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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.
So we’re two full months into the new year and how many of you have been sticking to the New Year’s resolutions you made on January 1, 2011?
…Crickets?…
…Don’t wanna think about it??
Well let’s look at some “fun” facts…
Stat #1: About 100 MILLION Americans make a New Year’s resolution (CNN). That’s 1 out of every 3 Americans!
Courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com
Stat #2: Out of the top 5 resolutions, two are finance-related: Pay Down Debt and Save Money!
Stat #3: But only 12% of us actually achieve our resolution goals by the end of the year (WSJ)…
Stat #4: And 35% of us have already fallen off by February (CNN)!
So which bucket do you fall in? If you’re not happy with your current bucket, you can make a change today!
We’re in the CRITICAL ZONE, so here are my top 5 tips to making sure you have a fighting chance to meet your financial goals before 2012 rolls around!
1) Mindset, mindset, mindset!
It’s not about doing a crash diet budget. It’s about adjusting your lifestyle over time. As good ol’ Dave Ramsey says, personal finance is 20% knowledge…80% behavior!
REMEMBER: Until your mindset changes, your finances never will!
2) Plan how you are going to actually meet your goals.
Write it down, step by step. Track your progress in a spreadsheet or use free software.
3) Motivate yourself with mini-rewards along the way.
When you reach small milestones, it’s good to recognize that and keep momentum toward reaching the next step.
4) Tell a friend! A lot of friends!
They can encourage you AND hold you accountable.
5) Automate it!
Don’t leave it up to willpower. Decide what you want to accomplish, then set up automatic deposits or automatic payments. Out of sight, out of mind – don’t even give procrastination or excuses a fighting chance to change your mind.
What kind of challenges have you run into with your own resolutions? What tips do you have for others?
So how did I spend my $300 Las Vegas winnings? Did Dolla Thug save every penny until she got home to tuck it safely away in savings??? Ummm…not quite!
Courtesy of zazzle.com
The psychology of “windfalls” are a very interesting phenomenon…I spent most of it, but still had a pretty practical approach (meaning I didn’t blow ALL of it on Patron shots…only $100 went to liquor and more gambling…).
Details as follows:
The First Hundred – the boring, sensible approach: I made sure to tuck one of the $100 bills in my suitcase so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend it and could at least have 30% of my winnings when I got back…and the 70% I spent?…
The Second Hundred: We went shopping the next day and I allowed myself to buy these $80 beauties (which I’ve worn all of 3 times since March!…jackpot money well-spent lol I get some good compliments on these bad boys!):
The Third Hundred: As I stated before, the remaining $100+ I spent buying drinks for me and my friends, food, and gambling a little more here and there throughout the rest of the weekend. As suspected, no more significant wins were made!
All in all, I made out pretty good – no complaints!
I got lucky, but what are some of the common pitfalls of Las Vegas?
10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT VEGAS GAMBLING…
1) ALWAYS go with a gambling budget (that you can afford to lose! whether it’s $20 or $200) – and when that money is gone – it’s GONE and you push away from the table! When determining your gambling budget, keep in mind what your REAL financial goals are (winning the jackpot does NOT count as a legit financial goal). You don’t want to put your finances in jeopardy! I went to Atlantic City for our college senior trip, and went with a $40 budget, lost the first $20 on a tragic game of Black Jack. Decided to try the Wheel of Fortune slots, got down to my LAST $5 and knew this was it! Pulled the handle and won $170!! I don’t know where my luck comes from…I think I get it from my daddy, he used to love Atlantic City!
2) Casinos use chips for a reason. Although plastic chips are the equivalent of cash within a casino, you do not have the same emotional connection to little round pieces of plastic as you have to cash money (i.e. your strong desire to keep as many paper bills as possible). This disconnection with chips allows your brain to feel more comfortable with betting more chips than you normally would if you were actually using cash. It’s a very dangerous game when your brain is processing real money as play money. Always keep in mind that at the end of the day, when your chips are gone – your cash will NOT be returned to you!
3) Beware of (what I like to call) The Windfall Syndrome. This syndrome occurs when you win unexpected money, and therefore do not feel the need to act responsibly with it. i.e. “If I fritter it all away on all-you-can-eat hotwings, what difference does it make since I never planned on having this money in the first place?” This is part of why it’s possible for lottery winners to end up going bankrupt! They put windfall money in a separate category or compartment of their brain where they don’t feel it’s necessary to handle it with care as they may with their regular income (if they ever even handled their regular income with care!). When dealing with a significant windfall, it’s recommended that one WAIT before they spend the money (at least a week or more), until the initial emotional high has worn off. THEN set up a plan to spend some, save some, pay down debt, and most importantly WISELY invest some! And don’t fall for scammers!…and anybody approaching you about your new money is a scammer!
4) This is a rumor…but I wouldn’t put it past them! Some believe that casinos actually inject oxygen in the air to make you feel more alert, happier, optimistic and more willing to spend money despite any large losses. What do you believe?…Apparently this site debunks this oxygen myth.
5) BUT it is true that many casinos do not have clocks or windows in order to encourage gamblers to stay longer (i.e. lose track of time!) Bring a watch and/or your mobile device!
Dearest Readers,
As of today, I’m competing in an “Education and Wealth” blog competition on GoBankingRates.com and it would be really wonderful if I could win so…do me a huge favor and VOTE FOR ME, PLEEEASE! All you have to do is go to the site and comment with my article #: “19″. That’s IT! SO easy. You should also check out the other articles, they’re pretty good. Below is the article I submitted which I think is a decent read for anyone in school (undergrad, grad, or other). Thanks for your support!!!:
For many, it’s that time of year again – time to head back to school! After sharing my own college credit card debt disaster story, a reader asked me what I would have done differently back in college.
Courtesy of cbc.ca
I decided to make my response into a whole new post so here are my top money saving tips [in no particular order] for higher education budgeting (those I followed and those I wish I’d followed!). Comment with any other tips that I missed!:
1) This first one is pretty obvious, but…apply for as much financial aid, grants, and scholarships as humanly possible. FAFSA and www.fastweb.com are the best sites to start with. Every little bit helps and it costs nothing to apply (except your time, but that’s irrelevant ).
2) (if you can help it) DO NOT BUY BOOKS NEW! Get them used or BORROW them whenever possible. The college text book market is one of the biggest rip off scams known to man (right up there with infamous infomercials). Chances are you’ll probably only spend about 5 hours of your entire life with any of your text books – so why spend $300 on each! There are plenty of online markets for trading and bartering for college text books, amazon and google are your friends.
3) To be a true college student, use Megabus, Bolt Bus, or Chinatown bus service whenever possible! Amtrak is just not worth the money when you can use much cheaper means for much better savings.
4) You’ll be surrounded by fellow peers spending (their parents’) money all around you. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses! It’s not worth it – trust! Keep it cheap – shop at forever21, H&M, other less costly stores (and don’t sleep on Target). Because let’s face it – out of everything I bought during college, I probably only know where 5% of those clothes are today – stuffed in some storage bin in my closet!
5) If you can be an RA and live “room and board”-free – DO IT! I never took advantage of this (too busy being a bad example by having parties in my own dorm room), but if you decide to be a Resident Advisor for your dorm, this can save a lot of college housing costs during your latter years of college. Good deal if you ask me… Continue reading College Saving Tips – LESS is MORE!
Good morning, Readers. The topic of today’s article is not necessarily geared to my traditional Dolla Thug audience of 20-somethings, but we can all learn these lessons early before we’re parents ourselves (and if you are already a parent, then this article should be of even more value now!). I want to introduce you to our first guest author, M. Smith. M. Smith is a financial article writer. She has worked as a financial consultant and has had many articles published on various finance sites; her areas of expertise include debt settlement, debt consolidation, debt relief, refinancing, reverse mortgage, credit repair and so on.
Courtesy of www.allmandandlee.com
THE DREADED REUNION Have you recently been to your high school or college reunion? You must have had a nostalgic and fabulous experience. One of the benefits of attending a school reunion is that there is no underhanded advantage in attending it! You need not pretend how young you are or where you started your life. Your classmates already have that information. The relative advantage is that if you have a diverse class of 500 classmates, then you get to learn from the various wide-ranging experiences and subsequent financial experiences of your classmates. Continue reading Money Management for Teens and Parents
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”
PROBLEM: If you are up at the crack of dawn about to purchase that [PRODUCT that’s only sold between the hours of 3am and 7am] that you’ve just GOT to have NOW – or else you’ll miss out on the FREE napkins??
SOLUTION: Dolla Thug says, “Put the phone down and go to sleep!!! You’ll thank me in the morning!”
Have you ever wanted to talk about money with your friends? Investment ideas? Stock tips? What they’re doing with their money that they like that might work for you?
Courtesy of http://canuckjihad.wordpress.com
I’ve reached out before and gotten mixed responses. Not asking for account balances or anything, just curious about people’s opinions, ideas, thoughts, recommendations, suggestions, etc. Nothing too personal. Keep it generic.
I know it all depends on the person and I am open to talking about just about anything with my friends, but why do you think it is so taboo to talk about personal finances with friends? Even family for that matter! It could really be a mutually beneficial conversation if people were open to it, no? What about you? Do you talk about money with your friends or family? Why or why not?
Last week, I wrote about how our financial weaknesses cost us money. Weaknesses are worst when you don’t even realize your weak spot until it is too late! I have some well-traveled friends who are especially great at finding the best travel deals.
Courtesy of www.lovemychicos.blogspot.com
When I told them how much I paid for my roundtrip ticket to Las Vegas a couple months ago ($450-500), they shook their heads and informed me I could have saved a lot of money if I’d just asked them where to book. You live, you learn and I learned that I am weak in the area of travel savings. Continue reading Tis the Season for Travel
I’d like to introduce you to a new section of my blog…called “Dolla Thug Says”…now that I think about it, it’s kind of like Suze Orman’s “Can I Afford it?” except Dolla Thug’s answer is always “NO – you have been declined, now use that money for something worthwhile!!”
And by the way, my friends & family practically write this section for me!! Here’s a real life example below:
Courtesy of www.kittyhell.com
PROBLEM: If you find yourself looking at a toaster with a price tag of $89.99??…
SOLUTION: Dolla Thug says, “It better come with a year’s supply of stale bread and free limo service. Now take your @$$ out of crate & barrel and get to Target! You can definitely find a decent toaster to heat some Pop Tarts up for <$9.99 somewhere else!”
Do you have any ideas for the “Dolla Thug Says” section? Email ideas to dollathug@dollathug.com!
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.
Below is the article I submitted which I think is a decent read for anyone in school (undergrad, grad, or other). Thanks for your support!!!: 
You live, you learn and I learned that I am weak in the area of travel savings. 
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