Life is Duff Sometimes

My wife and I have two very different stories after high school. Whereas I immediately started college, I did it on a whim with no real planning. I was caught off guard by the cost, offered alternative ways to pay, messed up the paperwork and processes, and eventually “flunked out”. This is how I ended up in the National Guard. More on that later.

My wife was way more prepared. By the time she graduated, she pretty much knew where she was going – and I think she’d already been accepted – and toured the campus. I didn’t ask anyone for help, therefore I got none. On the other hand, whether she asked for it or not, she got help from her parents.

When she was 22, she was graduating from Berry with a Marketing degree. When I was 22, I had been to basic training, advanced individual training, attended two semesters of college, mobilized in support of Operation Enduring Freedom for 3 months, married and divorced in about 6 months – essentially played house while I was on active duty. As if that wasn’t foolish enough, while I was back in school leading up to my 22nd birthday, that year my girlfriend would become pregnant with my oldest son – another failed marriage in the making.

For anyone who underestimates the importance of your decision making between the ages of 18-25…read that last paragraph again.

To say my wife’s life has been all peaches and cream would not be accurate. She’s had her own unique challenges. Throughout her growth though, she’s been able to embark on a journey of which I’m so jealous: self-employment. She freelanced in the photography world, worked as a sidekick to a photographer, and began learning the business. Her college education filled in the blanks. Over the course of a few years, she grew her own photography business. I marvel at her work daily. Not to brag, but her business is as big and busy as its ever been, and she’s doing this while being a mom too. I haven’t seen anyone hitting it that hard since I was growing up and watching my mom work all day and spend all night taking care of my dad and my two brothers and me. We’re talking two full-time jobs here.

Anyway, here’s what I envy about my wife’s work. First, she punches a clock for nobody. What freedom! Secondly, she’s her own boss. That has it’s obvious benefits. Thirdly, she actually likes what she does. I’d be willing to bet less than 10% of workers truly like what they do. We all work as a means to an end, but rarely get pleasure doing it. When I lecture my kids about the importance of making good decisions early and often, I use my wife and her business as an example of what could lie on the other side of adulthood – and by making poor choices, they’d be committing to my path. My path sucks.

Buried in all the terrible decisions I’ve ever made at the onset of my adulthood is the one thing that saved me from myself. I joined the National Guard. Albeit, I joined to pay for school. What the military gave me though was way more than I could have ever hoped.

1. The best health insurance in the world
2. I didn’t just pay for school, I got paid to go to school
3. Drill pay + the opportunity to save in the TSP
4. The intangibles (the focus of this blog)

When I graduated high school and hastily applied for college, I picked my major foolishly. I went through my senior schedule and dismissed anything that didn’t immediately interest me, and when I got to my newspaper class (I was the co-editor of our high school newspaper) it was the first one I’d come to that I didn’t hate. I loved to write, and I was interested in so many different subjects that I thought writing was a good way to ring all those bells so to speak. Ergo, I would become a journalism major!

My journalism endeavors lasted until I realized how much being a journalist sucks. First of all, you spend years writing crap stories. Once you’re not the editor anymore, you start back at the bottom and spend a career trying to achieve that status. Moreover, not being an editor means nobody cares what you think. So it’s all news writing, no editorials or opinion pieces offering your analysis of all the world’s problems. Journalism sucked.

I remember the day I realized this, and sat in the Student Union at Cameron University feeling sorry for myself. I had a good part-time job with a promising future at UPS. I had a military career that I knew was important, but at that point in my life I didn’t fully understand why. I was going to have a family soon, and the pressure to get this right seemed very heavy on my shoulders. Some of my buddies tried to help. They all told me their majors in hopes of recruiting me into their worlds. I wasn’t impressed – until my buddy Joe told me he was a Sociology major. I vaguely knew what that meant, but as he explained it in greater detail, I gained interest. I asked him what he planned to do with that degree, and he said, get another one, then get another one, then I want to be a college professor and teach and research Sociology.

Then it hit me. When he said “teach” I realized that’s really what I’d like to do.

After spending that afternoon doing some research at the school and talking to a few other folks, I ended up changing my major to Political Science. My plan was to major in Political Science, minor in Sociology, and get certified to teach. I wasn’t sure about a masters  degree or a PhD…but this would at least get me in a classroom and I could figure the rest out later (I didn’t know at the time it would be about 14 years later).

I set the plan in motion, and proceeded to make enough poor life choices that this plan didn’t come to fruition completely. I did finally graduate college, but it was 17 years after I started. I had already established a career in logistics and transportation, so I was more or less stuck in my civilian job. I had a family to support, so it would have been too reckless to quit working and pursue a teaching career.

But…enter stage left…my trusty old military career.

Through thick and thin, my National Guard experience has been a huge piece to navigating through life. Although I never got to be a teacher in the traditional sense, I certainly became the king of education in the military! Check it out.

1. As an NCO, my main job is to train soldiers
2. Because of all the new programs and packages that keep coming out, I could easily get the Army to pay for my teacher certification now that I’ve graduated
3. I get to blog and teach soldiers about money, investing, benefits, etc.

I’ve made almost every poor choice you can make as an adult. My advice to everyone regarding this statement is similar to how I feel about boats. You don’t buy boats, you get friends that have boats. Similarly, don’t screw up your lives for this experience, just listen to your parents, and take it from me.

At drill, I would describe my relationship to my unit in this way…or rather I think my job title would be something like this:

Army National Guard Finance, Investment, Marriage, Divorce, Family Affairs, Education and Career Counselor. As a matter of fact, I should get my own ribbon for that! I bet I have at least 5 times per drill where someone approaches me and says, “Sergeant Duffy, can I talk to you about something?” I live for these moments.

Okay, let me recap what just happened here because I went all over the place in this blog. I have an appreciation now for doing things the right way. My wife did things right early and often, and that’s largely how she became her own boss and does what she loves for work. I’m jealous of that, and although I did nothing but screw up in life, the National Guard has offered me countless ways to fulfil my personal ambitions even though I never did them in the traditional sense.

If you asked the 18-year-old me where I’d be in twenty years, the answer I would have given would no reflect the reality of where I am now, but that’s okay. Thanks to the magic of the internet, and especially thanks to my career in the Guard, I have a way to do the things I love to do for work, similar to how my wife does. To be honest though, if my writing and advice were as good as her photography, I’d be getting paid handsomely to do this.

Please share with your buddies, like and subscribe so you don’t miss future posts. Thanks for you time! Now, carry on.

 

When I swore into the National Guard, it was a peaceful time in the world. 5 days later, things changed. I swore into the National Guard 5 days before September 11th happened. Chew on that a minute!

I have no problem admitting to anyone I joined the Guard to pay for school. My timing would cause me to not graduate for another 16 years, but my timing also manifested additional school funds that I was in the perfect position to use, one program right after the other.

Because I went to college over the course of 17 years, I consider myself an expert in military school money now.

If you’re in the Guard, this is the roadmap to properly utilizing most, or all of the benefits available to you for school. If you’re in the Guard and paying for any school out of pocket, something might be wrong, so as you read through this, if it’s not adding up and you think something isn’t right, please feel free to reach out to me.

1.) First, let’s get a little familiar with each program/benefit.

Chapter 1606 Montgomery GI Bill

This is the one I was offered when I first got in, and most new soldiers now get offered upon entry. This is a federal program for us “weekend warriors” to go to school. It pays a monthly stipend. As far as GI Bill programs go, this is the weakest.

Chapter 1607 Montgomery GI Bill

Back when 9-11 first happened, this program also known as “REAP” came out. It was a juiced up version of 1606 benefits for anyone that deployed.

Chapter 30 Active Duty GI Bill

If you were ever active duty and qualified for this – I can’t help you. I think they call this the “active duty GI Bill” now and I’ve never qualified for it. However, if you’re one of those guys or gals that left active duty and switched to the Guard shortly thereafter, you might need to research your options. If you at some point in your career became eligible for Chapter 33 Benefits, and you’ve switched over to the Guard – you might still find the rest of this information helpful.

Chapter 33 Post 911 Montgomery GI Bill

This is the best GI Bill program out there. You get a percentage of tuition paid, and a monthly stipend based on a percentage of BAH for your zip code. Also, if you don’t want or need this benefit, you can pass it on to your dependent(s).

State Tuition Waiver

Most states, but not all, have programs in place that waive your tuition if you’re in the National Guard.

State GI Bill

All soldiers basically quality for federal tuition assistance. Let me warn you that you have to request this through the http://www.goarmyed.com website, and it’s ridiculous.

Federal Tuition Waiver

All soldiers basically quality for federal tuition assistance. Let me warn you that you have to request this through the http://www.goarmyed.com website, and it’s ridiculous. The website if complicated and the process is slow. You will notice I will end up putting this at the bottom of my sequence.

Student Loan Repayment Plan

If you qualify for this, odds are you already had existing student loan debt. This is a great plan for paying those back, however, in some cases it can limit your ability to use other sources of funding.

2.) Second, let’s review some processes prior to enrollment.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an 18-year-old private or a 33-year-old NCO, getting all this in motion is not simple. The military and the VA are related, but not connected, therefore you will encounter many separate moving pieces throughout the process of getting enrolled.

I would like to encourage you to also read my breakdown of college and the cost. That has information that will also be helpful.

Here are some things you’ll need to have, or have done before you’re ready to take action and get all this stuff paid for.

1. You will need a Member 4 copy of your DD 214.
2. You will need to know which benefits you are authorized to use.
3. You need to have a college picked out – and know if you plan on attending school in-person or online.
4. Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – and yes, even if your parents are rich, or you’re an older soldier – it does not matter, you HAVE to fill this out.
5. Make contact with your benefits coordinator at your school of choice. This person can usually be found on the school’s website, or by calling and simply asking to talk to the person who handles veterans’ benefits.

After these 5 main things are done, you will be ready to maximize your school money.

3.) Third thing is completely your responsibility – maximizing your school money.

I said it in the title, if you’re paying out-of-pocket for school as a Soldier in the National Guard – something is probably wrong.

You can start this process most effectively once you pick your school. Know which benefits you can use (see above) and start the initial process of using them. Knowing what school, what term/year, and what your living situation will be helps expedite a lot of this process.

There’s an art to this, or rather, a sequence of using these benefits to ensure you never run out of money before you graduate. Remember, I said earlier that every state is different, so if your state sucks, take it up with your elected officials. *It is critical to know if the benefits you are using are state benefits, or federal benefits. If you hit a snag or need help, that will have most impact on where you can go for help.

Before every semester, you have to ensure you have everything in motion, and during the semester you have to follow-up, verify attendance, report grades timely…this is YOUR responsibility. Many agencies and arms of the school and VA will help with, and actually do most of the work, but they are over-worked and under-funded. If you do not follow up and do your part, it if completely your fault. Almost every mistake they make can be caught early enough to fix if you’re paying attention.

Okay, here we go.

4.) In this final step, we will assume you have enrolled, and you can see your first tuition bill has posted on your account.

*Please note that all the math in this section is made-up and hypothetical. It does not reflect any actual numbers for your benefits or tuition bill, I made these up just to have an example to help explain how the benefits work.

Okay, so you’re enrolled in 4 classes for the upcoming term. School starts in 20 days, and you login to see your tuition bill has posted and you owe $4000 to the school. As I mentioned earlier, you should have filled out and submitted a FAFSA. Let’s assume the government identified you as “in-need” and the school  identified you as “deserving” – and between the two of them, you were awarded $1000 in aid.

Great, your bill is already down to $3000.

If you have completed all the steps I listed so far, at a minimum you should already be enrolled in your GI Bill program, whichever one you’re qualified to use. If you’re in the 1606, you will get a monthly stipend, but no help with tuition, so you will move on to the next step. Other GI Bill recipients will get some tuition help here. Let’s assume you got 60% tuition paid for by the GI Bill. Now you only owe $1200, and that larger monthly payment you receive will probably more than cover that remaining amount, but rather than wait for that, you can still so what the 1606 recipients are going to do in this next step.

In my example, whether you still owe $3000 at this point, or you owe $1200, you can get this part taken care of by applying for the state tuition assistance. Not every state does this, but I know I used it in Oklahoma and Wisconsin. This program essentially reimburses you for tuition. One your GI Bill has been applied, and you have that remaining balance, this program will pay for any tuition that is remaining in most situations. However, you need to know two things. First, you have to pass your classes with a C or higher, or else they won’t pay. Secondly, this program, like the others, is not a bottomless pit of money, there are always limits, so pay attention.

You’ll note that the state tuition assistance is not available to everyone. If that’s the case, you can still apply for the federal tuition assistance and do the exact same thing.

Once you have this tuition assistance set up, you will still have your balance due to the school, and this money does not get paid until you prove you passed your classes, so pay attention to the deadlines. You might have to use your stipend, or an initial savings to pay for that first semester, then keep rolling your reimbursements into the next semester and continue paying it forward. This should keep you from borrowing, and keep you from paying anything out of pocket.

In this scenario, we started with a tuition balance of $4000. If you entered your first year of school with $4000 saved, I want you to see the benefit of that.

1. On the first day your tuition bill posted, you could apply for and enroll in all your military benefit programs for school money, and any non-military financial aid.
2. If you paid cash, your balance would be $0 (but you would be $4000 in the hole right at that moment in time).
3. After your “FAFSA money” applied, you would be cut a refund check from the financial aid office. In my earlier example, this would be a check cut to you in the amount of $1000 – so now you’re only $3000 in the hole.
4. After the GI Bill processed, you would receive a refund check for the percentage of tuition it would have covered (if your program pays tuition). In my earlier example, a chapter 33 user might get a check for about $1800. See where this is going?
5. At the end of the semester, if you pass all your classes, the tuition reimbursement in most cases is going to be $4000, which is the original cost of the tuition. Remember, this program runs out like all the others, so if family problems, deployments, etc. are going to slow you down in school – don’t exhaust all your benefits trying to pocket a bunch of money.

When applied in the right sequence, and by you paying all of it up-front, you would be ahead by the end of the semester, which would allow you to take that money and roll it into next semester and do the same thing, and if there was any extra money beyond that, you could start investing it.

Soldiers earn these benefits. If anyone in the general population knew that we have the capacity to get a degree, and make some extra money in the process without being tied to a third or fourth job – most people would nod their head in support of that. Use any extra funds for good though. Practice saving early and often for retirement, and giving. The bottom line is, if you’re involuntarily paying for school every semester, you’re probably missing the boat on one or more of your benefits (military and/or non-military).

Subscribe now for future posts about soldiers, school, and money. Please be sure to hit the like button, and share with your battle buddies. Until next time, peace be the journey.

 

I can remember once, being out in the field for a few days – getting to that point where it wasn’t cute anymore. You know that feeling. The lack of a shower is starting to kick in. Everyone is getting on each other’s nerves already. This particular day found me hungry around the noon hour, and for some reason I didn’t get breakfast. I grabbed the last MRE in the box by the truck (oh goody…breakfast omelette…my favorite) and got into position to eat. Of course, because I was starving, the thing wouldn’t open. I pulled and tugged and tried to rip the stupid thing open – no luck. Worse yet, when I reached for my knife, it wasn’t there. I realized immediately it was in yesterday’s pants still, which were now in a landry bag. Perfect.

“Anyone got a knife?” I asked. The silence was confusing. Wait a minute…nobody? Seriously? “I’m standing next to five soldiers, and none of you have a blade of any kind?” I inquired. It seemed like such a bizarre situation. Never in a million years did I think in basic training that one day I’d be in the field, with a cell phone and a charger, but nobody would have a knife. Weird.

I heard something yesterday that made me think of this, and I immediately emailed myself a reminder to make a list of some things everyone should always take  to the field. Here are my 7 things I cannot live without.

1.) Knife/Leatherman/Gerber

Call it what you want, but I don’t ever remember being in the field and not using this at some point. Ever.

2.) 550 Cord

It’s been my experience that supply never has this when it’s actually needed. You can buy this at the PX most of the time, and it’s such a problem solver on so many levels, I think it’s foolish to ever be caught without it. Odds are, at some point you’ve used tape or some shotty method because 550 cord wasn’t accessible. Fix that, and get some.

3.) 100mph Tape

They make this in every color, including camo pattern. If 550 cord couldn’t fix it, 100mph tape probably will. Other tape is inferior and not as weather-proof.

4.) Gorilla Box

I always take an empty gorilla box to the field with me and use it as my weather-proof dresser. It can stay outside my tent, which gives me a little extra room to try to sleep. Nothing is more waterproof than these rubbermaid totes. The army issues nothing to my knowledge in the form of a bag that is completely 100% waterproof. They sell these in all sizes – I highly highly recommend using one if your unit allows it.

5.) A mirror

A hand-held mirror is such a great thing to have in the field. I’ve tried to shave countless times looking into a mirror on a vehicle, covered in morning dew, and dirty – keeping a small mirror for shaving ensures you don’t miss any spots and look like a dirtbag.

6.) A handful of old grocery bags

Field sanitation and cleanliness can be hard to maintain when there’s not a nearby can or bag for your trash. Having these smaller bags with you allows you to throw away all your small trash, and keep it with you so it’s not touching other stuff in your bag…then when you do get a chance to throw it away, it’s all in one bag, not spread out all over the place. Also, these bags can be a very good way to help further waterproof something. A few extra ziplock bags never hurt either. I have a small pocket on my assault pack that probably has 25 old walmart bags and a few extra ziplock bags. I use them every single time I go to the field.

7.) Baby wipes

Easier than carrying toilet paper, and better than toilet paper anyway. These serve so many extra purposes…and one pack typically last for weeks if you use them responsibly. When a shower isn’t an option, these are life-savers.

What things make your “must have” list? I’m not talking snacks/drinks…I’m looking for something you take to the field and use religiously. Let me know! Please share with your buddies, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future helpful posts.

Spring is rapidly approaching. Well, maybe not here in Wisconsin, but nonetheless it will soon be that time of year we find ourselves opening the windows, letting the house breathe, and getting our “Spring cleaning” done.

At some point, you might want to clean out your closet (or worse yet, your kids’ closets). A former colleague of mine taught me a very cool trick to doing this effectively. Before I get into the process, let’s go over some problems that have developed in most of our closets.

If you’re single or have no kids, this might not apply to you. I think that for people like me, closets are perceived as too small to care about and often for this reason accumulate crap that should not be there in the first place.

I’ll use my house to demonstrate.

In our entryway, just beyond the front door, there are two closets. Common sense would say one was meant to be a coat closet, and the one closer to the kitchen probably a pantry or closet for cleaning supplies. Since we typically come in and out of the garage as opposed to the front door, we use the closet at the garage entry for a coat closet – and “shoe collection point”. So those two closets upstairs at the entry have things like this in them: Rubbermaid containers (one for light bulbs, one for extension cords and surge protectors, and one for batteries), random extra coats and shoes, recycled plastic and paper bags, cleaning supplies, paper towel storage…

I think you get the picture.

So, having laid that out, I would like to throw my opinion out there that there’s no substitute for completely emptying out a closet, cleaning it properly, and only putting back what should really be there. If you can’t find a place to put the “junk”, it begs the question: Do you really need that junk? That’s just food for thought.

Back to the hack though…here’s how you do it. Here is one simple but effective method to cleaning out your bedroom closet.

Hang up everything in your closet backward.

A hanger has an open end, meaning if you have an article of clothing on a hanger, as you go to hang it up, you face the opening of the hanger toward the rod and hook it over the top (easy stuff – hanging up clothes 101).

What you want to do is take that article of clothing and the hanger and flip it so the opening is toward you, and hang it up backward so to speak.

Do this with everything hanging in your closet, and if you have room and enough hangers, do this with all your pants too.

Go about your business as usual.

Every day, wear what you would normally wear. If you wear something and launder it, hang it back up the correct way, not backward. The goal is over time, the things you actually wear will end up flipped the other way around and be normal. The things you DON’T wear will still be hung up backward.

Set a deadline, make your donation.

If you get done reading this and run back to start this process, set a goal for yourself and respect the season. If it’s summer, obviously you won’t be wearing a bunch of long-sleeved stuff, so all those will probably still be flipped around the wrong way.

When your deadline has arrived, anything flipped the wrong direction still is probably just taking up space in your closet. If you don’t wear it, donate it. Get rid of it. If you do this with your kids’ closets, their closets could have some clutter cleared too.

This works for shoes too, but you would have to find a clever way to separate what does and does not get worn. I love my wife to death, and she’s not even really one of those ladies who get all excited about shoes and clothes, but I feel like she has 1,000 pairs of shoes. I took notice one day, and decided to try to count, only to find out I had more shoes than I realized! We’re all guilty of hoarding sometimes – cut the fat!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go clean out my closet. If you found this helpful, please remember to like and share. I’m always excited to get feedback; feel free to reach out to me. Subscribe now so you don’t miss future helpful posts!

I’ve noticed a theme developing when I read about finances. First of all, my exposure to my first three “experts” have been eye-opening in many different ways. They don’t always agree on everything…these “experts”…so you have to be prepared to pick a tactic you trust if you are trying to get serious with your coin.

Although there are differences, there’s a theme developing universally. Investing as early as possible and as much as possible using the magic of compound interest is one of the best ways to accelerate you path to financial freedom. There are so many kids out there right now with $2000 in cash, savings bonds, $2 bills, piggy banks full of coins…etc. That money will get blown 99.9% of the time, but if you could convince a 16-year-old paperboy or a 14-year-old babysitter that the pathway to being a millionaire was already in their hands…wow…the power of starting early is amazing.

I propose a $5.00 challenge to anyone willing to try, but especially the younger folks for whom this would work the best.

It’s this simple. Save $5.00 per week, and do it for 52 straight weeks. At the end, you should have $260.00. Invest it in an index fund…and do it again….and again….and again. If you saved the $260.00 per year by finding $5.00 a week – the returns are significant. Check out the return rate.

1. 10 years – $3,843.74
2. 20 years – $11,404.95
3. 30 years – $26,278.99
4. 40 years – $55,538.49

So, if you started doing this when you were 16, you could have over $55k before you turn 60.

If $5.00 seems like child’s play, and you’re way out of that league, I’ll run one scenario for you…just for fun. Think you can find $5.00 every day to save? It’s probably easier than it sounds…we sometimes put that much money in vending machines, eating out, impulse buys at gas stations, the list goes on. Try to find $5.00 per day; make it easier by forcing yourself to save $35 per week (set up an auto transfer to a savings account, or an etrade account). Using the numbers above, try to guess what’s going to happen if we figure out how to do this for the same time periods listed above.

Think you’re close? Think you’ve got it? No cheating!

Alright, here we go.

1. 10 years – $26.980.07
2. 20 years – $80,053.95
3. 30 years – $184,458.30
4. 40 years – $389,837.46

Makes you wish you started when you were 16, am I right? It’s not too late to get started. Find that $5.00 challenge you are willing to tackle, and go invest here now!

As I kid, I collected baseball and football cards. Many of my friends did as well. We would often sit for hours, scouring price guides and trading, and even simply admiring each other’s collections and those cards nobody was willing to trade.

What prevented us from getting most deals done was one simple thing. We all over-valued OUR cards, and under-valued everyone else’s cards. It was an early life lesson regarding how we behave and perceive value as consumers (and fantasy sports managers…cough cough).

This is the primary reason we fail at selling our stuff.

As of this writing, it’s about to be Spring, and garage-sale season. Call them what you want: thrift sales, garage sales, yard sales – it’s all the same thing. We clean all our excessive junk out of our houses, put it on display somewhere, and try to sell it.

This is a great way to clear clutter, and make some extra cash.

There are 3 key reasons your garage sale will fail though. First, you overvalue your crap. Secondly, people undervalue your crap. Lastly, the type of shopper at a garage sale is a bargain hunter – you have to appeal to that to successfully get rid of all your stuff and pocket a little extra dough. There’s nothing worse than spending 8 hours trying to sell your stuff, and still having most of it afterward. Help yourself by doing the following.

Stop overvaluing your stuff; price to sell.

If you bought an expensive brand new shirt at some point, first of all, shame on you. That’s a conversation for another day…but still, here you are with this $100 shirt that either doesn’t fit anymore, or for some reason you just don’t wear it anymore. Just because you were silly enough to pay $100 for it, does not mean it’s worth $100. It doesn’t matter what logo or brand is plastered on it – you big spender who bough it the first time paid the premium for that already. Now, it’s just a shirt. Most people in this situation do math like this. “I paid $100 for it, so I”ll only ask for less than half…half would be $50….eh, I’ll go half of that…$25….yeah, that’s a good deal.” If you try to sell a shirt for $25 at a garage sale, that shirt will still be there after you’re done. You have to be realistic with these prices.

They are going to undervalue your stuff; price to sell.

Many times it’s not even the price we paid, but the emotional attachment to something that causes us to overvalue it. Consumers at your garage sale feel no emotion toward your stuff. You might be really attached to a t-shirt you got on an awesome vacation, or your lucky sports team shirt or jersey, or a shirt you wore when you got engaged, etc. This can lead you to price items higher than you would otherwise (maybe in hopes that it DOESN’T sell). Nobody cares about your stories that go with any clothes or junk.

Folks shopping at a garage sale are a special kind of people.

Get ready for this, because it’s going to happen. Your old CD collection is going to be sitting out there priced at 50 cents per CD, or $10 for the whole collection…and someone will try go haggle the price down. Somehow, you were very rational when you pulled these CDs out and priced them. However, when someone offers you less than what you ask, something happens inside of you…and you become irrational. These stupid CDs that you can’t even listen to anymore because you don’t even own a CD player…these paperweights…suddenly someone offers you $8 for the whole collection and you’re offended.

You have to get over that. Always take the money. If they’re smart enough to offer a lower price (and many garage-sale enthusiasts are), you have to be smart enough to take the money and run.

Winning is not putting all your crap back in your house after a garage sale, it’s depositing cash or investing the cash you made from selling your junk. If you have something priced for $1, and you get offered 50 cents, just do it. First of all, any money is better than no money, and if you’re not lugging that garbage back home, THAT is what winning looks like. Secondly, when you are easy to work with and demonstrate that to the buyers, they will buy more of your crap. It’s a fact.

So, go get all your junk rounded up, get your garage sale ready to go – price that junk to sell and take whatever they’ll give you for it. The name of the game is clearing the clutter and making extra money, not trying to convince the world that your garage sale is some kind of glimpse as to how you are as a business owner or entrepreneur.

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One of the downfalls of waiting so long in life to get serious about finances (by that I mean doing more than just paying the bills on time – I’m talking about getting debt-free and investing and securing a nest egg big enough and early enough to have some real life after retirement) is I feel like my window to succeed is so much smaller than everyone else’s.

I obsess over how much money I’ve wasted, squandered, lost, and spent since I started working at the age of 14. That embarrassing and terrible feeling about my past makes me feel intimidated and hopeless at times about the future. When I do the math, I know that’s not necessarily true, but it’s this feeling that has caused me to form 3 really bad habits regarding getting right financially.

About 50-80 years ago, people lost trust in banks – to a fault. The next generation put too much trust in banks – to a fault. I think we’re seeing a generation of folks being a little more cautious and saving more and getting serious about getting out of debt. There’s a market for this, and if you don’t believe me, go check out how many self-help books there are on personal finances, investing, etc.

I’m guilty…I’m on my third book in as many months. My eyes have been opened. However, in the process of doing some really really smart things with money, I almost immediately developed 3 terrible habits. I recommend reading these books, but be careful not to let these become your habits too.

1.) Checking the stock ticker 25-30 times per day.

At this very moment in time – I think I’ve side-hustled about $175 from various places and ways. At this very moment in time, as I write this, my overall investment change is 31 cents. I gained 27 of those cents yesterday. Long story short, checking the market 25-30 times a day is not going to make the numbers go up or down. Checking your investments weekly is sufficient, and if you’re in it for the long haul, monthly is acceptable to be honest.

I am in it for the long haul – but there are some who would get freaked out if they checked as often as I do. If I remember right, yesterday my investments were down all day. They gained during the last trading hour. So, you can imagine how stressful it would get to watch this all day long. The odds of you getting freaked out and selling off are increased when you look at it too much.

Relax. If you’re in it for the long game, you’ll get about 7% per year averaged out over time…or more! You’re fine. I just need to take my own advice.

2.) I’m interested in personal finance, so now everyone else has to be.

I feel like I learned so much in a small amount of time, and I feel like it’s my obligation to get my fellow man on board. Not everyone is in to this stuff though.

Money for some people is a nasty, divisive, polarizing topic that should be avoided like the plague, or rather, religion and politics. The other day I heard someone say, “I don’t put money in a 401k. I don’t trust the government.” This individual clearly doesn’t know anything about 401k plans – but opinions like that are like a fire. And people like me trying to financially coach them and teach them how a 401k actually works, yeah…people like me are gasoline. Putting gas on fire is not recommended.

I need to work on recognizing that BEFORE it happens. Answer questions – don’t solicit.

3.) Has it been 10 years yet?

It is so hard to be patient. While being patient, it’s hard to maintain discipline. To me, this makes time slow down, which amplifies the whole patience problem.

The other day I knew payday was coming. I calculated what bills were coming out during the lifespan of that two-week check, and tried to figure out to the penny where any extra money was that I could use to pay off debt faster. Anyway, it’s not as hard as I’m making it sound. You basically add up bills for the next two weeks, subtract that amount from your bill-payer checking account, then you have an amount leftover that you can save, invest, pay down a debt faster, etc. I’m really good at this part.

Then, I schedule the payments and transfers. Then my bad habit starts. I login in repeatedly ensure everything cleared, everything went where it should go. This is not necessary.

Back when we used checkbooks, you balanced the checkbook as you wrote checks, or when you got your statement in the mail. I don’t think anyone does that anymore that banks online. We watch everything real time.

I’d like to think this makes me very “on top of my game” but in reality, it’s like my stock market thing I mentioned earlier. I’d be equally if not more effective by doing this monthly and weekly rather than 20-25 times a day (not everyday…but I do it quite a bit).

Quality beats quantity.

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