Oceans of Opportunities

To some the economy appears dismal. Others have found a new way to work and are reinventing themselves and the job market itself- one person at a time. I’m one of those supremely fortunate people, who clutched a life raft called “freelance” and sailed to shore.

I’m not alone.

There are millions like me who have been able to make sense of their own lives when the big corporate waters around them were choppy and tumultuous. We now gladly captain our own unique and individual ships. This is a course of uncharted freedom and exciting destinations.

It’s a trade wind worth following.

What is this “New Way to Work”? It’s a means to thrive even in the midst of an economic storm. The new way to work matches skills and talent with global employers as no other career movement has before. I’m thrilled to be riding the crest of the workforce wave of the future.

Freelancing now spans the globe, linking client to highly qualified service providers worldwide with cutting edge technology. Gone are the mental images of bathrobe clad folks bleary in front of their computers. These contract professionals are the trendsetters and talented who know the marketplace is global, not corporate.

This wasn’t my port of call initially. The ship I’d been a passenger on, The USS Traditional Career, simply sank slowly to its demise into a sea of economically murky waters. I was left, clinging at age 44 to a small floating shred of dignity, the wreckage of my former job and five children to support.

As a stage III cancer survivor and single parent, I’d spent years building a successful career with few resources or finances. The thought of transitioning again, with children in tow, struck a genuine chord of fear in me.

My field of expertise is industrial safety and hygiene, which is a highly skilled but niche market.  I had years of compliance and safety as a national trainer, technical writer and developer of government required programs. Certainly there were clients who would value my education and background- I just had to find them. This meant I had to move from small traditional career inlets and into the wider open seas of opportunity.

In a search one night, I discovered several intriguing sites that changed my course and my thinking. Among them, Elance, who brought the ability to reach the broadest network of employers and offered me ready assistance.

Within a few weeks I linked to clients across the country. I sold my first articles to publishers I’d never have reached years ago without the technology of this new way of working. Later, I began developing programs, consulting and working for clients internationally in web content, blogging and marketing their products, ideas or sites.

Along the way, I continually find global colleagues that inspire, encourage and assist me in my new career and clients worldwide I consider friends and co-partners in enhancing their business.

Like many others, I’ve brought my own life to a calm place in the midst of this economic hurricane and pursued my dreams. Forget the stigma of “starving writer”- that too has been revolutionized by this newest way of spanning career horizons.

We, who freelance-whether writer, graphic artist or any number of qualified professionals-are not choosing a second best career option. We’ve started a revolution and we’re reclaiming our lives with each satisfied client, project and paycheck.

If mainstream career waters aren’t taking you where you want to travel, maybe it’s time to trim the sails and head into the winds of change- the new way to work in a worldwide ocean of opportunities.

I’m thrilled that Ellen DeGeneres has been picked as a new judge on American Idol’s upcoming season. Frankly, Paula reminds me of the former gluttonous economy and I’m sick of looking at her. I’ll pause here for a moment, (while you get the Kleenex out), long enough to state I like Paula’s personality, in her own overly emotional, overly done, manner.

But I’m weary of anything “over the top”.

I just want normal, down to earth and simple. The move to put Ms. DeGeneres in the judging seat, to me is a way of reclaiming those virtues. Ellen’s street smart, but not a cynic. She enjoys basic pleasures of life, (like dancing in her tennis shoes). I think she can grapple any issue, (even Simon) with intellect, not emotion.

Again, personally, this just symbolizes a move toward those down to earth virtues. What got us in fiscal trouble as a nation were in many cases those emotional purchases and the overly done lifestyles many have been living. Did we have to remodel (again)? Did we really need the payment on a gas hogging brand new SUV?  

When I think of Paula, on Idol, I feel like a child who, having unwrapped the brightly packaged gifts, is weary of the process. We’ve collectively played briefly with the elaborate, expensive toys, and now we’re moving on to simple pleasures again. My own kids have celebrated playing with cardboard boxes more than the lavish toys we’ve piled on them in the past.

In this economy Ellen is easier on the eyes. I don’t want to see “over the top” for a while. It makes me queasy, like a flashback to my checkbook register, in days before I learned to get a grip on mass purchases.

And to get us out of this fiscal mess, it’s gonna take intelligence, not emotion. All these issues we face as a nation need to be looked at armed with statistics, not opinions borne of hearsay and feelings. It takes grit to pick up the rubble and move forward, not Kleenex and crying fits. Ellen? Well, she fits the bill for what we all need, not just on Idol, but in real life- a little grit, some raw intelligence and loving the simple joys of life, once again. Save the Kleenex, we’re done crying. Now it’s time to move forward.

But, my question is, “What have we learned as individuals?”  Basically, the way I see it, we’ve got two problems going on, what the government has done to us economically, and what we’ve done to ourselves.

In this last year, many of our own budgets have been cut, due to tanking investments, job loss or benefit reduction. Permanent personal recovery will take time and effort for a lot of folks. It will also take a change in behavior on the parts of consumers.

I happen to agree with David Walker’s take on the world. In case you were sleeping in a cave these last few years, Mr. Walker was one of the original harbingers of economic doom clear back in the Bush years. I call him a prophet. As former Head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), he predicted the very situation we’ve been facing in 2009, including the health care crisis, over spending, the near demise of the value of our dollar, etc.

When I’ve listened to David Walker, I see many correlations in the federal crisis and in our own financial situations. Nearly every issue the country has faced or is facing fiscally is similar to our personal cash crunch.

That’s why I reiterate the question, “What have we personally discovered from the economic crisis?” The adage, “Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it,” comes to mind.

Here’s what I think we should have learned by 2009’s brush with fiscal death:

Our personal spending habits need to change. Let me give you an example: I’ve got a friend whose husband currently nets a salary of over 65K as a professional. She’s working as a nurse full time and as a QMA part time. With a combined income of over 100K annually, they’re considering filing bankruptcy. My friend’s had no major medical issues, or giant fiscal shift, except for a freeze on commission bonuses for the last year at her husband’s work. Maybe I’m crazy, but if you can’t live on a 100K a year, in my book, you don’t deserve that kind of money. Or you need to go to a financial boot camp to be re-educated. In spite of my friends’ economic issues, they have a skiing trip planned and are forever remodeling. They’re still spending furiously,(but now on credit, without paying it off in full). Every purchase is “the last big one” and every month it continues. It’s hard watching a friend do this to herself. I’m fighting the urge to have an intervention on her behalf. This case is not isolated, by the way. According to prophet, David Walker, “Americans are living beyond their means.” It’s true. If all we learned from this last two years was to put our purchases on credit cards and take out extra loans, then we’ve learned nothing.

Americans need to proportion their spending in line with their budget. In spite of how tempting “Cash for Clunkers” or how attractive the current mortgage rates are, we still need to hang onto our money or make best use of it. Buy a used car in cash, the old fashioned way. Take advantage of the mortgage rates, but buy down from what you think you can afford, to what you know you can easily afford (including renovations, insurance, taxes and utility bills for said home). Like the government, endlessly spending (albeit even for some very altruistic programs)- if you can’t afford it, you don’t do it.

Credit and lenders are not the devil. Our own impulses are. It’s not the banks that got us in trouble. And it’s not the credit cards. It’s our misuse of them. Had we turned down banking offers to re-finance or dampened our spending, much of the fiscal damage that occurred in these 2 years would have been a tremor to the economy instead of a giant earthquake. I know many people who don’t abuse credit cards and actually make money using them, via rewards and cash back programs. My own paternal grandpa was a banker and a farmer. He’s in his late 80’s, and has a very modest home. I’m guessing at one time he could have made a shift to an upscale place, but he didn’t. I think his furniture is dated, circa 1970. Grandpa’s made good choices, curbed fiscal impulses and along the way, even had opportunity to help others.

 Place less value in stocks and more value in savings. I’m going to get dragged outside the city gates and stoned for this one. But, none-the-less, I believe it to be true. The thing is, we want our money to grow. We all desire a retirement nest egg, right? So stocks seemed like the easy way to keep spending, while still acquiring that nest egg.However, if you’ve got cash, you’ve got cash. Ain’t no one gonna take it away. Let the economy fall to its knees, and you’ll go on. The reality is, interest rates in savings accounts are barely existent.  Even the online banks, who offer “great rates” aren’t too impressive. So to save for retirement, in a traditional means, is to truly cut spending today. Your money won’t quadruple in four years, like some stocks have in the past. You’ll have to save more. But money in the bank also won’t collapse, costing your home and leaving you penniless for retirement, either. (At least there’s a federal guarantee if the bank goes belly up). I’m not saying stocks and money market funds are a totally bad idea.  I’m just commenting that we need to curtail how much value we place in a risky business, compared to good old fashioned savings. If the money fairy ever blesses me with extra cash, I’d be open to a few stocks. But I’d be sure to have savings built up first. Stock investing would be money I’d be open to lose if it came to it. (I think I’d rather invest in a good pair of Italian shoes, actually. At least those won’t lose their rich Corinthian Leather smell).  

Say “NO,” wait on purchases, be frugal as a permanent way of living. Some folks have learned this year. Their fiscally penitent at the moment, taking the pledge to never overspend again. But I wonder how this will look in four or five years? Are these same individuals going to go nuts with spending again? Let coupon shopping, buying bargains, and being frugal with fuel, utilities and expenses be a way of life, not a temporary fix. It also means saying, “No” to purchases. Or waiting on them. You’re offered a “free” upgrade on a cell phone, which actually costs you another hundred bucks? Say “no” unless your phone breaks and you’re S.O.L without it. Don’t just buy because it’s on sale, buy because you need it. And when you do have to purchase, shop for a great bargain. 

 Make your kids wait on stuff too. It’s ok that “all their friends” have something they don’t. If you’ll be strapped to purchase it, make kids wait. Trust me. I’ve got five kids who’ve waited all their lives for some luxuries. My very youngest a couple of years ago, (age 12) desperately wanted a Nintendo DS. As a parent, I’d loved to have bought one. She’s a good kid. But I couldn’t afford it. I already pay for struggling college kids’ car insurance and had just put braces on another child. My daughter took her Christmas money, from aunts and cousins, to Wal-Mart and bought a Nintendo on sale after the holidays. She’s treasured it since. She didn’t die because she waited almost two years after her friends had one. Your kids won’t die either.  

 Food for thought, while in the pre-recovery mode. I’ll leave you with David Walker’s words. In my opinion, greed, lack of fiscal accountablity, poor budgeting and spending beyond our means, are common demonimators we’ve shared with the government.  I know at one point, I’ve been guilty of all of them. But I’m trying to recover and relearn my own spending.  Let’s recover in the grassroots as well as federally.

 

 

 

 

Want to join me in a social savings experiment?

Recently, I took a trip to New Jersey via American Airlines. It seems every time I fly, I notice more corners viciously slashed. I get moderately crabby over this. I do. I complain about microscopic soft drink portions, no free food, over priced snacks, lack of pillows and blankets.  Flight attendants clearly despise my griping. I am certain they contemplate checking my carc-“ass” into cargo.  

Honestly, I do see the wisdom of saving.

I’d rather cut the food and drink, than skimp on safety. I am quite relieved the technician who tightens the plane’s nuts and bolts is still on the pay roll. Having no ice for drinks (egad) on one flight though, did make me grouch for nearly a third of the 50 minute trip. That should constitute cruel and unusual punishment, especially when coupled with $3.00 candy bars. (Who pays that anyway??)

In between my ranting and my reflections on budgeting, it occurred to me there are always ways to cut a little more. The airlines and hosts of other companies do so.  What about me? Can I chop more off the ol’ budget? A few weeks ago, I blogged about moving to downscale my housing expense. 

Now, what about all those other expenditures? A quick, unplanned, trip to the grocery store, where I drop an extra twenty or thirty bucks?  Not to mention gas to get there.  My seven a.m. twice a week latte? Even if it’s the dollar menu, can we give up a few stops to McDonalds?

So here’s my personal challenge. I am trying for two weeks, to spend NO unplanned money. At all- other than necessary bills (utilities, housing, etc).  

This means, nothing. No extra gas for car. No additional food. No entertaining that costs money. I just bought groceries. We won’t starve, but I will have hold off on the urge to buy “quick” food and make real dinners that take a bit more effort.

I have a full tank of gas right now.  How long can I stretch that?  

I have a holiday weekend looming and two friends with birthdays coming up. What about that? How can I do that without spending money?

I have three girls still at home. They are a major expenditure. Every day it seems something needs to be purchased- styling products, lotions, shampoo and conditioner. Never mind that I have a supply of cast off beauty aids that rivals a salon supply store.

So there’s my challenge. Two weeks. No money spent. No extras.  Can I survive and still have fun?  

Here’s my challenge to you- wanna join me? What will this do for your personal budget if you can stick to it? Are you up to attempting this adventure?  I’d be curious to know and to hear your chronicles.

Thrifty citizens unite! Spend no unnecessary money for fourteen days! Take the budget challenge with me.