Monthly Archives: November 2020

STRESS!!!!!!

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We have arrived at a time of great stress.  Stress is largely caused by situations over which you have little to no control.  Such as upcoming law school exams.  Such as a global pandemic that seems to be getting worse rather than better.  Such as the end to a turbulent election cycle.

These things weigh on us because we can’t really control them.  We can only control how we react to them.  You can’t control what your exams will be like.  You can control how you prepare for them.  You can’t control how the Coronavirus will progress.  You can control how much you stay home, wear a mask, and wash your hands.  You can’t control how the election turned out.  You can control how much you tune in to overly political news and opinion pieces.

Money is another thing that causes stress for a lot of people (usually because there never seems to be enough of it).  How much money comes in and when is not always something we can easily control.  We can, however, usually control how much goes out.  We have the ultimate say in how much we pay for housing, transportation, food, and entertainment (among other things).  A well-organized spending plan can help you to make sure that your outgoing funds are less than your incoming funds…and that any extra is safely tucked away for those unexpected emergency moments.

Life is full of stressors—things that we just can’t control.  The world is very uncertain right now. But in times of great stress, it’s important to focus on the things that you CAN control, which should ultimately ease that stress.

Giving Thanks and Being Rich

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We’re heading into the weirdest Thanksgiving of our lifetimes.  Traditionally Thanksgiving means traveling, getting together with extended family, and rehashing the joys of the year over a lovingly prepared feast. But in this time of global pandemic everything is different.  Travel is discouraged.  Gathering with anyone from outside your household is strongly discouraged.  The year has given us so much to complain about that it’s hard to remember to be thankful.  Even my favorite Thanksgiving activity of carefully reviewing the newspaper sale ads for Black Friday shopping won’t be happening this year.

In this strangest of years, however, it is important to reflect on the things we have that we are grateful for.  I have a roof over my head.  I have a loving (and hilarious) husband to share my quarantine with.  I have three cats who amuse me with their antics and love me unconditionally.  I have a car to take me safely to where I need to go.  I have amazing friends that I stay connected with by telephone and social media.  I have a job that I absolutely love doing.  I have hobbies that I enjoy keeping me entertained.  I have access to good healthcare if I need it.  I have the conveniences of the 21st century to make sure that I am able to do my job and acquire groceries and other necessities while still staying safe.

2020 has been quite a year…and we still have more than a month to go.  But it has helped me to become very aware of what is important.  A dear friend once told me that there are two ways to be rich.  One is to have everything you want.  But the other is to want what it is you have.  By that standard I am very rich indeed.  And I will spend this holiday giving thanks for that.

What are you thankful for this year?  I hope it makes you rich, just like I am.

Pandemic Training for Long-Term Savings

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Saving and investing toward a long-term goal (such as a down payment for a house, or a retirement fund) is surprisingly similar to living through a global pandemic.  That may seem ridiculous at first sight, but if you think about it, it’s true.

  • At the start of it all it seems terrifying and insurmountable.  Any really huge thing can be overwhelming when you look at it from the beginning.  But you have to just take it one step at a time, whether that be wearing a mask or doing a regular monthly deposit into savings.  You do the right thing in small chunks and it adds up to lots of right things over time.
  • There will be ups and downs along the way.  The stock market and interest rates go up and down.  It’s not always in your favor.  The infection rate in your geographic area also goes up and down, not always in your favor.  You buckle up for the ride.  You wait it out.  You play it safe.  And eventually it comes around the other way again.
  • You’ll have to make sacrifices. There will be times that you would rather go on a vacation or buy something fun (or useful) instead of socking away that money in savings.  There will be times that you want to go to a large family gathering, or maybe just sit in a normal law school class….but you have to mask up and hunker down instead.  It’s important to keep your eyes on the long-term goal.  Even if it means sacrifices in the short term.
  • Eventually you’ll see a light at the end of the tunnel.  You’ll hit mile-markers on the way to your long-term savings goal.  The first $1,000.  The first $5,000.  Half-way there.  75% there.  These things make you see that it is indeed possible to achieve the goal.  Just like the recent good news about vaccines in development make us see that it’s possible we won’t be living the pandemic lifestyle forever.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel…but we’re not there yet.
  • At the end of it all, it will have been worth it.  Eventually we’ll get there.  The pandemic will be a historic event that we relay to younger generations and we watch documentaries about.  And the long-term savings goal will have been reached.  You’ll be in your new house, or you’ll be retired, or you’ll have achieved whatever other goal you are saving for.

When you are looking at a long-term savings goal in the future, you’ll have this pandemic to look back on.  And you’ll know that it’s possible to achieve…because you’ll have done it before.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

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This has been a long and fraught week for Americans as we waited through the vote counting for the determination of the Presidential election.  Not everyone is happy with the results.  And this highlights one of the most important money lessons there is to learn:  You can’t have everything you want.  If it were possible to have everything you want, I would be retired and living in a 26-foot long Airstream travel trailer towed by a brand new SUV while I tour the United States.  Instead I am working full-time from my guest room in a job that I love and I tow a tiny teardrop camper with an 8-year-old Subaru on weekends when I am able to get away.

You can’t have everything you want.  You have to accept what you have and do the best you can with it.  I have a job that I love (I get to help people achieve their dreams!!).  I’d rather have a job I love and make less money than I would if I had a job I didn’t love.  My life isn’t extravagant.  But it’s comfortable and offers me what I need.  I’ll never have an Airstream camper or a brand new SUV.  But I will someday have a good quality camper that I can stand up inside of….and likely a used SUV or pickup truck to tow it with.  And until then I have a teardrop camper and a Subaru that take me on a lot of adventures.  I can’t have everything I want.  But I can make the best of what I have got.

If you try to have everything you want you’ll end up in a financial nightmare.  The struggle with debt is a very real thing for a lot of people.  A mortgage payment or car payment that stretches the budget can cause sleepless nights as you try to figure out how to also pay for food and utilities.  Add credit card debt or medical bills on top of that, and suddenly you’re sinking so fast you don’t know how to get out.  The best way to manage debt is not to fall into it.  Do you need a place to live and a mode of transportation?  Yes!  Do you need it to be exactly the one you have always wanted?  No!  It’s better to start with what is financially manageable and move your way up over time.

Sometimes making the best you can with what you’ve got is easy, like when you choose store-brand products over brand names at the grocery store, or when you buy clothing at second-hand stores or at big-box discount stores rather than at boutiques.  Sometimes it’s more disheartening, like when you take the bus instead of owning a car.  Sometimes it’s ridiculously frustrating, like when you have to accept that you just can’t afford a trip to Disneyworld so you staycation instead.

You can’t always get what you want.  But you can make the choice to be happy with what you do have and make the most of that.