AskDong

In general I didn’t come away all that inspired by the story Scott Jones.  While he sounds like man with great ideas and grand plans, he also sounds like workaholic.  Many of his tips are centered on how to squeeze more productivity out of a given day.  While I’m all about getting more time out of life, I don’t think I want more time just so I can work.  That and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to cut my hours of sleep down to 6.5.

One thing did catch my attention. On the last page, Scott talks about how he tries to do everyday activities differently.  He would watch TV from only two feet, and eat without any utensils (I hope he’s actually going out on limb and not just doing this with a sandwich). While those sound like kooky things to do, and actually they are, there’s something to be said about getting out of your normal frame of reference.  For someone like Scott who is an creative entrepreneur thinking different is his job.  Coming up with new ideas is his life blood.  It’s not easy thinking of new ideas when one has the same routine and habits.

Most of us are not creative business entrepreneurs, but that does not mean we could not use a dose of thinking different in our personal and financial lives.  How many purchases do we make just because we’ve always made them? Do we get to work the same way everyday? I agree with Scott Jones, sometimes the best way to think of new ideas is not to actively think and fish for them but to just go about your business differently.  The ideas will come.  For Scott the idea may be a new business venture.  For me it could be a new business venture, but more likely it’d be a method to maximize my time, or a way to save a little extra money, or a new investment strategy.

I came across Donors Choose over at Consumerist Commentary who is working with pfblog.org to help promote select projects. While the specific campaign sponsored by pfblogs is aimed at financial literacy, there are tons of different types of projects to fund. I absolutely love the concept and will be adding it as a regular part of this blog. I have many friends who are either currently teachers or have been teachers in the past. They have one the most difficult and important jobs out there and reap relatively little in terms of financial rewards. And on top of that, they often have to purchase school supplies out their own pocket, and only the first $250 is deductible. I know plenty of teachers who spend much more than $250 of their own money on making sure their kids have the proper tools to learn (sometimes this is simply having pencils and notebooks). To add insult to injury, apparently Congress has yet to vote to extend the law that allows for this deduction.

My plan is every month to issue a challenge to which I will personally contribute a minimum of $25 towards. I’ve started this month with one project in my home state of Massachusetts, and challenge of $100. The project is to secure funds for the purchase of musical instruments for young children. While I’m hardly musically inclined myself, I firmly believe that music (and the arts in general) are an important part of education that too often is the first to get cut. Hopefully if these challenges are successful, I will sponsor challenges with many different projects.

I also want to take some time and acknowledge some of my inspiration besides Flexo at Consumerism Commentary. Nickel of Five Cent Nick impressed me with a very generous offer to match $1000 from readers who gave to the Conservation Fund. In general, I was inspired by all the blogs that participated in Blog Action Day. I was reminded not all of us personal finance bloggers are just bunch of skinflints who only care about our networth. Also, I’ve been plowing through the life of Chuck Feeney whho is certainly an inspiration to give back. Click on the graphic on the left to contribute to the challenge. Going forward I will be adding a challenge graphic as standard part of the blog.

CNMoney’s Money Ethics had a question regarding how long a parent is obligated to continue supporting a “child”.  The letter writer wants continue supporting their 28 year old daughter who relies on them financially.  The Dad wants to cut her off, and the Mom isn’t so sure.  The answer which was to cut her off generated quite a bit of feedback. Most of which I would agree with, and some I wouldn’t.

First off, I generally believe parents are actually doing a child a disservice by providing too much financial support.  Children do not learn to be responsible adults if their parents are always there to clean up the mess.  My observations are not from being a parent (I’m not), but from observing my peers.  Many of my peers who today who are successful and well adjusted have been generally urged by parents to support themselves.  Sometimes finances are such that there is no choice in the matter.  In other cases it’s an active decision made by good parents.  On the other hand, I’ve observed others who have been coddled by over involved parents are in a state of dependency.

A few commenters lament that it’s impossible for young adults to go out and live out on their own in a high priced cities. I think there’s some miscommunication here over the specifics of the letter.  The letter actually never implies that the daughter lives at home. I think it’s reasonable for a young adult to live with the folks for a few year out of cost or other concerns.  However in doing so a child needs to bear that cost.  Also while it’s expensive to live in a coast city (like I do), it’s not impossible even for a poor young adult.  Sacrifices need to be made on location, size, roommates, and other things.  Living by yourself in a swanky apartment in New York City is not a god given right.  I think a much greater problem than living at home is when parents pay or subsidize rent for their child.  Everyone should understand that there is price to be paid.

Obviously exceptions need to made for special cases of developmentally or physically disabled children. However someone without these type of impediments who has reached 28 years of age should be more than capable of supporting him or herself. At 28, one is well past being at the point of “a late bloomer.” Parents are important in providing the means for their children to support themselves and their dreams.  Ambition should be supported, nor do I think all financial assistance is unwarranted.  I received help with my first down payment, but I like to believe that my parents helped me out knowing that I had some plan.  I think there’s a big difference between helping a child fulfill his or her ambitions versus subsidizing a child to the point they never learn to support themselves.

My article on wanting less is featured over at Money and Values. I didn’t make the first tier, but was kindly selected as the top (or at least the way it’s listed) runner up.  This is my first Ethics, Values and Personal Finance carnival, and hopefully not my last.  I do think money and personal finances can often be very tied to person’s value system for good and bad.  How we deal with money is often a reflection of other qualities.

Some other excellent articles are:

• Betsy’s rethinking Birthday gift conventions. I’ve never been fan of most gift conventions.  I much rather celebrate a birthday with gathering with friends than receive gifts.
• The baglady explores the financial injustices that immigrants face.  As an immigrant (ableit barely), I’m very sympathetic immigrants.  Immigrants are some of the hardest working people we have in America.  Sure some might not pay taxes, but I don’t really blame immigrants for that as much as the system in place.
• Tiffany talks about how and what we consume should reflect the values we aspire for.  I agree though I don’t think it’s quite as easy as buying locally and avoiding the big box stores.
• Grad Money Matters wonder if the slow and steady approach to wealth accumulation is out of favor, certainly not in the personal finance blogsphere, but it may be elsewhere.

I was reading BusinessWeek at the Gym. One of the perks of going to gym is I catch up on bunch of magazines I like to read, but don’t have time or the inclination to read all the time. Having gym membership is like having a subscription to Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Entertainment Weekly. There are other magazines at the gym, but those are the ones I read. My last workout was dedicated to BusinessWeek and the bench press.

BusinessWeek reviewed The Billionaire Who Wasnt, a biography of Chuck Feeney. Chuck Feeney may not be be common name, but most of us are quite familiar with his enterprise. Along with his partner, Robert Miller, Chuck started Duty Free Shopper, the ubiquitous Duty Free shops that we find at airports worldwide.

Apparently until he was outed in the 90s with the Sale of Duty Free Shopper, Chuck has been giving millions of dollars anonymously via Atlantic Philanthropies for the greater part of the last quarter century. In many ways he was the innovator of “giving while living” which is all the rage these days. Chuck Feeney besides being a world class philanthropist, he’s also known to be model of modesty and humility. He flies Economy, and buys his suits off the rack, according to anecdotes told of him. Chuck Feeney is the type of person we should all strive to be.

So what does the library have to do with this post you may ask? I thought about buying the book at Amazon.com which is being released in October, but I decided to the give the Library a shot first. I didn’t even have to leave my home. I recently signed up for the Boston Public Library’s online system.  I got my pin last week in the mail. Using my pin, I was able to put a hold on the book for when the library gets delivery of the book.  I found myself luckily in the pole position with first dibs on the book.  Whenever the the book gets in, I’ll drop by the Library on my way home from work and pick it up.  As convenient as Amazon, and free.