False Economies

With turmoil apparently back in the stock market (although I think more of a minor blip, let's see).

After reading an article over at bbc news they proposed that this was simply a correction and that the American stock market was simply correcting the over valued entities within it.

This got me thinking about valuations, people are always talking about buying quality products that will last you a long time.

However like with these recent stock corrections how do we know when we're buying something that's not going to blow up in our face.

With stocks we can do research digging through reports on individual companies at the companies house website. This can be incredibly tedious as there are various filing reports that have different levels of helpfulness from the annual report through to when the company was opened.

If you want to download any of this information it costs you £1 a pop, Not a cheap business. It may be wiser to use an aggregation site such as www.duedil.com this pay for service I've been using professionally for many years. Just to let you know I've never paid for it's services as they used to give them all away for free as long as you were registered. More recently they have restricted access to more and more of the information and put it behind the pay wall. Disappointing for me as I don't like paying for things when I don't have to!

I've also heard good things about iii's and morningstar's investor tools although I've not used them myself.

When buying products we can always read reviews. This however will only get you so far. Buying bin bags that don't break can be useful. But reducing the amount of waste you produce by buying less things that you have to throw away (this includes packaging! the bane of my life).

Then there's the designer problem, there seems to be brand power at work everywhere I go at the moment. From getting petrol at BP to doing the weekly shop at tesco, we're being pushed into staying with a particular shop because it makes us feel like we are getting a better experience.

Now I can agree that picking up a can of beans from the pallet in aldi isn't as nice as picking it from a shelf in Sainsbury's but I'm still picking a bleeding can of beans off a shelf. Surely this is what it all boils down to whether a company can make you so comfortable that you couldn't think it possible to go to one of it's cheaper competitors.

Until of course they push it a little too far and either increase the price so much that you then it becomes uncomfortable for you to shop, or external circumstances do this for them, (see Tesco in the recent recession). This could also happen as instead of increasing prices to create a better profit the company decides to reduce the quality of experience they are giving. This has the same affect as once the consumer realises the experience is no longer worth the premium price tag they then look for alternatives.

Don't even get me started on designer clothing.

The one thing that has propelled my earning potential

There's one thing that's made the biggest difference when it comes to my current earnings.

It's not my ruggedly handsome good looks (although it was nice of you to think so).

You could say that working hard has paid it's part, especially in the first couple of years of my career but it has not been the biggest factor.

To quantify it I would say working hard whilst at work has contributed around 10% of what I earn. However hard work matters little if it's not being noticed and matters even less if it's being noticed but by the wrong person.

Let's give an example of this.

 You've asked your boss for more responsibility, good for you! What you didn't realise is now you have to do your current job and the new work as well. So you start working late. Ok, this is bad, but surely you tell yourself this is only for the short term to show your boss what you've got in the tank and then they will give you the promotion you deserve and you can take that money to the bank sucker! So who else is there seeing you work late? Well there's the janitor and a few other colleagues who all look tired and caffeine dependent.

This goes on for a few weeks until you hand a piece of work into your boss. A few days later he calls you into a meeting, as they're a nice person they wanted to tell you privately that the big promotion has gone to Sally in purchasing as they've noticed a decline in your work and to be honest you look tired and that's not the look the higher ups want to see.

Epic fail. The strategy you used, working longer/ harder back fired, you worked yourself into a hole and lost the promotion because of it.

So whats the main reason I've been able to triple my earnings in only a few short years?

Studying has probably brought me the biggest rewards. Joining a relevant chartered institute has really propelled my career forward.

It's brought me respect - people recognise this qualification as being one difficult to gain, they presume I worked hard to get it (I did!).

A lot of my peers have a similar qualification, this brings familiarity, they believe that I must be like them, people like people who are similar to themselves.

They know I'm willing to work hard for a long time. As above it was a battle to complete the requirements for this qualification with lots of exams spanning almost 2 years which was the fast track route it normally takes 3-4 years.

Whilst I admit it was hard going, it is the most rewarding thing I could have done at the time.

Looking back I wish I had done it earlier in my career and I could reap the rewards for a lot longer.

Other than that I can't put my self down I worked hard and chose the right option and it worked out well for me.

What things have you done to boost your career? What have I not done that I should have done by now?

Distractions from saving: Parenting

They come in all shapes and sizes. I've often thought of myself as somewhat lazy, especially in my teens and early twenties.

But a lot of that has changed, it's had to.

I've surprised myself what can be done in an hour, from tidying the house to researching and buying a new kitchen white good online. All when the pressure is on. The clock is ticking. The pressure of a toddlers nap time, with him possibly waking at any second.

When this first started it was a struggle. The first ten weeks of being a dad were the hardest I've ever lived through. Little to no sleep every night, when I did sleep it was broken between bottle feeds and nappy changes or both.

Then after the 3-4 hour at best sleep I still had to continue normal life, at the time this was a 40 hour week at a job that although I enjoyed was not particularly fulfilling or paid what I'm worth.

However it did keep money flowing in, which unfortunately I wasn't able to save a lot of. Going from 2 full-time salaries to one plus maternity leave salary was a bit of a shock. If we hadn't planned in advance, this could have led to a lot more stress.

Luckily I had thought this far ahead, we had a plan. But I no longer had any time to track how well this plan was going. You see I usually track my financial progress diligently, down to the pound. So what could I do.

I had to let my child take over my life. Family must always come first. So I tried to survive. My wife was a rock throughout all this time. I really don't know how single parents manage. We only have one and this was tough.

Although tough isn't the proper word, it was torture. Relative to my life beforehand life now is torture. However I've got Stockholm syndrome baaad!

A few tips I've picked up to help through this tough time:

• Realising this isn't forever, yes it's going to be a long time, but if you're not ready for a long term commitment, parenting probably isn't for you
• SLEEP - you need to sleep, whenever and for any amount of time. Seriously, this is very important, this ticking time bomb of a crying machine is going to wake up any second. If you don't sleep now, you never will. Ever tried going a day without sleep, how about two days? How about a week of only 4-5 hours a night, how about 10 weeks of broken sleep.
• Eat well, even if you're sleeping all you can, you're still going to be knackered, if you add poor nutrition this will only make things worse. Home cooking is the key, over cook every time you have time, freeze the leftovers to eat when there's no time (which will be most of the time), doing this before the baby arrives gives you a stock pile. As I said early the first 3 months are the toughest. Be good to future you and stock that freezer hard!
• Ask for help. This is one thing I've always struggled with, I always feel I should be the strong one, this is my default setting, so I don't realise when I need to ask for help. Don't make the same mistake I did, accept all offers of help. If family and friends want to come over and let you sleep LET THEM, if they don't offer, ask them to come over!!
• Don't worry. All your priorities are going to change, remember those cool holidays you used to go on? Yeah they're gone now. Remember how your house used to be tidy all the time? Not any more! Don't worry about it. It's cool, yes you could spend that hour between your child going to sleep and waking for a feed to tidy up, or you could grab some sleep or have a bit of time for yourself. I know which I'd rather do.
• Look after your partner. Being male I've greatly had the easier part of the deal. It's still a rough ride though. Look after them as they will for you. Without my partner I couldn't have done this, without me she would have struggled too.
• Get a dishwasher, as I said time is of the essence. Washing up for me has always felt a waste of time. Getting the dishwasher was although a mild one off cost (along with ongoing electric and water bills) such a great time saving. For extra frugal points live minimally and only have a few items to clean, this will mean you have to clean after every meal, but it should only take two minutes if you can do it straight away (hint: I never can).
• To go with the don't worry. If you're currently frugal you may be upset to see that your savings rate either reduces or worse your savings get plundered. If you've planned ahead this isn't necessarily going to be a long term thing, you will probably be able to get back on the savings horse when you're a bit more of a normal human again (when the kids about 18 months old)

There are plenty of others but I think, this will cover the first time parent. I'm sure there are plenty I've missed / forgotten, what are your favourite tips? Please drop me a line in the comments :)