If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my email updates. Thanks for visiting!
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!
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)
Came across this interesting video thanks to a fellow blogger from bazaart.tumblr.com about how money is REALLY spent in this world. Nothing we didn’t already know, but let me know what your thoughts are… My initial thoughts are that we have no choice but to stay in control of our personal finances given all of the madness that surrounds us!
Conversation starters for couples dealing with Financial Questions that I came across in a Bank of America brochure. May come in handy if you start the financial communication now as money is the #1 reason couples break up and/or divorce!:
Courtesy of http://wowcolumbia.nexo.com/poetscorner
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
The other day I started a topic on figuring out what our fake “needs” are (and minimizing them to keep more money in your wallets). I continue with a couple more examples below…
Courtesy of www.mahalo.com
RENT When I was apartment-hunting for a certain price range, my friend told me, “You’ll never find a place for <$1200/month, that’s really unrealistic.”
It was unrealistic to her because her standard level of “need” living is not comparable to mine (and I’m pretty sure her price range was in the $2000/month range!). Her statement would have been more accurate if she had said, “You’ll never find a ONE-BEDROOM WITH A DOORMAN IN A SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD IN MANHATTAN for <$1200/month.” This would have then made it a true statement. Luckily, I was NOT looking for this and I successfully found a great studio in Brooklyn (no doorman) for $1100/month [if $1100 sounds outrageous to you (as it still does to me), these are NYC rent prices].
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.
You live, you learn and I learned that I am weak in the area of travel savings. 
Recent Comments