16 +0000

The following is a guest post by Mark from CurrencyConverter.

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There was a time when all you had to do to secure your future was work hard for 40 years, retire and live happily on a reasonable pension. Unfortunately those times are gone, and in these times if you want to have a financially secure and happy life you need to put in the work from an early age.

So for all of you out there who are just starting out in life, here are 5 of the biggest financial mistakes people make and why they hurt your finances so…

Not Using Credit

Building a good credit rating will help you a lot in life, and in order to do that you need to prove to the world that you can borrow money responsibly and pay it back on time and in full.

A bad credit rating will mean that you pay more for your finance – things like mortgages and personal loans will be more expensive, which means you will pay more interest.

Using Too Much Credit

Some people go the other way and use up every bit of credit they can. Student overdrafts and credit cards are most commonly abused. But being in debt constantly for months or years can damage your credit, which will cost you in the future.

Use credit, but only use what you are sure you can pay back – and don’t take on more credit until you have paid back what you owe.

Not Saving For A Mortgage

Buying a house is probably the biggest expense you will have in your life and most people dream of the day when their mortgage is paid off. It is hard to think about when you are young, but if you put in the effort to save now you can save yourself many years of debt.

Mortgages tend to be cheaper the more money you put down – it means you have less to borrow and you get a cheaper rate; which means lower monthly payments. This makes life easier when times are good and also means that you can save more and look for other investments to grow your money.

Failure To Budget

You should always know what you are spending, whatever your situation. If times are good it might seem like you don’t need to worry about money, but the truth is that these are the times when you should be saving hardest.

A budget isn’t about depriving yourself, but figuring out what you are wasting money on. Figure out what expenses are worth it and which expenses you can cut. Cutting wastage will mean that you can live more comfortably when times are harder.

Apathy

Above all else, apathy is the biggest mistake you can make. Financial success doesn’t have to be arduous, but it does take a little effort. Don’t fall into the trap of putting off sorting out your own finances.

Thanks for reading my blog post – my name is Mark from CurrencyConverter. I love to write about finance, currency and business and just generally helping people to acheive success.

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Congrats to the Winners of the $300 Christmas Charity Giveaway!

Kevin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:00:06 +0000

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The winners of the $300 Christmas giveaway have been drawn and paid! I would like to thank all of the winners for participating, and my fellow sponsors for being very generous and helping out with this giveaway.

The Winners

Michelle S. ($100 via PayPal; $100 to the charity of their choice)
My Own Advisor (Courtesy of Beating The Index: $25 via PayPal; $25 to to the charity of their choice)
Patrick F. (Courtesy of Sustainable Personal Finance: $25 via PayPal; $25 to to the charity of their choice)

The three charities chosen by the winners (in no particular order) were:

Thanks again, and there will be more giveaways coming up on Invest It Wisely. In fact, there is a book giveaway of 5 copies of “Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School” going on right now!

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Book Review and Giveaway Part Two: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

Kevin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:00:59 +0000

Welcome to part 2 of my review of “Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School“! If you don’t have the book yet, there’s a giveaway running across all parts of this book review with 5 copies of the book to be given away in all!

Read part one: Book Review and Giveaway Part One: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School.

4. Conquer the enemy in the mirror.

If you buy stocks, should you be happy when the price is high or when the price is low? If you answered low, then great, but if you answered high, then you may be falling victim to the enemy in the mirror.

Andrew Hallam also wrote about this topic in MoneySense magazine back in the summer of 2011. He reported that “the average actively managed U.S. mutual fund reported a 10% annual gain from 1980 to 2005 after fees and expenses, but investors in those funds averaged just 7.3% over the same period. Their fear of low prices prevented them from buying when the funds were low, while their elation at high prices encouraged purchases when fund prices were high. Such bizarre behaviour has devastating financial consequences, as investors give away 2.7% annually because of their knee-jerking alter egos.”

How can we conquer the enemy in the mirror? Unfortunately, we are susceptible to emotional stress when investing, and financial advisors especially like to take advantage of this. They steer us away from “volatile” low-cost investments towards “safer” investments, although the only way that these investments can truly be considered safe is if you consider the impact on the financial advisor’s bottom line!

These emotions also go the other way – we can become fearful, but we can also become very confident, too, and we can start believing that we can actually time the markets. Instead, we lose money from jumping in and out of the markets at the wrong times because we followed our emotions instead of adopting a more rational approach.

There is, however, a way that we can turn fear & greed to our advantage: we can use an asset-allocation approach to determining when to buy and sell. With a bit of contrarianism and a willingness to follow your asset allocation strategy, it may even be possible to beat the market with bonds.

5. Build mountains of money with a responsible portfolio

In this section, Andrew talks about building up a responsible portfolio that will meet a person’s needs for growth and stability, as well as saving them money on expense fees. One of the rules that he recommends is to link your bond allocation to your age: for example, a 40-year old person would have about 40% of their investment portfolio in bonds, adjusted for their risk tolerance. Someone expecting a large pension might go more aggressive on the stock allocation, for example.

It can be even simpler than that: a couch potato strategy will outperform the vast majority of actively-managed funds out there.

6. Sample a “round-the-world” ticket to indexing

In this chapter, Andrew takes a look at actual portfolios held by people around the world, and the options available in different countries. Unfortunately, the landscape in Canada has been more dire than in other places. Our economy contains only a few large banks, and these banks have traditionally been very successful at scaring investors into forking over much of their gains. Indexing giants such as Vanguard do not offer their mutual funds in Canada, and until recently, the only alternative was to buy their ETFs off of an American stock exchange.

However, there are signs that this is now changing: Since December 6th, several Vanguard ETFs are now available on the TSX! For Canadian investors such as myself, this is great news. I can only hope that their mutual funds will follow soon.

Ordering the book

Clicking the picture of the book below (disclaimer: affiliate link) will bring you to Amazon, where you can order a copy of this great book.

Giveaway

This is a continuation of the giveaway started in part one of the review. There are five copies of the book to be given away in all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Recap of Personal Goals for 2011

Kevin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:00:47 +0000

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Happy New Year! The beginning of the new year is a common time to make new goals for the year ahead. First, let’s take a look at my goals from 2011 and evaluate how I did:

Learn Mandarin

2011 goal: Have a fairly fluent conversation with my girlfriend or her parents. This means that I can talk about various topics without pausing or searching for words too much.
Status: PASS. I can have a basic conversation about basic topics. I don’t consider myself anywhere near fluent, and I still need to improve a lot, but it’s pretty neat that I can now hold basic conversations and understand a good portion of the characters. I am taking the final Chinese course of this program this semester. Languages have never been my forté, but I am getting there.

Save 50% of net income

2011 goal

I would like to save or invest 50% of my net income this year; this might be one of the toughest goals to achieve! We are moving into a new condo very soon, so we have notary fees to pay, a “welcome” tax, new furniture to buy, and so forth. My car is also coming up for purchase, and I am considering buying it out. Unless I get a very low interest rate, I am going to try to do this in cash. Then there are the usual mortgage payments, etc… and as I didn’t use much vacation time last year, I will have up to five weeks of vacation time to use this year. Company policy has changed so there is no more carrying forward… use ‘em or lose ‘em! It would be nice to use some of that to go somewhere.

In short: It will be difficult to hit 50%, but on the other hand, if I hit my New Year’s Blogging Resolutions, then this may be achievable.

Status

PASS. I pretty much made it. I think I hit about 45% overall when all was said and done, which is a bit short of the goal but very good nonetheless. I included money saved and money invested, as well as debt repaid. I did not include market changes in the value of my investments.

I had a great deal of help from the company’s 6% match; without that I don’t think I would have made it, as the taxes were killer this year. I ended up going to St-Kitts for a week and Ethiopia for about two; both were quite interesting vacations. I stayed home for the last two weeks of December except for a short trip into the States.

Get Healthier

2011 goals

There are a few aspects of getting healthier:

Healthy eating
Exercise
Sleep

Eating better food has been an ongoing goal for a while, now. It’s already more than a year since I used to eat pizza pockets for breakfast and various frozen foods for dinner. I don’t eat perfectly, but the 80/20 rule applies: Getting much of the way there is already a big improvement. I don’t eat out very often anymore, and we cook meals at home most of the time. There are still things to work on, like weaknesses for sweets or using an empty fridge as an excuse to buy pizza instead of going grocery shopping.

I’ve been a bit less successful with exercise, but I’ve recently found a strategy that works for me. I’ve ended my gym membership, as paying to work out next to big, stinky guys isn’t really effective for me. I don’t think I have the build or genetics to be big, myself, so maybe something else would be more effective.

In the spirit of Primal Blueprint Fitness, my exercise goal is to reach the following level of fitness in 2011:

50 pushups x 2
12 chinups x 2, 12 pullups x 2
50 squats x 2
12 shoulder press pushups x 2
Forearm/feet plank for 90 seconds, and side planks for 45 seconds each side. x 2

This is a decent level of fitness. I’m probably about 40% of the way there, so there is really no excuse to not hit this level this year.

Finally, Getting a good night’s sleep is the area I’ve been the least successful with, so this is where I can find the most improvement. Maybe a vampire bit me when I was young, because without constraints, I can find myself waking up in the afternoon and sleeping in the morning. Other times I wake up early enough since I need to get to work, but then I feel like a zombie with a “foggy head” the whole day; this might be because my sleeping and waking hours aren’t consistent enough. My 2011 goal is to start waking up around the time the sun rises or 6:30 am, whichever is more reasonable. This might be the toughest 2011 goal for me!

Status

FAIL. I have been eating healthier and I can’t complain too much about our dietary habits these days, but I totally mucked on the waking up early and the exercise bit! It wasn’t a complete wash, as I improved on pushups and I no longer sleep until 1pm on the weekends. I am still embarrassed and I should have been able to do it.

Practice self-control

2011 goal: Don’t say things that I will come to regret later on. Don’t hit the wall or other things in frustration.
Status: PASS. I actually didn’t remember even having this goal. I still acted a bit stupid this year, but overall I can say that it was a good year for me here.

I did best on the savings front and worst on the exercise and waking up early front. Overall, some progress is better than none and I need to work harder this year so that I can continue to make more progress.

So, reader, how did you do in 2011? What are your ongoing personal goals? I’d love to hear your stories.

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Happy New Year! A Review of 2011.

Kevin — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:01:13 +0000

Image by james_gordon_los_angeles via Flickr

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2012!

Invest It Wisely saw a good amount of healthy growth in 2011; search engine traffic in particular grew fantastically. One thing I would like to work on is on my engagement with the readers. In light of that, I would like to ask: Dear reader, what do you enjoy about this site, and what would you like me to improve? If you are not satisfied, then I have failed. I am always looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

2011 in recap

~118,000 unique visitors; up 400% from 2010 over a matching period of time.

1009 Twitter followers; unsure since I don’t know the count from 12 months ago, but probably also up around 400%.

731 RSS subscribers; up 242% from the beginning of the year.

Most popular posts of 2011

Some of these posts were featured or were the subjects of heavy commentary; I was surprised to see some of the others appear in this list! Here are the top most commented posts of all time, excluding giveaway-type posts:

Most commented posts of all time

I can’t forget about all of the great support from my fellow bloggers. Here are the top 10 referring blogs and publications of 2011:

Top 10 referrers of 2011

Happy New Year, and I hope you enjoyed a good one with friends and family. Here’s to a great 2012 together.

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Zeitgeist 2011

Kevin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:00:20 +0000

What are some of the highlights and major events of 2011?

* Osama Bin Laden killed.
* Tsunami hits Japan.
* Floods in Brazil.
* The Arab Spring.
* Kate and William.

There was some good, and some bad, but we made it through another year! Now the real test will be 2012 — the last mainstay of those who continually predict the end of the world. Are there any big prediction years after this?

Be safe out there tonight, and have a great New Year’s celebration!

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Making $30,000 from Blogging in 2012: Joining the $30k Challenge

Kevin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:00:14 +0000

I have just joined the 30k Online Money Bloggers challenge! This challenge pushes us bloggers to earn ourselves an incremental $30k from blogging in 2012. The income can be derived from advertising, staff writing and blogging. I am quite a ways off from there but this challenge will push me to get things moving in 2012!

I love the idea of this challenge, especially since I believe so strongly in financial independence, but I was originally pretty iffy about joining since that would mean discussing what I earn online. I tend to be a private person when it comes to those things so I wasn’t sure about divulging that information.

On the other hand, I like the idea of teaming up with like-minded bloggers and pushing each other towards this common goal. I recently talked about “Do You Really Want To Know How Much Others Make?“, and while I will not be revealing all, maybe there is no need for such secrecy, either.

There will be a guest post from me on the site soon on my plan for 2012. Anyone can join the challenge if they follow the requirements.

Good luck to all of my fellow challengers in 2012!

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Holiday Reading: Merry Christmas!

Kevin — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:00:40 +0000

Image by paparutzi via Flickr

Invest It Wisely will be on holiday until 2012. I am grateful to all of my readers and commentators, and I wish each of you and your families a very merry Christmas and happy holidays! There is also still a day left to enter the $300 Christmas charity giveaway, so don’t miss out!

Things I am grateful for

Here are just a few of the things that I am grateful for this holiday season.

One year of condo living.

We’ve lived together in this condo now without any major hassles, and our neighbours seem mostly civilized and decent. As I’ve had bad neighbours in the past, this is definitely something to be grateful for!

My grandmother is in good health.

My grandmother is like a mother to me, and while she is getting older and her physical and mental faculties are slowly diminishing with age, she has also made an amazing recovery since her stroke three years ago. I would not be where I am in life today without her influence and support over my entire life.

My girlfriend is doing really well at her job.

I am also grateful that things have really turned around for my girlfriend at her job. A year ago, the upper chain of management was quitting, large groups were getting laid off, and salaries were being slashed. Things looked dire, and it looked like the company might go into receivership due to some accounts receivable issues. The company, however, still had plenty of business, and things eventually turned around.

With much of management gone, the doors were wide open for my girlfriend to grow and advance. She has become highly respected by her colleagues and things are going good now. I try to be grateful since now I am the one on the sinking ship and the comparison sometimes makes me feel it even more!

I started to monetize my blog this year.

I am grateful that I finally have a real side income from my blog, and it is in large part thanks to the support of my readers and fellow bloggers, especially the great group we have at the Yakezie! It is most certainly not enough to replace my full-time income, but it is a start. I want to concentrate on growing this because I believe strongly in achieving financial independence.

Good health and opportunities.

Above all, I am grateful for having good health and having access to good opportunities. Sometimes as people we try to catch up with the Joneses and forget how good we have it. I know that I can fall victim to this. I have travelled to places like Ethiopia where there are little opportunities and no developed market, and to places like Korea where the people are fantastically hard-working and warm, but where the culture can also be stifling and there is no room for going against the grain. Being born in Canada is like winning the lottery, even with our weather and taxes.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Holiday Reading

Carnivals

Canadian Finance Carnival #67 (Canadian Finance Blog)
The Best of Money Carnival #134, The Christmas Songs Edition (One Cent at a Time)
Yakezie Carnival – 10 Tools I’m Thankful For in My Personal Finances – December 18th, 2011 Edition (My Personal Finance Journey)
Yakezie Roundup (Green Panda Treehouse)

Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas…Personal finance and bloggers edition (My Own Advisor)
Bah Humbug! Presents Make No Economic Cents (My University Money)
Pay It Forward: A True Christmas Story (Afford Anything)

Goals

Top 5 Hits And Misses For 2011 (Financial Samurai)

Investing

Dividend Income – December 2011 (The Passive Income Earner)
How Canada’s Banks Let Canadian Investors Down: Part 3 of 7 (Andrew Hallam)
Reader Question; SHOULD I INVEST IN A CLOSED END FUND? (Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance)
Stock Trades: Sold Perpetual Energy (Beating the Index)
You’d Be Crazy To Not Own Apple (AAPL) (Intelligent Speculator)

Lifestyle

Live to work or Work to live (Thirty Six Months)
Retiring Abroad — A Few Things to Ponder (101 Centavos)

Miscellaneous

It’s Date Night! 6 Cheap Ways to Sweep Each Other Off Your Feet (Budgeting in the Fun Stuff)

Motivation

4 Reasons You Should Set Unrealistically High Goals (Roshawn Watson)
Decisions: How YOU Can Improve! (Dr. Dean)
Thoughts For Thursday: Warm Weather and Perspective (Everyday Tips and Thoughts)

Real Estate

China Bubble About to Explode? (Financial God)
Here’s What Happens When You Rent to College Kids (Darwin’s Money)
How to Rent out Your Basement Suite: Part II (Young & Thrifty)

Stay safe on the roads, and see you all in 2012!

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How to Get Out of Student Debt

Guest — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:00:22 +0000

The following is a guest post from Marissa at Thirty Six Months where she talks about getting rid of her student debt and becoming financially independent.

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It is very unusual to find a graduate student in their 20′s these days without a mountain of debt, regardless of whether they worked through university or not. I am one of those graduate students.

Part of the reason for my debt is over-spending, a lot of over-spending. The other part is being negligent with my finances while I was in school.

I am currently in debt approximately $18,000, all of which are student and personal loans. I graduated with $31,000 of debt. My net worth is a different amount. I am from the school of thought where saving is also a priority along with paying off debt.

Why I was given a student loan when I made as much as I did was beyond me, but I clearly did not have my head on straight when I was younger. The last year and a half has consisted of me attempting to bring that down as much as possible without going to the extreme.

My work involves a lot of travelling, and luckily most of my travel expenses are covered by my employer. This helps a lot because I am attempting to limit my expenses. I do have my vices: watches, shoes, and Starbucks, but I have attempted to modify my mentality towards those as well.

Things that I am doing differently to accelerate my debt repayment:

Creating a budget. I know this is not rocket science but I had never created one. I just spent the money that I had access to.

Cutting on optional expenses. This includes my gym membership – I have a treadmill, and free weights at home and I play soccer twice a week. Optional expenses also means reducing the amount of times I eat. This is harder than it sounds since I commute for work and usually have after work meetings with my clients in a different city.

Shopping around for big expenditures. Things like car insurance, banks, work equipment, vacations. I used to spend $200-$300 on jeans alone without thinking twice about it. Oh how I wish I hadn’t done that.

Take on side projects for extra income. I started doing web-design and I do project consulting work for a few friends which has now snowballed into something bigger and I need to take on additional staff to handle the side work. I find that this is the key. You can only cut down on expenses so much, to accelerate the process you need to bring in extra income. There are a lot of resources out there for finding side income.

Things that I have prioritized along with debt repayment:

Creating an Emergency Fund. I know the goal is to pay off debt as soon as possible, but I like the security that an emergency fund provides. Credit lines don’t come close to this. I have been preaching about emergency funds to everyone. You never where life takes you or when you decide to quit your job and venture on the path of self-employment, or even better – travel for a few months. An emergency fund can cover any unexpected fees outside of what you budgeted for.

[Kevin] In spite of a controversial post where I suggested that using a credit card was better than using an emergency fund (or something along those lines), I pretty much agree with Marissa here. A pot of cash on the side is just another bucket of savings that gives you additional flexibility and freedom.

Stick to my budget. Creating a budget is easy; sticking with it is the hard part. We all think we can cut out shopping and eating out but the reality is that it takes a huge lifestyle shift to do that. I attempted to cut eating out all together, went out a few times, became very disappointed and nearly gave up on my budget. I think it is imperative to modify and adjust your budget to your needs and lifestyle. After all, if paying down debt is your priority then you will do what you have to do. I now include a set savings amount for a car fund, insurance fund as well. This avoids surprises latter.

Continue saving for travel. I love travelling. It is one of my passions. I love being lost in a foreign land and discovering things that tourists will never see. I live for those adventures. So when I started my journey towards financial freedom I had a choice to make: did I want to give up something that has always been a priority to eliminate my debt, or could I simply reduce the number of trips and still use them as a treat? I chose the latter and I am very happy with it. Oddly enough, I have become extremely frugal when travelling these days. I hunt for deals, find trips to off beaten paths and usually involve multiple people so we all share the expenses.

Investing. This is something I should have paid attention to a few years ago, but I am monitoring my investments and retirement portfolio closely now. My employer matches 50% of any investments in the company stock. I would have been stupid not to take advantage of this, they always allow paycheck withdrawals for RRSPs. I partake in both, but I am not actively managing the latter since it contains index funds.

I also opened up an e-Series account and an online brokerage and am slowly becoming actively involved in that as well. I don’t always know what the right call is, I like the idea that with enough research and common sense, you generally can make the right decision. A side note to this – women need to pay more attention to where their money is being invested.

There is no clear path to becoming debt free instantly; it is a mental shift. I am a lot more conscious of my decisions and being aware of my financial situation has allowed me a clarity that I value. If becoming debt free is important to you, then making the right personal and professional choices becomes rather simple.

This was a guest post from Marissa at Thirty Six Months where she talks about getting rid of her student debt and becoming financially independent.

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Invest It Wisely

What Are You Doing to Turn Your Discomfort into Action?

These Three Jobs Are a Great Way for a Teen to Earn Money and Learn Something About Life at the Same Time

The benefits of working as a teen

Three jobs, and three great learning experiences.

Paperboy

Landscaper

First factory job

Tightening regulations are making it harder for the youth to get jobs.

Life is about learning, and we are never too young to start learning valuable lessons for the future.

The Tools of a Blogger and Developer

“The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World”: A Book Review and Giveaway

The art of non-conformity

Breaking out of the mold

You have to want it

Getting over your fear

Financial freedom

Creating true value

Ordering the book

Giveaway

Weekend Reading: Sopa Edition

Weekend Reading

Blogversaries

Career

Investing

Miscellaneous

Personal Finance

Political

Real Estate

Technology

Carnivals

Problems with Akismet? Try These Great Free Alternatives.

The problems with Akismet

It blocks legitimate commentators.

It uses faulty heuristics.

The alternatives

Improving Graduate Employability – Why Internships Are Important

5 Signs You May Be Trapped in a Dead-End Job

1. You count the minutes and do your hours

2. You feel like management is staffed by a bunch of incompetent buffoons.

3. You spend more time looking at Facebook and other websites rather than doing your job.

4. Your manager keeps promising you that the promotion will come soon, but it never comes.

5. You have the responsibilities of a senior but the pay of a junior.

Weekend Reading: Cold Snap Edition

Posts of the week

Blogosphere happenings

Weekend Reading

Goals

Investing

Lifestyle

Miscellaneous

Motivation

Personal Finance

Politics

Carnivals

5 Tips for Your Personal Finance in 2012

Why I Am Switching Career Tracks

Book Review and Giveaway Part Three: Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

7. Peek inside a pilferer’s playbook

8. Avoid seduction

9. The 10% stock-picking solution… if you really can’t help yourself

Conclusion

Ordering the book

Further Reviews

Giveaway

Reading for Your Week: New Year Edition

Reading for your week

Blogging

Carnivals

Government

Investing

Miscellaneous

Motivation

Personal Finance

Real Estate

Technology

Do You Really Want To Know How Much Others Make?

The advantages of a more transparent society

My Personal Goals for 2012

1. Write a book.