Finance and Fat » Life

5 Frugal Golf Tips to Make the Game Affordable Again

Eden — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:07:29 +0000

Golf is an expensive hobby. Of course, expensive is a relative term. You can easily spend a *lot* of money on golf, but you can just as easily enjoy the game with a frugal approach. I gave up on golf almost entirely when I started working on getting out of debt. However, I really missed the game and I finally came to the conclusion that cutting out something I enjoy to save money isn’t a wise thing to do (assuming it wasn’t financially impossible for me to keep playing, which it wasn’t).

I’m happy to say I’ve started playing golf again over the past month or two, but I’m doing so with a budget and I’m making an effort to stretch my golf dollars farther and to find good value. I no longer need to avoid golf. Though I may have to avoid the expensive courses, I can definitely play an adequate number of rounds and practice my game each month.

If you’re interested in the details, I’m starting with a budget of $50 per month. This is enough for about two to three (inexpensive) rounds of golf per month and some practice time.

Practice your short game more than the long game.
According to Dr. Bob Rotella, “If you’re not spending 70 percent of your practice time on shots from 120 yards in, you’re not trying to become the best golfer you can be.” [Golf is Not a Game of Perfect, pg 88]. Not only will practicing the short game save you money, but it’s better for your game. If I’m going to practice three days in a week, I’ll buy range balls one day and work on my long game, but I’ll only work on my short game the other two days. The trick to this is finding a course with good short game facilities. I’m fortunate to have two courses about twenty minutes from my home that have separate chipping and putting greens and one even has a separate pitching area for shots in the 70 – 100 yard range. I take advantage of these short game areas as much as I can. This is much easier if you have a ‘shag bag‘ and a collection of old (but still decent) balls. I don’t find my long game to be lacking at all and I’m definitely saving more and more shots around the greens.

Use old balls found on the course for practice balls.
During any normal round you’re going to come across lost balls. If I’m certain no one around has played the ball and it’s not badly damaged I’ll pick up as many as I can. I don’t use these balls to play, but I save them for the shag bag and use them on the practice greens. This is a great way to keep your supply of practice balls replenished (they will get lost and damaged over time) without spending any extra money.

Buy a ball retriever.
I used to think ball retrievers were a bit silly, but with many balls costing $3 – $4 each, it can quickly pay for itself. The best part is, a ball lost in the water may have only been hit once so you’ll often find balls that are essentially brand new. I also find that the golfers playing the most expensive balls are the least likely to bother to retrieve them from a lake. The better the course you play, the higher quality you’ll tend to find.

Check for tee times on GolfNow.com, but give the course a call too.
Golf Now is sort of like an Expedia or Travelocity for golf. It acts as the middleman in helping golf courses sell open tee times and you benefit by getting a reduced rate. I find rates are almost always cheaper on Golf Now, but not 100% of the time. To be really sure you’re getting the best deal, you might want to give the course a call before you book on Golf Now, just to be sure you’re getting the best deal possible.

Play during off-peak hours.
For me, playing in Tucson, AZ, off-season is about May – September and the cheapest tee times are to be had in the afternoon. Of course, that means playing in 100 – 110 degree heat, but as they like to say, ‘it’s a dry heat’. As long as I stay hydrated and wear sunscreen, I really don’t have much problem playing in the heat here at all. I’ve suffered much more playing golf in the summer in San Antonio, TX (think 90 degrees with 90% humidity). If you’re willing to be less comfortable and play more golf when other people aren’t playing, you can save a lot of money. I played a course a couple of weeks ago that can cost as much as $170 per round during peak season for only $35. The course is still as beautiful and challenging as ever, I just had to suffer through the heat to enjoy it.

In summary, don’t make the mistake that I made and give up on golf (or whatever your favorite hobby may be) because of the cost, if it’s something you truly enjoy. It’s possible to find a middle ground and approach your hobby in a wise and frugal manner. Value can be found, you just have to work a little harder to find it. In the end, I’m much happier to be out playing golf again and my budget will be just fine.

5 Frugal Golf Tips to Make the Game Affordable Again

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What I’m Trying to Accomplish Here or a ‘Where’s the Value’ Manifesto

Eden — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:26:37 +0000

*Maybe this is just a rant, and maybe it’s a bit long, but I think it turned into something worthwhile.

What’s the point of this blog and why do I spend my time writing it?

I started this blog after discovering a few personal finance blogs, I think Get Rich Slowly was the first one I found. I thought doing this would help me get organized and get focused on getting out of debt and getting in shape.

If I’m being honest, I also thought that by writing a blog about getting out of debt I could find vast riches and end up paying off all of my debt just by posting those annoying little Google ads on the site and waiting for the dollars to roll in. Of course, as 99% of all bloggers have found, the money doesn’t come rolling in very fast and only a select few, such as J.D. at Get Rich Slowly, Darren at ProBlogger, Bob at Christian Personal Finance, and Leo at Zen Habits can actually turn blogging into a full-time job (see what I did there? I linked to all of those fancy bloggers hoping that I would get noticed—I can’t help myself!).

I started off fairly well here, I was up to almost 200 subscribers after only a couple of months of blogging. Of course, back then I was posting frequently and taking the time to comment on other blogs and link to other blogs to help get noticed. Shockingly, not posting frequently and not working to get any attention for the site caused the traffic to drop substantially.

And therein lies the rub…you have to work on your blog like it’s a full-time job, or at least a part-time job, just to get it off the ground and achieve even a modest level of traffic, all the while only putting a few dollars in your pocket- if you’re even lucky enough to earn money above your hosting costs. And that’s when blogging died for me*. I could spend that same time doing freelance work for real money as opposed to earning pennies per hour for my efforts here. So that’s what I did, and I earned a lot of money on the side and paid off a lot of debt.

*Not that I’m bitter, this is officially a hobby, not a business. At least that’s how it will be until the money starts rolling in, and that’s okay. Really, I’m not bitter. I think. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m not.

So where does that leave me and what’s the point?

I’m going to keep writing here and I’m not going to worry about the money or turning this into a job. I already have a ‘real’ job it’s pretty good to me, and I enjoy most of what I do there. I don’t need to add a second job to my already busy life. However, I actually enjoy writing, and I need to do more of it to improve my skills, so that is going to be the real motivator behind continuing to write here.

To be perfectly honest, I find the topic of personal finance rather boring—if you’re honest about it, don’t you think so too? I wish I had chosen a different topic. Once you figure out that you need to live below your means, you’re pretty much done with your personal finance education. That’s the 80% part of the 80/20 rule. The rest is just filling in little details, which can certainly be helpful, but your bang for the buck drops precipitously the farther you go.

I feel like I’ve made a lot more progress on the finance part of this finance and fat concept than I have on the fat battle. However, just like ‘live below your means‘ losing weight can be summed up just as easily- burn more calories than you consume. I don’t really need to learn more about fitness, I just need to get off the couch and exercise while eating fruit instead of donuts. Of course the concept is simple and the devil is in the details, but I think mostly we just like adding to those details so we feel like we are accomplishing something worthwhile when the answer is really just to get off the couch and go for a walk or do some pushups.

Well, I just told you that I think personal finance is boring and there’s nothing more to learn about it and I think the same concept applies to losing weight. I guess the cat is out of the bag, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing here and it doesn’t mean that I can’t provide anything of value here.

Frankly, I’m very jealous of this guy, Chris at The Art of Non-Conformity, and I want to try to emulate his model of blogging success. I don’t want to remain beholden to Google and AdSense, but I have to create something of real value first. That is of course my next task.

I do think I have something to add to the conversation and I think I can offer a unique perspective. I’m no longer going to share the same crap you can read on 1,000 other personal finance blogs. If I don’t have something at least somewhat unique to say, I won’t say anything at all.

I’ll continue to share updates of my own, real progress because people seem to like that. I think I can offer a little hope, being the average guy that I am who is actually making some real progress to improve my life…and I didn’t do it by finding the perfect money hack or buying the right e-book.

It’s just a matter of working hard and focusing your efforts in the right place. And that’s the message I want to convey and that’s where I think some real value can be created. That’s where I’ll be focusing my efforts and I’m going to do my best to come up with content that is actually valuable to you. And if you made it this far, you really deserve some valuable content! I promise it’s coming soon. Thanks for reading.

What I’m Trying to Accomplish Here or a ‘Where’s the Value’ Manifesto

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The Secret to Getting Out of Debt

Eden — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:00:23 +0000

No, I’m not talking about some metaphysical foolishness, sold by the truckload thanks to the Oprah. I’m also not going to suggest crazy, get-rich-quick infomercial trash.

The secret to getting out of debt, or doing anything else meaningful for that matter, is quite simple and you already know what it is.

HARD WORK!

I know that isn’t always the answer we want to hear, but it’s true. No matter how many times I’ve tried to avoid it, I always do my best in life when I just forget everything else and put in some hard work (but I’m careful to work smart as well).

That’s it. Go work hard and you’ll be on your way to financial freedom.

Okay, there is a little more to it than that. You could go do hard work breaking rocks or digging ditches but if you are breaking the wrong rocks or digging a ditch in the wrong place all that hard work has gone to waste. You need to work smart too and you need a plan. But the plan is the easy part compared to the hard work that it’s going to take to execute that plan. Whatever plan you end up with, just make sure it includes some hard work somewhere or it’s just going to fail.

Now quit reading blogs and get to work!

The Secret to Getting Out of Debt

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What I have been doing instead of blogging

Eden — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:45:29 +0000

My blogging pace has drastically slowed over the past month or so- it’s not that I don’t enjoy writing for the blog, I have just been trying to use my time more efficiently to earn money, get out of debt, and lose weight. I have spent more time doing freelance work, working on building a small side business, and I have read several books (list of the books below).

The Richest Man in Babylon – Loved this book, it’s a definite must read
The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class – Loved this one too, another must read
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich – Lots of good stuff mixed in with some worthless portions that should be skipped. Overall, I would still call this a must read as it has given me lots of great ideas and inspiration, but be prepared to skip some of it.
The Millionaire Next Door – Excellent premise and some good basic information, though rather long winded and dull at times (would be perfect minus about 1/3 of the words).
Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money–That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! – Not quite done with this one yet, but I love what I have read so far.

Look for more complete reviews on those books some day (obviously given my recent pace it probably won’t happen too soon).

I have been attempting to ‘unplug’ a bit from the media and Internet lately- skipping the news almost entirely, un-subscribing to email that piled up in my inbox for no good reason and being very selective about the blogs I read. I have found a lot of ‘extra’ time this way and my mind feels sharper than it has for a while.

One thing I have realized recently is that it can become easy to think you are doing something to solve your financial or weight problems (or whatever the current goal is) because you spend time writing about them (such as this blog) or spend time reading about them (see the 100 plus blogs in my RSS Reader). It’s not that those activities aren’t beneficial, but more time needs to be spent actually DOING something to solve these problems- hence my shift in attention to finding ways to earn extra money and spending more time exercising. I think it is especially easy for bloggers and avid blog readers to get caught in this trap (I know it was for me).

My advice is to take some time to think about what you are doing right now and ask yourself if it is moving you closer to the goals you want to reach or is it just making you feel like you are doing something when in reality you aren’t moving any closer- it’s an empowering question!

What I have been doing instead of blogging

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Life is better today because I started ‘NOW’

Eden — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:37:01 +0000

Start now. That is the best advice I can give for anything you want to change about your life. No matter what it is you want to do, take at least a few minutes today to do something that will get you started on your new plan.

I have lost 18 pounds since I started this blog in September. I still have plenty of pounds to lose, but I woke up feeling good this morning- I feel lighter and the same clothes that were a tight fit a few months ago are loose and will soon be too big. I would not feel this way today if I hadn’t made the effort back in September to start something. I started small, only trying to walk for 5-10 minutes per day and limit my calorie intake, but that was what I needed to get the ball rolling and start building momentum.

Setting a goal to walk for only 5 minutes may seem somewhat small and meaningless, but if you are coming from walking 0 minutes per day, 5 minutes is a huge improvement. The point is, no matter what the situation or what your goal is, changing your life can start today and it can start with something small.

Choose something you know you can do. Don’t wake up one day after months of inactivity and decide that you will jog for 30 minutes and lift weights. That is not realistic! Diets can fail for many reasons, but I believe the problem with a diet is the difficulty of making massive changes overnight. You aren’t building new habits if you take that approach. You are trying to force yourself to behave in a new, uncomfortable way- the odds of success are very slim.

No matter what you want to change in your life, I encourage you to start it now. Take the time to write down your long-term goal (perhaps losing 60 pounds or paying off $25K of debt). Think about where you are now and think about what you can do now (or at least today). Choose something that you can take care of in 5-10 minutes. It could be something simple like walking down your street and back, making an extra payment on a credit card, starting a budget, or getting a how-to book at the library- whatever you can do today, in a short amount of time, that will start you down the path to reaching your long term goal.

Decide what you will do today, then do it today and repeat it tomorrow.

There will be setbacks, there will be days you fail to keep up the pace, but the point is to build new habits. After a few weeks have gone by you will find yourself with a new point of view and that long term goal will seem a little bit closer.
Start now!

Life is better today because I started ‘NOW’

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Should You Use a Rewards Credit Card?

Eden — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:22:05 +0000

*update* I think I left the door a bit too wide open for me on this issue. I just needed to remind myself why I don’t want another credit card. The question is still a good one to ask, but I finally know that the answer is no for me.

My article on taking a look back at our first cash only Christmas was included in this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted by We’re In Debt (great site by the way, I recommend subscribing if you don’t already). The ‘King of Debt‘ at We’re in Debt made an interesting comment on my article-

I would argue that they could have earned rewards using their credit cards, but cash only is just that, cash only with no possibility of spending more.

I don’t disagree with the comment but part of my get-out-of-debt plan is cutting up my credit cards and closing accounts as I pay them off so going out and getting a rewards credit card isn’t an option for me right now.

This topic really just brings us back to the old argument of what we are doing with PERSONAL finance and why we have to consider the emotional and non-mathematical parts of the equation. Looking strictly at the numbers, yes, you would be better off spending your money on a rewards credit card and paying off the balance early each month (never carrying a balance). That is true IF you have the discipline to pay off the balance on time AND the discipline to not spend more money because you are using your rewards credit card. Can you honestly say you are never tempted by your rewards points to buy a little more than you had planned before? Maybe you aren’t and if so, you are the person that should be using this strategy. If I am honest with myself, I know that I would be tempted to spend more money in order to earn the rewards. If I spend less money using cash (and debit cards) then that is how I need to pay for things until I develop better discipline with my spending.

Taking control of your personal finances really requires a focus on the human and emotional aspect of your money (we are starting with the assumption that your finances got out of control like mine). I can’t just look at the numbers, do a little math, and suddenly be out of debt. That is part of the process, but I have to understand what got me here. Honestly, I think I’m a shopaholic. I thought that seemed crazy at first, but after reading this great article by J.D. at Get Rich Slowly, I really think that is me. Like most men, I don’t get any joy out of going to the mall or shopping anywhere in general, but if I sit down at my laptop with a cup of coffee and visit Amazon.com, I could easily spend and spend some more without thinking about it. In fact, I did just that when I got my Amazon.com rewards credit card! Oh how I loved racking up those Amazon points- well, guess what? I couldn’t use that card wisely and it only took a few months for me to max it out. Is that stupid? Absolutely that is stupid. I am not trying to suggest that a rewards credit card is evil, but in the wrong hands it certainly is. No offense to anyone who has struggled with alcohol, but this is much the same situation- the bottle of beer in itself is not evil, but in the wrong hands it can do great damage.

I am not trying to argue with the comment regarding the benefits of rewards credit cards. If I didn’t make it clear, I absolutely agree with that opinion. However, I want to stress the fact that this strategy is not for everyone. You need to know yourself, be honest with yourself, and do what works for you to save money and take control of your finances. I am not saying that I will never use a rewards credit card. I may get to the point where I can have the discipline to use it as a personal finance tool and actually earn money with it, but I’m not there now. I actually admire the people who are able to do this- they must truly be wise and disciplined. Frankly, I love seeing people ’stick it’ to the credit card companies and earn money using the very same piece of plastic that is the downfall of so many others and costs most people thousands of dollars a year in interest charges. I can’t argue with the math, I just know I can’t trust myself in that area yet.

Should You Use a Rewards Credit Card?

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What I Have Learned Since Starting My ‘Finance and Fat’ Turnaround

Eden — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:34:14 +0000

I didn’t know exactly where I wanted to go with the idea for this web site when I started, but I did hope to learn a lot along the way. Between doing research and writing articles here and reading lots of other great blogs around the Web, a few things come to mind as the most important so far.

There will be setbacks.
Patience is a requirement.
No matter how much debt I pay each month, it doesn’t feel like enough.
A $1,000 emergency fund sounded like a lot until I needed to use it.
Losing weight is harder than paying off debt.
There is no perfect plan for everyone to follow.
The only universally applicable money management tip is to SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN.

What have YOU learned in your journey- whatever stage you may be? If I get enough tips I’ll create another post with links to the authors. Thanks!

What I Have Learned Since Starting My ‘Finance and Fat’ Turnaround

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What does it take to start an exercise regimen?

Eden — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:10:56 +0000

I need to lose weight. I want to lose weight. Sounds believable, doesn’t it? I think I believe it. However, I’m not doing much about it on a daily basis right now. I have had a little success so far, I’m down about 14 pounds since starting this blog, but I still have a lot of weight to lose and my progress has basically come to a stop over the past few weeks. Apparently thinking about losing weight and reading about it doesn’t actually cause you to lose weight!

It’s time for action. I don’t know why I can’t motivate myself to exercise regularly, but that has to change.

I need a plan. I made a plan before, but I didn’t write anything down. Now it’s time to change that. Here is my beginning exercise plan.

Monday – Friday: 20 minutes on the treadmill, doing intense interval training on M, W, F and doing casual walking on T and Th. I’m also going to do sit-ups and push-ups immediately following my treadmill time, but I need to give that a try to see how to best balance the number of reps and how many days of the week I should do those before I make an official plan.
Saturday – Sunday: one 30 minute weight lifting workout. I’m going for high intensity, minimal rest with this.

This is my simple plan. I want to start small- this is relatively small, though this is a massive improvement over what I am doing now.

What makes me think I can go from almost nothing to exercising 6 days a week? Well, I don’t exactly know how to answer that except to say that I HAVE to start working out. If I can’t spend about 2 and a half hours a week exercising I won’t be able to achieve my weight loss goals. I have to make exercise a habit.

There is no magic solution to help me start a regular exercise program. I have to take the initiative to wake up 20 minutes earlier and do the exercise. If I feel tired I have to push myself to get on the treadmill anyway. I don’t like the way I feel at my current weight and that isn’t going to change if I don’t do something about it- NOW.

I will use this blog as a source of accountability for my plan. Look for more posts about this over the next week or so. Please share your tips or ideas for getting started and overcoming this first hurdle. Now you can sit back and watch me succeed or fail!

What does it take to start an exercise regimen?

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A Billionaire’s Thoughts on Taxes

Eden — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:14:18 +0000

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, happens to be a billionaire and a blogger. His public persona comes across as a bit wild at times, but I think he has some very solid wisdom behind that. His blog is worth reading (usually) and he wrote a really interesting article yesterday, Warren Buffett, Taxes and the Presidency.

Warren Buffett has been all over the business press recently suggesting that the very rich, those on the Forbes 400 list, are taxed advantageously to the rest of the workforce. That it makes no sense that his tax bill as a percentage of income is lower than that of his secretary or housekeeper.

He is absolutely right.

Is this a fair system? I don’t know if that is the right question, but I think it would be hard to make a case for the above scenario being the right way to do things.

Its also wrong that those who must live paycheck to paycheck find themselves paying the same amount of taxes on consumables as the super rich. That 8pct sales tax on life’s basic necessities is real time cash out of pocket, a far greater percentage of income and much more expensive money than the federal taxes we pay the following April 15th.

This is a brilliant point. 8% on every purchase for people making under $30,000 a year is going to hurt the wallet quite a bit more than it does for the person making $300,000. A consumption tax is often touted as the most fair tax system, but I think it clearly is not (at least not a flat consumption tax without considerations for income).

Right now I hate paying taxes because I feel like I’m giving money to a known crack addict. However much you give, its not enough. They will buy their crack, get a short term high and soon be back asking for more.

The federal government , whether in Republican or Democratic hands is the same way. No matter how much you give, they are always asking for more, more, more. Always spending on the ridiculous, without remorse and without the ability to restrain itself. Just like a drug addict.

If you are going to raise my taxes, I want somethings in return.

Raise my taxes by 1 pct, by every 1 pct you cut federal spending. Your choice of raising taxes on luxury items, or on annual income of 10mm dollars per year or more. Cutting spending means the government needs to raise less which allows you to raise the income threshold on which you charge this “Forbes 400 surcharge”

This is really the problem. Our government is simply out of control with spending money and nothing can change for the better until that problem is solved.

I also have one more tax suggestion that I think will create so many jobs in this country that it really wont matter what else our politicians do.

If we really want to stimulate job creation in this country, take the same approach to small business with fewer than 25 employees that we take to Internet taxes. Outlaw them.

No taxes of any kind on small businesses with fewer than 25 employees. No employer payroll tax. No state or local taxes. No taxes on earnings. Nada. The business owners will pay income taxes on their personal income they pay themselves, but not corporate earnings

Wow! I really like that idea. Mark Cuban for President anyone?

There is a lot more in the article worth reading and I recommend you check it out. How often can you get the opinion of the super-rich on taxes and things that could actually affect their bank accounts in a big way? Kudos to Cuban for taking the time to write this.

A Billionaire’s Thoughts on Taxes

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Why Pay $99 for Something When You Can Pay $120?

Eden — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:22:41 +0000

No, that is not a typo. That is exactly what I did. In fact, I just avoided paying an extra $30 on top of that with two days to spare.

I recently took on a new freelance project using Adobe Flex 2. I was mildly familiar with what it could do and I had known Flash fairly well (back around version 5) so I took the job and said I could do everything in Flex (yes, developers generally lie at the start of a project but don’t worry about that).

The first thing I did was some reading on the Internet and I bought a couple of books. I also signed up for Flex video training at Virtual Training Company Online (VTC). VTC sells their training sessions either for $99 per course (you own it) or you can subscribe for $30 a month and access multiple courses (you are renting). Obviously, the monthly rate is better if you are going to watch the video in a reasonable amount of time. I signed up and went through almost half of the video in the first week. Then I got busy and sort of forgot about it. When my next payment went through I remembered that I needed to finish watching the course and cancel my account in order to make this a good deal. Well, guess what, another month passed. Now I was up to $90 and I still hadn’t finished watching the course. I made a to-do item, I sent myself an email reminder and I even wrote down a paper to-do – FINISH the video before you make another payment!

I guess my title ruined the suspense…another month passed and I still hadn’t finished the video and I was now up to a total of $120. That is more than it would have cost me to OWN the video and I was still only about half way through. I should have been smart and canceled then. Instead, I wrote more reminders and promised myself I would finish it before the next renewal. Well, today I was sitting at work and for some reason the VTC payment popped into my head. I had that sickening feeling inside- did I really just blow another $30 on something I didn’t even use? I quickly logged in to my account and found that I had two days left to cancel before my next payment. Relief…I canceled and stopped the insanity.

I remember recoiling at the $99 price tag when I first looked at this training course. Now, I’ve spent $120 and didn’t even get full use of the product. I guess I’m too ’smart’ for my own good sometimes. The only lesson I can take away from this is not to sign up for a monthly service in the first place unless you really know you will make good use of it. I am often tempted by low monthly rates only to find myself several months down the road not using the service I signed up for. Just say no in the first place!

Why Pay $99 for Something When You Can Pay $120?

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