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Hi there! I know I’ve been a little MIA (try a LOT MIA), but I want to give all my readers an update on what I’ve been doing the last 6 months! I wrote and launched a COURSE with the help of Young Movement.
This was a 6-week pilot course through July and August with students from CUNY and Brooklyn College. But don’t worry – I definitely plan to bring the knowledge to DollaThug.com fans so stay tuned!
My class was great!
Aren't we cute???
And I learned SO much while teaching. My main goal was to create an environment where people could feel comfortable in asking questions about the oh-so-taboo topic of money and get a better understanding of money management and, most importantly, how to achieve financial goals and build wealth!
The goal is to take learnings from the pilot course and prove the need for a class like this – then receive funding to launch on a much larger scale. Wish me luck!
You can check out more photos here! Just call me Professor Dolla Thug…
Big shout outs to Young Movement: Micah, Odellia, Cory, Rob, and Brian.
I’m sure some of you are probably wondering how I got this alias. My own mother said to me, “Are you sure you want to be known as Dolla Thug??? Do you know what a “thug” is??? Why can’t you be Dollar Diva or something?”
I just had to assure her that “Dollar Diva” just doesn’t quite do it for me…doesn’t quite do my mission justice. “Dolla Thug”…is perfect…and you’ll see why with this post.
Courtesy of www.superchefblog.com
IT WAS NEW YEAR’S DAY…JANUARY 1, 2008…
You may recall from a previous post that my personal finance revolution happened a few short months before this day. I was extremelyfocused and watching EVERYTHING I did with my money – from that $1.99 Snapple I shouldn’t have bought for lunch to that $6.99 cold medicine I bought when I felt a cold coming on. Every expense was just taking away from the money I was using to pay off my debt and build up my savings. EVERY.DOLLAR.COUNTED!
IT’S A CELEBRATION!
Now…when it came to celebrating New Year’s Eve…it was my first NYE in NYC so I wanted to do it big with my friends (don’t worry, I budgeted for it so I made it work!). Within the last few days leading up to the big event, my friends and I were all excited about our dresses and hair and shoes and the party and dinner and open bar and etc, etc, etc!
In the midst of it all, one of my friends needed me to spot her a little cash; it wasn’t too much – maybe $15-20 bucks. I can’t remember if it was to buy the perfect necklace for her dress or to cover the cost of the cab back to my place. Either way, I obliged because I knew she’d pay me back, it was no problem and I had it on me so I was fine helping her out. BUT…just like the $1.99 Snapple and the $6.99 cold medicine, I definitely kept a mental tally of the money I was putting out each day and this small loan was no exception… Continue reading How I Got the Name “Dolla Thug”
How did I have fun AND save money during my initial Dolla Thug Phase?
Courtesy of http://www.watchmojo.com
1) I DIDN’T LIVE IN MANHATTAN (unless it’s above 120th Street); try decent neighborhoods in Brooklyn or Harlem.
2) I made sure to go to FREE events (i.e. enjoy the park, free museums, Summer Stage concerts, River to River festival, etc. – or just hang at a friend’s place and watch old DVDs or shameful reality tv)
3) If I went out, I made sure to get to the venue BEFORE they started charging (“Free before 11″ meant I was ready and leaving my place at 9pm to get anywhere in Manhattan by 10:15!)
4) Liquor can be expensive – I definitely didn’t get caught up in the bottle-buying Manhattan high life; I took a cash budget of about $20 and I needed to make the most out of it (i.e. Long Island Iced Tea!) because when that was gone, I needed to be good for the rest of the night…unless someone else was buying! Tip: Being a lightweight saves money!
5) My preferred transportation of choice was the SUBWAY, no more cabs (living in Queens or Brooklyn guarantees a bill of at least $25 from Manhattan). Even now, I will take the subway at pretty much any time of night…alone…probably not safe, but I figure subways are lit, people are always riding 24/7 and my stop is fairly peaceful. Famous last words, I know – but it is what it is…
DOLLA THUG MENTALITY – SCHWARZENEGGER INTENSITY!! The Dolla Thug Revolution forced me to stop wondering where my money went and made me focused enough to say, “Ok, I’m going to take care of the necessities, and everything else in my paycheck is going to this credit card debt.”
Courtesy of pictureschat.com
After the credit card debt was paid off, I was able to say, “Now I’m putting all extra money toward savings for my emergency fund.”
Then, “Ok…now I’m going to use this money to rapidly pay off my student loan debt and build up some investing funds.”
During my initial Dolla Thug phase (which doesn’t last forever!), I just pretty much spent the bare minimum for a good 8 months. You’d be surprised what you can do when you STOP spending money! Utterly amazed! Continue reading How Dolla Thug Came To Be (Part 2)
There comes a moment in every personal finance success story where the person has to realize the error of their ways and (most importantly) TAKE ACTION to do something about it. Whether they realize they work TOO hard to have NOTHING but bills and debt to show for it. Or they have an emergency scare that snaps them back to the reality that they need to have savings and stop living above their means.
Courtesy of http://www.stoptherobbery.com/Intention.html
It’s that “A-HA” moment. That “something’s gotta give” moment where the light finally turns on in your head and you realize you have the power to make the future better – NO MORE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK!!!
Mine happened…October 2007. (More to come…)
The Personal Finance Revelation is a financial “Come to Jesus” moment. It marks the end of financial insanity and chaos, and marks the beginning of the journey to financial achievement.
It’s like that moment in A&E’s Intervention, when the person decides to go to rehab. Yeah…it’s like that…
IT’S ALLLL RELATIVE
Back during my high school track days, a friend of mine gave me a ride home and when we pulled up to my average suburban house, he took one long look and said, “Wow, I didn’t know your family was so rich.”
Slightlymorethandirt.blogspot.com
With a puzzled look on my face that clearly said he had to be mistaken, I said, “What? What are you talking about?”
He replied, “If you don’t live in an apartment?…… You’re rich!”
And that was it. That was his definition of “rich.” There was no convincing him otherwise. That’s why I say it’s all relative.
$10.00 A DAY…OR $3.00 A DAY…FOR LIFE?
The proverbial Joneses to one person may be the poor house to another and vice versa. According to this study from the World Bank, “at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.” Over 3 billion people live off less than $3 a day.
Imagine.
Seriously…
Imagine. Continue reading What Qualifies “Rich”?
Is the Jones’ income affecting the satisfaction you have with your own income?
Image courtesy of Dylan Taylor.
THAT GUY
When talking with your friends about how work is going, have you ever thought to yourself, “I WISH I made as much money as him!“ Come on…we all have had that moment (or moments). I do this, too – I’d probably be happier with my current job/income if I didn’t know people who started in the same place as me but are now currently working for 50% more money than me in better jobs. It’s very frustrating.
But on the other hand, I know others who started in the same place as me and have not made my income when they’ve probably worked just as hard as I have. That’s the way life goes, I guess…but make your own destiny and you won’t have to worry about how other people are doing, right? Right??? Continue reading Jealous of the Jones?
What are you willing to sacrifice for higher pay? What are you willing to gain for lower pay?
POVERTY: LIVING BELOW THE “TIME” LINE Many people I know from college started out in the workforce with NO life but very HIGH income (plus a sexy bonus) and were absolutely…miserable. They often claimed that they would have loved to take my work-life balance over their salary any day (operative word “claimed”). According to Yahoo Finance writer Laura Rowley, they would be considered living in “time poverty.” They were making excellent monetary income, but never had the time to enjoy it (even their weekends were either spent in the office or recovering from the office).
TIME AFFLUENT I was not making as much money as my time-impoverished colleagues, but I was rewarded with full nights of sleep, weekends of freedom, and a much less stressful work environment that lasted only 5 days a week (not 7!). Continue reading Time Poverty
Are you of the mindset “save for the future” or “spend like the future will never come“?
Image courtesy of Jillian Group.
In a way, the second theory has some validity. There’s no guarantee that everyone will even live to the acceptable age of 59.5 years old to get to reap the full benefits of our retirement savings…valid point.
But what exactly am I giving up now in order to save for tomorrow? A nice bag? A couple pairs of cute shoes that I’ll be over next year? Can’t say spending all my money today is really worth it.
I do believe in balance – I’m still allowing myself to travel and do things I enjoy. I’m not completely depriving myself by being frugal. Personally, I love seeing the growing balances on my statements every month more than I like going through the receipts of my latest purchases (I’m strange like that).
Either way, I’m very motivated to improve my net worth every month, every day. Closer and closer to my goals (which will always change and challenge me).
So what do you think? Is saving a waste of time? Should we all just throw caution to the wind and spend all our money on traveling the world while we still have life on this earth?
That’s an interesting alternative…I can’t 100% argue with that idea, BUT my inner risk aversion is telling me not to do that so I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. I’ll let this article from the Steadfast Finances blog offer even more insight.
For the record, I am not a certified financial advisor of any kind and will not be held legally responsible for any misuse of the content of this site.
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