WalletRehab - Ways to save money

Habits can be either good or bad. Certainly, when I wake up my mind is still in robot mode. I get up, brush my teeth, weigh myself, shower and change. I eat breakfast at home now including filling a thermos of coffee for myself for a coffee break in the way, but back then I SPENT a lot of money before lunch time.

I was tempted to say that I WASTED that money, but I got value for it, and for the time it made me happy.

My old morning routine

6:30 AM - Wake up, weigh myself, shower, shave
7:00 AM - Go to work
7:30 AM - Grab breakfast on the way - $6
7:30 AM - Grab a copy of the newspaper - $1
9:30 AM - Morning Starbucks break - $3

So, I was almost spending $10 a day before lunch! Let’s say i was working 24 days a month, for 12 months, which makes 24*12*10 = $2,880. That’s enough for a couple computers, or a very nice day of shopping.

My current morning routine

6:00 AM - Wake up, weigh myself, shower, shave
6:30 AM - Make breakfast - $1 at most
7:00 AM - Read news on the Internet
7:30 AM - Go to the office
9:30 AM - Morning break - Really cheap coffee from home

So, I’m spending now about 24*12*1 = $288. Of course, there’s a change in routine here. I’m waking up half an hour earlier to cook breakfast and read the news off the Internet, but for that extra half an hour, I’m saving about $9. So that’s about $18 an hour in “wages.”

I’m okay with making just $18 an hour. At least when I first wake up.

Growing up, I remember that we had a pile of unloved socks in my house. It’s not that these socks were ugly. They had no holes, and were perfectly serviceable socks. In spite of being good socks, my brother and I simply could not wear them.

The problem, as you have no doubt already guessed, is that each sock was alone, and my brother and I had lost the other one. We felt bad about throwing away a perfectly good sock, so we just kept them around. Like a big sock orphanage, with socks waiting to be picked up by their errant siblings.

And the pile kept getting bigger and bigger.

In college, it was worse. Eight boys turning into men doing laundry by themselves, for themselves, for the first time, can lose a lot of socks. Our living room was full of orphaned socks, and we never knew what to do with them. Some became cat toys, and others were temporary towels to mop up spills. But for the most part, they just collected dust.

It was only a couple years ago as I was preparing to go traveling for three months in Japan that I came upon a solution. I went out and bought eight pairs of the same sock, the black GoldToe ankle athletic sock. Having a baseline, or vanilla sock has made laundry so much easier. Gone are the days where I have to root through my laundry trying to match socks.

Having only one kind of sock saves me time and money. Sure, my socks become a commodity and not a style statement. But luckily, my friends and loved ones only worry when my socks aren’t clean. Not whether or not they are the newest fashion socks (whatever those are!).

And what’s best? When I lose a sock, I don’t automatically have to throw it out. And I am not wasting my valuable time matching 14 pairs of socks.

Very often, we get caught in a very simple trap. We chase good, money-saving deals thinking that they are good for us in the long run. If we’re not careful, we can end up spending more money than we save, and here some five situations where this might occur.

1. Know the difference between buying “cheap” and buying for “value.” Many people buy the cheapest products out there. This is okay for certain, generic products. However, for your electronics and durable “white” goods, like washers, dryers and refrigerators, you should buy certified name brands. You want these things to last a long time, and without any headache or heartache. This goes triple for automobiles. Make sure your car is safe and dependable, ignoring the special used card “deal of the day.” You will probably spend a lot of time in it, so you want to ensure it is safe.
2. Impulse buying at sales. I know what you’re thinking. I save money at sales. Tons of it! All the time. However, sales exist solely to stimulate your craving for impulse buying. I wrote about my own impulse buying problem, and sales always trigger a relapse. Every time I see words like “Clearance Sale,” “50% off” or “Buy 1 Get 1 Free,” I find myself thinking “I really do need another pair of jeans,” or “I have always wanted to try Nutella.” Be very wary of sales. When going shopping, just buy what you originally planned to buy. Stick to your shopping list, and avoid the temptation of sales.
3. Going out of your way to save gas. If the cheapest gas station is far from your standard route, you are better off topping at a more convenient location. The amount of gas you use to go to a gas station might actually cost you more than the savings you get. Use websites like http://www.gasbuddy.com to track which gas stations are cheapest along your daily commute. Do not fall in the trap of going for always getting the absolute cheapest gas out there.
4. Going out of your way to go to a sale. Similarly, people tend to go out of their way to visit warehouse stores like CostCo or Sam’s club. You need that you are saving more than you are spending in gas and time. Your time is valuable, and you should ration it carefully.
5. Buying bulk. Buying bulk has its own time and place. Buy only in bulk if you know you are going to use all of it. For example, I buy toilet paper in bulk. I am 100% sure that there will be a day when I run out of toilet paper. In fact, it seems that the more I buy, the quicker I run out. (I hope it’s just some weird subjective thing. I would hate for it to be true.) However, I also have 40 sticks of chapstick, and I doubt that I will ever run out. It was on sale in bulk at Costco one day, and I thought it was a good idea. I do get chapped lips a lot. It was only afterwards that I realized that I only use one stick a year. Right now, I have about 38 years of chapstick left.

One of my most popular blog posts was about my biggest Blogging Mistake, not setting up blog posts in advance. If people like it that much, it makes sense that I write another Blogging Mistake post, right?

On June 14th, I tried something radical. That is, radical for me as a blogger, and I have come to realize that was a change for the better. When I started using images, it was a vast improvement to my blog.

For the vast majority of my posts up to that point, I had not used any images. I was proud, and enamored with my own words. I had somehow (and don’t ask me how) believed that my words were enough to convey meaning and keep people’s attention.

I realize now that i was wrong, and that no matter how good my writing may (or may not) be, reading long articles on a computer is difficult. That is, in fact, why people invented different fonts and styles, to help break up space and keep people’s attention focused on the matter at and.

As I write and blog more, I realize that the more I take into account the reader, the better it is for the both of us. Stephen King writes in “On Writing” that you should write with an open door, and take into account the reader. Sure, the writer is doing the heavy lifting, but without a reader, writing is just a waste of time.

To re-iterate, without you guys, I am just wasting my time here.

In addition to using fonts and effects, images are good ways to focus people’s attention. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” or so the old saying goes. In addition to that though, it is a lot quicker to post a picture than to write a thousand words.

1. At the beginning of each blog post, I try to come up with a word or two that sums up my post. It helps me focus myself as a writer. For today’s post, I used the word “picture.”
2. I go to http://www.sxc.hu to download a free image, and run my word through their search engine. I select an image I like and download it. The above image is called “framing.”
3. Having selected an appropriate image, I run it through my graphics program to make it blog friendly. I add a 12 pixel border around it, to make sure that my words don’t crowd my post unnecessarily. FYI, I use Macromedia Fireworks, but just about any program can do this. Fireworks is pretty rare, so I won’t go into detail.
4. And having a focus image, I insert it at the top of my blog post and start writing. If I get lost or sidetracked, I just refer to that original image to get focused on my theme. It also helps put me in the mind of my gentle (most of you) readers.

So for your next blog post, go vist http://www.sxc.hu to download some royalty free photos. You will be amazed at how a couple pictures can improve your blog.

In my last post, I wrote about one of the big problems I had with blogging. I felt like I was writing to no purpose, and people weren’t reading anything that I said. Or that is, few people were reading what I said. As a writer, someone who wants to communicate what he hopes are his unique and precious thoughts, there is nothing more gratifying than knowing that he is being read.

And I did not get that feeling. Not enough of it as it turns out.

My problem was that I was only counting the number of comments that were posted on my blog. I had no real way of knowing how many visitors were coming to my blog until the end, when I was just starting to roll with the information about the WR challenge.

As I was studying and learning about different techniques to use for the challenge, I realized that I had no real good measurement tools set up for this blog, and would need them for the WR Challenge. So about that time, I added Google Analytics to WR.

Of course, having set it up, I was able to see exactly how little traffic I was getting. What was particularly frustrating was the small amount of traffic that I was getting from search engines (and yeah, I’m looking at you Google). Using other tools, I had discovered that the vast majority of what I had written was not indexed by Google, because of various mistakes I had made in setting up the blog.

Wallet Rehab is my first real (i.e. non personal) blog, and running it has so far taught me a lot of lessons. I had not set up WR to be indexed efficiently by Google, so that it was impossible for people to find my site.

On the internet, if Google doesn’t like you, no one does.

I stopped. I felt like I was working hard and being mocked for my efforts by a lack of traffic. I was unable to reach out to the greater internet audience because of some errors I had made when I first setup this blog. The Internet can be an unforgiving place.

Even though I stopped, WR was still hosted, and Google Analytics was collecting statistics. Sometime during my hiatus, a miracle happened, and Google started liking WR. (I want to say “Google started liking WR again,” but I think it is only coming around now.) I only know this because I recently cracked open the WR statistics information accidentally, while reaching for the stats for the WR Challenge site (which incidentally is almost a month old).

I expected that there would be no traffic, and that WR had shriveled up. On the contrary, the site still was going along, with enough traffic from search engines to keep it alive.

We here at WR at thriving yet, but I figure the hardest part is over.

I have my fingers crossed.

In a recent post, Darren Rowse - the Problogger, shared this nugget from a friend of his. Though it comes third hand, it still holds pretty true:

“In the early days you’ll feel like you’re talking to yourself (actually in the very beginning you probably are) - but don’t give up because it’s a feeling that will subside. The key is to keep blogging through that awkward beginning because if you do you’ll find people will begin to find you and the memory of talking to yourself will be a distant memory.”

I guess this pretty much sums up why I needed to take a break. Now, let’s get back on track!

Like the title says, I think I’m back. It has been about 6 weeks since I last posted something on this blog, and to tell the truth, there wasn’t one particularly good reason to stop writing. It was a combination of things, including work, breaking up with my girlfriend, and my failed adsense experiment.

But above all, I think it was because I hadn’t figured out how to make SOME money off of this blog. It is hard for me to be motivated (and for anyone else for that matter) to be motivated without some sort of measuring stick. Some sort of point system. With the WalletRehab Challenge, Harry and I had a way of judging our performance. But when I’m just writing like this, there is no way for me to tell if I am doing well or poorly.

Have I written any good posts? I like to think so, but honestly, without some sort of monetization, without something to show for it, this blog could be just a big waste of my time.

Sometimes, it feels like I’m yelling into the void, as big and as vast as the internet is. Sometimes, people are kind enough to yell back in the form of comments. Comments are always welcome. People live and thrive on comments, and I am thankful for every non-spammy comment I get.

To those people who comment, I thank you.

I had setup adsense for a week to see if it might be an easy way for me to get a measuring stick, with dollars and cents being the unit of measure. It failed, not necesarily because of me, but because adsense, for whatever it’s reasons, decided that my blog was primarily a fashion blog about accessories.

I suppose having the word “wallet” did not help at all.

I figured it was about time for me to take a step back from everything and re-evaluate where I stand with things. I needed to set up goals and targets. With goals set, I could divide it into smaller and smaller pieces to define easy steps.

The realization that my blog isn’t necessarily one monolithic structure has helped. As has the discovery of other ways to monetize my blog, and that I can explain what I am doing without sacrificing much. This blog can be my experiment moving forward, killing two birds with the proverbial one stone.

I am in the middle of defining my goals now.

The Wallet Rehab Challenge is just about done. I did end up doing it, though Harry never did set up his site, and I have some steady traffic, with minimal daily effort. Stay tuned to hear more about my goals and how my WR challenge site went.

Thanks for being patient,

Chris

Nobody tagged me, but I wanted in on this meme so I stole if from Zac Johnson.

If someone doesn’t invite you to the party, you can still crash it.

This is How It Works:

* Each player must post these rules first.
* Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. Hulk

While other kids liked to be Superman, Spiderman or Batman, growing up I liked to be the Incredible Hulk. I guess there was something about being a giant loner who only wanted to be alone appealed to me. Yes, I guess my childhood was lonely at times.

2. Internet Poker

For three months, I tried to be an internet poker player. I played religiously, 12 hours a day reading as many different poker books as I could. I never lost any money, but I only made about 300 USD. When I realized I was only making 3 USD per day, I woke up and realized that poker was not the way for me.

3. Travel

I love to travel. I have been to over 25 countries and lived in six. I speak four languages. I like to travel because every time I get off a plane, train or automobile, I take advantage of the opportunity to re-invent myself. Sometimes I’m the soulful artist, the chatty salesman or even the unsophisticated farmer. It’s fun, because they are all aspects of the same person. I just get to let them out and have some fun.

4. Cats

I was born in the year of the cat according to Vietnamese astrology. As a result, I’ve always wanted to be a cat. I take stray cats home from off the street and feed other people’s cats. I know that someday I will wake up and be one of those “crazy cat people” but for now, I think me and my cat are fine. My feline friends are simply among the smartest in the animal kingdom. They are lazy, selfish and people (including myself) love them for it.

5. I was fat.

Or at least, that’s what everyone tells me. I don’t think I’m fat now. I’m 5′8″ and I weigh 190 lbs. People are always surprised when I tell them how much I weigh. However, BMI and body fat indexes all tell me that I am marginally obese, and that I will die soon. Even though i think they’re crazy, I would like to get down to 180lbs. Growing up, everyone in my family called me “Fatty” which was cruel and insensitive. Even as an adult, it tears me up inside when someone says something about my weight, or even someone else’s weight.

6. My father

My father passed away about 2 and a half years ago, and I never let anyone forget it. I miss him dearly, though we were close, we never had good conversation. I think that is often the way with men who are too similar and who love each other too much. We were never able to drop the bullshit and open up to ourselves. Or at the end, I was unable to open up to him. I see him when I sleep though, and it helps with the hurt.

I didn’t think it would still hurt like this.

7. My mother

After my mother’s passing, I sold my house and cars and left town. I rarely come back to see my mother, though my mother makes it a pointed effort to come see me. Last year she visited three times for a total of four months. She’s already come once for one month, and will come again in the fall. She wants me to come home, but right now, it does not seem likely. She’s 5 feet tall, speaks 5 languages and thinks that I am still 5 years old.

8. My dream

I want to be a writer. I want to be a “wordy motherfucker” and be able to spin touching tales that move people. That’s why I try to write this blog, other blogs, and am a copywriter for a couple companies. Though this stuff is not emotionally charged or full of passion, it is my practice. Every article, every paragraph, every sentence I write brings me one step closer to my dream.

I may never reach my dream, but I will always keep reaching towards it.

Bloggers that I want to know more about.

Come on guys, I’d love to see you guys contribute to this meme. Eventually, I will get up to four, but for now, these are the people who come to mind.

• Harry Park - Go Tubeless
• John Cow - Mad Cow fever!
• Kumiko - Her Cash Quest
• Leo Babuta - Meditating quietly on the making life easy

Ijustgotblogged.com is a multi topic blog. I’m not quite sure what that is, but if you visit the site, it’s a sponsored post site. The model is pretty simple. He set up a blog and is taking advantage of every opportunity he can. This includes sponsored reviews from ReviewMe and PayperPost, with some affiliate marketing tossed in.

The beauty of monetizing with things like ReviewMe or PayperPost is that you actually don’t need that much traffic to get started. You can make at least 10USD per post at about 30 minutes each post. So theoretically, you can make about 20USD per hour.

Of course, there are not an infinite number of sponsored post opportunities out there. But they do help. I may end up using some to support this blog.

Hungry? Go grab some free grub with these links below!

• 12 cases of Pepsi Twist
• Himalaya Green Tea
• Honey Bunches of Oats
• Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce
• South Beach Diet Sweet Nut Creations Bar
• Nubella Samples
• 12-Pack of Gatorade
• Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drinks
• Toll House Bakers Dozen
• Chips Ahoy Cookies
• Free bottle of water - Which is ironic considering my bottled water post.