Book Review: "How to get out of debt, stay out of debt & live prosperously" by Jerrold Mundis

I distinctly remember the thoughts that ran through my head as I picked up this book to read. In the (hopefully not too) distant future I plan to host and facilitate Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University to as many people as I possibly can who are open to the material. In doing so I want to be on the top of my game in answering questions, providing counseling and offering real-world advice…You know, all those things that those we bestow a “fiduciary responsibility” to never do.

I wanted to delve back into the psyche and understand why we go into debt and in many cases why we stay there. Why do we allow credit card companies, Sallie Mae and auto dealers teach us about the rules of debt rather than learning on our own? Essentially, for someone head over heels in debt sitting in an FPU class, what is it that they are thinking and how can I help “facilitate” (I really mean coach and help) to show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel regardless of how much you make or how high the climb is? The course of the book lead me, like many great books I have read, to a very uncomfortable place, my mirror.

Mundis pulls absolutely no punches in making the case and points that the use of debt (whether “good” or bad debt, excessive use of if you “pay it off at the end of the month”) is addictive. Placing debt addiction right in line with addictions, pains and struggles that come along with misuse of drugs, sex and food. I can directly relate in addition to my own struggles with the uses of debt, because I too struggled with one of the aforementioned addictions.

I have very clear and distinct memories of my own personal destructive path, my recovery and everything in between. A lot of it filled with pain from destroying myself along with those that I cared about most. And a lot of it filled with love and compassion from those that stood by me, had gone through what I was going through and the unending love from an unseen force that, in the only way I can really describe it, carried me through everything. Okay, I’ll say it here, looking back on everything, in my darkest hours when I hit bottom, I’m reminded of a poem/short story that I’m sure many of you may remember from childhood.

The story goes that at the end of our lives we walk hand in hand on a beach with God. We are told that when we look back at the trail of our lives, there are generally two sets of footprints: ours and God’s. There are distinct areas though when only one set of foot prints exist, these are our darkest hours, worst times, whatever you want to call them. Irate we say to God, “Where the hell were you then? I needed you and there is proof, only one set of prints.” These prints are pressed deep into the sand to symbolize the weight of the times. God replies, “It was during then that I carried you.”

God carried me through the worst hours I have known as a human being.

In the context of what I was drew from the book, it is important for me to let those seeking personal financial counsel know that I support them 100%, no questions asked, with everything that I have. It doesn’t matter what the debt numbers are, what’s owed to who, or how long your financial adviser “thinks” it will take you to climb out. There is hope and light in the tunnel, and the tools available, though old fashioned and basic in approach, truly are the strongest and most efficient we have available, and if I can do it, ANYONE AND EVERYONE can do it too.

Book Review: "Good to Great" by Jim Collins

(Sorry Dave) “Good to Great” was without a shadow of the doubt the best new (to me) book read this year. I highly recommend that you get your hands and eyes on this book at whatever cost is necessary. Borrow it from a library, buy it used from amazon, this is a must read that should be in every book collection. In it, Jim Collins and his super team of nerds break down the nuts and bolts of the action steps and attitudes that companies faced when transitioning from being good to great. Yes there is an unbelievable amount of data and breakdown and clarification of what good to great means in the book for all intents and purposes, but that is exactly what unites us nerds when reading this book.

It’s been rare but mid-way through this book I became sad at the eventual fact that the book would come to its eventual conclusion. Page after page my eyes were glued and my fact taking went into overdrive as the facts, figures, actions and commonalities were laid out as to what the good to great companies did to become an “overnight success” after decades upon decades of unbelievable time and effort.

Though not an aspiring entrepreneur I took a lot of the applications that the companies used and applied them to my life. Essentially, to be successful am I taking the right steps and holding the right outlook in how I see things go round. Needless to say I was very pleasantly surprised that a lot of the values lined up and I had some awesome notes on things that I can improve upon. My favorite common factors including holding a long term view in building wealth and not getting caught up or even involved in fads and fly by the seat of your pants planning. The leaders of good to great companies planned and executed for the long term, worked within their strengths, knew the limitations of their businesses and, most importantly, got the wrong people off their bus, the right people on their bus, and, for extra fun, got the right people in the right seats on the bus.

Whether running your own business or reaching to achieve your own personal financial goals, “Good to Great” is a must read along with Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover.”  

 

My Time-Out

I absolutely hate having long lay-offs and retreats from the things that I love. At the top of that list is time for enhancing my spirituality, spending time with my wife, and my newfound old passion – writing. The past few weeks have been some of the longest and most trying times in my entire career. Our normal work volume went up more than four-fold in a single day, and now, to this day, two weeks removed, we are still dealing with the fallout. There’s no sugarcoating it, the entire experienced sucked royally. Long days, short (if any) lunch breaks, the tension overall would drive a sane man to insanity, which I nearly hit on more than one occasion.

But coming out of it I feel a lot more competent and able on the job, have a newfound sense of camaraderie with my colleagues, and rest easy in the fact that I’m surrounded with a team that is more than willing and able to work hard. Sure, we get on each other’s nerves and at times we’re just about ready to kill one another, but I believe in my heart that the experience has been for the best and we are a better team and individuals for it.

I got to celebrate this momentous passing by participating in an annual event at my church called “The Alternative Giving Fair.” The idea is to promote an anti-consumer driven Christmas season. For one Saturday in December our church becomes a place to make home-made Christmas gifts at awesome prices, and all proceeds benefit a designated charity every year. This year we selected Water for Waslala, an organization providing clean water for a Nicaraguan community. The event was a blast to plan and participate in and I had several “sit back and enjoy the moment” memories, happy to be apart of the faith community that I am.

In giving my time and resources I also received so much more in return. My soul felt filled with joy above and beyond capacity. In talking with people throughout the day I felt connected and a bit like my old self, someone I haven’t seen probably since high school. And when it came to shopping, well, you may classify me generally as an “Ultimate Cheapskate in the making,” but I have never enjoyed or been happier spending my money on gifts than I was at the AGF. I voted with dollars and cents what was important to me for gift giving and that causes like Water for Waslala prioritize my values, not overpriced and marked up clothing at a retailer.

So all in all I’m happy to be back and look forward to closing out the year with more musings and getting back on track to start 2012!

My Thoughts On...SHOPPING

I suppose it will be an ongoing trend but the thing I hate most about the holidays is the time taken away from writing. Picking up writing again has been a great outlet that gives me time to reflect, share and express myself in ways I don’t usually in my day to day. So needless to say coming out of this Thanksgiving weekend I have a ton of pent up thoughts. So I feel it would be best to release these through a weekly series I shall dub “My Thoughts On…” and in true holiday spirit, what better topic than shopping following Black Friday.

Black Friday came and went and I get the distinct feeling that it will be an annual tradition in my household to shake my head in disbelief and agony at our culture of shoppers attending Black Friday sales in endless multitudes searching for “The Great Deal.” WHERE IS YOUR MOTIVATION AND DRIVE TO FIND GREAT DEALS THE REST OF THE YEAR! For Christmas shopping my wife and I establish who we buy for and what our dollar limit is at the beginning of the year, and utilize a sinking fund to cover the expected costs for those precious little gifts on December 25^th.

When it comes to shopping in general though the best advice I can give is to plan ahead, be patient and think outside of the box. For personal clothing I avoid retail prices like the plague and stick to re-sale and thrift stores. I know where my local Salvation Army and Goodwill stores are and buy what I need. A huge benefit is that my wife is handy with a thread and needle and can alter clothes for flattering fits, so I can buy items that are just a bit baggy, and she’ll resize for a perfect cut! Pants, dress shirts, jeans and just about everything in between I grab at thrift stores. The only items I put on the “buy only new” category are underwear, socks and hats for obvious reasons.

For gifts planning ahead is crucial. Do you expect high school/college graduations in the coming year? Whose birthdays are important to you to buy gifts for? Are you buying for individuals or households at Christmas? Answering just a few of these questions before the start of every year is huge in planning and will help your budget out that much more. I’ll beat this horse even after its dead, when you have established a finite amount of money to spend, you will do everything you can to make dollars stretch. Gotta reader on your gift list? Check out used books online at amazon or ebay. Jonesing for a flat screen television AND you have the money to buy one? Flash cash at your local retailer and demand a discount when you pay cash in full, and if they don’t give you one, go to their competitor and get one.

But back to the madness that is Black Friday. You know that I’ll never rant and rave against finding a bigger and better deal. But consistency throughout the year and planning ahead of time is a lot better than running out in the after hours of Thanksgiving in the name of stretching your money and kicking down doors in the name of cheaper prices. Personally when the opening hours rang at the Friday sales, I was happily sound asleep in a bed at my in-laws beside my wife, assured that my Christmas gift giving list is made, I know where I am getting my gifts from and the “give account” is fully funded. Yes, Virginia, you can have peace of mind on Black Friday.

My Weekend of November 19th

This was without question one of the most memorable weekends of the year. Even after living in Chicago for four years there’s still new neighborhoods to explore. Against my reluctance my wife and I ventured out to Pilsen for what my wife would call, “flavor and diversity.” For me I knew exactly what this meant, heading to a neighborhood that roughly reminds me of where I grew up. You see, I have a love/hate relationship with my hometown. Far removed from Beverly Hills, The Hills, and South Orange County, my hometown was the quintessential low-middle class working neighborhood. No McMasions, no top of the line soccer mom SUV’s on our streets. While safe in some regards, there were plenty of crystal clear indicators that implied it really wasn’t. Gang inspired graffiti covered walls of certain “landmarks” within our town to mark whose gang “ran” the city blocks. Drugs definitely found their ways into both public and private schools, and I can still outline which areas of the city you should not be around or near when the sun went down. On top of all this was the in your face reality that well over 90% of the city’s population was Hispanic. Spanish is the first language typically learned in households and children like me, 1^st generation born in the States was the norm.

But back to Pilsen. From the second I stepped aboard the Pink line el I was tense. I know my wife loves exploring new neighborhoods, but on my preconceived notions and ideas I was expecting the worst. I made sure we looked like we knew where we were going, didn’t look anyone in the eye, and made sure we weren’t being followed at any time, you know, standard city rules. Instead, when we made it to “the main strip” along 18^th street something interesting happened, I became immersed in my surroundings and instead of feeling like a stranger in a place where I have to watch my back, I felt like someone returning to his hometown…and was happy to be there. The smells, the sights, the sounds, the stores, they all reminded me of my hometown and I felt like a kid who went off to college somewhere and made it back to his hometown for the weekend.

The remarkable thing to me was that I felt happy to be there. The smell of Pan Dulce in the air reminded me of days spent at my grandparents’ house when I was a child, the city streets and storefronts brought me back to very far-distant childhood memories of seeing the city streets with innocent eyes, before I read, heard stories, and witnessed criminal activity. It also didn’t hurt that Pilsen has some of the most beautiful mosaic art in the city, which masterfully occupy the sides of entire buildings.  After a lengthy conversation with my wife about all of this when our adventure in Pilsen ended, I came to the realization that, even to this day, I had let the self-indulgent and gooberific opinions of would be LA hipsters shape my opinion of how I perceive where I am from. While my hometown is a far cry from the friendliness and public art displays that exist in Pilsen, I should not be ashamed of where I am from. It will always be apart of who I am whether I like it or not, so why not carry some pride to go along with it? After all, my frugalness has taught me in large part to not give a damn about what other people think, so why I do not apply that to my own personal background?

If all of this were not enough for a fun-filled weekend, at my home church here in Chicago we had to say goodbye to one of our leaders whom is heading to the suburbs to lead a new church congregation as a pastor. Our home church here has been somewhat of a revolving door as I feel like we are always saying hi to new faces and goodbye to some of our staples every few months. This person has been without question our most consistent face of leadership around our church over the last few years. She personifies everything I love about my church: great music (she has an AMAZING voice), welcoming atmosphere, a genuine spirit of love, superb culinary delights at pot lucks, a generous spirit of giving to those in need, and an ability to take my breath away with sermons that are second to none. In fact, I think so highly of this person that I am unable to come up with a cute little acronym/pseudonym that perfectly summarizes her best qualities, she seriously has too many J!

But her departure is the bright and shining reminder that those of us remaining need to follow her lead. I for one, need to see where I can fit into leadership roles and be the example to newcomers as she was for me. Yes I will miss seeing her every Sunday in worship, but her influence has made an impression in my faith that will last a lifetime.

My Couchsurfing

One of the greatest tips of frugality that I learned came from Jeff Yeager and it is a beautiful thing called couchsurfing, the gift that keeps on giving. I have been couchsurfing for close to 3 years now and do not plan on slowing down anytime soon. Truth be told I have not made many, if any, extensive travelling trips in the last few years. Instead, during the high tourist season that is Chicago’s summer and fall, my apartment is majestically transformed into the best hostel on the Northside. For absolutely no charge, members that find me request accommodations at my humble dwelling for a pre-determined period of time during their stay in the windy city. Whether for a weekend or a week, I toss them a spare set of keys and voila, they have a place to stay and my wife and I have a rotating block of roomies for a few weeks every summer and fall.

Yes I am alive to tell this tale and every experience has been memorable. Couchsurfing itself is set up on a website similar to facebook. You can create a profile for yourself with pictures and as much details as you’d like to share. There’s also a cool way to verify you’re location, to show other people that you are a real person with a real place to stay, and not in a tent camping out in Lincoln Park. My favorite resource though, is the wall on your profile. It’s the best and most direct way to show other people your references, that you are experienced surfing, and are not a psychopath.

Since I have limited my travel, through couchsurfing I have brought the world to me. I’ve hosted some of the coolest people I have ever met from just about everywhere you can imagine from around the world. Now while every surfer is close and dear in my heart, I have to say that there’s a French couple we hosted this summer that, well, were the paradigm of what is a superb couchsurfing experience. From the moment we all met there was an instant connection as if we had all been friends for years. My wife and I showed them around some of the best sights we knew on the Northside, and they displayed and shared the best tasting culinary skills I can remember. We hung out like old friends catching up, and upon their departure, I admit, was sad to see them leave.

There’s like this common thread that ties couchsurfers together. We’re frugal and when we travel we want to experience a new area, not be tourists. We’re fun, insightful, adventurous and some of the most insightful people you will meet among any walk of life. So yes, this sounds like an endorsement, and no I gain absolutely nothing from couchsurfing for writing this. Aside from anything with “Dave” or “Ramsey” in the title, couchsurfing is one of the best recommendations I enthusiastically endorse J

Book Review: "Entreleadership" by Dave Ramsey

Dave absolutely knocks the topics in this book right out of the ballpark. Entreleadership is a wonderful piece that touches on: self run businesses, staying motivated, how to deal with people, self-priorities and of course good old fashioned common sense that isn’t so common anymore. Now while on paper I do not own my own business, I like to think that for the duration of my life I am self-employed running Rob Inc., and even from this perspective there is so much to learn and gain from the book.

You definitely do not need formal business training or education to understand the content of this book, but I’ve always thought that formalized training ruins your ability to apply common sense. The intrinsic values and practices that can be implemented in your daily life without question perked me up in my outlook at my career. A big driving point is establishing your own goals, dreams and visions and putting together an action plan to make those things happen. For me this lead to a very uncomfortable but much needed look in the mirror.

Dave spends a good deal of time and indirect mention to being an “employee” versus being a “team member.” Every single example and discreet allusion without question brought to surface that at my places of employment I have been an employee and not a team member. Everything about my professional record shows, reflects and conveys corporation. I mentioned in an earlier post that a goal of mine is to be a valued and motivated team member for a company that I would be pumped up working for day in and day out. Dave Ramsey says J that this happens when a specific set of stars are aligned that creates an unbreakable synergy. A big portion of that is when your personal and the company’s values are in sync.

Am I enthused about the company I work for? Do we share the same values? Is the culture corporate or do they encourage Entreleaders? Would I use the products and services of the company I work for, or better yet, recommend and advise my closest friends and families to use them? These were just a few of the internal thoughts that ran through my mind while reading “Entreleadership.” I should have had these run through my mind decades ago, but like everything else I’ll avoid the pity party and go forward with the new outlook I have. I am already planning where my values are and what types of companies and the products/services they offer will be in sync on some of the most important values to me. See, this is exactly what I love about Ramsey. His ideas are thought provoking and challenge you to take actionable steps that are proven and not theory, to achieve success.