Favorite Work Phrase #4

"To whom much is given, much is required"

Variants- "That's why you make the big bucks", "That's why we pay you all that money"

Sometimes work is not fun at all. It is after all called "work" and not "fun time". Your employer pays you for a reason, and it's not to sit around and look cute (unless you're a model) or to hang out and chit chat (unless you're a talk show host). Often it involves boring meetings and dealing with unpleasant issues. The higher you are up the food chain (and the more money you make), the more of this "unfun" you'll likely get. Face it and get over it.

Note: It's not nearly as entertaining to be on the receiving end of this wisdom as it is to be the person imparting it.

Favorite Work Phrase #3

NEWTD (pronounced "new-ted", short for Not Enough Work To Do)

Adjective- a state of being in which a person lacks sufficient work in his/her own job area, and thus starts bugging co-workers as a way to stay busy

Usage Examples
"Why does Jack (whose office is in another whole part of the building) keep showing up in our area and making dumb remarks?" "Newtd"

"Why does Janie keep butting into every conversation that doesn't involve her?" "Newtd"

I bet you'll soon find a situation at your job where you can use this phrase. It comes in very handy, especially if you only tell one other person what it means, then use it to describe other co-workers.

Favorite Work Phrase #2

"Roses are red" (short for "Roses are red, violets are blue, suck it up, you'll make it through")

A member of our Finance Team is the originator of this quote. It's very fun to use on people who are whining.

You're missing the point

This week there was an article in USA Today advocating celebrating Christmas in full force only every 5 years. The writer's theory is there is so much stress and hassle, this would be a welcome relief. If I could meet him face to face I'd tell him "you're missing point". The purpose of Christmas is not to "spend time you don't have to buy gifts you can't afford for people you don't like" or to "run yourself ragged trying to fit in every conceivable holiday activity under the sun".

A brief refresher- the purpose of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That's it. How we do it is up to us. There is great freedom in that. Freedom is the ability to do what we want, but often people forget it's also the ability to not do what doesn't work for us.

If the thought of the Christmas season makes you feel like Scrooge, now is the time to stop. Stop doing what you don't like, what makes you broke, what doesn't bring you joy. Take some time to figure out what Christmas traditions you do enjoy and/or what things you've always wanted to try but never done. Do those. As for the rest, ditch them. Yes, this activity may well create some stress, especially if it impacts your friends, family, etc. Be up front with them, and be willing to have an honest dialogue, even it's difficult. The author mentions encountering this phenomenon toward the end of the article. Sometimes we get stuck on doing things because they are "tradition", even if no one really likes doing them. Remember, it used to be "tradition" to bleed people for ailments, but they stopped doing that too.

Favorite Work Phrase #1

At work we have some catchphrases we use that I think you'll find amusing. Here's the first one:

TGG (short for Turn around, Get in the car, and Go Home)

Definition
Noun: A candidate who is so obviously ill-suited for a position that any more interaction with him/her is a waste of the candidate's and our time.

Usage Example
"What did you think of the applicant who just went in for an interview?" "He's a TGG"

Real Life Example
This summer my mom had a person show up for a job interview wearing a tank top and flip flops. My mom works at a hospital.

$4 for toothpaste?

I was amazed today at how much toothpaste costs. At the grocery I saw several in the $4 range. For toothpaste? These didn't even seem to contain gold flecks as an active ingredient. I haven't paid retail for toothpaste in ages. Most of the time it's free after I combine a store rebate/coupon offer with a manufacturer's coupon (Rite Aid has some of these very offers this week. I'm going tomorrow). I can't imagine paying $4 tube. Wonder what the manufacturer's cost is?

Crazy Credit Card Applications

How many credit card applications do you get in the mail? A couple a week? A couple a day? Congratulations, you have good credit! Unfortunately, this also means you're probably spending more time bonding with your shredder than you want. Did you know you can make most of them go away with just one easy call? Just dial 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) (you can also go here and fill out a request online if you'd rather). This will take care of the vast majority of the offers.

You'll probably still get the occasional offer because

Opting-Out will not end solicitations from all local merchants, religious and charitable associations, professional and alumni associations, politicians, and companies with which you conduct business.

However, there is even hope for these. What I didn't know until recently is you can call the organization offering you the card and make them stop. I learned this by chance. American Airlines was sending me probably 1 application a week since I'm a member of their frequent flier program. It was ridiculous. Out of sheer frustration I called the application phone number and asked them to stop sending these to me. I figured they'd say "we can't do that". Nope, they took my info, and the mailings STOPPED. Hallelujah! I just made the same type of call tonight to the Southwest Airline card number. It's a win win. Fewer trees die, and I spend less time at the shredder.

Mind Over Money (4th and Final in a Series)

Article

STEP 5: Recognize what you're doing right.

Just because a financial adviser wouldn't recommend your methods doesn't mean they're wrong. Does your system actually work for you? Then stick with it.

Perhaps you've tried to get ahold of your finances before, but it never works. It could be that your system is what's failing you. Want to know what the best system is for managing your money? It's the system that works for you. No two people are exactly alike, so why should there be a one-size-fits-all approach to handling your money?

My church has a financial ministry that teaches a basic financial budgeting class and offers one on one assistance to people who want in depth help figuring out a financial plan (the word "budget" engenders lots of bad feelings with many people, so I prefer this phrase instead). The people on the ministry team are all money nerds, but we don't see eye to eye on everything. Some ideas inspire universal agreement ("Payday loans are bad", "Emergency funds are good"), while others inspire debate ("Credit cards are evil", "Credit cards are a great tool"). Who's right? It's whatever works for each person. My personal system is somewhere convoluted, using 2 checking accounts and 2 savings accounts, with some spreadsheets thrown in for good measure. Would I recommend it for everyone? No. Does it work for me? Yes. Therefore, I use it.

Summary

As you learn more about money (see 3rd entry in this series), you'll come across many ways of managing your money. Combine what works and chuck what doesn't to create the perfect plan for you.

Mind Over Money (3rd in a Series)

Article

STEP 3: Get educated.

"A lot of times women think they are supposed to know through some kind of osmosis what they should do with their money," says Gail MarksJarvis, financial columnist for the Chicago Tribune and author of Saving for Retirement Without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery. "I find that really laughable. The reason we know how to cross the street without getting hit by a car is because at some point when we were young, someone told us that a green light means go and a red light means stop."

Most of us never got that kind of financial coaching. As my friend Emily puts it, "I realized at a certain point that I had never learned a lot of fundamentals: what a money market account is, when it makes sense to have savings bonds, those kinds of things." Indeed, they teach geometry in high school (for all those occasions when you need to figure out the area under a bridge) but not basic financial management. So you have to study it on your own.

My favorite part of this quote is probably the part of figuring the area under a bridge. It's so true. There was no financial education in my high school, and it wasn't part of my college's curriculum. I was fortunate that I did take an elective "Intro to Business" course in high school where part of the class was entering data into a checkbook register, so I knew how to handle that. But that was it. Before I started my present job, I didn't even know what a 401(k) was, though I worked at a job prior to my current one that probably should have asked me if I wanted to enroll in its plan.

The article suggests some good ways to increase your financial knowledge. The only thing I would add is this- share your knowledge with your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc. It's a great gift to give them.

Suggested Reads

Books
Women & Money- a great financial guide for both genders
The Millionaire Next Door & The Millionaire Women Next Door- both challenge lots of preconceptions about the rich
Nudge- Interesting info on how people respond to financial choices depending on how the decisions are framed

Magazines
Money- my favorite financial magazine
Smart Money- my mom's favorite
Kiplinger's Personal Finance- another good choice

A Moment of Awareness

Ever had a "moment of awareness"? You are doing an everyday task when suddenly you realize how profound it is. I had one yesterday. As I was voting, I was struck by how many people have paid such a high price for me to have the right to vote. Though our political system definitely has its issues, I feel so blessed to live in a time and place where I get to have say in how our government works.