Tag: passive income

how to make money without a job and why you should

 

Spend less than you earn is the wrong way to think! Your time will be much better spent thinking of more ways to make money than it will be thinking of ways to save money. Chances are good if you read this blog that you’ve already given some thought to alternative income, but let’s back up.

“It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.” - Oscar Wilde

Everyone has a primary source of income. Usually it is a traditional job - an employer who asks them to show up from 9 am to 5 pm, file a TPS report and pay an ungodly amount of taxes for the privilege of being laid off in a restructuring when the company misses earnings estimates by $0.01. Income can also come from self-employment, a small business, unemployment checks, a pension, or hundreds of other primary sources. Alternative income - which is sometimes referred to, incorrectly, as passive income - can come from rental properties, royalties, investments or other sources. All of these sources could also be primary income to someone but usually these are income streams that people receive in addition to their primary income. To be truly rich one thing is certain: for every ’stream’ of income you have, you should have an alternative. Alternative income is the key to wealth.

Most people have a single source of income. They work for employer Megacorp or Wal-Market and receive a paycheck. Some people may have a trickle of investment income, or occasionally sell something on eBay and then give up after a few sales, but a large number of people consider catching up on the final season of NBC’s beloved quirky comedy “The Office” a better use of their time than trying to earn more money after a tiring day in the office. Their goal is to get by on minimum work, minimum income and maximum “down-time.” Alternative income seems like a lot of extra work to these people, and extra work isn’t what anyone wants.

However, there are many advantages to finding alternative income, not the least of which is being able to get rid of your primary income stream. Having alternative streams of income means that no one stream can direct your life. Do you think you could tell your boss you were going to quit at the end of the month if your wage is your only source of income? Not unless you had an offer letter from your next ex-boss ready. But what if you had 15 streams of income? What if no single stream accounted for more than 10% of your total income? You could do a constant analysis and drop underperformers. You could drop streams that were inefficient, or frankly just made you blue. This is why being a consultant is better than being an employee, and why owning a business is better than being a consultant, and why creating content is better than owning a business - ease of adding and dropping income sources. Consultants and businesses and especially content creators can have more than one ‘employer’ at a time. No one ‘employer’ becomes critical for putting food on the table.

There are two more advantages to alternative income besides diversification of income sources. First of all is the expansion of skills. Creating an income stream from a website you create or eBay sales or a small business is a completely different skill set than being a financial analyst, for example. Not better, not worse, but different. Even blogging about financial analysis is a different skill set than being a financial analyst. Every time you create a new revenue stream, you are expanding your skill set. You are learning something new, and making it that much more likely that you’ll be able to add further income streams.

This leads to the greatest advantage of alternative income streams of all. This is the viral nature of alternative income. For the first 10-12 years of my working life, I never thought there was any point in worrying about income past my wages and a quarterly trickle of dividends from my stock holdings. The truth is that when you start thinking about creating alternative income you’ll find out that something funny happens. Your ideas will snowball. That first idea will spawn two more, and they’ll each create two more. You’ll get excited the first time you make a few dollars that didn’t come from your employer. You’ll see opportunities everywhere and even though many won’t work out, some will. The one that does will give you a lead to another stream. That stream will inspire you to create another. You won’t be content to sit back and wait for your corporate payroll department to mail you that never-changing check every two weeks. You’ll want more, and by wanting more you’ll find more. Once you understand that alternative income is the only way to real, long-lasting wealth every idea you have could be the start of something amazing.

So even if you come up with an idea for generating an extra $10 a month, don’t sneer at it. That $10 a month idea may someday serve as the basis for a $100 per month idea. That $100 stream may help you gain the skills and experience you need to have for a whole new stream that generates $1000 per month. If you see where this is going, you see the possibilities. Keep an eye out - you never know when you’ll come up with the next small idea that could turn out big!

This post originally appeared, in slightly modified form, as a guest post I wrote on Lazy Man and Money. He’s all about alternative income, of course, which is the subject of this post, so his blog is a great place to brainstorm.

Photo Some rights reserved by stevendepolo

try something new, and links

I’ve been working on something with my son. It’s “try something new”. I have made an effort to convince him that he should try something new, and if he likes it, great, if not, fine. I’m mostly applying this concept to food but it’s relevant to things like trying new sports or ideas or so on. I realized this morning - while I was talking to him about the concept of trying something new - that it should apply to all of us. None of us should ever settle for stopping learning, trying, tasting, etc. But it’s easy to do. I quit REALLY trying new things years ago. Hopefully I can shake myself out of that pattern soon…

Here are a few of my favorite reads this week:

A Frugal Daughter’s Guide to Back to School Shopping: Always interesting to get a different perspective - like a daughter’s, for example.

Should You Refinance Your Mortgage? Rates Are Low, But It Is Still a Tough Decision: I’m leaning towards doing a refi. I’ve got a good rate but the rates are so low now that the benefits to refinancing seem almost too good to believe.

To mini-retire or not to mini-retire? Escaping the Mundane: Great tips on how to break out from the “ordinary” life.

New UK Kindle a tax on literature?: Interesting take on the Kindle. My Dad LOVES his Kindle. I plan to get one soon - basically once the WiFi version hits $100.

7 Habits of Highly Frugal People: I’m working my way through this book for the second time (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). I didn’t like it so much the first time I went through but now I appreciate it more.

Why 99% Of Financial Advisors Should Be Shot Out Of A Cannon Need Extra Cash? There Are Only 4 Ways To Get It: The fours ways to make money are: * Start a business * Work more * Passive income * Spend less This is a great summary to clarify your thinking. Alternative income won’t just materialize. YOU have to DO something.

And a few more links that are worth reading:

doesn’t anyone have a job, and links

One of the things that amazes me when I’m between projects is the sheer number of people out and about during the day. If you go to Costco or Bloom (a grocery store) during the day, there are a lot of people there. There are cars on the road. There are people out and about all day long, and I always wonder - are these people who don’t work, or who work irregular hours, or who work at home? How can there be so many people out and about from 9 to 5? I don’t mind, I’m just curious.

On to the links:

My New Career: Stealing Cars in Oakland: Fun signs of the decline of the American empire…

Amazon Prime 1 Year Free for Students and Others: Amazon Prime is a great deal - I’ve been a subscriber to the plan for the last 5 years. It all depends on the volume of your orders from amazon, of course, but if you order more than a few orders a year it’s a good deal.

Our Credit Card Rewards Surprises: As far as I’m concerned, the American Express Blue cash rewards card is the best card out there - we put almost all of our household expenses on that card.

The Joy—and Value Received—of Community College: Let me start by saying I know nothing about community colleges. I didn’t ever go to one, knew few who did and don’t pay any attention to them. All that having been said, I love the idea of community colleges and wish they were better promoted. Many professions - my own, accounting/auditing included - could probably be just as well served by community college grads as by four-year college grads. Why we don’t promote these institutions more is beyond me.

The Siren’s Call of Passive Income: An interesting take on the ethical implications of “passive income.”

It Doesn’t Matter What Your Position Is Right Now, You Can Do Better: Great advice: “What can you do, right now, to start improving your situation? That’s the only question that matters. ” Quite true.

Networking Tips to Help You Find a Job: “Make sure to follow through. If someone provides you with a referral, make sure that you follow through quickly.” This is a small thing, but it’s one of the least-followed pieces of advice in the job-seeking world. I’m not nearly as good as I’d like to be at following up; but I’m better than many people are. Don’t offer to follow through if you won’t. And if you offer, and DO follow through - people WILL appreciate it.

The preservation of wealth: “In fact, I doubt there’s a rich person in the world getting by with an index tracker, a savings account, and a wodge of Government bonds.” Probably true. I’m convinced that index funds, savings, etc. are the mark of a small, non-rich mind. That having been said, they are also the mark of an educated, non-poor mind. There’s a big gray area between rich and poor that can be quite comfortable for many of us.

99 thoughts on losing 100 pounds: Hey, that sounds familiar… hah.

And more:

linklings, small business energy edition

I’m jumping the gun on something I’ll write about more next week, but I attended a very interesting function this week. It was a launch party for a magazine in which I was a contributing writer, and most of the attendees were entrepreneurs, small business owners or reps of banks and other service companies (payroll, etc.) who served small businesses. The energy and enthusiasm of people with an entrepreneurial bent versus a similar gathering of corporate types was stunning.

I’ve been to entrepreneurial gatherings before, and attended more corporate events than I can count, but this event reminded me how different the energy is between the two. And I’m not bashing corporate types out of hand; even though I’m not a corporate employee I’m still firmly embedded in corporate life, and consider myself part of corporate culture rather than entrepreneurial culture. I was impressed by the people I met and made a resolution to start spending more time at networking events for entrepreneurs and less mixing with corporate types, even though that’s where I get my work. Sometimes it’s about inspiration, not trolling for clients.

On to the links:
Census Pre-Notice: Government Waste At Its Finest.: This letter absolutely appalled me, as well. This letter, in fact, is the type of thing that makes me sympathize for a few seconds with the ‘small government’ crowd. Whoever the moron is who decided to send out this letter
Implementing PAYGO Rules For Personal Finances: Don’t buy something until you either make more money or save on something else. Radical concept. I don’t approve of the politics behind the recent shenanigans to block the extension of unemployment benefits, but why this is such a radical concept for DC explains a lot about the mess our country’s in.
How to Negotiate Remote Work With An Employer: This is the holy grail for me. Sometimes I manage to convince clients to let me do this, but more often than not they are stuck in “facetime” mentality.
How to Waste $55 in Washington D.C. (Hint: Take a Bus Tour): I have to be honest - all of the monuments and memorials and whatnot in Washington bore me, with two exceptions: the Vietnam War memorial (which is deeply moving) and the World War II memorial, which - for me, at least - was “off-the-charts” moving. Seeing that and seeing the eternal flame outside the Kremlin, which honors the dead of what they call “The Great Patriotic War” is overwhelming when you think of the number of Soviet and Allied forces who died defeating the Axis. Chilling stuff, particularly given that my head is stuffed full of World War II stories from my mother’s father, ranging from the noble to the horrific. My father’s father refused to speak one bit about it - being a German-American, speaking German at home and being sent to the German front was apparently not something he ever felt like discussing with anyone.

A few other good reads:

the four(ty) hour workweek

beachhouse

After reading Timothy Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Workweek I was struck by what I viewed as one of his main concepts: work is something to be avoided. The book explains how to set up a business that (largely) runs itself. His idea is to have a passive (for lack of a better word) income stream and then use that stream to back away from work altogether in favor of visiting new parts of the world, learning new things and enjoying what he calls “mini-retirements.” His point that far too many of us hammer away at difficult jobs with long hours during the best years of our lives simply to grasp at “freedom” once we are too old to enjoy it.

I have written many posts about my desire to generate “passive income” or “alternative income.” After reading Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” I spent years wondering whether I, too, could ever achieve financial freedom. I’ve worked my way through a steady progression of what I’d loosely lump together as “financial freedom” books: Your Money or Your Life is one of the best examples. What Ferriss’ book helped me realize is that based on my recent “mini-retirement,” I am in no way ready for the four hour workweek. If you don’t have a sense of what you want to do with the other 164 hours of the week a mini-retirement can be long and unproductive.

Curmudgeon, a frequent contributor to brip blap, wrote this a year ago:

As young adults, we try on various persona, defined by our behaviors and job roles. Not surprisingly, some fit better than others. Hopefully, we gravitate into the roles that fit, gaining an understanding of our own preferences and character in doing so. In doing so, we’ll likely find that we don’t have a true taste for large and fancy homes, luxury automobiles, fine clothes, and corporate ladder-climbing. But many people engage in these behaviors, perhaps because others around them do so, or because of some ill-conceived notions of the meaning of success and belonging.

link: guest post: who am I?

Focusing on lists and goals and “things we’d like to achieve” can be a trap. You may think that “trekking across the Gobi on camel back” is a more admirable and exciting goal than “re-read the Lord of the Rings at least one more time,” and you may tell others (and yourself) that you want to do the former. What you really want, though, is to do something else - because that’s who you really are. You need to understand who you are before you can set goals - I didn’t think this in the past but now I do.

Maybe you want a four-hour workweek so you can “play” at writing a book (which is hard work). Maybe you want financial freedom not because you want just enough income to live a moderate existence, but so you can quit your corporate job and concentrate on making “big money” doing something else so you can buy a Mercedes. Maybe you want financial freedom to sit on a couch and complete watching every episode of Doctor Who ever made. Just be honest about what you want. I suspect that dreaming about a fancy car means you are really looking for some other sort of meaning in your life, but for all I know some people might be truly passionate about cars - learning about them, driving them and owning them. I’d like to have an ocean view home - which doesn’t come cheap - but I don’t need that home to be 4000 square feet.

I often dream of “freedom” - but now that I’ve had freedom for the last half year, I’ve started dreaming more of meaningful or interesting work; for lack of a better word, let’s call this a “purpose.” I have fooled myself for a long time into thinking I want free time to do what I really “want to do” but I don’t want free time - I want my time occupied. I think too many people confuse freedom with indolence and that’s why they can’t achieve it - freedom isn’t achieved by lazy people (unless they have the good fortune to inherit it). Laziness may actually guarantee that you’ll work very hard - you’ll just be working hard at something you don’t want to do. Someone who buys a book with a guy swinging in a hammock (as Ferriss’ book does) hoping to find a shortcut will soon realize that a lot of hard work is needed to get to that hammock. I doubt that Ferriss spends his days watching Flintstones reruns.

Ferriss’ idea of work, or purpose, or whatever you would like to call it would simply be learning and traveling. For someone else it might be accounting, or animal husbandry, or selling custom t-shirts. Nobody really wants a four-hour workweek. They want a forty-hour income off four hours of effort, so the other 36 hours can be spent doing what they would do if income was no issue.

photo by Jesse Wagstaff

linklings, “this is the worst ever” edition

Here’s a quote for you. I wouldn’t say I respect this guy, but I always find him worth listening to:

No, this is the worst ever. This is the worst I’ve ever seen. 1990 was a bad period of time, but this is far worse, and this is worse on a really global basis. I’m looking at different countries. Every country is bad. Now they’re blaming us because of what happened. You know, why not blame the United States? But every country is in trouble.

Who said it? Don’t know? You’re fired!

What Republican Leaders Deem Wasteful in the Proposed Stimulus Plan - Do You Agree?: The only people I trust less in terms of economic good sense than the Democrats are the Republicans - hard to say that they had the least bit of good sense over the last eight years. Give the Democrats a chance to screw it up, guys.

Financial Football Teaches Students about Personal Finance: Hey, it’s nice to see football players involved in something as dull and boring as personal finance, because at least then kids will sit up and take notice.

Free Business & Finance Courses Online: I have to admit that the open courseware concept excites me, but I haven’t done much with it yet. I did work my way through a few lessons of MIT open courseware, but I didn’t really push myself. One of these days I’m going to push myself, though.

How Hard Would You Work to Find Your Perfect Job?: So far I have to admit - not very hard. I wonder, to be honest, if I’d rather stumble into another vaguely unpleasant middle-management job if the hours aren’t too taxing, than to work long hard hours to achieve something I found meaningful to myself. It’s a question I struggle with.

Can You Invest Solely in ETF’s?: Maybe not so much with ETFs, but I wonder whether the index-fund investing strategy is a good one long term - and I come to the same conclusion that this post does. If you don’t have a substantial amount to invest, indexing will work just fine. Once you have more than a million, start considering other options.

How Much Does It Cost In Life Energy?: One of the best lessons learned by people who are “wise” to personal finance is that money does not represent wealth, exactly, but time - if you’re an income earner and not someone who earns from passive income. If you work for a living and buy a CD, those tunes represent a chunk of your life. If you have passive income, a CD’s simply a way to convert wealth to enjoyment. Big difference. Earned income versus passive income - which is better?

Are You Earning More or Spending Less? Plus Helpful Financial Guides: I always think of earning more - even now that I’m not earning more. Spending less will only take you so far - after that, earning more is the only possible solution.

$15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit Possible!: As someone who wants to move this year, this tax credit would inspire me to commit seriously. This credit might actually be the stimulus the economy needs.

How to Waste Money on an MBA: It’s an overrated degree, but there is some value to it still. Companies do know the difference between a forceful, high-pressure MBA program and a second-rate one. Real MBAs challenge students to change their thinking. A lot of second-rate MBA programs exist just to drop a few letters onto a resume. Don’t be fooled into thinking that employers will be fooled.

BrightScope: Check out YOUR company’s 401(k) plan. You might be surprised (but hopefully not irritated).

WWII vet frozen to death leaves estate to hospital: This is stupid frugality at an extreme. It’s clear that this country has to do something to protect its aged against themselves when things like this happen. Nobody should freeze to death with more than a half million in the bank.


the truth about passive income

A few years ago when I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the concept of passive income lit my brain on fire. I had never thought of the idea of making money for nothing. I assumed that money was achieved only due to the hard-pressed exchange of time for filthy lucre. Kiyosaki, the author of RDPD, assured us that passive income was the key to wealth.

Where is the passive income?

I plunged into research. I identified rental income, investment income and even creating original content as “passive income.” I had visions of checks flowing in, one after the other, landing in a pile on my desk called the PI pile. But after time, I realized that the pursuit of passive income was nearly impossible through these routes. How can you really make passive income? Inquiring minds want to know, when they aren’t trying to figure out how much of a jerk John Edwards is for cheating on his wife with the anti-heroine of this story. These are the top 8 “real” ways to make passive income, but even they have a catch - all but the last one.

What Are You Looking At?
1. Pick up spare change off the ground. You do have to bend over, but you probably do that at work every day, so you’ll at least be getting something out of this transaction.

2. Marry someone rich. You’ll have to do some work, true, but if you aim high enough we’re talking about a huge return on investment here.

3. Hook up with someone rich and desperate enough to pay to keep you around - the classic “sugar daddy” scenario. Granted, you may have to do some work here… but I’ve seen this work out where surprisingly little effort is expected in return.

4. Have someone else do the work for you; a nice trick if you can manage it. Ask your buddy the web designer to create a website for you - for free. Why would he do it? The exposure? The joy of being taken advantage of? Don’t worry - you’re getting passive income!

5. Win an office lottery pool. OK, you risked a few dollars, but someone else went to the bodega, bought the ticket and checked the results. You didn’t put much sweat into your share of the Mega Millions, did you?

6. Gamble. There is, of course, a potential downside here. But if sitting around sipping free martinis while playing a game and winning isn’t as close to passive income as possible, I don’t know what is.

7. Invest in dividend-paying stocks. This point is a cheat. You have to earn the money that you use to buy the stock. On the other hand, everything that happens after you buy it is gravy. That income becomes close to truly passive - so the trick is to use windfalls (an economic stimulus check, for example) to invest in dividend-paying stocks.

8. Be born rich. Yes, you have to be nice enough to great-aunt Milfred to avoid getting cut out of your trust fund, but let’s face it: this is as close to passive income as you’ll see in this life.

Don’t think you’ll get rich without working for it. Everything you can generate wealth from takes effort. Writing a book is hard work. It may create a wealthstream for years to come, but that’s what you should be aiming for: wealthstreams, not passive income. Don’t imagine that there’s a magical key to wealth that doesn’t involve either hard ongoing work or a good bit of upfront work.

photo credit: Christina Welsh (Rin)

Carnival of Careers #5

Welcome to the Carnival of Careers #5, back at brip blap for the week! There were a lot of great submissions below, and I highlighted a few as my picks. Enjoy!


Creative Commons License photo credit: Daquella manera

Editor’s Picks:

Kristie presents Bored with your job? Work overseas for the summer! posted at Norway - An American In Oslo. It’s a cool idea from someone living in a cool place…

mbhunter presents The most important thing you can do for your job posted at mbhunter. A good reminder for anyone who grumbles about their job regularly.

Mark Butler presents Why Everyone Should Experience a Sales Job posted at The Butler Project. I have done a tiny bit of selling but it’s always been business-to-business selling rather than trying to sell to individuals; Mark has a good idea why everyone should at least attempt sales.

work-life balance
Will presents Sample of How To Write A Condensed Work Week Proposal posted at Your Finish Rich Plan. This is a great starting point for trying to convince your boss to give you a condensed work week - flex time, telecommuting, job sharing, etc.

MoneyNing presents A Dollar Saved is Two Dollars Earned but Two Dollars Earned is Twenty Dollars Saved posted at Money Ning. A new look at savings and income!

career management
Silicon Valley Blogger presents Traditional Jobs For Men And Women And The Gender Divide » Money and Personal Finance Blog In Silicon Valley posted at The Digerati Life. It’s surprising to think that there are careers in which 99% of the workers are one gender, but there are quite a few.

Andrew Heath presents People Forgive Mistakes, Not Personalities posted at Rants of a Gay Lunatic. Spending time focusing on others’ mistakes makes you look petty, and nobody likes petty.

Phil for Humanity presents Everyone has a Boss posted at Phil for Humanity. Most of us even have more than a single boss. This is a fact of life that no one can escape.

The Baglady presents The Importance and Benefits Non-Profit and Public Service Jobs posted at The Baglady. This was an interesting article for me, personally, since my brother just made the leap from a corporate behemoth to a governmental job, exchanging a big salary for benefits out the wazoo. That’s not ALL the article is about, because it focuses on the positive rewards non-profit and public service jobs can give to the individual.

career advice
Carrie presents The lucky 7: Lessons in entrepreneurship, courtesy of my father posted at Our Common Cents. Entrepreneurial mindsets do teach people not to rely on the supposedly-safe paycheck, and I think that does help in their financial lives, as well.

Raymond presents My List Of The Top 5 Most Overrated Careers and Jobs posted at Money Blue Book. I can’t say I disagree with the list, but it’s missing corporate consultants!

Dereck presents How to become what you want to become, in about two days posted at I Will Not Die. The biggest obstacle to achieving your goal is usually (unfortunately) you.

Rich Leverage presents How to Work Less and Make More Money With Multiple Streams of Income posted at Rich Credit Debt Loan. About diversification of income. Diversity reduces risk. Eventually the goal is passive income covering living expenses, then working for anything other than fun is no longer necessary.

Akemi presents Successful Entrepreneurs Are Great Problem-Solvers: Laura Bennett posted at Yes to Me. I’d say that the skills successful entrepreneurs have would also make them successful employees, too!

Ted presents The Ultimate Graduation Resource List posted at CampusGrotto. A good list of career resources for new grads.

Ian Lurie presents HVAC Training: Starting a new career posted at HVAC Training. If you want to learn about an HVAC career, this is your chance to start. Right now.

job stories
Michael presents Law Student Leaves Gang Life For School Life posted at International Law News. Just once, though, I’d like to see a “lawyer leaves corporate office to lead a life of crime.” Oh wait, they don’t have to leave the corporate office for that, do they…

TheLifeLessTraveled presents How to Start Your Dream Company, Founders of Fred Flare Share Their Story posted at The Life Less Traveled. That’s a good point; don’t just think about starting a company, think about starting your DREAM company.

The Financial Blogger presents When It Doesn’t Make Sense; Don’t Be Afraid to Speak Out posted at The Financial Blogger. This is a story about a classroom situation that would apply equally in a work situation.

That’s it for this edition of the carnival! Thanks to everyone who participated and I hope you found a few interesting articles here. Remember to submit an article for the next edition which will be July 14 at Money Smart Life. I’m skipping next Monday simply since it’s going to be a busy weekend (both for me and everyone else) . If you’re interested in hosting, there are spots available in August!

does innovation require desperation?



One thing I learned over the period of time that I was “problogging” was that working at home is a train wreck for me. Part of it is simply that I have no backbone. I don’t have the steel core that allows me to shout at the rest of clan Blap “I’m going downstairs, locking the door and working!” I think if you were going to work at home you’d have to have either a full-time babysitter/nanny or a will of steel to brush off a child who wants to play, play, play. Or ship them off to daycare full-time.

I also think that if I knew blogging - or freelance writing, or taking photos for cookbooks, or whatever - was going to be my primary source of income, I’d pull it together and get it done. As long as any activity like blogging is more of a hobby than a primary source of income it’s hard to get motivated to pursue it to the exclusion of other activities. And that leads me to this question:

Can I ever make a go of ANY alternative way of making a living without quitting my contracting work?

In my line of work, contracting is lucrative. I do not feel any burning need to make side income. I’d like to make PASSIVE income, of course, but blogging is far from passive - for every hour I spend writing posts I probably spend three answering emails, taking care of links, comments, etc. It’s still a labor of love but it is labor.

Yet I wonder… if I had no income coming in, would I become a successful problogger? Would I figure out other ways to make income if I had to in order to keep income coming to keep our home? I bet I would. I think the challenge is lacking for me, because I know the base income needs - and then some - are taken care of by contracting.

It’s not a bad thing at all. I know that some other bloggers blogged on the side for a while before leaping into problogging. I’m picking on blogging since as a reader of blogs you understand what that entails, but it just as easily could be income from investing or knitting sweaters or being a notary public on the side.

Is it just that some people need desperation to become successful in an area? Can anyone ever make their “hobby” their cash cow? Can you actually make significant career shifts without at least a bit of desperation?

Creative Commons License photo credit: ReefRaff

The Carnival of Financial Goals III

Welcome to the February 4, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Financial Goals. In no particular order I’ve included some great goals (using the term a little loosely) from sports history throughout the carnival - given yesterday’s great game I thought it was appropriate to focus on sports. Just as the New York Giants showed us, nothing is impossible - even beating “the greatest team in football history” if you have goals, focus and discipline.

I’ve also identified editor’s picks throughout by giving them a BRIP.

OK - to kick it off? A non-goal: Scott Norwood’s miss in Super Bowl XXV that gave the New York Giants their first, now of three, Super Bowl wins.

Alternative/Passive Income

Lazy Man and Money presents My 2008 Goals posted at Lazy Man and Money. He’s not sure if he’s going to continue being independent or become a corporate sell-out, but by virtue of calling it a “sell-out” I think his preferences are clear!

Budgeting

Jacob presents How to get wealthy on minimum wage posted at Early Retirement Extreme. He thinks that there is no reason why you can’t get wealthy on a minimum wage salary - as long as you are focused on your goal.

FIRE Finance presents 2008’s Financial Goals - Budgeting & Conscious Savings! posted at FIRE Finance and gives a detailed breakdown, to the penny, on how they will achieve their 2008 goals through savings.

Brooke presents Electricity is Killing Me posted at Dollar Frugal. She is looking for more ways to meet her goal of cutting her electricity bill to under $100.

BRIP! Michael Bass presents Staying within Budget is all about Focus posted at Debt Prison. He says “While brooding over my psychological battle with debt, 20/20 hindsight has taught me that staying focused on my personal budget is the real challenge. I have a toy sized $7,000 remaining between Discover Card and Citibank. So why have I stopped making budgets and pinching pennies when the end is so near? Because I lost my focus.”

Another great football goal takes us all the way back to 1983. Mississippi State University is lining up for the winning kick against the University of Mississippi. The quality is not that great, but watch the ball. You could watch football for 100 years and never see this happen again.

Career

freefrombroke presents My Work Goal for 2008 posted at Free From Broke. With four definite and achievable goals, he’s got a plan to develop his team and move everyone ahead in their careers - including him!

Debt Reduction

Steve Faber presents -Financial New Year’s Resolutions - 3 You Can Set and How to Achieve Them. posted at DebtBlog. These goals should be on anyone’s list, particularly if you have debt - make 2008 the year it disappears!

In the 1989 playoffs, a promising young player named Michael Jordan hit a goal so perfectly it’s now referred to simply as “The Shot.” The goal won game 5 for Jordan’s team, the Chicago Bulls, against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs and signaled the beginning of one of the most storied careers in sports history.

Goal Setting

Raag Vamdatt presents Goal Based Investing :: RaagVamdatt.com :: Financial Planning demystified posted at RaagVamdatt.com - Financial Planning demystified. This article teaches you to save and invest in a disciplined way by defining major investment goals in one’s life.

RacerX presents Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money: financial goals posted at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money, saying, “This shares my 2008 Goals that will be tracked by the blog throughout 2008!”

The Little Dough Girl presents No, young lady, you cannot go to lunch! posted at The Little Dough Girl. She tells us how her stomach has interfered with her money saving. She hasn’t paid a dime for lunch so far this year!

Matthew Paulson presents How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions posted at American Consumer News. Making them is easy. Keeping them is hard.

BRIP! paidtwice presents The Importance of Long Term Goals | I’ve Paid For This Twice Already… posted at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…, saying, “Making goals a moving target was not the right strategy to employ.”

The Miracle on Ice. 1980. The USA team - amateurs and college players - defeat the “unbeatable” professional Soviet team. This was the goal that put the Yanks ahead to stay. I don’t even care that much about hockey and it still gives me a chill.

calgirlfinance presents My Goals for 2008 posted at calgirlfinance - to financial freedom. She’s keeping her list of goals short and sweet to make sure she can achieve them.Ginger presents 2008 Personal and Financial Goals posted at Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, saying, “This was a bit difficult as I’ve never set concrete, specific goals but this year we have a plan and we are sticking to it!”

Writers Coin presents Starting a New Job: How much will I make? posted at The Writer’s Coin, saying, “It’s all about checking in early in the year on the goals set at the end of ’07 and how finding a new job has me in a great position go achieve my goals. But there is still work to be done.”

vh presents Financial Goals, Urban Angst posted at Funny about Money. He’s got one specific goal: Find the money to move someplace quieter and safer by or upon retirement.

This one is just frightening - a young Shaq Diesel makes a massive slam dunk and mayhem ensues.

Other (Related to Personal Finance)

FrugalTrader presents Financial and Blog Goals for 2008 posted at Million Dollar Journey, setting his net worth, charity, saving and blog goals for 2008.

Dan presents 7 Financial Goals for 2008 posted at MoneyMyths. Like other bloggers, he’s ready to set specific goals and isn’t afraid to share them.

BRIP! Cash Money Life presents I Need to Organize My Financial Accounts! posted at Cash Money Life. His goal is to get all of his accounts organized, so either he or his wife can take care of everything in the even something happens to one of us. It’s a cheerful thought.

BRIP! Lynnae presents My 2008 Goals: An Update posted at beingfrugal.net. She’s already updating and although she doesn’t feel she did as well as she hoped, she’s glad that’s she’s being held accountable for her misses.

Randall presents The Forty Year Olds’ Wakeup Call | Credit Withdrawal - Helping You Kick the Credit Habit posted at Credit Withdrawal. These are good general goals for someone in their 40s.

The Goal of the Century, an award given for the greatest goal ever scored in a FIFA World Cup tournament. It was decided by a poll on the FIFA website, as part of the coverage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament. The winner? Diego Maradona (Argentina), 1986 FIFA World Cup vs. England, beating everyone on England’s team on the way to a brilliant goal.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of financial goals using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.Technorati tags: carnival of financial goals, blog carnival.Editor’s note: I tried to keep the carnival focused on financial goal related articles. If you submitted an article that didn’t meet the requirements then I didn’t include it. My intention was to make this carnival as useful as possible for readers. To everyone who submitted, thanks!

how to write gooder

When you’ve been blogging for ages, like I have - I’m a veteran since July of ’07, the golden age of blogging - you get a fair amount of traffic in and out for links. I got one yesterday, though, that really caught my attention. Hunter Nuttall has a post up mentioning my blog: “The 10 Most Readable Blogs (That I Like)“. What made this an unusual post was that it compared me with a few bloggers you may have heard of … Leo Babuta? Seth Godin? Steve Pavlina? and I came out on top. I love the writing everyone on the list does - look at it and you’ll see why. Being listed #1 made my day.

moleskine

Now before I get too excited I have to admit that this is just a readability test Hunter did - not a “quality of content” test or anything of that nature. I think it goes without saying that those guys are a lot more influential than I. However, as someone who has dithered around with writing for years, hearing that my writing is “readable” is a comforting and validating compliment, so I appreciate the time Hunter took to consider his blogroll and have me come out on top.

I am a gasbag. If you meet me in person, I’m one of those people who can get on a roll and pontificate on everything from the Jets’ offensive line woes (letting Kendall go caused at least 4 losses this year) to minutiae of Soviet history to investing strategy to ‘passive income‘ to the Pioneer anomaly (which is making me lose sleep these days) …. you get the picture. But at the same time I really like the mental discipline of taking my verbal spew and funneling it into print; it’s a challenge to take my wanderings and tighten them up into a normal train of thought on e-paper.

So thanks to Hunter’s post, I decided to highlight a few of the posts I wrote on writing when I started Brip Blap, before many people were reading or commenting - hopefully at least one of them might be of interest:

I also want to ask if everyone who reads who enjoys writing could recommend one author or one book who has influenced you stylistically. Not someone whose stories you liked - I love Tolkien’s books, for example, but I’m not really trying to copy his style. On the other hand, I’m not really a big horror fan, and other than “The Stand” I’m not a huge fan of his books, but I make a conscious effort to imitate Stephen King’s writing style. Who influences your writing style - or to think of it another way, whose writing would you read regardless of subject? I am open to suggestions!

PS If anyone feels like nominating me for a bloggie, hint, hint, I sure would appreciate it.

Happy Labor Day!

To celebrate Labor Day, I thought I would showcase a few personal finance, productivity and even environmental thoughts by Mr. Labor - ladies and gentlemen, heeeeeeere’s Karl Marx!

Capital is money, capital is commodities. by virtue of it being value, it has acquired the occult ability to add value to itself. It brings forth living offspring, or, at the least, lays golden eggs. We call it compound interest and yes, we love it. If capital is a golden egg, then I’m hoping to cook the biggest omelette in the world one day.
Landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed. You couldn’t be more right - passive income is one of the keys to financial freedom! I’ve got a great 2-bedroom rental condo overlooking a park for you, Karl.

The English have all the material requisites for the revolution. What they lack is the spirit of generalization and revolutionary ardour. I doubt even the English would argue that they have revolutionary ardor - unless you’re talking about Manchester United, in which case they have ardor coming out the —-.

The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison. No funny comment here. He is completely right about that. Consider joining up for blog action day if you haven’t already.

Karl will be appearing at the Laugh Factory all week. Enjoy your laborless day, all!

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