How You Spend Your Time, How You Spend Your Money

Try this experiment.


For the next month, keep a time diary for yourself. Keep a pocket notebook and, throughout the day, take notes on how you've been spending your time. Don't try to be "perfect" about how you spend your time – just be normal about it. You're recording this information for your own purposes.


Once you have a month or so worth of data, come up with some sensible groups for how you spend your time. Hygiene might be one. Cooking might be another. Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006You might have a handful of categories for your hobbies and interests, like watching television. Spending time with friends or family might be another such category, as might surfing the web.


Once you have these groups, add up all of the time you spent during that month doing something within that group. For example, during the month I did this, I found that I spent forty seven hours reading for personal pleasure and enrichment.


Once you have that, compare it to your actual spending throughout a given month. Are there any areas where you're spending a lot of money but not spending much time? 



Quite often, those areas where you're spending a lot of money but not spending much time are the very areas that most need trimming.
 

For me, those areas have included technology items . I don't watch enough t.v. or play enough video games to really warrant the purchase of another tv or gaming console, and I often don't use the gadgets I've bought nearly enough to warrant the purchase price. 


The flip side of that coin is also interesting – the areas where you spend a lot of time without spending a lot of money.


In my own life, reading and cooking are two areas where I invest a lot of time but typically don't spend significant money. I don't spend a lot of money on reading materials, nor do I invest significant money into cooking supplies, either (aside from perhaps being a bit picky about ingredients for some meals) – in fact, I often cook things that wind up costing less than a prepackaged option.


Here's the kicker, though. Quite often, areas of your life where you spend a lot of time without spending a lot of money are the areas that truly bring you the most enjoyment because you don't require a constant influx of new things to be able to enjoy yourself.


I argue that those are the areas of your life that you should accentuate, while learning to let go of the areas that offer much less bang for the buck.


What does that mean for me? Instead of lusting for gadgets, I should instead focus on cooking great meals for me and my son. Instead of looking at new flat screens, I should devote more time to reading. 


This carries through to the other expenses and choices in my life. When I look at the websites I read regularly, it doesn't take much to de-subscribe from Profootballtalk.com   or www.amazon.com and subscribe to 101 Cookbooks. When I go shopping, I can skip by the Apple store and visit the local organic greengrocer. 

Instead of spending the weekend dropping a C-note at Best Buy, I can just join a book club instead (and get my outdoors fix by walking around various yard sales and flea markets.). 


The end result? I slowly start focusing more on and spending more time on the things that are truly important to me that also happen to not cost all that much. Meanwhile, the costly things that I don't really care about that much begin to slowly fade away.


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Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

Review: One Year to an Organized Financial Life

 

 
Basically lays out a week-by-week plan for getting your financial house in order. The book is divided into twelve chapters (months), each containing four subsections (weeks in a month), and each of those sections details how to take control of a specific aspect of financial life.



The end result is something that feels very much like a detailed plan to follow. Personally, such a plan gives me mixed feelings – while it's great for a person who just wants to be told what to do, I'm a big believer in understanding your finances and your motivations and, at times, this book feels more like a "just follow these steps" kind of guide than a "understand what you're doing" book.

The big question, though, is whether the information is worthwhile. Let's dig in.




January: Take Control
 
More than anything, this opening chapter focuses on information management. Quite often, people's personal information is in a very unorganized state, with cards and receipts jammed in purses and papers tossed into boxes and filing cabinets. The solution? Start from scratch. Clean out your purse and figure out a good place to put that stuff. Start a real financial filing system. Even more important, go through your mind and start asking yourself why you make the choices that you do.


February: Assess Your Finances
 
This month is all about creating a budget. The process is standard by now: record all of your expenses, then parse them into groups that make sense to you, then from there figure out what you should be spending in each category and shoot for that new target. My concern here, though, is that to set up a really accurate budget, you need more than just a month. You have to record your expenses over a longer period of time than a mere month to get an accurate grasp on your money. Although the procedure here makes sense, stuffing it into such a short timeline does not.


March: Get Ready for Taxes
 
This chapter summarizes the process of doing your taxes. Collect your documents and your relevant receipts. Decide whether or not to use a professional or do it yourself. Then, take the plunge – fill out the paperwork and file. It's a process that most of us (painfully) have to go through each spring. A big key suggested here is to start a filing system now to store all tax-related documents throughout the year so that when you do your taxes the following year, all of the receipts and other materials you need are ready to go.


April: Spend Less, Save More
 
Frugality is the buzzword here. This chapter focuses strongly on cutting your expenses – much of the advice is right in line with the ongoing "Trimming the Average Budget" series on Being Broke Sucks Today. Hand in hand with that kind of trimming, though, is the need to actually save what you've been cutting, because the tendency often is to take that money and spend it on things that you seemingly couldn't afford before, thus raising your standard of living and sticking you right back in the spot you started in.


May: Borrow Smart
 
Leeds covers the ins and outs of borrowing money here, largely supporting the good debt, bad debt dichotomy. The advice is smooth and straightforward: trim the "bad debt" (high interest debt) as quickly and efficiently as you can and don't take on any more of it. Leeds does subscribe to the idea that "good debt" is largely good and mostly focuses on shopping around for home loans and auto loans, but as time goes on, I'm less and less of a fan of any kind of debt.


June: Build a Nest Egg
 
Retirement savings are next. Leeds' advice is pretty straightforward: max out your 401(k) and then run the numbers to see if you need even more using a reliable retirement calculator. She also advises against underestimating what you need for retirement, making it clear that you're better off with more than you need at retirement time than not enough.



July: Make Long-Range Financial Plans
 
What about your other long-term savings goals, like saving for your dream home? Leeds encourages most people to get a financial advisor for this task. On the other hand, given the great tools available on the internet, I think that most people today can actually handle their own long-term savings. The big keys are to make sure you've clearly specified your goals and to automate your savings so that it's building on a regular basis over time without your manual intervention.


August: Refinance and Downsize Options


 
Sometimes, the old home mortgage gets to be overwhelming. In those times, refinancing and downsizing are two choices that people usually consider, and Leeds walks through these optiosn here. Ideally, of course, the tactics from the earlier chapters have put you in a better place with your money so that this isn't a worry. A big key: maintain your good credit. Put a priority on maintaining a high credit rating and things like refinances will go much easier – plus you'll find that your insurance rates are lower.


September: Children and Money
 
This chapter is of particular interest to me, since I'm a parent and I enjoy reading ideas for teaching good money values to my kids. Leeds suggests giving your child as much practice as possible with managing their own money, from an allowance to a job in their teen years. For college, parents should start a 529 as soon as possible and, perhaps more importantly, should get their children actively involved in saving and preparing financially for college.


October: Protect Your Assets
 
Here, the book felt perilously close to insurance salesmanship, as several different types of personal insurance are pushed hard. Leeds also encourages people to pay more in order to lave lower deductibles on their medical bills, which actually is a policy that I feel runs contrary to the advice given elsewhere in this book. After all, when you have your financial house in order with a nice emergency fund, you can afford the higher deductibles, so you should save on the premiums if you can on your health insurance.


November: The Season for Sane Spending
 
How do you keep your holiday spending under control? The best way to do it is to plan your shopping carefully. Instead of heading into the store with a head of steam and a big list, spend some time coming up with great gift ideas for each person you need to buy for, then researching how to get those items for a great price. Don't let your impulsiveness run the day or you'll find yourself spending a lot more than you ever intended to spend.


December: Year-End Money Moves



 
Most of the year-end money moves involve reviewing your spending and financial activity over the course of the past year (an awesome idea) and preparing for your taxes by doing things like harvesting any investment losses by selling now and making sure your charitable contributions are taken care of and adequately recorded (another great idea). In short, you should end the year by making sure all of your ducks are in a row and ready to set sail for the next year (and the coming tax season).


Is One Year to an Organized Financial Life Worth Reading?
 
One Year to an Organized Financial Life doesn't offer many new ideas, perspectives, or angles on personal finance. Instead, what it offers is a clear organizational scheme – a very thorough step-by-step plan for people who simply prefer to have a plan to follow. 

In that regard, One Year to an Organized Financial Life is a home run.


I think what it comes down to is this: do you learn better by figuring things out for yourself, or do you learn better by following the patterns that someone else has set in place? If you're in the former group – and I'd put myself there – One Year to an Organized Financial Life won't do much for you. 

If you're in the latter group, One Year to an Organized Financial Life will be an incredibly useful read.


One Year to an Organized Financial Life depends more on the reader than on anything else, as it provides exactly what the cover promises: a one year, step-by-step plan to financial organization.

Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

Trimming the Average Budget: Entertainment

Entertainment – Yearly Average $2,698
 

Clocking in at an average of $225 a month in a family's budget is entertainment – and that excludes reading. Going out to shows, watching movies, listening to music, playing games, participating in sports – they're all incorporated under this banner.




The breadth of this category means that what one person considers "entertainment" spending doesn't overlap much at all with what others consider "entertainment" spending. So what universal tips can be offered to reduce entertainment spending and actually be useful? Here are some suggestions, no matter how you spend your entertainment dollar.






Focus on what you enjoy. What do you enjoy the most? Don't pay any attention to what your friends find enjoyable – what do you find enjoyable? Don't burn up your entertainment dollars in some sort of race to "keep up with the Joneses." Instead, focus on accentuating the hobbies you personally find enjoyable. You don't have to buy a giant flat-screen television just because your pals insist on watching in high definition. If they do, let them host the football parties.




Join a club. Joining an interest-based club is often a surprising money saver. Why? If you join a club, it will draw you more into a specific hobby because you're spending social time with other aficionados. Quite often, time spent in such social activities is relatively inexpensive, plus such clubs are usually powerful sources for bargains and great suggestions when it comes to a particular interest.




Don't be afraid of used items. You don't need the latest and greatest items to thoroughly enjoy your hobby. There are quite a few board games I love to play that are beat-up old copies from the 1960s. I plan to play golf with piles of old golf balls, many of which were actually fetched by my previous boss's dog (seriously). Whatever you choose, thoroughly enjoy the activity you end up becoming involved in.




Let others foot the bill when you dabble. Interested in trying a new sport? Before you go invest in a bunch of equipment, see what's offered at your city's parks and recreation service. Want to learn a new hobby? Visit stores that specialize in that activity and see what classes and groups are offered there. If you're just dabbling in something to see if you like it, don't immediately start shelling out the cash. Find opportunities to sink your teeth in a bit first to find out if it's right for you.




Trade instead of buying. If you're a movie buff and have friends that also are movie buffs, trade with them instead of buying new DVDs. Have a "swap meet" where you go through each other's collections and borrow a big pile of DVDs from each other, returning them when you're finished. You can essentially do the same thing with any sort of collectible form of entertainment, from video games to CDs to books. Similarly, there may be stores in your area that allow you to swap your used copies of items for other used copies.




Don't go high-end immediately. Often, when people begin to engage in a new hobby, they invest in high-end equipment and materials with which to enjoy the hobby. They'll buy shiny new clubs, loads of new balls, an entire kitchen full of new cooking supplies, and so on. Don't. Start off using low-end equipment. Only move up to the high end when you've used the low end equipment enough that you can actually articulate and understand exactly how the higher-end equipment will help you go beyond where you are now. One should absolutely invest in higher-end equipment if they find themselves truly enjoying a hobby and can actually articulate real reasons why a high quality piece of equipment will improve their hobby. Until then, go with the entry-level stuff.


Master what you have. This simple technique went a long way towards trimming my video game hobby from one new game a week to roughly one game a quarter (and that one's often used). If I buy a new game, I commit to finishing it before buying another one. The same rule can be applied to many hobbies – if I buy a book, I'll read it before buying another one. If I buy a DVD, I'll watch it at least twice before buying another one.


Maintain what you have. If you enjoy bicycling, take the time to maintain your bicycle. If you enjoy woodworking, take the time to maintain your woodworking equipment. If you enjoy playing on your computer, maintain it by running software updates and occasionally cleaning the dust out of the case. Investing a little bit of time and money now to keep your equipment in good shape means that the life span of the equipment will be greatly extended, saving you a lot of money over the long run. 


If you're a frequent consumer, look to renting. If you've already honed in on the fact that you deeply enjoy video games or watching movies or something similar, look for rental solutions instead of buying new ones constantly. Services such as Netflix Hangover, Theand GameFly Unlimited Video Game Rentals, 2 Months for the Price of 1 allow you to rent media for as long as you want with one low monthly fee which, if you're heavily into those hobbies, is much less expensive than buying new items constantly.


I want your help! In the comments, please let me know which of the tips you find most useful for trimming these costs

Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

The Other Side Of The Spending Fence

"Decide what's important to you. Give yourself permission to spend on these things. Pinch pennies on everything else." That's a pretty spot-on definition, in my opinion.

The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that it speaks to the problems that both over spenders and cheapskates have.
Dollar diary: tracking your spending habits helps keep you out of debt.(your money): An article from: Scholastic Choices





Over spenders?
 
In most situations, it is easily possible for a person to spend substantially less than they earn. So what causes a person to spend more than they earn?


The answer is hidden in that phrase. Over spenders stretch their definition of what's important to them to cover a lot of things.





I'll use myself as an example. Back in my overspending days, there were a lot of optional things in my life that I defined as being important enough to throw my money at. I went golfing a lot. I bought gadgets by the truckload. I bought more video games than I could ever possibly play. I bought carts full of books.

The end result was twofold. First, I often didn't have time to actually enjoy all of the stuff I had bought. Second, because of all of the spending, my life was in a rough place.




My definition of what was important in my life was skewed. I had elevated too many things to the threshold of "permission to spend freely." Because of that, I spent much more than I needed to spend, but I had too many things in my life to actually thoroughly enjoy the things I was spending money on.


The solution? Cut back. Ask yourself what things you most enjoy doing and toss the rest of it. Look for ways of minimizing the costs of the things you do enjoy.




Frugality is often said to be miserable because you have to give up so much. In reality, frugality means not giving up the things that are actually important to you. The trick is stepping back, looking at your life, and figuring out what things are important and what things are not.


Cheapskates?
 
On the other side of the coin are cheapskates, a role that I've almost fallen into a time or two over the past few years.

Cheapskates apply principles of penny-pinching to every aspect of their life, even the important ones. Although they have financial stability in their lives, they do it at the expense of other elements of their life that could add a great deal of value.


Here's an example from my own life. I love to read books. I read several books a month beyond what I review on Being Broke Sucks.


For the better part of a year, I refused to buy a single book. Instead, I just reserved books that interested me at my local library and patiently waited for them.


Several titles came out that I was eagerly anticipating. I was able to read some of them fairly quickly (within three months) of their release. Others? I'm still waiting.


Even more noteworthy is that at least two of the books I checked out and read during that period were books that I strongly fell in love with and wanted to read again (and I was quite sure I would read them many times in the future, as I love returning to books that really make me think).


But I was cheap. I didn't buy these books. I resolved to just check them out at the library when they became available again.


One Saturday afternoon, I was sitting at home, having just finished a book. I looked at my unread books and realized that the book I most wanted to read wasn't there – a book I had read before and returned to the library after thoroughly enjoying it. The library didn't have it, either. I checked on Amazon and realized I could have the book for just $7. And I talked myself out of buying it.


That's when I realized I was being a cheapskate. I was avoiding spending $7 on something that I knew would give me many hours of enjoyment now and quite a few hours of enjoyment later on, plus it would be a book that I could recommend to friends and loan to them while they loaned me books as well. To not spend $7 on something I cared so deeply about – and it was a $7 I could easily afford – was pure cheapness.


It's okay to spend money on things that are truly important to you. In fact, it's good, because spending money specifically on things truly important in your life directly raises your quality of life much more than any other way you could spend your money.


Reading is important to me, so I'm no longer afraid to spend money on it. Yes, if I see a book I want to read, I'll check to see if the library has it and read it from them first. Yes, I use PaperBackSwap religiously. But if those outlets don't connect me with a book I'm passionate about, I'm no longer scared to go to the bookstore and pick up that book that I want. Doing so raises my quality of life quite a lot.


The Winners Are in the Middle
 
The best place to be is at that place between the overspenders and the cheapskates. People who know what's truly important to them and aren't afraid to spend money on it enjoy a higher quality of life than people who spend themselves into debt (adding a lot of stress and challenge to their lives) and people who never spend a dime (missing out on things that they truly value in life).


What are your central values? What's really, truly important to you? Give yourself some permission to spend in those areas without worry – but then lock down the ship in the other areas of your life.




Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

Is Preschool Worth It?

Bitches on a Budget: Sage Advice for Surviving Tough Times in Style

Another reader "Marjorie" writes in with a very interesting question:


I'm a single mom with a four year old daughter. Each weekday, I take my daughter to stay with one of my aunts so that I can work to earn a living and keep food on the table. After Christmas, my mom sat down with my aunt and I and gave us a bunch of information about a few great preschools in the area. My aunt told me later on that she's supportive, no matter what I choose. So, for me, the real question is whether or not my daughter would get enough benefit from preschool compared to days with my aunt to make the extra costs worthwhile.


I'm a single father and time and time again I have been forced into making difficult choices about the devoted time spent with my son. Do I make a nutritious home-cooked meal or do I spend an extra half an hour with my son? Do I spend some time outside watching his skateboard tricks or do I get some of the never-ending household chores taken care of? This comes in on top of the prerequisite day of work for a single parent, after which they're exhausted but also often wanting a strong connection with their children. On top of that, there's the money concerns – a single income household in the modern world is never easy.




When it comes to a choice between preschool and other child care options, I don't think there's a simple cut-and-dried answer to this because there are so many factors involved.


The first one – and the most important one – is your child. Is your child outgoing around others her age? Is she intellectually on par with other children her age – meaning is she capable of holding a writing utensil? Can she count to twenty or so? Is she curious about the world around her? If these things are all true, preschool likely doesn't have a great deal of value for your daughter.


When things get murkier – in my opinion – is when several of those questions have negative answers. This can indicate a lot of things, from something as simple as social anxiety to a learning disorder or simply more focused one-on-one time. If you're witnessing these issues and you genuinely feel concern about your daughter's intellectual growth, I would lean more towards preschool. If not, I would lean more towards maintaining the care giving situation with your aunt.


What about the money, though? Is the extra cost of a good preschool worth it when compared to a normal daycare if your child is socially thriving and developmentally on pace?

Live It, Love It, Earn It: A Woman's Guide to Financial Freedom
In a word – in my opinion – it's not, unless the difference in cost makes no difference in your life. Here's why.

If you spend that extra money to send your child to a top preschool, you're putting an extra financial burden on yourself. This has several effects on your life. You're more tied to your job than ever before because you can no longer afford to lose it, which means your boss has more power than before and your job is more stressful. You also have less money to spread around in other areas of your life, like an emergency fund or on something as simple as a stop at the ice cream shop with your child. On some level, these things are given up to afford that high-quality preschool – and these things have a negative impact on your child's home life.


This basic idea is true no matter what you're looking at in life. When you bump up the financial cost for something of higher quality, you're paying an additional price beyond the dollars and cents. You pay the personal costs that go along with maintaining that higher level of income. If you can't see the benefit in doing so, don't do it.


To me, that's an exchange not worth making unless there's a clear and dramatic benefit from the higher-cost preschool. Never forget that early on, you're the biggest impact and influence on your child, and if sending your child to the higher-cost preschool will put stressful burdens on you to disrupt that in any way, there had better be a big reward. If your child is doing fine, then I don't see the benefit there.


No matter what you choose, however, do not let others make you feel guilty about it. Simply by asking questions like this and seriously considering the answer, you're looking at the unique situations, gifts, and opportunities in your life to make the right decision for your daughter. You obviously love her. You obviously want what's best for her. Never let other people attempt to use guilt or shame or other tactics to guide your choice.



Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

Should an Entrepreneurial High Schooler Go to College?

A reader recently emailed me… "Andy" writes in (I touched up his grammar just a bit):


I'm a high school senior. Over the last two years, I've built a very successful lawn care business in my neighborhood that filled up my entire summer this year. I will make about $35K this year and I can make a lot more once I graduate. My grades are good and I got good scores on the ACT and SAT. I applied to a few colleges and got accepted to all of them, but I only applied because my mom pushed me. What I really want to do is build my lawn care business after I graduate. My dad sort of agrees with me but my mom demands that I go to college. What do you think I should do?


This is one of those situations where you're going to have loud, strong proponents on both sides of the decision. Some people believe ardently in the value of a college education – others see the value in a strong entrepreneurial opportunity.


Let's look at each case.






Build That Business!
 
Successful businesses require a mix of drive, talent, and luck. Andy already has all three.


Drive Andy wanted to build his own business and had the drive and desire to actually get up off the couch and do it. While his friends were busy with their X-Box 360s, Andy was building a $35K business – that takes initiative.


Luck In order to make $35K from a part time lawn care business, Andy must have stumbled upon a niche and filled it well. That's a business opportunity that doesn't come along all that often. 


Talent Every day, as a small business owner, you're called upon to make difficult choices. It takes raw talent to consistently make the right ones and build business. Andy's obviously got that talent.


Andy has the natural drive to start his own business, the luck to stumble upon a niche that needed filling, and the talent to grow that business into something impressive. That's a combination of factors that doesn't come along that often, and Andy needs to take advantage of the situation.






Go To School!
 
I'm not speaking from experience here but I believe college is a life-transforming experience. It is truly an opportunity for you to figure out your beliefs, learn new things, have countless compelling experiences that are almost impossible to replicate outside of college, and get an education in an area you're compassionate about. Not only that, it comes at a point where your mind is most open to such diverse experiences – early adulthood.


Andy shouldn't let that opportunity pass him by. He can always return and get an education later on, but the full growing experience won't be as open to him.


He has the seed of a small business in place, sure, but he can keep that business going during the summer while attending school, plus he can use the business income to pay for his degree.


Plus, if Andy chooses to major in business, he might find yourself walking out of school with a brilliant plan for transforming you're the mowing business into something truly amazing. College doesn't have to mean giving up that dream.





My Thoughts
I think the real answer resides within Andy himself. Andy, are you truly happy mowing cemetery lawns, fixing lawnmowers, handling invoices, and so on? Do you have a desire to keep pushing the pedal to the floor, growing the business, eventually hiring employees and advertising to build a bigger and bigger client list?


Either these thoughts will excite you or they will fill you with unease. Be truly honest with yourself. This is one of the biggest professional choices you'll probably ever make.


If you can't imagine anything better than building this business you've started, then go for it. Throw all your gusto into that business and make it grow. Along the way, save most of what you earn – put it away so you can walk away from the business at a fairly young age. If you've built the business into something large and successful and sell the whole thing at age thirty, you can go to college then if you want to.


On the other hand, if growing the business doesn't excite you and you just want to mow lawns, go to school. 

You can still spend your summers (and lazy weekends in the spring and fall) mowing lawns and maintaining your business as it is. You can use that income to pay for your education and when you graduate, you'll still have your small side business to do with what you wish, plus a paid-for college degree.


You already know the answer, Andy. It's inside of you. Ask yourself that honest question: is building this business the thing you really dream about? Let your answer guide you.


One final point of advice: if you do decide to go with the business, save your money. Spend as little as possible and sock the rest in the bank for later. If you decide in two years that you want to go to college instead, it'll be quite easy if you've been banking your cash.






Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter

Have you checked out Bitches On a Budget?

 A Sample of the reviews.... Hilarious!
Thoroughly entertaining, incredibly useful!,
So glad I found this book!!

It seems that Bitches on a Budget: Sage Advice for Surviving Tough Times in Style
  Is taking the world by Storm!!! Pick it up today Bitches on a Budget: Sage Advice for Surviving Tough Times in Style








Thanks Ms Dukes for recommending it

Mr. Dangerfield is an I.A.P.D.A Certified Debt Specialist whom has worked in the finance industry for over a decade. He manages www.beingbrokesuckstoday.com and is the author of "A Dangerfield Manifesto" and co-founder of SMG Holdings, the parent company of Squad Music Group, Dangerfield Artistic Entertainment SMG Publishing and Taboo Dangerfield Publishing Follow me on twitter