Category: Business

How to promote your event — the opposite way that everyone else is

In the days before the internet — this is when the earth was still cooling and bread cost a nickel — telephone poles near intersections and on busy streets were often covered with rusting thumb tacks and the gummy residue of old tape. Why? Because this was where people passed by regularly, which meant that this was an ideal area to get information to those people.

These poles became the holders of cheaply copied signs for garage bands, bake sales and fundraisers, along with the desperate pleas to find lost pets. Some poles held a poster or two, while the prime locations would be so covered with old staples and nails that the surfaces were now more metal than wood. These were the go-to spots for grassroots marketing; when you didn’t have a budget, when you just needed to get information out to a select group of people quickly without cost.

Now there was no way to track how successful this method actually was — few people at the garage sale passed out how did you hear about us, surveys. But the poster-on-a-pole system was easy, it was free, and it was what everybody else was doing.

Now occasionally you will see these telephone poles being used this way today, but they are somewhat rare — you’re more likely to see signs in the grassy parts near stoplights offering to get you out of debt quickly or to buy that old unwanted house, but that’s not the same. The garage band and the yard sale have now moved on to social media.

Social media has become the telephone pole of the internet; a way to get the word out about your stand-up routine at an open mic night, or when the Little League is having a car wash. Why? Because it’s simple, it’s free, and it’s what everybody else is doing.

Now, all of us eventually will need to do some kind of promotion — whether it’s to get the word out about the church’s Easter play, or to help increase membership in the dart league. At some time in our lives, we all need to promote — something. And it’s very easy to think, hey I am never going to do this again, I just want people to know that we are having a chicken barbecue for The Lions Club — so let me put in on Facebook and be done with it.

Yup, you can do that. In fact most people do.

But here is an example.

Next time you are on Facebook, in the search bar type the words WRITERS GROUP. When you do, many Facebook groups will pop up — some from your area, your region, and others will be large country wide groups — some of these will be large groups of 50,000 members or more.

Now if you go on one of these groups, this is what you’ll see. There will first be a description for the group that will say something like — this is the Tralfaz Writers Group. We are dedicated to the craft of writing and of supporting each other develop the skill of storytelling.

Okay, great. Then scroll down and look at the posts. The first one you’ll find will be from a middle aged women showing her face and her book jacket. She will tell you that her book, Vampire School, is now on sale for only .99 on Amazon. The next post will be from a young man talking about his book Space Sylum, and that it’s free all this week with Amazon Prime. The one after that, will be from a college student stating that she is willing to give away a copy of Wispy Danger, to anyone that will give her an online review.

And so on.

And so on.

And so on.

There will be no discussion on prose, or of storytelling, or of crafting a character. In fact, there will be no discussion of writing at all; it will simply be one message over and over, from everyone there — buy my book, buy my book, buy my book. A message that quickly becomes white noise.

But it actually goes beyond that because these people are trying to sell books — to people who are trying to sell books. That’s like going up to people at a bus stop and asking for a ride.

So why do writers to this?

That’s easy. Because it’s simple, it’s free, and it’s what everybody else is doing.

It’s like the old joke where a man sees another man under a street light looking for his lost watch. “Where did you lose it?” the man asked.

“Oh, I lost it way over in that alley. But the light is better here.”

We tend to promote, the way that is easiest — even if the results will be affected.

And when it comes to events, the irony of social media is that it’s great to get information out quickly, but it’s more difficult to track a call to action that involves attendance.

You could have 400 people commit on your Facebook Poetry Reading Event, but that doesn’t mean that 400 will show up, because there is no connection. It’s not a commitment; they just clicked YES on a Facebook page.

So what’s the answer?

   THE FOUR PROMOTION METHODS THAT WORK EVERY TIME

      1. Don’t publicize. Promote.

There are very few things in life that will make you react — just because you know about them. We don’t hear about a new movie coming out and suddenly want to see it — oh, there’s a new movie? Let’s go. No, we need more information; what’s the movie about, who is in it, what type of film is it? The same is true about grassroots events. If there is a yard sale this Saturday, so what. There is a yard sale every Saturday. How big is the yard sale? How close it? How rare are the items? What does this yard sale have that the one closer to my house doesn’t?

Now that’s a yard sale, what about hearing of events you have no connection to. What if there is an Opera coming to town? So what. I know nothing about Opera and have never been to one — and am probably a little intimidated by then — so hearing about an Opera would have no effect on me.

However, if a friend had tickets and asked me to go along, I might. If there was a promotion for people who had never been to the Opera, to get a reduced ticket, maybe. If the Opera Company approached my employer and offered a special rate for us, I might go. If a radio station gave me tickets and then was going to interview me right after and ask what my first experience with Opera was like, yeah. Or if I knew more about the Opera itself, if by going I felt connected to something I wasn’t before, then yeah, I might go.

     2. Nose-to-nose.

There was an old phrase in business back when I started thirty years ago. It said, a face to face meeting, is much better than a phone call. That same rule has changed. It’s now — a phone call, is much better than an email.

We are getting further and further away from our customers. Which means that those marketers that do make a direct connection, have a clear advantage.

An example here is, how many times have you seen kids outside of Walmart asking for money for their Little League team or their town basketball team? All the time. Those fundraisers have a low cost and bring in a lot of needed money for the group.

But how many times have those kids or parents — asked you to come watch a game?

Probably never. They most likely just thank you for your donation and move to capture the next person leaving. They have that great opportunity to market directly to you — to tell you about their organization and get you involved — and they pass it by.

Even if they invite you and you never go — you are now connected to them, simply because you were asked.

      3. Create an event — to promote the event.

As much as the word stunt can has a negative connotation to it, stand out events work — walk down Broadway in New York anytime and see how many actors in full costumes, hand you a flyer and ask you to come see them later in the show.

At the Sundance Film Festival, there is a VIP and celebrity shuttling service that actually creates an event in the vehicle on the way to the film. These are sponsored by various companies, so on the way to the film, there will be truth or dare questions and winners are given Ray Ban sunglasses as prizes.

Why does it work? People want to experience new things, they want to see something cool and tell people about it.

Don’t believe me? Watch the Macy’s Parade this Thanksgiving. This event has taken this idea to the extreme, in fact the parade itself has become a very small portion of this event — the bulk is dedicated to the promotion of the latest Broadway shows, and singer’s new albums. It’s presented as if it’s all part of the parade, but in reality this is now one long infomercial.

But one area that actually does a very good job with this concept, are County Fairs. If you go to a fair and go in the areas where nonprofit groups display, they will have interactive events, games, contests, all to tell you about what their organizations do but also getting you quickly involved in it.

Having a community theatre event? Get the actors in full costume to the mall and hand out flyers. Having a penny social? Have an event to try and guess how many pennies in a jar. Having a bake sale? Create a free class where you make your favorite cookies in front of people and give them the secret recipe.

The only limit is what you are willing to do.

      4. The side push

Now if there is one method that works better than all the methods combined, it’s the side push.

Here is a perfect example. My publisher recently sold the film rights to a novel I wrote to a film company that is packaging the book as a feature film. The novel is set in 1992 and the story is presented as if the events really happened; the book is only the journals that finally tell that story. In fact, Amazon called the book — the novel that you have to Google to see if it really happened.

The film company wanted to capitalize on this and set out to have a small companion book written; documenting the events as if they were facts — sort of the way that The Blair Witch Project promoted that film. They went out to get some bids from writers on getting a small companion book made that they could give out to potential investors, as well as used to market the film.

So what happened?

Book sales went up. Drastically.

Why?

Because all the writers that wanted to be a part of this project, went out and bought the book to familiarize themselves with it — they didn’t do it because they were told to, but for research. But once they did, they felt a connection to it because they wanted to be the writer chosen. Now their creative work — the companion book — was connected to the novel itself. There was a bond and they not only bought it and read it, they began promoting it — writing reviews and telling others.

So how can you create this effect that happened by accident?

Let’s say that your Garage Band is playing an event you’re trying to promote. Post that you need a new logo designed — don’t go to a logo company, post on social media and craigslist that you want to find a local artist that can capture the music in that perfect image, and that you want to have the logo in place for this specific event.

Now promote your new logo search. Post on social media, ask people to give their opinion, give certain designers a plug and provide links to their work and ask for feedback.

What will happen is, that there the artists will first research your music to get an idea of who you are — promotion — then they will go to work and their creative efforts are now tied to your creative work.

Having a community theatre event? Post for a singer to perform at the intermission. Offer to promote that singer on the website and the playbill, and then do the same thing — promote the search.

The key is to choose something slightly different than the event you are promoting. For the garage band, promoting for a singer may not work, because of the competition between musicians. But a graphic artist would want to help the band to help himself.

So however you promote — your yard sale, your band, or your community car wash — do it differently then you have ever done it before. Different is remembered.

And different works.

Why?

Because it’s smart, it’s low cost, and no one else is doing it.

November 14, 2016
How to simplify your digital life
On June 5^th of 1883, at the house that stood on 6 Harvey Road in Cambridge, England, John and Florence Keynes gave birth to their very first child. A son they would name John, after his father. Young John, was bright and happy and had the advantage of being raised by a prominent English family that highly valued formal education.

A few years passed and shortly after John’s brother Geoffrey was born, John was enrolled in the Perse School Kindergarten — but was absent a great deal due to illness and was almost held back. And by the time his sister Margaret was born, Keynes was a student at Saint Faith’s Preparatory School, where he excelled in mathematics and algebra and was recognized for the breadth of his vocabulary.

In 1894, at the age of eleven, John Maynard Keynes rose to the top of his class. It was a place that he would stay for the remainder of his education.

1897 came and Keynes won a scholarship to Eton College where he continued to excel in mathematics, and in 1902 he left Eton for King’s College, Cambridge, where he was given another scholarship as well as began to specialize in economics.

Now, if you’ve studied economics, you know the basics of Keynes. He would end up changing the standard economic views of the time; as well alter the way we look at governmental roles. He created in depth theories of business cycles — all of which would be later called Keynesian Economics — and in the 1930’s, he began to seriously challenge world economic concepts. He disagreed that free markets would always provide full employment, as well as the idea of demand leading to periods of high unemployment and argued that governmental regulation would need to closely monitor boom and bust cycles.

Then came World War II and Keynes’s ideas began to be adopted by the leading Western economies, which lead to the creation of The World Bank. And even though Keynes died in 1946, he actually became more influential after his death — as the governments and economic systems that had adopted Keynesian practiced were now booming — which created real life success to support his theories. Time Magazine listed John Maynard Keynes as one of the top 100 most influential people of the 20^th century.

Now there is no doubt of the intelligence and vision of John Maynard Keynes. It’s clear that he was absolutely correct in many of his theories of economics and financial projection, and his understanding of business and world market trends is probably better than anyone’s ever. But — there was one area that Keynes was incorrect about.

In fact — he was dead wrong.

Keynes began to map the growth of technology in the 1930’s. He saw that with the rate of the development of useful tools and innovations being created, that this would eventually affect society as a whole. He factored in the advances he was seeing in communications, manufacturing, transportation, all areas, across all industries, and in an essay entitled Economic Possibilities For Our Grandchildren, Keynes made a statement that would be tied to his name from that moment on.

“By the time my grandchildren are adults,” Keynes had said. “They would be working a 15 hour work week.”

Technology would free us. New machinery and modernization would be the tools to take on most of the burden of our average work week.

Keynes stated that over time, with the help of machines, technology and new concepts, people would become more productive. Machinery and the modernization of the work place would be able to take on the burden of most of our work week and an hour of labor would produce more and more stuff as time moved on. So we would be able to work less and less. Technology would free us.

And Keynes was —- so wrong.

Well — that’s not true. He was right about the development of technology.

Since his death in 1946, mechanical and computer innovation has changed every aspect of our lives. We can now send information around the globe, in seconds. We can communicate with anyone we want to in a written, video or text format. We have access to information on any possible subject instantaneously and can bounce signals off satellites to track our location and get us where we need to go faster and more efficiently. We can sort, organize or trend data. And we have successfully made the world a much smaller place by opening access to every part of it.

But Keynes was wrong about how this would affect us. It didn’t free us. Not at all. It only lead to the bar being raised.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average individual needs to work 51 hours per week today, in order to produce as much as someone who was working 40 hours a week in 1950 — so a team with email, spreadsheets and cell phones, needs to work more than the team with typewriters, carbon paper and messenger services. And in 1990, MIT completed a study that predicting that with the current rate of technology growth, mixed in with the productivity rates; we will need to increase our work by 120% more in the next 50 years to capture the same current production rate. So we will need to work 15 hours more each week in fifty years, in order to be as productive as we are today.

The technology that is available now is not creating less work. It’s creating more, by constantly raising the competitive need. So we end up doing more because we need to do more.

And not only has technology simply raised the minimum standard of work production, it is completely altered how we think and react. We need to be wired, to be connected — all the time. If we hear that ding or buzz of our phone, we have the Pavlovian need to see what it is — no matter what we are doing or where we are.

Here are some interesting facts.

84% of people use their cellphones as alarm clocks, so their phones are right there with them, even when they sleep.

A Health Club chain recently had to post signs asking members not to use cell phones — in the shower.

Lifeline and Link-Up provides free smart phones to those on state welfare programs, as texting capabilities and wireless internet access is now seen as a basic human need.

We are 34% more likely to misplace our car keys, than we are our cell phones, because we are on average away from the less.

Municipalities are now adding signs on rural roads that have limited cell phone coverage to prepare drivers for the fact that their phones will not work for several miles.

Phones, tablets, smart watches and whatever is next in the technology line, are deeply embedded into our lives. So how do we use these tools — as tools and not leashes? How do we take back our lives and unhook the electronic collars?

Well, there are a few ways.
1. When is it ego and when is it priority? Yes, there are times when that phone needs to be glued to your hand — if you’re on call, working out a customer emergency, someone in your family is ill. Yes. You need to work the phone. But those are rare. Most of the times that we respond to an email during dinner, is so we can be the first one on the email chain to do it. To save our place. To let our customers, or co-workers, or the guys on The Little League Committee know that we are on this. And this is just ego. If you are not getting further information or adding information to the conversation, then you are just electronically thumping your chest to show others that you soon will.
2. Respond with data — anytime you send a work email, text, voicemail without new information, you are wasting time. Especially on long email chains where the world is being copied. Determine what the goal is and work towards that.
3. Batch tasks. The most productive people out there, batch there electronic chores. The answer emails in the morning or late afternoon. They respond to texts at lunch and return voicemails only in the car. They get more done in a shorter period of time and actually get real work done, offline, with real people, face to face.
4. Turn off notifications. Just because your aunt posted a video on Facebook or your neighbor put her goulash recipe on Pintrist, this doesn’t make it news. Those notifications are only distractions. So turn them off and look at them later.
5. Leave it in the car. If you look at an organization’s highest ranking individuals, thye almost always never arrive at a meeting, presentation, lunch or discussion, with their cell phone. They almost always leave it in the car. These are the people that want to be focused and want you to know that they are. The reverse side of that is, when you are meeting with high ranking people from other companies, they won’t have their’s either. And they will respect those that give them the same respect.
The simple rule is you want walk around all day with your hammer or a spatula. You use these things when needed then put them back. The same thing is true for your phone, tablet watch or whatever other magical electronic gadget you have. Use the tool and master it. Then put it away.

Confidence is found when you can distance yourself until needed.
July 16, 2016
How to pack a suitcase
I love the type of movie where there is a tortured soul, filled with wanderlust, who hears the call of the open road and decides to see the world. So he throws a few meager possessions in a small backpack and starts walking. He hitchhikes, he takes the bus, and he meets people along the way. Then we have scene-five. This will be after he arrives in a town — usually to help a rancher or struggling non-profit group out of a crisis — and he meets the girl. Scene-five will be their first date. You know the scene — the darkened restaurant, the candlelit tables, him in a suit and her in a dress, and as you watch, only one thought goes through your head.

Really? You packed a suit in that small backpack? C’mon.

This kid has a daypack that is half full. He carries it from New York City to Provo, Utah, and during that time he has six full changes of clothes, a suit, a raincoat, hiking boots, sneakers and during the date scene he is wearing an expensive pair of Italian loafers.

No. You did not get all of that in your twelve pound pack.

But that’s what we want. We want a bag to be light and small, yet we want it to contain a never ending supply of clothes, coats, shoes, formal wear and a few books — just in case we get bored. We want it to be our house — in a bag.

Type of travel

There are two basic types of travel packing. You are packing for weight, or you are packing for content. You can’t do both.

If you are going to be in three different locations over four days, if you are going to be carrying your bag through train stations, airports or have it on your back most of the time, then you want the bag to be the smallest and the lightest possible.

But if you are going to one location and then back, then you want your bag to contain everything you need, or will ever need, for a specific time period. You want maximum content in a limited space.

The suitcase laws

Half of everything in your bag you will use.

A quarter of everything in your bag you will not use

And a quarter of items that you end up needing — you forgot to pack.

Staging

Most of us pack this way. We open the bag and start stuffing things in. When there is no more room, we’re done packing. But by staging, we can guarantee that we get everything we need.

Spread out the bare minimum you need for the trip — the absolute least you will need. Pretend that this is all you are allowed to take and you could survive the trip if you only had that. Now pack it. When you’re done, the available space is what you have for everything else you think you’ll need.

Over packing is a common — and sometimes costly — mistake. Pack too much and your free carry-on could easily cost you a hundred dollars or more in fees. Remember, laundromats exist in hotels, resorts and in every town or city you’ll be in. You can always wash clothing while you’re away.

And remember if you’re going to be bringing things back — souvenirs, clothing, items purchased while away — you’ll need space for that.

Rules of the road

Try to bring one belt if possible — something that can be used for both casual and dress.

Try to bring two pairs of shoes — or if needed the pair of shoes your wearing, one extra pair and a pair of sandals. No more.

HOW TO PACK A SUITCASE:
1. Use the roll-up method. By taking your clothing — shirts and pants mostly — and rolling them in a tight tube, you can get the best use of space in your bag
2. Underwear. Pack one pair for everyday your away, plus one extra pair. No more.
3. Wear the same clothes on your way out, as you do on your way back in. This will save you one change of clothes.
4. Toiletries. Clean out your toilet kit before you leave — otherwise you’ll be carrying those free shampoos and conditioners you had to have from the last trip out, and then back home again. And if flying, remember the TSA regulations of liquids being 3 ounces or less — unless you are checking your bag.
5. Pack for the weather. The forecasts for your location could change a dozen times before you get there, but it doesn’t hurt to have a rough idea of what the weather will be like so you can pack accordingly.
6. Fill your shoes. Pack socks and underwear in the shoes that will be in your bag. This is wasted space so fill them up.
7. Fill the edges of your bag first. Again, this is where pockets of wasted space often hide, so fill that in first.
8. Use the outside pockets for items you’ll want to get to quickly: phone chargers, books, magazines, etc.
9. If checking a bag it’s a great idea to fill your carry on with all you’ll need to survive a few days — contact lens stuff, change of underwear, toothbrush, etc. That way if your bag gets lost you can stick with the plan while they find it and get it to you.
March 19, 2015
The core

I just reviewed some standard sourcing material that Guidance Counselors use for career assessment — you know, the stuff that helps students determine what majors to take in college and then what career path to pursue. There was a lot of information to go through, so I first took a few aptitude tests and then familiarized myself with learning platforms. Then I ran through personality assessments, aptitude enhancing exercises and tracking material to map my career path through online grids. I did all of that.

And? What did all of this determine that I should be doing for a living?

Well, it looks like I should be in —- Alternate Dispute Resolution.

Yup. That’s the career for me.

Now, I’m not really sure what Alternate Dispute Resolution is, but it doesn’t really matter because I love the field that I’m in and I love the job that I have — which has absolutely nothing to do with Alternate Dispute Resolution.

So what does this mean? Does it mean that the tests aren’t accurate? Does it mean that real life will lead you to where you should go?

Well sort of. But first, let me distract you with some statistics.

Recently, Monster.com did a survey which interviewed over 8,000 people in seven different countries and asked them detailed questions about their education and their careers. This is what they found.

15% of the US workers interviewed said that that they hated their jobs — this was the highest rate among the seven countries surveyed.

Who had the lowest rate of people who hated their jobs? India, with only 5%.

The highest pay per capita of all the countries surveyed? — yup, U.S. But — now this is interesting — the US had both the lowest allotted vacation time given to employees as well as the lowest vacation time actually taken. 60% of all US workers roll unused vacation time over each year, where in the Netherlands it’s only 7% and— now this is also interesting — only 8% of the employees in the Netherlands stated that they hated their jobs.

Hmmm.

Okay, question two. What percentage of college graduates end up working in their career fields?

Answer: Roughly half. About 50% of those people with college degrees end up working in their field — and 35% of those people said that they have never worked in that field. Ever.

Okay, one more. 38% of the people polled said that the need for professionals in their chosen field drastically changed by the time they graduated. So, they entered school to be a teacher because the market was good, and four years later there is an overabundance of teachers and they couldn’t find a job in their field.

Okay, so what does all of this mean? Well, one thing it means is that we have a culture that works hard, is afraid to unplug and who never really ends up in the field that they spend thousands of dollars being educated in — and then spending the next twenty years paying off. It means that following the money never works. It also means that the long term career plans — don’t really work.

So —. That’s it.

What? What do you mean —-? That’s it?

Yeah. That’s the whole point. That as simplistic as it sounds, the answer to this — and most large questions in life — is that plans are important but with the bigger aspects of life, plans are simply a direction to start moving in. There are too many variables that will determine the end result. They don’t really matter.

Only this does.

The core.

If your heart is strong. If you give more than you take. If you put the needs of those around you in front of your own and if you respect the person who looks back in the mirror — then you will go where you need to be. You will head where you need to head. You will land where the world needs you to be. Every time.

But if your core is out of balance; is self focused, bitter, jealous or simply driven by the prize itself. Then where you end up is just a location.

Always.

You can do all the math, take all the tests and use all the tools and it wont matter. If you contribute, if you think, if you create, if you love and if you believe. Then you’ll get where God wants you to be.

Work on the core and pick a direction. The rest will take care of itself.

February 12, 2015
The smart way to spend your tax return money
Around early October — this is when the stores are full of pumpkin carving kits and bite sized packs of Snickers bars — you will see the first sign of the retail Christmas season. In some stores this will be just a peak; a few feet on an aisle where you can buy garland and lights, whereas other retailers will dedicate one side of the Halloween aisle with wrapping paper and bows; just waiting for the first of November when they can evict Halloween and get the inflatable reindeer on the shelf.

Then Halloween which means that Christmas has officially begun — and yeah, there’s Thanksgiving in between and you’ll see displays for Stove Stop Stuffing and premade pie crusts, but Christmas is the real rock star of retail.

Now, if you’re paying attention, this is also when you’ll see the very beginning of the retail tax season. In between the commercials for the hottest door buster bargains, you’ll see the first tax commercials. Small and spread out. Just a few and usually from H&R Block who have significantly bumped up their marketing efforts over the last few years. And these ads will be about how much money you’re not going to get back by using other tax preparers.

These are the teaser adds. Little reminders dropped in amongst the Christmas cheer to get you to start thinking about your taxes.

Then comes Christmas. Then New Years which means that the retail tax season has officially begun. Now the ads will pick up. H&R Block will tell you that you will lose a fortune to the Government if you don’t set up an appointment with them today. Turbo Tax will tell you that it’s so easy to do your taxes at home with their software, any child could do it.

These efforts will increase through TV ads, the internet, those inflatable air dancers you see in parking lots along with guys dressed in Uncle Sam costumes waving large arrows that tell you to hurry up and pull into this shopping center right this second and get your taxes done.

Now what’s interesting is, that at this point in the season the marketing is to get your tax preparations business. After that it begins to switch.

When March comes so does the shift. Now you’ll see new ads migrate from those who want to file your taxes, to those who want to help you spend your tax return. This is when you’ll see car lots offer to do your taxes for you and use the tax money on a new car. You’ll see furniture outlets do the same thing and charitable organizations will ask you to donate a portion of that return. And throughout the month this will get bigger and bigger until the middle of April when the bubble will pop.

Now, the dangerous aspect of these ads — as well as how the retail tax market works — is that all of these efforts are based on one interesting premise. That you look at your tax return money as — found money. As extra money. As money that fell from the sky and now you are looking for a way to get it all and then spend it fast.

Which is perfect. And the retail world is more than happy to help you do that — spend it on a new car, the latest iPhone, furniture, a trip because — well, by gosh, you deserve it.

But here is the boring truth about your tax return.

Ready?

Here it is.

Your tax return is not found money.

What?!

No. It is not.

You didn’t win the lottery. You didn’t find that money on the street and you weren’t given it by a rich uncle. This money, this tax return, is your money that you earned as salary and it was held — in effect, taken from you — until you could document why you should have some of it back.

It’s not separate from your income in any way. It is your income.

Which means that it still falls under the rules of your income.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR TAX RETURN

Since this tax return is your income in a lump sum form, the rules you’ve established for your income will apply to your return. And the first rule of your income is …
1. Pay yourself first. No, you shouldn’t blow the tax return, but sticking it all in an account is just as bad because it will soon widdle away and be gone. Like your income, there needs to be a purpose and plan to your money. So, like you do with your paycheck, pay yourself first. This is your income and you would have taken a percentage of it from your salary if these taxes weren’t held. So, if your weekly spending money is 10% of your check, then take 10% of the return and pay it to yourself. And no, this doesn’t mean blow it, it means that this portion of it is your money. It would have been yours if taxes weren’t taken out so it’s yours once they were given back.
2. Start, or add to, your emergency fund. What happens if you get in an accident and need to cover your deductible? What if you lose your job or get hurt? The general rule of thumb regarding an emergency fund is that it should be six to eight months of your salary. Now your tax return may not be that much and that’s fine, all you want to do is add a portion of the return to the fund to build it up. Create an interest bearing savings account that is only used for emergencies and then add to it each paycheck.
3. Pay off or pay down, high interest debt. If you are carrying high interest debt, your emergency fund will be eaten up pretty quickly. Create a plan to eliminate this debt. Again, if your return can’t pay it all off, pay it down and create a plan to not acquire any additional debt and pay it off.
4. Buy what you need. Do you need new tires or is your water heater on its last legs? This is the time to get what you need; those things you’ve been putting off. Pay cash and get that new car battery or replace the broken washing machine.
Stick to these basic rules and treat the return for what it is. Part of your income given back to you in one lump sum.
January 31, 2015
To Whom it May Concern

My name is Leo Blathe and I would like this letter to act as a personal recommendation for Brandon Delucca for the position of Senior Vice President at Cheltech Industries.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Brandon for over three years now and during that time I have found him to be a creative and goal oriented individual to which any company would by impacted by hiring.

I first came to know Brandon when he was a young college student and went door to door looking for odd jobs in our neighborhood. And yes, I have to admit that I was very impressed by his tenacity but I didn’t feel that we needed any help at that time. It was actually my wife, Jocelyn, who immediately saw the potential in this young man and he soon began doing odd jobs for us; helping around the house, mowing the lawn as well as running errands. Later on, as my position changed and I needed to spend more time on the road, Brandon became invaluable to us by not only taking on more responsibility at the house but was even thoughtful enough to stay overnight while I was away. Jocelyn often commented on how comforting it was to have Brandon there while I was gone and I felt better knowing that he was.

As time moved on, Brandon became a bigger and bigger part of our family. But it was about a year later that I got to know Brandon extremely well during the many court appearances that I would see him at during our somewhat complicated divorce trial. At that time, Brandon was not only dependable enough to make sure that Jocelyn made it to each and every court appearance — she didn’t miss even one — but he was also thoughtful enough to drive her in my 1967 Camaro that I had restored so that I could see it. And I have to admit, seeing that car made the long walk back to the hotel all that more pleasant.

As a side note, Brandon is a very talented singer; he plays the guitar and has some extremely impressive dramatic talents. And — oh my gosh — this boy is funny. If you could have seen him during the trial; convincing the judge and court officials that I ran a large methamphetamine lab in our garage —holy cow, I thought I was in a comedy club. In fact, this act was so impressive that the court folks didn’t know that Brandon was joking! Isn’t that amazing? And it was this very enactment that was responsible for me being able to now see my children any time I want to — as long as that is no more than twice a month and providing that a Child Protective Service’s agent is available.

Brandon is an intelligent, capable and dedicated young man. He is quick on his feet and adept at handling any situation. One example of this was when my security clearance at work was being questioned due to the media coverage of our divorce. It was Brandon who played another one of his practical jokes and convinced the National Security Agency that besides being an obvious flight risk, that I had also bragged to him about my years of embezzling and should probably remain under house arrest until this could be fully investigated. And let me tell you, besides it being a pretty funny joke, I sure did appreciate all that down time right about then. I mean, after all the stress of the divorce, my arrest, the heart attack and Brandon’s accident when the Camaro was totaled — don’t worry, he’s fine — it was sure nice to sit in that hotel room and decompress for hours on end. And what a treat; the calming sounds of the freight trains, wow. But it was one nostalgic trip down memory lane getting to watch all three television channels on the hotel rooms black and white television, with vintage rabbit-ears antenna — just like I did as a kid. Ahh, good times. Good times.

So please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding the employment of Brandon Delucca for my old position at Cheltech Technologies. Although I no longer have a cell phone and am not allowed near a computer until I can explain how all those photographs got on my laptop, you can always contact me through my court appointed attorney; Martin Pincolwski. And please do. I don’t receive much mail any more and I would very much enjoy corresponding with anyone about Brandon. Or if you’d like, we could discuss sports. Or current events. Or anything you’d like. Anything at all.

Please write me.

Sincerely,

Leo Blathe

January 27, 2015
REVIEW: Book: Hughes. By Richard Hack.

There are certain names in American history that we have a vague knowledge of. Howard Hughes is one of those names. We know that Howard Hughes was the wealthiest man in the country. We know he was a test pilot, a record holding aviator and we know he was a famous recluse in his later years. And after that — the details become foggy.

In his book Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters; The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire, author Richard Hack has been able to juggle a few difficult objectives. He has supplied a never ending minutia of detail about the man — from specifics of Hughes’ father in the late 1800’s through day to day accounts of the man himself. But do it in such a way where even the smallest facet is both fascinating and lures the reader deeper down the path.

Howard Hughes was born in 1905. When his overprotective mother died in 1922 and his workaholic father two years later, Hughes became heir to the Hughes Tool Company fortune — then valued at half a million dollars — at nineteen years of age. At that time his goals were to be the world’s greatest golfer, the world’s greatest pilot and the world’s greatest movie-maker.

At nineteen, Hughes decides that a serious, young businessman needs a wife so he chooses Ella Rice, a pretty, socially prominent young lady in Houston. Though already in love with someone else, Ella was persuaded by her mother that Howard was a better catch. Soon Hughes was so involved in his golf and movie making endeavors — as well as other women — that he had little time or interest left for Ella or any of his extended family.

In Hollywood, Hughes produces and directs several films including; Two Arabian Nights that wins an Oscar as well as the infamous Hell’s Angels — considered the best special effects film of the decade. Hughes goes on to make many other profitable films and in 1948 he buys RKO Studios which establishes him as a major film maker.

Hughes romantic conquests included Lana Turner, Ginger Rogers, Ava Gardner, Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland, Katherine Hepburn, Terry Moore, Yvonne DeCarlo, Kathryn Grayson, Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, Linda Darnell, Billie Dove, and so many more. In fact it wasn’t uncommon for Hughes to actually be engaged to two even three women at once.

In 1938, prompted by the success of Charles Lindbergh, Hughes set a new record for an around-the-world flight. This won the man a congressional medal, the Harmon Trophy and the Collier Trophy for Aviation. He was also honored with a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City. Hughes — now convinced that air travel had a future — acquired TWA Airlines.

But it’s when Hughes develops a case of syphilis, that his already high fear of germs begins to percolate.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is that in his last twenty years of life; when he was a complete recluse; naked in blacked-out rooms devoting days at a time to screening B-movies, dictating long memos to his staff — important memos such as a 22 page procedure on how to open a can of fruit for him — and going through a dozen boxes of Kleenex a day — that his empire actually grew the most. In fact, Hughes orchestrated the purchase of dozens of Las Vegas properties all while being naked on a recliner and never seeing another human being. In fact, his long term aid, Robert Maheu, who had daily — sometimes hourly — contact with the man and managed all of his interests, never even met Howard Hughes in person.

In the last few decades of life, Howard Hughes liberally injected codeine, his hair and fingernails grew to grotesque lengths, he kept urine in mason jars and his body was covered with bed sores since he would spend entire days at a time in a recliner in the dark.

By the end of the book you will know Howard Hughes well. You may not like him — because there isn’t a lot to like about the man — but you will know him. And you’ll be thankful to Richard Hack for the introduction.

January 20, 2015
The art of the used suit.

In the world of Theatre, Television and Film there is never enough credit given to the props department. These guys are absolutely amazing. There is so much to this art and a great deal more than simply finding stuff and placing them in an actor’s hand because there is some very serious psychology involved.

For example, if there is ever a scene where a character enters a home after grocery shopping you’d think props would be simple, right? A bag of groceries. But what do you do if labels of the food items are showing? Or brand names? And what if the items can’t be identified from the far corners of the theatre? So, the props guys will put together something called SUG or Standard Urban Groceries. These are items that don’t appear together in real life but on film or the stage your mind will accept them as completely normal, register them, and then move on.

Standard Urban Groceries consist of one single brown shopping bag where out of the top you will see a French baguette, the overflowing greens of a bunch of carrots and a non-descript top of a carton of milk. That’s it. You will see these items, your mind will accept them and you will not think of them again.

But in the real world you would never see Standard Urban Groceries. Ever. First of all very few, if any, grocery stores use brown paper bags anymore. When you buy bread you normally get it in the spongey bagged form and if you did get a baguette it would be bagged as well. So would your carrots — not spread open with the greens over the edge. And if you picked up a carton of milk, it would be heavy and in the bottom of the bag, not propped so it stuck out of the top.

Standard Urban Groceries exist only in the TV world.

Suits are another area that we accept on screen. A commercial with a dad coming home from work will always have him wearing a suit with his tie undone. An airport will be full of men in suits hurrying to make connections and the business conference room scene will have men in dark suits huddled around a shiny table with a view of a major metropolitan city behind them.

But in actuality, Since the birth of business casual in the 1990’s, very few American men wear suits to work — outside of the industries of medicine and law, there are very few industries that still embrace it. So when dad comes home from a haggard day he is most likely in khakis and a polo then in a suit.

So the suit is not the day to day necessity it once was but we still accept it as normal on film. And the suit isn’t as everyday as it once was but it’s still important to have a few in your closet. Because besides the times when you will need a suit — the wedding and funeral — by having a few you are more likely to choose a suit when you have the option —- I could wear a suit if I had one, but I’ll just wear this instead — .

So get a few suits. And when buying suits, buy used suits.

Now if there are a few of you out there who have never bought used clothing, well, get over it. If you don’t ever buy any other item, the suit is the one to buy used. First of all, suits are only worn very infrequently anymore so an average suit has probably been worn only a handful of times — or even once — and will see a fraction of the wear that other used clothing would. In fact, a used suit very likely had been worn only a few times.

Because used suits are usually sold by condition rather than brand name, buying used can get you a much higher quality suit, much higher than you could afford new. I’ve personally owned three Brooks Brothers suits in my life and all were bought for under thirty bucks and then tailored and my son has a beautiful Perry Ellis suit that we bought for ten dollars and then spent sixty having it tailored for him.

Used suits will give you an option of different styles more so than you would see in a men’s shop. And for the same price of a suit at the Mall you can have three or four suits bought, tailored, dry cleaned and waiting in your closet.

So when buying a used suit, here are some guidelines.

1. Buy from a store. There are many online retailers who offer luxury used suits online. But unless you have already tried on that style of suit before, go to a store — plus you’ll spend less.

2. Stick to the basic places. Sure there are designer used clothing stores but these places offer you nothing more than the thrift stores do but higher prices. The places to shop are The Goodwills, the church thrift stores, Salvation Army and the like — these places have racks and racks of suits and mark up on condition only. Depending on the part of the country you’re in, a practically new suit should run you thirty dollars or less.

3. Buy tall. Since you are going to have the suit tailored anyway, choose a suit that fits, or is slightly bigger, at the shoulders and the waste and don’t worry about sleeve and pant length. The easiest things for a tailor to fix are the pants and jacket sleeve lengths. More difficult are the pants waste and the narrows of the jacket — now, that’s not saying if you find the ultimate suit that is slightly big on these areas not to get it. Just be prepared your tailoring costs will go up slightly.

4. Get a few. Since you’re buying used, get more than one. For your closet you should have a dark suit and then a grey and brown. For less than a hundred dollars at a thrift store you can get all three.

5. Get several ties. You should get three or four ties per suit to mix and match —- and ties are another great thing to get a thrift store. There a millions of them and usually run around a dollar a piece.

6. Get it tailored. Don’t try and save money by not getting the suit fitted. Even if it looks like it was made for you, spend the extra few bucks and have it tailored specifically to you.

November 19, 2014
The Files

When we are born, when we first take delivery of our body, there is some set up and installation time required for the main component; the brain. And this takes a little while to completely go through. So since nothing interesting can happen until the brain is fully functional, for the first three years of life — as our brain goes through this construction and set up phase — we remain in in a state of LOADING. During this period, software is installing, hardware is being assembled, code is being added in and miles and miles of connections and cables are being strung. It’s a capital project and after several years we are ready for some trial runs as we first put our brain through its paces.

This is why any long term memories we have begin at around age three because before this, our brain is unable to store and record. But from that point on, we are given the keys to our mind and we start to determine who we are and who are the people around us. What will we believe? Who will we trust? What’s important and what is our place in the universe?

So we are an adult at 18, we can drink at 21, we can drive at 16, but we are responsible for our own thoughts at around age three.

Now when we first start using this brand new brain of ours, it begins in vacuum-cleaner-mode as we suck up all information on everything around us. Everything. Pure data. Pure experience. All is recorded.

Then, after a few years of doing this, there is sufficient enough information to begin to sort it all. So the first category we create is, THINGS THAT ARE SAFE and the other is for THINGS THAT ARE SCARY. And everything new goes in one of these two boxes. Then once those files are established, old data is pulled out and resorted; the chair is safe, but the cat hissed at us once so he now goes in the scary box. And for years the world is divided into two parts. The safe and the frightening. Safe is good. Scary is bad.

Then we add new files: what tastes good and what does not. What is easy and what is hard. What gets us attention and what gets us ignored. And file after file after file is filled. And we call this personality; how we react to things, what we avoid and what we gravitate to.

This is what people remember about us. This is the footprint we leave in a crowd.

Okay, so here’s the scenario.

You are now an adult, with your seasoned, battle tested brain. And for this illustration let’s put you in prison — sorry, you’ve lead a very troubled life. So you’re in prison, but because you are an extremely smart convict, one day you escape. You get out of your cell, you get outside the pod and then you get out of the building. You make it over the wall and into the woods. Now, because you are a very detailed person you manage to ditch the orange prison jumpsuit and get into some street clothes. You get a little cash and are a few hundred miles away before the guards even know you’re gone.

Like I said, you are very, very smart.

Now, because you are a disciplined person, once you are free you do not make contact with your sister in Albany or your childhood friend in Tulsa and you don’t even go to father’s funeral six months later. You cut all ties with his past at places where they may be looking for you. You get a new identity, a new life and a new job.

So, here is the question. Will you get caught?

Answer: Yes.

Why? Because without even realizing it, you will begin operating according to those old files and if the police are looking for you they will find you. And when they do, you will be making a living as a mechanic, like you did before. And you will be on a dart league, like you were before. And you will be a member of the Moose Club and you will order rose bulbs from a catalog and drink Mountain Dew and follow the New York Giants. All like you did before. And even though your name is now Kevin Loomis, you are the same person as before and if the police follow your profile they will find you and they will drag your sorry backside back to A-block.

Why? Because as disciplined as you are you never changed your profile. You operated only according to the old files.

Now, is this programming our personality? Well if it is then you need to alter it or you’re going back to prison. But what if this personality is stopping us from taking better care of our families or making more money? What if it’s stopping us from obtaining a more personal relationship with God or being just plain being happier? After all, this personality of ours didn’t come in a box. We built it with the brain we were given. It was whittled and formed by each experience and fear and belief and desire. A trillion tiny thoughts, a million tiny events chipped away and made us, us.

We take the same route home from work. We sit in the same seats during lunch. We go to the same garage when our car doesn’t work and we order the same pizza on Saturday night. Is that our personality? Is that what makes us, us? Pizza and car repair?

So what’s the moral of all this?

It’s this.

You are not what you drive or what you eat or the team you root for. You are not even how you have chosen to act for the last thirty or seventy years. The real you — and you may not even know who that really is yet — is much, much more.

And it’s your job to find out who that is. And then once you know, dump the files you don’t like or need.

And fill new ones.

October 1, 2014
Managing found-money

So here’s the scenario. You decide to play the lottery. You choose your numbers, pay your dollar and stick the ticket in your pocket. The next day, just for fun, you check the winning numbers and —-. Guess what? You won! A perfect match. Yes! You jump up and down, you check the numbers again and — yes! You won. So you race to the nearest lottery office — trying not to kill yourself or anyone else along the way — and run in with the winning ticket.

You are escorted into the lottery offices. They verify the ticket and confirm that there was only one winning lottery ticket sold, which means that the entire lottery — let’s go with, twenty-five million dollars — is all yours. Every penny of it. Congratulations.

So you are lead to a room and you try to control your heart rate as a photographer takes the standard lottery winner photographs: the ones with you smiling and holding your huge cardboard check that has your name, then a dollar sign followed by a 25 and six zeros. The caption under the photograph will read: John Q. Public, our latest 25 million dollar lottery winner.

Then there are the interviews with the lottery people asking the normal lottery questions: What will you do with your twenty-five million dollars? How does it feel to now be worth twenty-five million dollars? Did you ever dream you would someday win twenty-five million dollars?

And by the next day, the world will read about everything that you’re planning to do with your brand-new 25 million dollar pot. They will read that you are going to buy a new house for your sister and have one built for your mom. How you are going to pay your niece’s tuition to medical school and give a lot of the money to charity.

And after the photographs are taken and the interviews are over, you move on to the good part. The best part. The time when they give you all that money. When they give you all that cash; your twenty-five million dollars!

You fill out more paperwork and are escorted down the hall to a large conference room where your check is waiting. You sit while a smiling lottery man slides the check across a polished conference table. Your flip the check over to see your name and a check for — $834,000.

You look up at the lottery man.

“What’s this?” you ask.

“That? Why, that’s your lottery check, sir.”

“But,” You say confused. “I won twenty-five million dollars.”

But the lottery man is ready for this. The lottery man has dealt with this confusion before.

“Sir,” he says patiently. “You opted for the lottery payment option when you purchased the ticket. Which means that you will receive twenty-five million dollars over a twenty-year period. Which means that we have put twelve and a half million dollars in an annuity for you, which over the course of twenty years will double and will equal twenty-five million dollars. We have taken the taxes out for you and you will receive a check for this amount, on this same date, every year, for the next nineteen years. Congratulations.”

You stand there and look at your check. Well, you have to admit, $834,000 is still a lot of money. A lot of money! More money than you have ever had at one time before and besides, you will receive a check like this for nineteen more years and by the end of it you will be worth — twenty-five million dollars!

So you grab the check and head out of the office happy and excited.

And soon the world will see you with that big paper check. The world will know that you won twenty-five million dollars. And soon you will start to believe that you do have twenty-five million dollars, or at least you soon will have that much. And suddenly your house is too small for a multimillionaire like yourself. Your car is too drab, your vacations too plain. Someone of your wealth needs to live a little. To share a little; to pay back the family and friends who were with you back before you weren’t so rich. And remember, you did promise to pay for your niece’s college and to build your mother a house. And those preapproved credit cards that are clogging up your mailbox can be put to use. It’s okay to charge a few things. Hey, it’s not like you don’t have the money, right? You’re rich now.

And let’s not forget those friends and family. Friends and family that now feel—no, now believe—that they are entitled to a part of that twenty-five million. You don’t want to seem greedy. You don’t want to disappoint them.

And then — four months before the next $834,000 check is set to be cut — you notice that things are getting a little financially tight. Hey, you quit your job months ago, remember? And the minimums on those credit cards are pretty high and then there’s the taxes on the three houses you now own and Suzie’s next tuition payment is due. But hey, you’ll weather the storm, right? Borrow a little to bridge the four months until your next check comes in. It’s okay. You’re a millionaire. It’s not like you don’t have the money. It’s not like you’re not rich.

But here’s the rub. You’re not rich. You don’t have the money. You’re not even a millionaire. You’re an eight hundred thirty-four thousandaire. You’re the same as that executive who earns that same amount every year, only he has one advantage over you. He knows he’s not rich. The world knows he’s not rich. But you have been lied to and now believe that you are rich. You and your family and your friends and the strangers at restaurants who think that asking you to pick up their dinner tab is normal because you got so lucky with the lottery and all—everyone believes you are rich.

Evelyn Adams, who not only won the New Jersey lottery but won it twice for 5.5 million, now lives in a trailer.

Suzanne Mullins won 4 million and is now broke and in debt. Abraham Shakespeare won 30 million and was murdered. Michael Carroll won 14 million and spent it on call girls. ‪Jack Whittaker won 314 million, was robbed, had a murder attempt against him and ended up bankrupt. Billie Bob Harrell won 31 million, was broke in less than two years and committed suicide. And you can go on and on and on.

The National Endowment for Financial Education estimates that 70 percent of people who suddenly receive a large sum of money, will lose it within two years.

And that’s the depressing news. The good news is that at some time in your life — through hard work, good timing or simple dumb luck — you will experience at least one financial windfall. Maybe not a lottery win, but a windfall.

As you are moving along in life, as the pace is steady and calm, pow, an unexpected lever will be turned and money will fall into your lap. This could be through an inheritance, your industry could be poised on a temporary position in the market, you could be the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or a law suit, whatever. It’s an absolute certainty that at some unknown time an unforeseen spike will occur and you will be sitting on an unexpected fat check.

And depending on your station in life, this could be for a few thousand dollars or one of those with many zeros. But it is a certainty that at least once, you will experience found money.

Now the bad news is that because this money occurs quickly, because found money has a different value in our psyche than earned income, because of the emotions attached and because of the pressure put on you from others, you will make a lot of mistakes. Many, many, many, mistakes. And it’s of very higher probability — 70% — that you will blow that money. In fact, it’s entirely possible that when the money is gone you could be financially worse off than before you received it.

The main reason for this is that we believe that that money can solve most of our problems. If we just had more money, the troubles would be over and when that money comes in suddenly it’s easy to ignore other issues.

RULES FOR FOUND MONEY

1. Don’t do anything for one year. Money is a very emotional entity and it’s extremely difficult to make clear decisions when there is so much excitement involved. So don’t do anything with it for a year — one solid year. Stick the money in a savings account, hide the bank book and let it sit for twelve months. Now, the only exception to this is paying off some debt but even that is questionable. You need to allow time pass to think — and this will give you an out later on when you need it because …

2. Your friends and family are not financial advisors. You are going to need some sound advice, absolutely, and that means professionals. Depending on the amount of money you receive will determine how many of your friends and family are willing to help you make decisions. And because you trust them as people you can trust them with your money, right? No. You need to have advice from professionals who have no emotional ties to you. And — if family and friends put apply pressure on you for loans, you can state that the money is all locked up and you can’t do anything with it for a year. And then give them your advisors name to contact.

3. Don’t buy a house. Yeah, we covered this in the first area, but I’ll say it again. Don’t do anything for a year. People who come into a windfall will typically buy a new house quickly. And you really don’t want to do that before taking the time to think about the consequences — and then there is everything that comes with a new house; taxes, fees, decorators, furniture, taxes, insurance, even utility costs are greater. So don’t do it.

4. No loans. And don’t be so quick to make new friends. Once you make money, everyone will approach you about new investments, ways to triple that money quickly, or sad stories of funds needed quickly.

5. Stay healthy. Since money is so important to us — especially to those who didn’t have it before — we tend to think it can fix anything. Many people that come into money neglect their health. You need to stay healthy and strong.

6. Keep moving on. As much as possible keep your life as close to it was before the windfall. Stay the course, keep plodding ahead and keep moving forward.

September 27, 2014
Debt Think

At one time, it went like this:

Something catastrophic occurred — a crop failed, there was a fire, a death, a flood or some unplanned event took place in a person’s life that they were not prepared for. So new priorities would arise. How will this person put food on the table? How will they repair that building, replace that income, or even have a roof over their head?

This individual would go through all their many options — what can be sold, what can they do without, what extra work can be found, what sacrifices can be made? And after painstakingly going through every single possibility, every potential solution, they may arrive at the very end of the list. The last resort. And with heavy heart and humbled head, they would go to a person that lent money and they would borrow. They would agree to go into debt bondage until the money was paid back, and with interest.

And once a loan was taken, this person would work hard, they would sometimes go without basic life necessities, perhaps not even eating if it meant the difference between paying this loan back or not. If it meant being free again. If it meant getting back to the way life should be.

And if something even worse happened so that they could not pay this debt back — if something occurred where they could not earn the money to repay the lender — then they would be imprisoned. After all, they had gone into debt bondage and they now belonged to the debtor — and they would remain there until their family and friends could repay the loan. Until their debt could be paid back in full. Until they would no longer remain the collateral for that debt.

That’s how debt used to be seen.

Here is a modern day example:

Let’s say you take out a car loan and are about to make your last payment. This last $350 means that the car is now yours. You make the payment and the loan is fulfilled. The car is now completely paid for.

The next month you are excited because you now have an extra $350. You have found money. It’s like getting a raise. And for the first few months you enjoy the found money and just blow it, until it quickly gets absorbed into something else, or your decide it’s time to trade in the car for something newer.

That’s debt think. In reality, you don’t have an extra $350. You have the same $350 that no longer has to be turned over towards your debt bondage.

Debt think is when it becomes normal to have debt, and it’s strange when you don’t.

And when you first bought the car and friends and family asked what you paid for it, what was the answer? $30,000? That’s debt think too, because when the loan is completely paid for you will have actually forked over $50,000 for the car. That’s the real cost.

Debt think is when we celebrate because we got a boat loan — not a boat. We get to revel in the debt bondage of something we hope to someday own and get high on the temporary illusion of owning something. We didn’t work for it yet. We didn’t sacrifice for it — we may not even really want it. We just agreed to go into bondage for it.

Debt think is signing that student loan agreement and being so excited because you don’t have to make a single payment until 6 months after you graduate. What you didn’t realize, because you didn’t read the fine print, is that the interest starts the minute we sign the paper — actually, most student loans take decades to pay just the interest off before the principle is even touched. Debt think let’s us see only the small, $50 monthly payment, without thinking about what the loan actually costs us.

Debt think sees in monthly payments. Debt think sees how fast something can be turned around. Debt think sees the power of borrowing and not the slavery of it. It’s buying into the sexy, slick way that stuff is supposed to makes us feel about ourselves and our lives.

Hey, not that credit is bad. It’s not. Using other people’s money can be the smartest thing you can do, if done right.

But debt think is a lie. It is a trick and an illusion.

If you have to go into bondage, do it. But don’t celebrate the bondage. Get free, and celebrate that.

September 9, 2014
How to Live a Cash Life In a Non-Cash World
When we were kids, money was a much simpler entity to manage; in fact it was downright easy back then. The process went like this: if our pockets were empty, and they often were, we went without. And if our pockets had something in it, we could spend what we had. And, here comes the stress-free part, how much we spent was determined by how much we had. Simple.

So, the decision process went like this. Can I buy a soda? Let’s see, do I have any money? No, I don’t have any money. Then the answer is no. I cannot buy a soda. Done.

Now, it’s a little more complicated.

Now our buying decisions are not based on how much we have in our pockets, or how much money we have in the bank, or how much money we can afford to spend, or how much we earn, or how much money is left in our budget, or is the thing that we wish to purchase priced correctly. Nope. It’s only based on — do we want it and do we want it now?

So, do I want a soda? Well, of course I want a soda. And I’m a grown man and I work hard so I’ll buy whatever I want. Because this is America. And I have three credit cards and a debit card in my wallet that says it’s America. So yes. Yes I can buy a soda.

And we buy. And it’s easy because we don’t really spend money, we spend numbers. Think about it: with little exceptions, it’s possibly to go a very long time spending, buying, and earning and never seeing the actual money that is flowing in and out. We just see numbers on a screen.

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Using a cash system is the only way to spend only what you have. Because with our credit cards we can spend until we hit our credit limit and with our debit we can clean out our account and push the overdraft limit dry before the red light comes on.

And the irony is that we’ve been conditioned to not think of these swipes of a card as real money. Yet, take actual cash from our wallet and we feel that psychological loss.

Using a Cash System
1. Establish a budget.
2. Create an envelope system. Create a physical envelope for each budget category. Now there will be budget items that won’t fit in the envelopes — automatic payments, etc. — so you keep those automatic and make categories for all that you normally use your credit and debit card for. These should include: Gas, Entertainment, Groceries, Clothing, Car Maintenance, etc.
3. After you’ve categorized your cash expenses, fill each envelope with the money allotted for it in your budget — if you allow $100 for clothing, put $100 in cash in your clothing envelope for the month.
4. Determine what is a weekly or bi-weekly (depending on how you get paid) expense and which is ongoing. So if you allot $50 a week for entertainment, then that will fill each pay period, whereas $25 a week for car maintenance will build until needed.
5. Tweak. During the first three months or so your system is in beta-test mode. There will be items you forgot, over budgeted for, or simply got wrong. Keep adjusting.
6. Once you’ve spent all the money in a given envelope, you’re done spending for that category. If you go on a shopping spree and spend the $100 in your clothing envelope, you can’t spend any more on clothes until you budget for that category again. That means no visits to the ATM to withdraw more.
7. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Don’t be tempted.
8. Blow money. There’s also no problem in adding a “blow money “category — money to have a little fun with! As long as you and your spouse have agreed on it, you are fine. There should be no lying. Agree on your budget, agree on your fun money, and be open. Fun money can be anything you want it to be. There are no rules on that envelope.
9. Keep the change. Tossing your spare change in a jar is almost a mini savings account. It’s there for small emergencies and at the end of the year it’s not unusual for your change to equal $400 or more.
July 25, 2014