Fabulous Financials

photo credit: CJ Sorg

A fabulous reader sent me this MSNBC article, titled “For Frugalists, Bargain Hunting is a Lifestyle.” Subtitled, For these extreme anti-consumers, your trash is their food, furniture…

Is the title enough to make you say WTF? Oh well, check it out!

It’s no secret that American culture is a consumer culture…On the opposite end of the spectrum are the few people who call themselves anti-consumerists, freegans, frugalists or just plain Dumpster divers…these people delight in drastically reducing their consumer spending, finding life’s essentials at bargain prices or paying nothing at all.

The article goes on to give us a few examples. Here’s Rebecca:

Rebecca, 51, owns a small duplex and has a job running an art program for a health care organization…And she gets 99 percent of her food from the Dumpster.

“It’s so easy to eat for free,” she says. “The only things I buy are butter and milk.”

And here’s Prieur:

[Prieur] says his trash bin excursions have netted him smoked salmon, high-end bacon, olive oil, plenty of produce and other goodies. Prieur, who owns a piece of land but has no permanent home, estimates that when he’s staying with his sister in Seattle, he gets 20 to 30 percent of his groceries from garbage bins.

Then we get a glimpse into an actual dumpster diving excursion:

When Rebecca reaches the grocery store, she moves with purpose across the parking lot to a fenced-in Dumpster. With practiced nonchalance, she opens the gate and walks in, closing it behind her. On the ground, she immediately finds a bag of baby squashes. They go in the backpack to be steamed up for dinner.

Next, she hikes herself up and peers in the Dumpster itself. Out comes a bag of popcorn, a bag of granola and a package of rice. All are torn, but the contents appear clean.

Rebecca passes up pasta and a few other items, explaining that she prefers ready-made food because she doesn’t like to cook.

The granola isn’t her taste, either — she’s a self-described picky eater — but she can give it to her boyfriend.

She also passes up a bag of flavored potato chips, explaining, “I don’t like salt and vinegar.”

Climbing out of the Dumpster, Rebecca opens the gate again and heads out.

In 10 years of serious Dumpster diving, Rebecca says she’s never gotten sick eating food from the trash.

Wait. Let me get this straight. A dumpster diving picky eater.

Yea, I read that right…

A.

Dumpster.

Diving.

Picky.

Eater.

Umm, wow!

Now if the thought of dumpster diving isn’t nasty enough, at least the chic is selective about the crap she eats from the trash! But get this. When something she picks from the trash isn’t her preference, she’ll give it to her “boyfriend” or feed it to the dog. Oh lawd, I have no words! LOL!

Clearly, the choice for these two dumpster divers isn’t about money. As with most frugal people, it’s a personal preference and a lifestyle. These two just so happen to be uh…extreme whack.

If you’ve read the article, do you think they’re creative or just plain nasty?

[Thanks Rufina]

According to this CNN article:

If a stay-at-home mom could be compensated in dollars rather than personal satisfaction and unconditional love, she’d rake in a nifty sum of nearly $117,000 a year.

The eighth annual survey calculated a mom’s market value by studying pay levels for 10 job titles with duties that a typical mom performs, ranging from housekeeper and day care center teacher to van driver, psychologist and chief executive officer.

…the annual salary for a stay-at-home mom would be $116,805, while a working mom who also juggles an outside job would get $68,405 for her motherly duties.

Well damn! If they g’on cut my salary in half for working outside the home, can a sista get a vacation or something?

And umm, I need compensation for my labor pains too.

Oh yea, one more thing. Now that I’m raising a teenager, I need a 25% premium for hazardous duty pay. This ish is dangerous to your health!

What do you think of this silly survey?

[hat tip to BK for sending]

I ran across an article in this month’s issue of Black Enterprise and loved it. It isn’t available online yet, but I wanted to share anyway…

Entering a new job can be overwhelming. Below are three strategies to gain confidence from your potential clients, colleagues, and managers:

1. Learn the Corporate Culture

Before setting goals, learn your environment. Learn how employees conduct business and view success. Learn how the company rewards achievement.

Single Ma’s thoughts: Learning what the new organization values is key to your success. What was important at your last job may not be as important at your current job. Spend some time figuring out what’s important to those around you, then set your eye on the prize.

2. Build Your Network

Get to know the influencers within your company - immediately. Ask someone to lunch. Have drinks after work. Use this time to ask specific questions about the work environment. Build your network and start developing your reputation.

Single Ma’s thoughts: Assume everyone is equally important, never underestimate the power of a secretary and never assume an executive is well respected. Build allies above and below, but closely observe those who are on the fast track. Take mental notes on what it takes to make a name for yourself.

3. Organize Your Work Space

Communicate your eagerness to be a contributing member of the team, but always remain focused on your professional development. Employees tend to see further development for the job, but not their careers. Think of your new job as an assignment during which you are being paid to learn a new task and increase your experience level in case you must leave your job.

Single Ma’s Thoughts: The title of this one is odd, but the last sentence took the words right out of my mouth. I view every job as a learning opportunity that will prepare me for the next level.

As I embark on this new journey, I plan to consider the above tips. Learn the culture, build my network, and prepare for the next level. Yep, that’s my plan.

It may take a little while to get acclimated, but I can already tell what the organization values. As for my network, I’ve pegged a few I’d like to know better and a few have pegged me as someone they should know. Last but not least, considering the fast pace of the environment, I’ll have no problem gaining the experience I need for the next level. Consequently, formal classroom training may be a challenge. I’ll have to figure something out.

In the meantime and in between time, I’ve established 3 objectives based on my observations and documents I’ve reviewed so far. Two are related to process improvements and the other is related to career development. A department can’t ‘exceed’ goals without efficient processes and the quality of output is dependent upon a fully trained and capable staff. In a few months, I will make recommendations, get buy-in from leadership, and implement. That’s easy. Convincing others to embrace change without sparking World War III will be the greatest challenge, but I think I can handle it. Then I’ll use the experience to secure my next promotion.

One year baby. ONE YEAR. Trust me!

A fabulous reader, Caryn, sent me the following article from the Washington Post written by Jeannine Aversa: High School Seniors Get ‘F’ in Finance

Young people’s financial know-how has gone from bad to worse.

High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. That was even lower than the 52.4 percent in the previous survey in 2006 and marked the worst score out of the six surveys conducted so far.

The article attempted to make a connection between students’ lack of financial savvy and the current housing market, record level foreclosures, and credit worthy borrowers. *blank stare*

So if teenagers understood more about finance, adults wouldn’t buy houses they can’t afford? Or…If teenagers understood more about finance, lenders wouldn’t sell subprime loans to borrowers who they KNOW can’t afford to pay it back? Yea, ok.

And this part really made me scratch my head:

In this year’s survey, only 16.8 percent correctly answered that stocks likely would offer the higher growth over 18 years of saving for a child’s education, while 37.3 percent thought a U.S. savings bond _ one of the most conservative investments _ would offer the highest growth.

Nearly 53 percent said they would have no liability if their credit card was stolen and a thief ran up $1,000 worth of debt. (Liability is limited to $50 after the credit-card issuer is notified.) Only 13 percent knew they might have to be responsible for $50.

“The survey demonstrated that graduating high school seniors continue to struggle with financial literacy basics,”

Guess what Washington Post? 6 of my 8 credit cards have a ZERO liability clause. Now what does that say about 53% of the students who chose “they would have no liability?”

While I understand the point Ms. Aversa is TRYING to make, I think this article (and the survey) was reaching too far. When I was a HIGH SCHOOL senior, I didn’t know very much about stock values either. In fact, I almost failed Econ in undergrad, loved it in grad school and STILL barely understand the complexity of our economic system. Hell, it took a pictorial explanation for me to understand how C.D.O.s drove the subprime market meltdown and the current recession!

My point is…

Personal Finance is NOT rocket science. If you earn $5 and you spend $6, that’s a bad. If you earn $5, spend $2, invest/save $2, and give away $1. That’s good. I hate when “experts” make people think you have to understand complex issues in order to make responsible financial decisions. It’s discouraging for the average person. But if it were true, more than half of the adult population - including the author of this article - would receive an “F” in finance too.

My friends and I were discussing this MSN article, Too successful for a mate?, over email a few days ago. The opening paragraph states:

The majority of my most successful, good-looking, educated, talented girlfriends are still single.

If they had Y chromosomes, they would have been married a decade ago. Instead, like successful single women all over the country, they trek into their mid- to late 30s on their own — experiencing fabulous professional success, buying real estate and making savvy investments for the future, without much going on in the relationship department.

This article caught my attention after writing about Mr. Eye Candy’s plan to “upgrade” me. LOL! Would this man be as interested if he thought I were more accomplished? Well, my friends and I were having a very lively discussion about this topic and the article, so I wanted to continue it on the blog. I’m going to reserve comment here - for the time being - because I don’t want to influence opinions. However…

Debt Hater has shared her thoughts.

BK has also shared her thoughts.

Now I’d like to hear from YOU.

Are successful woman doomed for single-dom?

If you agree, how can a successful woman attract an ‘equal’ partner?

If you disagree, why do you think so many successful women remain single?

And to all of my male readers, I’m really interested in your thoughts.