Happy Friday, friends! Say hello to my new little friend up there – Mr. Money Gnome. I woke up yesterday and saw him out my window, apparently opening the back yard gate (wtf?) and I literally have no idea where he came from.
Here are my ideas so far:
- A friend is pranking me
- I have an internet stalker and this is just the beginning of what he/she/it has planned for me
- Someone didn’t want him and threw him in our yard, accidentally hitting our gate open and miraculously landing on his feet
- I bought him when I was drunk and I have absolutely no recollection
My imagination tends to get the best of me with these things (remember the car accident? or the mysterious wallet??), so I thought I’d stay optimistic and take it as a good luck sign. Perhaps Mr. Gnome is merely a symbol of great wealth, and by positioning himself next to an open gate like that foreshadows more of it coming our way? A *gateway* of wealth, if I may? :)
I’ll let you know what comes of it (if this is the last time you hear from me you’ll know the answer!), but I’m quite puzzled to say the least. I mean, WHO LEAVES A GNOME AT SOMEONE’S HOUSE??
[UPDATE: It was a friend of mine playing a joke on me :) Apparently she had gotten it as a gag gift yeas ago at work, and instead of donating it to the Salvation Army decided to have some fun with it… Little did she know we’d make him famous on the internetz!! ZOMG!]
In other random news, I woke up to a swarm of ants falling out of our smoke detector last night. The alarm went off at 2 am, and when I went to unplug the thing (there was no fire, don’t worry), they literally fell out in clumps onto my head. To say it was disgusting is an understatement. Though I’m more concerned with what the hell is going on with our house lately?? Haha… Another reason to be happy about renting again though, I’ll say that ;)
And before you ask, no. They weren’t fire ants – you witty devils, you.
Shall we talk about money yet? ;)
Here’s a bunch of things that happened this week:
I bought a gallon of milk for $4.00 and thought I was being ripped off. When did milk cost over four freakin’ dollars??? I’m obviously not the grocery shopper in our household, but my jaw just about hit the floor when the cashier gave me back $15.00 and change from my $20 bill. I literally asked where the rest of it was and she fired back “Oh honey, it’s been this way for a while.” Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that gas doesn’t cost $1.00 anymore? ;)
(On a side note, when I tweeted about this I learned from my Canadian friends that it costs $8.00’ish in some (all?) parts!! EIGHT DOLLARS! They said it’s so bad that they literally drive over the boarder into the U.S. and then come back with a stockpile… Here’s a crazy video Money Ramblings sent me about what it’s like dealing with this at Costco. #1stWorldProblems)
I bought a liter of Baileys and knew I was getting ripped off. But you know, alcohol.
I gave freelance writing a shot. And made $1,000, off just ONE article! I hinted that this was a possibility a few weeks ago, and it turned out to be correct :) Just because I ASKED. I literally said “I’m not sure if I have the time to devote to this, but what’s your budget?” and they said “We can only do $1,000, is that okay?” Umm… I then asked the next few offers that came my way the same thing (I get pitched at least twice a month and usually just say no cuz I had no idea how much money was involved!) and those came in at $50 and $25 respectfully. I turned them both down, and the one at $50 asked what I would need to make it happen. I said $200, and they said OK (!!!!). Man… that old cliche works! We’ll see if these have just been flukes or not, but regardless it’s completely opened up my eyes. Something for you all to keep in mind too!
I learned that you can share your Amazon Prime account with others in your household! I found this out through DebtRoundup.com, and it’s awesome because I’m the guy with all the Amazon *credit* in my account, but my wife is the one with Prime! So we either have to use my account to buy stuff for free but then wait for shipping (again, #1stWorldProblems!), or we have to use her account and then pay for it since you can’t xfer credit :( So this solves that!!
I started blogging M,W,F now that I’m back, and so far so good? I’m anxious as hell on every day nothing goes up, but on the flip side I’m having the time of my life building and growing the site and thinking about better content for you all :) Like, for example these two pages that I would have never had time to compile beforehand: Net Worth Tracker and the Ultimate Side Hustle page. Interestingly enough my traffic is through the roof as well here? Puts things into perspective just how important you think you are, haha… I’m not sure if this will remain constant or not, but for now we’re testing it out :)
I’m thinking of becoming a money coach!
I love helping people one-on-one in general, and lately with all my blog consulting, and the idea to do so with people’s money somehow never really entered my brain. Until this email I got last year, and then specifically the comments left towards the end about people I don’t even know saying they’d gladly pay me to help them get on track! I mean, if people are asking and ready to get their $hit together, why not give it a shot and help some people out?
I have a bunch of chats set up with people in the field doing this already, so we’ll see what comes of it. There are a ton of different options you can go (“Financial Planner”, “Daily Money Manager”, “Coach”) but considering I have no certifications whatsoever and really just love MOTIVATING people to take action and guiding them along, the coach route is def. the way to go.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, drop me a note :) Perhaps you can be one of my first guinea pigs clients? I’ll probably be targeting those in their 20s and 30s that just need to get cleaned up and a good game plan in tact, but happy to chat about the idea with any of you who think I can help out. Excited just thinking about it!!
(Big ups to Flannel Guy for letting me steal his doodle art up there – I need that framed for my office!)
Interesting interviews I participated in this month:
- Blogging to a $1 Million and Staying Sexy @ Side Hustle Nation
- The Art of Curation with Rockstar Finance’s J. Money @ FINCON Expo
- A Giving Q&A with J Money, Co-Founder of Love Drop! @ Big Guy Money
- X-Men Money Mistakes: Origin Stories of Real-Life Financial Superheroes @ Go Banking Rates
Come drink beers with me at FINCON14!
If you’re a financial blogger or a wannabe financial blogger (or wanna be person with money), you need to get your sweet ass to this year’s Financial Blogging Conference, hosted in the great city of New Orleans :) Hosted by Phil from PTMoney.com, and visited by every awesome blogger you know and read from California to Australia, it really is worth the time and money.
Here are 3 reasons I go every single year:
- To hang out with people who love money and blogging
- To learn from all my peers (and the special guests that are brought in )
- To get away from the computer and do something in real life.
If that excites you too, check out FinconExpo.com for more details. And make sure to book your tkts before June 30th as they’ll keep on rising from that point forward until the day of the event! (September 18th). Need convincing? Email me. I’ll tell you thinks like “best conference of the year!” and “where else do you get to be surrounded by nerds who understand you?” Seriously, go.
Favorite reads from the month:
Brought to you by my other project, Rockstar Finance, where I sort through 200+ articles a day and share my favorites! If you get on my email list I’ll shoot you a note with the 3 new gems I find each and every day. It’s a great way to find other awesome bloggers out there :)
- Treat Your $1 Bills as Soldiers @ Grumpy and Annoyed
- You Saved $128 Million by NOT Buying a Picasso! @ Afford Anything
- My Job Is to Make Banks Rich: Here’s How to Avoid our Wrath @ Making Sense of Cents
- The Only Real Guarantee With Money @ Escaping Dodge
- I Have Donald Trump Beat @ Frugal Fringe
- The $70 Million Paycheck @ Action Econ
- 6 Unconventional Money Tips @ VOSA
- If You Can’t Save 5%, You Don’t Deserve to Borrow 95% @ My Alternate Life
Enjoy the weekend! Don’t worry about me, I’ll just be chillin’ with my freaky money gnome friend ;)
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I think being a money coach would be awesome, but I have set up a plan and budget for a person to get out of debt before and they didn’t even try to follow it. It was extremely frustrating because a.) I spent a lot of time on the plan/budget b.) I went over it with them and asked if they would stick to it or if they wanted to change some things and they said no c.) they asked me to do this for them! I think it would be different if I was paid for my time rather than doing a favor, but do make sure you wouldn’t be super frustrated if your clients didn’t follow through after your hard work. I enjoyed the project until the follow through stage.
Yes, you’re totally right – that is frustrating! I encounter that at least once a week when I respond (in length) to people’s emails and then never even get a “thank you” back – I hate it. But I think you touched on the part that would probably change that – working with those who are paying you. I’ve found that changes the game completely, and even though they won’t listen/act on everything you help them with, at least you know they’re consciously thinking about it and then deciding what to do or not. At least that’s my experience with blog consulting. At the end of the day it’s their time and money they’re putting in and I’m happy to keep pushing the good financial word until the mission’s complete! ;)
I think that gnome randomly appearing is pretty creepy, but it is probably just a coincidence. That’s amazing with your freelance writing. Good job getting such high rates :) I’m also glad MWF seems to be working for you. I’m sure it is a nice change and I’m glad it hasn’t negatively changed things!
J$, great job on the freelance gigs. If you think the milk is expensive here in Canada, wait until you go to buy gas or alcohol!
I’m just about to book my travel plans for FinCon… Using airline points of course ;-). See you there!
Rock on! Will be glad to catch up in person, bud. Maybe I can bring you my Canadian currency to exchange for US dollars :) #AlwaysBeHustling
Very cool (although suspicious) gnome! I love that Lending tree commercial, it cracks me up every time I see it. Good luck on your venture as a money coach!
I’ve seen that video before, I think as a commercial on TV. It is pretty representative of how so many people live. You think they are well off and have it made financially and in reality they are just hanging on for dear life. The problem is, like in the video, they know what their problem is but can’t or won’t do what is necessary to fix it themselves so they need help from someone else.
Exactly… and even worse, most people keep it to themselves and never take action :( Hopefully I can be someone they can turn to once they’re ready to pull the trigger.
Awesome! I’m a business and relationship coach (just starting the side hustle slowly). It’s so great playing a role in other folks’ positive life changes. Definitely go for it!
Oh, cool man! Didn’t know you started that up – that’s awesome. I’ve been LOVING blog coaching going on two years now, so I’m sure this will be equally (if not more?) exciting. Probably a ton more work too, haha, but the end results should be much more satisfying as time goes on too. Good luck w/ your new biz!
Nice work on the freelance negotiations. I’m getting to a point where I devote almost all my writing time to freelancing for a $30 return on each article. While at first that was fantastic, it’s starting getting to a point where I feel like I’m taking away from my own site and $30 isn’t always worth my own work suffering.
Yeah, it’s a hard balance. Usually you find people scrapping their blogs and just ramping up their freelance gigs, or the opposite (like me) and just focusing on the blog and not going the freelancing route. I’m always amazed at those who can pull both off – and both successfully. The nice thing now for you though is that you have the game down pat, so once you’re ready to move up that per post rate you can spend the exact same amount of time doing it (or less if you want) and still make the same amount of money or more! I bet you can pull in $50/post for sure if you were comfortable with it. Or at least a nice mixture of $30s and $50s… It’s all a lot to take on outside your acting hustling too :)
Very nice on the freelancing J! It can be a nice little source of income, as you’re seeing quite well. :) As for the money coaching, I say go for it. The longer I blog the more I’m seeing that there are so many out there that need that personal help, plus you’d be great at it. I seriously can’t wait for FinCon, it’s going to be a blast!
Thanks man! It’s gonna be a blast :)
I don’t know what to say about a gnome randomly appearing. I would take that thing out with a bat. Nice work on the freelance writing. If you can get that much, why not? I wish I could command that type of rate. One day!
Thanks for the shout out about Amazon Prime. I appreciate it and glad I could help.
Hopefully we can grab a beer at FinCon. It will be my first time and I am ready!
First beer’s on me, bud! I’ll make sure to get it to you during the complimentary happy hours, haha….
Seriously though, will be nice to hang out :)
Haha, thanks for the free beer! You don’t want that complimentary beer to mess up your entertainment budget. That wouldn’t be cool!
Thanks for the shout out Mr. J. I appreciate it. As far as the gnome, good luck finding the perp who placed it there. Some one put a little stone rabbit in my parents yard years ago and it sat there for over 3 years as part of the garden and then one day it was gone again only to be replaced with a note that said “where did I come from and where did I go, to bad for you, you’ll never know”. We still have no clue as to it’s where abouts 2 years later….weird…but funny.
Get out! Haha… that is too funny!!!!
That is awesome about the freelance writing gigs! I hope one day I can earn $1,000 :)
Thanks for the mention as well!
I’m feeling your pain on the milk….It was just $2 in these parts and now it’s $4…In that vane take a look at red meat…Held a piece of meat for the grill yesterday about as big as my hand ….$16 and this was at discounter Aldi…CRAZY. Thanks for the video from Lending Tree…I love this commercial and it is SO true. I have watched my neighbors for years with this behavior and wondered how they did/do it. It’s easy they finance it….
I’m gonna take your word on the meant… I’ve had enough shock for one week :)
I also learned about sharing Prime from Grayson’s article this week! Now my hubby and I can both use it, before he would have to buy on my account. And that’s weird about your Money Gnome! I’ll be interested to hear if you find anything out about it…
Careful what you call yourself! Financial Planner vs Financial advisor vs Money Coach might force you to register with a gov’t entity (likely State). I don’t believe “Money Coach” forces you to do anything so maybe keep that one going lol.
Also a liter of Baileys should cost a lot! Call it a guy tax for buying it not near st. patty’s day.
Oh, believe me, I’m finding out a LOT about the legalities and certifications etc etc… There’s no way I could go 100% “legit” or else I’d have to stop blogging here! Haha… But I should be safe going the “coaching” route as long as I stay away from some of the problem areas like investment advice/etc. That’s the stuff that gets you in hot water from what I understand so far.
That video is hilarious!
Milk is just under $4 here. I do think it’s pricey, but it sure beats the $25 per week I was spending on baby formula!
Coaching sounds like fun. I doubt I have the experience to try something like that yet, but I just love teaching and empowering people who want to learn. I taught a college class for a while and it was so rewarding! Good luck with that endeavor — you’ll be great at it.
If you can teach a class you can help people one-on-one! I don’t know what I’m doing really either, but I do know that at the end of the day people just need some pushing and pointers relating to their *exact* situation vs in generalities that we tend to talk about on our blogs… And the more they like and trust you, the better the relationship will be (and of course you have to know about money too, but that’s a given).
If you end up trying it, let me know and we can compare notes :)
Best 36 seconds of my morning, thanks.
I admit it J, I left the Gnome. :)
I knew it!!!!
WHO LEAVES A GNOME AT SOMEONE’S HOUSE??
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/st-jude-garden-and-kay-kafe/
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/gnome-bombing-america/
YES!! LOVE THAT!!
If only there was a dang note left along with my new friend here :( What if we never find out??
Ah, yes the prices of groceries. The worst part is seeing the prices of organic food and knowing that you will never see your paycheck the same again. But awesome job on getting paid 1k for an article!
I would like to do money coaching as well. I think if people are paying for it they may be more serious to follow the recommendations. My sister calls me Budget Lady and gets me to look at her stuff. I help get her set up and going but then she doesn’t follow through and comes back to me again when she is in trouble. It’s really infuriating, probably because she’s family and I want her to ‘marten up.
The money gnome may have come from some kids partying and picking it up from a neighbour’s yard. We had a basketball net dragged down the street and into someone’s back yard once and that thing was heavy. But let’s just say he’s your good luck charm and got you those awesome writing gigs!
Okay, let’s go with the luck charm :)
Maybe you should consider throwing it out to your audience too? Maybe charge a low amount to see how it goes and then go from there?
Are you serious about the gnome??? That is freaky!! Maybe the gnome also brought with him all of those ants. I think you need to put some sort of protective spell around your home, crazy sh&t is happening there. And you know that I am a HUGE fan of you becoming a money coach!! I think it is the perfect extension of what you have been doing here the last six years. It is amazing how much you can help people just by giving them basic day to day tools for managing their money. At the very least, you can open their mail for them. ;-)
Haha…. I’d totally do that for pay :)
And yes, of course I’m serious about the gnome! Who would make that $hit up? Haha…
Thanks again for all the help and chats the other day too – really helps put things in perspective. I’ll let you know what ends up happening with it!
That gnome is awesome! I’m torn between hoping it was left by an internet stalker and that you drunkenly purchased him with no recollection.
Major props on that $1000 article. I wish I pulled in that much from one article. I feel good when it’s a $250 story. :P Then I take that money and spend $4.30 on half a gallon of milk. Yup…I buy organic milk and it’s insanely expensive, but I think worth the taste. And it lasts me the whole week because it’s just me drinking it.
I really like the idea of being a money coach. It’s something I’ve seriously considered in the long-term (well, maybe becoming a CFP) because I see so much potential for job satisfaction from helping people with their finances. I’m excited to follow your journey!
$250 is no joke either! I’d gladly lock that in every time if I could :) I haven’t much experience in this stuff yet but def. excited to see what else is out there!
I bet you’d be a great CFP or coach too – esp if you stick to the same demographic as your blog. If you ever want to chat about it, lemme know. Hopefully at least one of us jumps in!
First, I need to hire you to be my money coach and blog mentor. But I’m sure your rates are INSANE. (Because you’re that good… not that crazy.)
Secondly, do you live next to the Bloggess? This sounds like something she would do to a neighbor or enemy. No, this sounds like something I would do to an enemy. Man, now I need to go to home depot and pick up some garden gnomes for my foes… BRB.
HAH! No, I don’t think I live near the Bloggess – though I have met her one time (BlogHer conference) and she was NOT what I thought in real life, haha… much more reserved, but then again she looked pretty tired (maybe got off a long flight?).
RE: my rates – saw your email and hit you back :) I don’t think they’re insane? My typical rates are $100 a session (hour to hour and a half) and totally one-on-one. Though, as I mentioned in the email, I often drop it to $60/session for those making zilch on their sites right now… Prob not good business, but you know – wanna help as many people as I can! :)
If I weren’t broke I’d hire you as my money coach in a heartbeat, haha! But yes, do it, awesome idea. And if people don’t implement your ideas, then they weren’t ready to make changes to begin with, their loss.
The money gnome is awesome.
See above :) Maybe you can afford 1 solid session?
Ok, the gnome thing is weird, but the ant thing is MUCH weirder!!! Definitely would’ve sent me running from the house, screaming like a chick from a Jason movie. EEEEWWWWW!!
That’s pretty much what my wife wanted to do as soon as it happened :) Luckily she was too tired to react quickly though and I convinced her to help smush ’em all, haha…
I don’t think the gnome is that weird, but my friends and I did *borrow* a gnome and this gnome mysteriously traveled all over the place.
Love it :) We used to do the same thing too back in the drunken college days, only with peoples’ remote controls and magnets. I remember once at our parties all these people wer like “What the hell?? What am I doing on your fridge?” Haha….. Our specialty were picture magnets of people ;)
I think you’re going to be a great and the sexiest money coach out there J! Good luck on that plan of yours, and to that gnome! :))
Thanks bud – appreciate the support!
Wouldn’t it be funny if somebody right now blogging somewhere about the loss of his/her beloved garden gnome and wondering what the hell happened to it?
@Financial Underdog-Funny! Just what I was thinking! Or could it be that J$$$ went for a slightly drunken stroll, saw the gnome, and kidnapped him? Either way, someone’s missing his/her gnome…and probably isn’t all that happy about it.
Milk at $4; the new reality. I look at it as probably a positive that I rarely drink it; use it in my coffee and on my cereal. Amazing how prices are zipping skyward and my paycheck is not. (very unhappy face)
J$$$$, I coached runners one-on-one. I did not ask for any pay. I told each person from the start “If you’re not in this 100% please don’t waste my time or yours”. It is HARD flipping work to make a schedule, account for a person’s own work and home life, special circumstances, etc without knowing s/he is absolutely committed to the project. I was surprised to find that 80-90% of the people were kind enough to admit they didn’t have the total mind-set they needed. So I gave them some basic advice, tweaked a running schedule, and we called it good. The one guy who said he’d stick with me if I’d stick with him qualified for the Boston Marathon 9 months later. To say I was secretly very proud of him doesn’t begin to cover it. Married, more than a full-time job, new house, 2 kids, and he still did it. You will soon enough be able to sniff out the truly committed vs the “this is too hard” crowd. I’m well over your preferred age group but I’ll be watching your posts to see how it goes.
Now, spread some white magic around that crazy gnome and tell him he needs to go home! And he can take the ants with him…
Nick work on the running stuff!! I’d totally love to help do money stuff for free at some point down the line – that would be awesome (or do pro bono stuff here and there in between?). I really do feel like the mere fact of paying helps people take action more, but we’ll see what happens. If you wanna chat about your own money situation, happy to even though the age is different :) Might be good to get different perspectives to help me become more well-rounded? Either way – thx for stopping by and sharing. Love reading everyone’s comments here – one of my fave parts about blogs :)
I’m dropping you a note right now about being a money coach. I enjoy your blog (i subscribe through Feedly) and would love your opinion.
Thanks for this blog!!
Stephanie
Awesome!!! We can rock this together!
Thanks so much for reading the blog – so glad you enjoy it :)
Congrats on the sweet $1,000 freelance writing gig! And being a money coach sounds super fun! Looking forward to reading more about you (and the gnome’s) upcoming journeys.
That looks like an underpants gnome. On his way to profit.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=underpants%20gnomes
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/151040/the-underpants-business
ahahahhahaha…. that would explain why I’m missing a few! :)
The smoke alarm going off in the middle of the night had to freak you out. I guess it would be even more apocalyptic to see it covered with ants. What’s next, frogs from the sky?
I’d be less freaked out with frogs in the sky to be honest :)
“I bought him when I was drunk and I have absolutely no recollection”, I can feel you in that part! hahaha!! And hey, congratulations for making $1,000, off just ONE article, that was totally a perfect one!
MYSTERY SOLVED: It was a friend of mine playing a joke on me :) Apparently she had gotten it as a gag gift yeas ago at work, and instead of donating it to the Salvation Army decided to have some fun with it…
Little did she know we’d make him famous on the internetz!! ZOMG!
“Just because I ASKED. I literally said ‘I’m not sure if I have the time to devote to this, but what’s your budget?” and they said “We can only do $1,000, is that okay?’ ”
Sounds like you have discovered additional benefits to being “selfishly employed”.
There is so much power in knowing what your time is worth…understanding the full opportunity cost of exchanging your time for money. Funny how, when we don’t need the money, people are willing to give us more of it. Kind of like trying to get a loan at the bank…only the people who don’t really need it get the great rates.
Ain’t that the truth?
Works in relationships too. The second you stop looking (and/or get married) the more all of a sudden your wanted, haha…
LOL! your brilliant WHY YOU’RE POOR link made my day!!! :-)