Book Review It’s Your Money

I thought I’d take the chance on the tail end of Women’s Money Week to post a book review on a book by non-other then Gail Vaz-Oxlade.  Anyone who’s been on the personal finance scene, especially in Canada, will know that Gail is considered a guru when it comes to finances.  Fitting the theme of the week “It’s Your Money” was written to provide financial advice specifically for women. 

It breaks down into four parts, the psychology behind money, general information on a variety of financial subjects, life events, and “just in case” scenarios.  The first section I found by far the most helpful and the most interesting.  Here Gail talks about how people think about money and how this affects their day to day interactions with money.  Going a step further Gail provides a number of questionnaires to help determine your “money personality.”  Since your money personality helps to determine what types of money problems you may encounter (yes even misers like me have money issues) it gives you ideas and types on how to deal with potential problems.  If you’re one half of a couple these quizzes may help to clarify how your other half thinks about money. 

The second section covers topics seen in most personal finance books, goals, budgets, emergency fund, credit, housing, investments, insurance, taxes and wills.  The information is presented in a conversational and understandable way.  That said the information provided is very similar, if not identical, to the advice provided in any other personal finance book.  On most topics the book provides a good foundation on the subject, however I would recommend further reading and research on most of the subjects before making a decision that fits you best. 

The third and fourth parts cover a variety of life events and scenarios that could change how you manage your money.  From having a baby to becoming the sole breadwinner Gail breaks down the financial changes that you will likely be changing.  There is good advise on when you should make changes to your financial plan as your life changes. 

Though this book is directed at women to help them take care of their own finances I found that most of the advise, despite the feminine pronouns, is gender neutral.  The life changes and “just in case” scenarios are of equal value to males.  Though I do concede to the points made at the introduction, women are still at a financial disadvantage in many areas, I do not believe that the lessons required to remedy these problems are gender specific.  Both males and females can benefit from the advice in this book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is new to the world of personal finances or who is undergoing a major life change.  

Future Planning and Financial Planning – Planning for an Uncertain Future

I use to have my whole life planned out.  From the age of 18 I could give you details of where I would be in 5, 10 and 50 years.  Everything from how my career would develop (become a registered nurse, get two years of experience in the military, return to do my medical degree, a nice long career in the Canadian Forces with many deployments, and then retirement at the mandatory age.)  Then life started to happen and my perfect life path started getting rocky so I started making more plans.  I had plans B through to G and contingencies for all of them.  Then, due to an injury, all those plans got scrapped and I ended up not on the path I had planned since I was a teen but the road not chosen.  (Hence the title of my blog.)  It’s been 4 months since my medical release from the military and I have been slowly rebuilding my life. 

The problem is that for a girl who once had a plan for everything I’m not so sure that I can trust what I plan to come next.  Losing my dreams was not just hard and painful it also led to a lot of uncertainty.  While I was graduating and most of my nursing friends were pulling their lives together and getting their first real job my life was unraveling and I was losing the only job I had ever wanted.  I was terrified while waiting for my small salary to end because I had no idea how to replace it.  A nurse with no experience who cannot stand for more then an hour or two is not someone most hospitals will hire. 

Things have got better in the past four months, a job that I really enjoy was offered to me by the father of a friend.  I’m hoping to start a master in the fall and have even set down roots in a nice small town.  Still thinking back to 6 months ago puts my stomach in knots and I’m hesitant to make long term plans, I now know how easily it can all come apart.  That said I’ve learned a lot from what I’ve been through. 

1. Make your plans dynamic.  It’s great to have your eye on that perfect job, but don’t let your dedication to one option blind you of all the other options that are out there.  I ended up in research and am sad to say I never considered it while doing my training because it simply didn’t fit into what my vision of what a military nurse/doctor did.  (Even though many medical personnel in the military profession do research.) 

2. Embrace change.  It can hurt, and can you feel that you’ve lost something but change forces you to grow.  None of us can ever stand still as much as we may want to.  Keep your feet moving forward so that if one path gets blocked you can easily continue on another. 

3. I am strong, capable and talented.  Having the rug pulled out from under me showed my just how capable I am of providing for myself.  I navigated a system that can only be described as a bureaucratic nightmare and came away with what I needed.  I found a job because someone I had never met before started talking with me and decided that I would be an asset to his company.  I didn’t need to move home and have my parents take care of me (though I did camp out there a couple of weekend while house hunting) instead I bought my own home at 22, with money that I alone had earned and saved.  I took care of myself when things got rough and if necessary I can do it again.  And guess what?  You can do it too. 

I still have big dreams for my future but now I know that they won’t turn out the way I see them today.  They are going to change as I move towards them.  Some will have to be put on the back burner at points, but at the same time new ones will appear.  Planning for the future isn’t about having all the right answers; it’s about being willing to ask the right questions.  

Happiness, Hobbies, and Money - Fun that keeps going and going . . .

Money is a finite resource.  We all know that.  We all have only a certain number of hours in a day, so much energy, and so much creativity to put into acquiring it.  While I mainly think of money as a means to fulfill needs and to provide security, it has another purpose as well.  It allows us to do things that we enjoy.  I play a pretty good offensive game when it comes to spending my money so when I do spend it I want to make sure that I get as much bang-for-my-buck as possible. 

The easiest way I find to do that is to look for fun things to do that I will enjoy long after I’ve spent the money.  As a read-a-holic I know that if I buy every book I want to read I won’t have a red cent left in the bank.  Instead I buy books that I know I will read over and over again (usually because I’ve borrowed them at least 5 times from the local library.) Some of the books on my shelf I have literally read 20+ times since I bought them. 

I have hobbies that produce something useful.  When I go to my sewing machine often I will come away with a project that I know I will use over and over again.  I make a quilt because I need another blanket for one of my beds or to give as a gift to some one special.  Even the cross stitches are useful as they are cheaper then buying “good” art to hang on the wall. 

I spend money on learning things I enjoy, such as another language.  Sure it can be an expensive hobby, but once I learn the basics of a language I can build on it by myself with resources that are free on the web or from the local library.  Plus it opens amazing doors to communicating with others and making friends. 

Finally I spend money on travel, which does end when you get back home.  However, it builds memories and photographs often come home as mementos.  It teaches you about other places and cultures.  In some places you even get a glimpse into the past.  On the whole though travel is expensive it allows you to learn new things, expand as a person and build memories to last a lifetime. 

While a $10 movie is fun for 2 hours I much prefer to spend my hard earned cash on stuff that I will enjoy much, much longer.  What do you spend money on for fun?  

Family and Money - Cost of kids

Welcome back!  Didn't finish the rounds yesterday?  I highly recommend the following if you haven't seen them yet:

How to Accomplish More in 24 Hours

Three Tasks at a Time

When I read the list of suggested questions for this post I almost laughed at the last two.  What is the cost of having kids and how many kids should you have?  The two questions are obviously linked.  I don’t think I’m ruffling too many feathers when I say that you shouldn’t have more kids then you can afford to feed and cloth.  However, the numbers for those two questions vary drastically based on so many different variables.  For example, one of the blogs that I follow is written by a very cool (in my opinion) lady with 39 kids.  She raised all of them almost entirely as a single mom on a teacher’s salary (not sure the precise number but the teachers I know don’t drive Ferraris) with as many as 20 kids at home at a single time.  Other parents have trouble affording one child. 

Why do I have such an interest in the finances and logistics of kids if I’m single and have no kids?  So glad you asked.  I want to have kids, not an odd goal for a young female.  However, I have somewhat complicated the issue by deciding to adopt (preferably older kids) and deciding that if I’m with a partner when I’m ready to adopt, that’s great, if I’m not it’s still going to happen. 

In other words I could eventually see myself as the single parent of an unknown number of kids at of unknown ages (the unknown keeps life interesting.)  There are calculators and tables on line that estimate the costs of kids at different ages and genders.  Some even take into account income level of the parent and number of kids in the house.  These sources can say anywhere from $250 - $500 a month per child.  That said I’m pretty sure that my role model with 39 kids didn’t spend $500 a month per child (either that or I need to change jobs and become a teacher). 

How many kids will I be able to afford?  I’m not sure.  I’ve decided to go with the old nursing model “start low, go slow.”  In all likelihood I’ll decide to take on one and see how much it’s costing me.  Then, if possible, I’ll add more.  I know the cost of a kid can be high, but in my estimates the cost of not providing a home to a child that needs one is much higher.  

How much do your bundles of joy cost you?

Finding Time and Increasing Productivity - A Time for Everything

Welcome back to the second day of Women's Money Week.  If you didn't get all the posts from yesterday I highly recommend the following:

Make Money From Your Home

Increasing Income

12 Ways to Make Money as a Stay-at-Home-Mom

My biggest problem with time management is I have a tendency to obsess on a project.  This is great for the project in question since lots will get done.  Even better it can be very enjoyable to watch a project that has been dragging along finally zip towards completion.  When I’m obsessed with a project it will hold my complete attention, I’m talking about spending the first three days of my Christmas vacation on a single cross stitch project.  From the time I wake up until I go to bed the only thing on my mind will be one more row, finish that section, and which section will I do next?  There are a number of problems with this. 

First, it is discouraging to see my progress slow again once the obsession dissipates or real life intrudes.  How could I possibly be happy with only a couple lines of cross stitch completed when a week ago I was counting my progress in inches? 

Second, all other projects get put to the side.  While I’ll see tremendous progress on one project absolutely nothing will be done on any others.  They’ll be forgotten, even if they are of equal or more importance then the project I’m working on. 

Finally, I realize that it’s not always healthy to focus so intently on a single thing.  Though it’s great to spend a weekend working on something I enjoy doing it to the exclusion of every thing else in my life is not smart.  I need to see to real life, the chores and the humdrum as well as spread my attention to other forms of amusement. 

I do a number of things to keep my obsessions healthy.  I make sure that the day-to-day things come first.  I get up and go to sleep at normal times, fix three good meals a day and get exercise in.  I allocate certain times of the day or week for specific projects.  My blog gets written during my lunch break, the bus ride too and from work is reserved for reading, crafts get done during TV time and writing is the last thing before bed. 

I still need to pay attention to keep a good balance but by giving projects different times of the day every thing that needs to get done does get done.  How do you manage your time?  

Increasing Income In Oh So Many Ways

I started considering ways to increase my income after buying my first home in November.  While I can certainly afford the house on my regular take home pay I am aiming to pay off my mortgage in only 5 years, so I knew I would have to step up my income to meet my goal.  Here are some ideas that I played with and why or why not I have chosen to pursue it as an option. 

Renting

I currently have two unused bedrooms in my house and my first idea was to rent them out to bring in some extra income.  In particular I played with the idea of renting to an international student.  The local university as well as two of the school boards in the area accept international students and have them hosted with local families during the school year.  There were several advantages to this option.  First after the cost for food I would have made $600 per room per month.  Second, I would have company since I currently live alone.  Finally I would get the amazing experience of getting to know a kid from a different culture and be able to introduce them to my own. 

I decided not to rent for a very simple reason.  I am currently receiving (and will continue to receive for the next two years) long-term disability benefits.  These benefits are scaled based on what I earn and after earning a certain amount my benefits decrease one dollar for every dollar I earn.  After taking into consideration the amount of work required and the increase in living expenses (greater transportation costs and electricity bill) I decided that at this time it is not at my advantage to be a home stay parent. 

Publishing a Book

My first experience writing was not with a blog.  As a kid I was fascinated with writing poetry and short stories.  When I reached my teen years I started (but never finished) writing novels.  Finally During my university years I managed not only to start but also finish a novel. 

The main goal of my writing is not to earn money.  It is for the intrinsic satisfaction and the love for my stories that I write.  That said I would very much like to share the story, with which I have fallen in love, with the world.  I am in the process of trying to get my story published, earning money from it would certainly give me a good deal of satisfaction (and help with the mortgage.)  That said it may take up to six months to hear back from a single submission so I am not under the illusion that this process will be quick and I may well have run out of disability benefits by the time I see results. 

Selling Art/Crafts

I love to sew, to quilt, and to embroider.  In fact if it’s got a needle involved I’m probably game.  The problem with this hobby is two fold.  First, the supplies can get expensive, and second, I only have room for so many quilts!  These problems led me to an interesting solution which I am eager to try. 

Why not sell them when I finish making them?  Sure it’s not going to earn me a lot (I’m going to have to keep my day job) but it could bring in a little extra money.  Add to that the fact that I can craft ‘till my hearts content and claim the cost of materials as a business expense and I was sold.  That said I have four personal projects on the go rights now (three of which will hopefully be done by summer) but once those are done I can start creating crafts I can sell.  The plan is to build up an bit of an inventory in the next 2 years so that I can start selling them when my disability benefits disappear. 

So what about you?

There’s lots of different ways to earn extra income.  I’d suggest looking at your passions first.  Love kids?  Why not offer to baby sit?  Sell some crafts, teach lessons, or write an instruction manual on a subject you’re an expert on.  Your options are as diverse as your talents.  How do you earn extra money?