I've had my blog for a couple of years now and have focused on issues that many of us find ourselves in. Now that I'm retired, I now have some additional time to turn it into the blog I originally intended it to be.
I originally thought that I would just go about and make the changes to "Life's Little Challenges", however, I decided to keep this one as is and instead create a new blog: The Road to Frugality.
I've lived frugally most of my life and am very proud of it. Being frugal doesn't mean being cheap which you will learn when you start making the journey. Many of you will wonder what I gave up
. . . not much (outside of marriage and children; unfortunately not meant to be for me).
During my journey I was careful with my income, yet I had my fair share of new cars, extensive travel and more as well as having built a decent retirement nest egg. I've also helped many people financially and continue to do so the best way I can. I've always wanted the opportunity to share what I've learned so coming soon is the new blog. I'm also developing a couple of my own product lines so please stay tuned.
Happy day all!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The Internet/A Love Hate Relationship
In 1997 I discovered the internet. I loved searching the websites: online museums, holidays sites, etc. I learned how to create a web page and loved it. And I learned to love internet shopping.
My dislike, however, is the number of sites that preach that "yes, you too can become a successful blogger" and give you just enough information to get you to buy THEIR packages. While they do provide information you can typically use, they glamourize website creation and blogging as a way to make money. They even go out of their way to publish what their monthly income was. Who wouldn't fall prey to a comment like "my blog produced $9000 this month". They may also casually tell you that it took them years to build but the headline was so "eye-catching" that the general reader did not pick up on it took years to build. They also don't tell you ALL that you need to be successful . . . for that information you have to pay and in some cases, the cost is significant. And it's usually those who cannot afford to spend the money who get suckered into doing just that.
What they don't tell you is that there are approximately 180 million blogs in existence. What they don't tell you is that only a few actually end up producing the amount of income they boast. What they don't tell you is that you make your money through hit conversion, the number of hits per page that actually turn into sales. They don't tell you how to build traffic, they don't tell you to be careful of copyright infringement, they don't tell you how to price your products or how often to create one. They also don't teach you how to build a mailing list. They don't discuss search engine optimization (there are over 1 billion websites on the internet), they don't discuss the methods and the time it takes to build up traffic to your page if you're lucky. They don't tell you the differences in what needs to be done for a blog as a hobby, to develop a supplemental income or turn it into an actual living.
What they don't tell you is that only 14% of bloggers actually earn an income from them. What they don't tell you is that the average income is $24,086 annually, $33,577 for a corporate blogger and that half of all bloggers earn only about $1,000 annually.
There is much, much more than just creating a page and publishing it to the internet.
Time after time, their readers so desperately in need of additional income fall prey to their sales pitch, only to find out that the only one that benefited is the blogger who won them over.
So to those of you who come across these sites and think that you too are going to develop a $100-$200K income from blogging, realize that this happens only to a rare few. If you feel that you have the time and the money to spend on attempting to get a livable blogging income, please give it a shot, but don't forget that not everyone who tries it will come out a winner.
My dislike, however, is the number of sites that preach that "yes, you too can become a successful blogger" and give you just enough information to get you to buy THEIR packages. While they do provide information you can typically use, they glamourize website creation and blogging as a way to make money. They even go out of their way to publish what their monthly income was. Who wouldn't fall prey to a comment like "my blog produced $9000 this month". They may also casually tell you that it took them years to build but the headline was so "eye-catching" that the general reader did not pick up on it took years to build. They also don't tell you ALL that you need to be successful . . . for that information you have to pay and in some cases, the cost is significant. And it's usually those who cannot afford to spend the money who get suckered into doing just that.
What they don't tell you is that there are approximately 180 million blogs in existence. What they don't tell you is that only a few actually end up producing the amount of income they boast. What they don't tell you is that you make your money through hit conversion, the number of hits per page that actually turn into sales. They don't tell you how to build traffic, they don't tell you to be careful of copyright infringement, they don't tell you how to price your products or how often to create one. They also don't teach you how to build a mailing list. They don't discuss search engine optimization (there are over 1 billion websites on the internet), they don't discuss the methods and the time it takes to build up traffic to your page if you're lucky. They don't tell you the differences in what needs to be done for a blog as a hobby, to develop a supplemental income or turn it into an actual living.
What they don't tell you is that only 14% of bloggers actually earn an income from them. What they don't tell you is that the average income is $24,086 annually, $33,577 for a corporate blogger and that half of all bloggers earn only about $1,000 annually.
There is much, much more than just creating a page and publishing it to the internet.
Time after time, their readers so desperately in need of additional income fall prey to their sales pitch, only to find out that the only one that benefited is the blogger who won them over.
So to those of you who come across these sites and think that you too are going to develop a $100-$200K income from blogging, realize that this happens only to a rare few. If you feel that you have the time and the money to spend on attempting to get a livable blogging income, please give it a shot, but don't forget that not everyone who tries it will come out a winner.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Financially Strapped Don't Get a Break
The majority of families that are financially strapped will always be financially strapped and through no fault of their own, but rather because society will not let them heal and rebuild. Why, because most institutions, including our government believe it is because they are ALL trying to live like the Joneses which couldn't be further from the truth. Many find themselves in this position because American companies have abandoned the American worker for countries like China and Mexico or due to catastrophic illness. And the sad part is that many of us know at least one or more of these families and have tried to help them, but can only do so much.
I know one of these families, intimately, because this family is related to me (ages 67 and 77). For a good part of his life, her husband even worked 7 days a week for pennies. They don't own a house or drive a Lexus, they don't buy and wear designer clothes and most of their grocery shopping (they haven't gone out in many years) is done at the dollar store. They've never travelled and their leisure time is sitting by the water or playing Yatzee. The only reason they have cable tv is because the basic plan is included in their rent. Yes, they do have a cell phone, but they use one of the least expensive plans there is. They have been trying for 15 to 20 years to cut back on expenses and attempt lowering their living costs. No matter what they do it just doesn't quite make it.
They can't get government help because they are only slightly over the so-called poverty level computed as "gross income" as set by the Federal Government and based on todays costs truly is a joke. The so called poverty level after taxes doesn't even allow for the payment of rent in this country, much less anything else.
They recently tried moving to a more affordable apartment and were denied because there was a car eviction situation which had been taken care of immediately for them by me 2 years ago and payments have been made in a timely manner since then. The apartment complex didn't even want to listen to what had happened and said once you're denied, it's over. This family never missed a rent payment and even paid ahead of time, but this didn't matter either. She also had a co-signer who would have guaranteed that the rent would be paid - - me - - but they wouldn't accept that either and I have a superior credit rating.
The fact that she had lost her job through no fault of her own when her entire company shut down didn't matter . . . the car company refused to work with them which is why she fell behind. And because they had a poor credit rating the interest rate on the car loan because she had to go through a pool is 29%; completely outrageous compared to the 3% I'm paying. It's hard to get a job when you have no way to get to work. And don't believe that age discrimination doesn't exist even in Florida. It does, especially in Florida. No wonder people like them fall behind . . . they have about as much chance as a snowball in hell.
There was also a false eviction claim on the part of a former landlord for which they had a letter from the courts saying the case was dismissed due to false accusations on the part of the landlord. This family NEEDED this lower rent apartment because her husband (age 77 who had been working 30 hours a week to make the ends meet) had been recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure (prescription co-pays have jumped up to $150 a month) and can't right now if he will ever be able to again, as well as the fact that her daughter got married and moved out. She had been looking for almost 2 years for a job to no avail and had finally found one part-time, but this isn't enough to cover their living expenses now that her husband is unable to work which are meager at best. I, in fact, have taken over her car payments for her and send her a Save A Lot grocery card once in a while (the best I can do because I lost my job last April and was forced into retirement myself).
And the laws in Florida give NO relief to seniors for legitimately breaking a lease for financial reasons or assisting them with rent due to catastrophic reasons so these people are trapped or end up homeless. This is positively tragic in this great country.
I'm not saying that these people didn't make poor choices at times when it came to money . . . we all do or have, including myself. But unless society gives them the chance to fix themselves, they will continue to remain tragic victims.
Please, I ask that you forward the link to this page to everyone you know. Let's see if we collectively can start changing things for families like this.
I know one of these families, intimately, because this family is related to me (ages 67 and 77). For a good part of his life, her husband even worked 7 days a week for pennies. They don't own a house or drive a Lexus, they don't buy and wear designer clothes and most of their grocery shopping (they haven't gone out in many years) is done at the dollar store. They've never travelled and their leisure time is sitting by the water or playing Yatzee. The only reason they have cable tv is because the basic plan is included in their rent. Yes, they do have a cell phone, but they use one of the least expensive plans there is. They have been trying for 15 to 20 years to cut back on expenses and attempt lowering their living costs. No matter what they do it just doesn't quite make it.
They can't get government help because they are only slightly over the so-called poverty level computed as "gross income" as set by the Federal Government and based on todays costs truly is a joke. The so called poverty level after taxes doesn't even allow for the payment of rent in this country, much less anything else.
They recently tried moving to a more affordable apartment and were denied because there was a car eviction situation which had been taken care of immediately for them by me 2 years ago and payments have been made in a timely manner since then. The apartment complex didn't even want to listen to what had happened and said once you're denied, it's over. This family never missed a rent payment and even paid ahead of time, but this didn't matter either. She also had a co-signer who would have guaranteed that the rent would be paid - - me - - but they wouldn't accept that either and I have a superior credit rating.
The fact that she had lost her job through no fault of her own when her entire company shut down didn't matter . . . the car company refused to work with them which is why she fell behind. And because they had a poor credit rating the interest rate on the car loan because she had to go through a pool is 29%; completely outrageous compared to the 3% I'm paying. It's hard to get a job when you have no way to get to work. And don't believe that age discrimination doesn't exist even in Florida. It does, especially in Florida. No wonder people like them fall behind . . . they have about as much chance as a snowball in hell.
There was also a false eviction claim on the part of a former landlord for which they had a letter from the courts saying the case was dismissed due to false accusations on the part of the landlord. This family NEEDED this lower rent apartment because her husband (age 77 who had been working 30 hours a week to make the ends meet) had been recently diagnosed with congestive heart failure (prescription co-pays have jumped up to $150 a month) and can't right now if he will ever be able to again, as well as the fact that her daughter got married and moved out. She had been looking for almost 2 years for a job to no avail and had finally found one part-time, but this isn't enough to cover their living expenses now that her husband is unable to work which are meager at best. I, in fact, have taken over her car payments for her and send her a Save A Lot grocery card once in a while (the best I can do because I lost my job last April and was forced into retirement myself).
And the laws in Florida give NO relief to seniors for legitimately breaking a lease for financial reasons or assisting them with rent due to catastrophic reasons so these people are trapped or end up homeless. This is positively tragic in this great country.
I'm not saying that these people didn't make poor choices at times when it came to money . . . we all do or have, including myself. But unless society gives them the chance to fix themselves, they will continue to remain tragic victims.
Please, I ask that you forward the link to this page to everyone you know. Let's see if we collectively can start changing things for families like this.
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