Category Archives: Entertainment

Financial Lessons From The Movie "Up In The Air"

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Tonight, I just finished watching the movie “Up In The Air“.  Of course I borrowed it from the library!  After watching “Men Who Stare At Goats“, I didn’t expect much and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I like it.

Now on to the financial take aways that I gleaned from it.

The protagonist, Ryan (George Clooney) is the ultimate high income, frugal character.  He does his job, doesn’t have any expenses and save everything.  All his meals are charged to the company that he works for.  In fact, he said everything he charges is at the companies expense.  He does this for fame in that once he gets above a certain amount of miles, he gets certain perks and his name will go on a plane in the air industry.  He doesn’t own a home or car or really much of anything, he lives out of his suitcase.  He doesn’t have any friends or relationships other than one night stands.  He makes a ton of money and what the media would consider a huge success, an ideal rich lifestyle.

The problem is he’s over 50 and doesn’t have anything other than his money and his air miles…  It’s really quite sad, seeing someone so rich with nothing to spend the money on.  Oh sure, he is part of the mile high club and has a great time partying, but those are cheap memories that can be accomplished in less than a day.  Having and growing a family takes a lifetime!  While not the typical miser, he is still a sad sight.

The main financial lesson that I learned from the movie is to establish a life balance before it is too late.  There are only certain things you can do for a certain amount of time.  Plan it well, and do it!

-MR

Why Spending A Little Money At All Ages Is Okay

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Being frugal for me comes naturally because of the way my parents and grandparents raised me!  I really do pinch my pennies so that they scream like the audience watching a “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie.

But not spending money when you are young is also a great waste (but of life instead of money)!  When you are a teenager, it’s good to go out on fun dates and spend money to hang with your buddies!  After you get a job and start a family, those opportunities become very rare (with dating no long a healthy option).  So make the best of it now, you might not get another chance.

So what am I recommending?  I would do the following:

  • Contribute a certain amount to your 401(k) and savings/brokerage accounts.
  • Cap the amount that you will spend on entertainment per month.
  • Make sure you at least have $1,000 in savings in a bank.

www.zordane.com does a great post called: It Is Good To Spend More!  I think he captures the younger crowd concerns especially well with his article.

For me personally, I think in the past, I saved too much money.  I’m sure I missed opportunites that I would have take while I was a bit younger (teens and 20s…).  Now, I’m playing catch up!

I think at every age, people should spend a little bit to enjoy life!

For more information, please follow the folling links:

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 1 of 2 &

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 2 of 2

-MR

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 2 of 2

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I thought about this for about a week, and I finally decided on how much more I’m going to spend on myself!

DRUMROLL….  I’ve decided to increase the amount that I’m going to spend by $100 dollars a month.  Yep, I’m living large, (lol)…

So why only $100? Because I already get a certain allocation per month, and I think $100 extra a month would be just enough to enjoy my life a bit more.   I know, $100 doeesn’t seem like much, and it’s not…  but it should be just enough to make a difference for me.

In the summer, most likely I’ll be spending $200 extra a month.  This is okay because during the winter months I plan to scale back down my extra spending to $50 a month.  with just a bit of work, I can make it so that the average amount that I will spend will still be $100 extra a month.

The following is a list of activities I plan on using the extra money for:

  • Golfing with my family
  • an occassional drink out with friends a few times a month.
  • eating out at least 1 extra time a month.
  • activities with my kids, maybe put-put golf, or laser tag.

The earlier post in this series was called Spending More Money For a Better Life.

This might seem like a small change, but I’m looking forward to it!  It truly is about balance, and this will help me right the inbalance that I have been experiencing!

-MR

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 1 of 2

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Increasing spending

I’ve noticed a trend with my blog and the comments I leave on other blogs…   My typical response to financial questions and topics is: “It’s all about balance and maintaining that balance”.

But, after continually preaching the “Balance, it’s all about being balanced” mantra…  I started to wonder how I have done with that viewpoint?

Unfortunately, I’ve concluded that I haven’t done a good job of following the mantra!  But unlikely most, I’m slightly to the other extreme… I haven’t spent enough money, especially on myself. 

For years, I’ve deprived myself of new clothes and other needs and wants, living much like I lived when I was in college (or close to it) and I was much poorer.

You might be thinking, that would mean that my entire family lives the way I live, but they don’t.  In fact, there are many times when I suggest that the kids need new shoes, or sports equipment…   My wife, though frugal like me, does buy new clothes and goes out to eat with her friends occasionally (at least a few times a month).  I’ve been neglecting my friends, too worried about the cost of gas, or of a boy’s night out.

Okay, I identified the problem, but what am I going to do about it?    Hmmm, good question!  I have a few ideas, but I haven’t decided on the final one yet. 

Some of my favorite options are:

  • Expansion of Stocks Dividends to Fund my “It’s all about Me! Fun Fund” (lol).  I call these my Dividend Funds.
  • a Spending Budget, where I’ll create a special spot budget that centers around spending for just me and to a lesser extent the family.
  • Go hog wild, trips to Vegas and other exotic locations. leaving the family behind (don’t laugh, I have old friends that do this)
  • Possible a hybrid approach of Stock Dividends (Dividend Funds), and a Spending Budget.
  • Get a side hustle that could fund my “It’s all about Me! Fun Fund“, or just directly spend all of the side hustle money on me!

Of course, I will spend more money on the family too, but in an indirect way.  For instance, I’m trying to work out how we can all go to Hawaii within the next 2 years… 

I definitely won’t decrease the amount I spend on my family, to spend more on me.  Most likely, I’ll just increase the amount of money I spend on myself my a small amount, perhaps an addtional $100 to $200 a month.

This is a work in process, I’ll follow up with a later post about what I decided to do and how I’m going to go about it.

-MR