Working from home is fun until something goes wrong and you need instant help! Yes, immediate advice and quick problem solving of sticky situations like a very nasty complaining customer can be very productive.
But then, with a "things always work out" attitude, I find that through time and experience I am enjoying working from home more.
But it's true that keeping in close and constant contact with the social groups in your field and your potential customers is so important. This can be the life-blood of any business. It is for me.
I always have felt that if I had the ability to do this, I would. One thing I would do is take one family a year out of the shelter and give them an apartment, pay their rent for one year and help with finding a job. Most people that are living on the streets are not there because they want to be. If you could give someone a chance at starting over in their life, why wouldn't you. I would also volunteer my time at a hospital with babies and kids who either don't have anyone to care for them or parents that have a job and have no way of staying with their kids. Childrens need human touch for comfort amongst other things. I would also go back to school to get my OT degree to work with autistic kids. And finally, yes I would spend money on my own family. They deserve it!
When we were little, the birthday kid would get to choose what meal they wanted, and we ate at home. We'd be allowed to have one friend stay the night, and we would pop popcorn and watch a movie.
Now that I've got my own family, sticking to this home-based celebration would certainly simplify things! :)
Fantastic! Combining my two loves, Harry Potter and personal finances! #19 was probably my favorite, as it is often forgotten in today's rat race driven society. If everyone did what they loved rather than chasing dollar signs, I'm pretty sure the world would be a much happier, stress free (or at least less stressful) place.
Ugh haha. These are the same reasons I stopped *working* retail. Regurgitating the inane "customer service" policies of the department store that I worked for made me feel like a trained monkey, and I could see firsthand how all I was doing was annoying 9 out of 10 customers. I'm pretty sure the other one increased the dollar amount of their purchase just to get me off their back :\
This is such a great post. As a member of the Harry Potter generation I have learned so much from his life that receiving financial advice comes as no surprise! In the end the running theme I see is that money is a vehicle and (brace yourself - here comes the cheese) and like magic it's what we do with it that matters.
Potluck celebrations with friends and family are the best way to go. In the past we have gone the really cheap and easy route: Tailgate special from fast food place that we take down to the public park where there is a free fireworks display.
I think knowing how to form a good -- and fair! -- argument is such an important skill. Even if you don't win, your opponent should have a lot of respect for you in the end.
Readers, is there anything else you think is important in making a good argument?
Agreed! A big one for me happens when I have friends visit from out of town. While they're trying to schedule meet-ups with people, they always assume I can meet for lunch -- or hang out with them all day long!
As the writer of this piece, I have to say Rachel that I did do my research. I have a secondary fridge in the basement used to store extras and at one point the mixing smells of foods we kept in there was a problem that even carried over to my freezer. I added a box of baking soda to both sides and the next day it was gone...and stayed gone.
Marketing ploy or not, baking soda does work in my refrigerator. It also has many other uses that I have personally tested. If it didn't work for me, I would not have added it to my piece.
I have a few disagreements with your reasoning. I hope you read through them with an open mind.
1. Depriving children of ready-made toys doesn’t necessarily make them more creative. Children don’t always play with toys the way they were intended. They can be creative with whatever they have. Giving them ready-made toys has its benefits. For one, it allows a connection with other children who have the same thing(s) (i.e. community games like Pokemon) and it also allows them to explore what they have - as in, they might spend a lot of their time building and not enough using if they have to make everything themselves. I’m sure it would be fun building a cubby house, but it might get it annoying having to rebuild it every time it gets cleaned up. And also, the kids having ready-made toys won’t mean they’ll give up making their own. It’s just nice to have a choice.
2. You might not always get what you want in the real world, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. If you raise them with too much certainty that they won’t, they might not try and even grow up with a “life’s hard”/chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. Even if that’s an extreme interpretation, it would be nice for them to have at least have had that comfort once. You could give them everything without it being a problem as long as you taught them to only expect it from you and not anyone else.
3. It’s good to appreciate the simple things, but if you set the bar too low, so might they. It might be that the easier they are to satisfy, the less they’ll be eager to accomplish.
Overall, I think there’s too much focus on money and being frugal. You can teach your kids to be responsible, etc., etc., without depriving them of things and treating them like little adults. I think it would be far more valuable to give them a choice. It’s more special and more honest if when faced with ‘Y’ and ‘X’, they choose ‘X’ on their own – rather than if they were in X because it’s all they know.
Frugality may be a means of teaching children these 7 lessons, but they are not the only means. I urge you to consider the cons!
Europe has had to deal with terrorism far longer than we have. It's like 9/11 made Americans thing terrorism just happened then. Nope, Britain has dealt with IRA bombings in shopping malls and Al Qaeda on their trains. Germany had Bader-Meinhof and who knows what else. Lockerbie, other plan hijackings. And then there is Israel, who has far more threats and far more security than we do. these locations don't have a TSA like arrangement on all their airplanes,trains, buses, malls, etc. And while Israel is more vigilant, their system also seems more efficient. I feel much more secure when I travel in Europe where at least their security looks like it knows what its doing versus the reactive approach over here.
This works if everyone is putting the same or similar effort. Everyone needs to band together and bring something to the table or it will make you less secure not more. I have a school mate that is pregnant, I plan to bring her a dish and babysit when I can, hopefully she will return the favor at some point but someone needs to take the first step. I think many times people are afraid to take that step because they do not think others will take the steps as well.
I do not understand how we could "we'd permanently moved beyond some of those concerns" because there is always times of feast and famine. We need to have safety nets and not all of those should come from the government but from ourselves and our neighbors.
I really struggle with the "Buy only what you need" part. There are only 2 of us in the house, so if one of us isn't particularly hungry or eats elsewhere, we're left with extra food. I typically buy only fresh fruits and vegetables and meat, so everything is very perishable. Luckily, we have chickens that will eat the non-moldy stuff, but its still a waste of money...
For sanitizing, you need less than a capful of bleach in a 750 mL spray bottle to reach 50 ppm chlorine. It does the job, and you don't have to worry about your clothes being bleached or it eating away at the gaskets of your fridge.
My husband and i celebrate by having a great time at home with friends. We like to have people over for dinner instead of going out, it helps that the food we cook is always beter!
Great points. In relation to everyone thinking you are available because you work from home, I think it is really important to have really strong boundaries and enforce them. A little bit like puppy training really (hee hee).
For summer celebrations, we make pulled pork BBQ out of boston butt. Our state has quite a few hog farms, so pork is often on sale for 99 cents a pound. I've found them for as low as 59 cents a pound. I slow roast them in the oven until they are falling off the bone, then put the meat on a smoky grill with wood chips to give it a nice smoky flavor. This easily feeds 10 people. We couple the BBQ with baked beans and slaw, both inexpensive to make. Some sweet tea and lemonade and we're good to go!
Hi Lesley,
I guess it depends on what kind of lettuce you are buying. I tend to go for the heartier greens, such as Romaine. I chop it as you would to make a Caesar salad, in larger pieces, and I wash it and make sure it's dry before storing whatever I don't use immediately. I have a salad spinner-an item that I used to think was worthless until someone gave me one as a gift. Now I'm not sure how I got along without it. You can find them at thrift stores fairly cheaply. But even after using it, I let the lettuce sit out for an hour or so to make sure it is dry (a very small amount of moisture is okay, so don't make yourself crazy wiping it down with paper towels).
If you are prepping more delicate lettuce, such as Red or Green Boston, those tend to wilt a little more quickly. Using an airtight container is also important. Baby lettuce and other pre-packaged greens always wilt quickly because they've already had a lot of traveling to do-I also worked in the Produce Department at the local co-op where I learned these little tips. If you can, only buy fresh lettuce, and local if possible. It's also less expensive than buying packaged lettuce.
I love Harry Potter, but I'd never thought about how prevalent personal finance is in the books. This was really fun to read and makes me even more excited for the last movie to come out.
I call bull on the baking soda in the fridge trick. That was merely a successful marketing ploy and not real science. How can an inert powder compact in a box shuffled to the back of the cooler really filter the air. If the smell is slightly acidic, maybe it will neutralize it slightly, but more than likely the baking soda will crust over from the excess moisture in the fridge.
I place burden of proof back on writer for some real research and not to continue to proliferate this myth.
Besides, how bad are your fridges that a smell builds up and lingers in your cooler!?!
Absolutely love this post and it's tips. I've worked out of my home office since 2005 and it is not easy. 1) There are no clear boundaries to you or your family members. 2) Some people believe you don't have a real job and you are available any time to handle their needs. 3) Some believe you should be available 24/7/365 because you work from home or own your own business.
I love the idea about boundaries or taking your work to the local coffee shop (although spending too much on a latte is never good)... thank you so much!
Working from home is fun until something goes wrong and you need instant help! Yes, immediate advice and quick problem solving of sticky situations like a very nasty complaining customer can be very productive.
But then, with a "things always work out" attitude, I find that through time and experience I am enjoying working from home more.
But it's true that keeping in close and constant contact with the social groups in your field and your potential customers is so important. This can be the life-blood of any business. It is for me.
I always have felt that if I had the ability to do this, I would. One thing I would do is take one family a year out of the shelter and give them an apartment, pay their rent for one year and help with finding a job. Most people that are living on the streets are not there because they want to be. If you could give someone a chance at starting over in their life, why wouldn't you. I would also volunteer my time at a hospital with babies and kids who either don't have anyone to care for them or parents that have a job and have no way of staying with their kids. Childrens need human touch for comfort amongst other things. I would also go back to school to get my OT degree to work with autistic kids. And finally, yes I would spend money on my own family. They deserve it!
When we were little, the birthday kid would get to choose what meal they wanted, and we ate at home. We'd be allowed to have one friend stay the night, and we would pop popcorn and watch a movie.
Now that I've got my own family, sticking to this home-based celebration would certainly simplify things! :)
Fantastic! Combining my two loves, Harry Potter and personal finances! #19 was probably my favorite, as it is often forgotten in today's rat race driven society. If everyone did what they loved rather than chasing dollar signs, I'm pretty sure the world would be a much happier, stress free (or at least less stressful) place.
Ugh haha. These are the same reasons I stopped *working* retail. Regurgitating the inane "customer service" policies of the department store that I worked for made me feel like a trained monkey, and I could see firsthand how all I was doing was annoying 9 out of 10 customers. I'm pretty sure the other one increased the dollar amount of their purchase just to get me off their back :\
This is such a great post. As a member of the Harry Potter generation I have learned so much from his life that receiving financial advice comes as no surprise! In the end the running theme I see is that money is a vehicle and (brace yourself - here comes the cheese) and like magic it's what we do with it that matters.
Potluck celebrations with friends and family are the best way to go. In the past we have gone the really cheap and easy route: Tailgate special from fast food place that we take down to the public park where there is a free fireworks display.
I think knowing how to form a good -- and fair! -- argument is such an important skill. Even if you don't win, your opponent should have a lot of respect for you in the end.
Readers, is there anything else you think is important in making a good argument?
Agreed! A big one for me happens when I have friends visit from out of town. While they're trying to schedule meet-ups with people, they always assume I can meet for lunch -- or hang out with them all day long!
As the writer of this piece, I have to say Rachel that I did do my research. I have a secondary fridge in the basement used to store extras and at one point the mixing smells of foods we kept in there was a problem that even carried over to my freezer. I added a box of baking soda to both sides and the next day it was gone...and stayed gone.
Marketing ploy or not, baking soda does work in my refrigerator. It also has many other uses that I have personally tested. If it didn't work for me, I would not have added it to my piece.
Thanks for reading!
Great idea Money Beagle! I detest the opening of containers that contain the unknown!
I have a few disagreements with your reasoning. I hope you read through them with an open mind.
1. Depriving children of ready-made toys doesn’t necessarily make them more creative. Children don’t always play with toys the way they were intended. They can be creative with whatever they have. Giving them ready-made toys has its benefits. For one, it allows a connection with other children who have the same thing(s) (i.e. community games like Pokemon) and it also allows them to explore what they have - as in, they might spend a lot of their time building and not enough using if they have to make everything themselves. I’m sure it would be fun building a cubby house, but it might get it annoying having to rebuild it every time it gets cleaned up. And also, the kids having ready-made toys won’t mean they’ll give up making their own. It’s just nice to have a choice.
2. You might not always get what you want in the real world, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. If you raise them with too much certainty that they won’t, they might not try and even grow up with a “life’s hard”/chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. Even if that’s an extreme interpretation, it would be nice for them to have at least have had that comfort once. You could give them everything without it being a problem as long as you taught them to only expect it from you and not anyone else.
3. It’s good to appreciate the simple things, but if you set the bar too low, so might they. It might be that the easier they are to satisfy, the less they’ll be eager to accomplish.
Overall, I think there’s too much focus on money and being frugal. You can teach your kids to be responsible, etc., etc., without depriving them of things and treating them like little adults. I think it would be far more valuable to give them a choice. It’s more special and more honest if when faced with ‘Y’ and ‘X’, they choose ‘X’ on their own – rather than if they were in X because it’s all they know.
Frugality may be a means of teaching children these 7 lessons, but they are not the only means. I urge you to consider the cons!
Europe has had to deal with terrorism far longer than we have. It's like 9/11 made Americans thing terrorism just happened then. Nope, Britain has dealt with IRA bombings in shopping malls and Al Qaeda on their trains. Germany had Bader-Meinhof and who knows what else. Lockerbie, other plan hijackings. And then there is Israel, who has far more threats and far more security than we do. these locations don't have a TSA like arrangement on all their airplanes,trains, buses, malls, etc. And while Israel is more vigilant, their system also seems more efficient. I feel much more secure when I travel in Europe where at least their security looks like it knows what its doing versus the reactive approach over here.
This works if everyone is putting the same or similar effort. Everyone needs to band together and bring something to the table or it will make you less secure not more. I have a school mate that is pregnant, I plan to bring her a dish and babysit when I can, hopefully she will return the favor at some point but someone needs to take the first step. I think many times people are afraid to take that step because they do not think others will take the steps as well.
I do not understand how we could "we'd permanently moved beyond some of those concerns" because there is always times of feast and famine. We need to have safety nets and not all of those should come from the government but from ourselves and our neighbors.
A bit off topic, but I've always wanted to go to Japan solely to see all the bizarre vending machine choices :)
I really struggle with the "Buy only what you need" part. There are only 2 of us in the house, so if one of us isn't particularly hungry or eats elsewhere, we're left with extra food. I typically buy only fresh fruits and vegetables and meat, so everything is very perishable. Luckily, we have chickens that will eat the non-moldy stuff, but its still a waste of money...
For sanitizing, you need less than a capful of bleach in a 750 mL spray bottle to reach 50 ppm chlorine. It does the job, and you don't have to worry about your clothes being bleached or it eating away at the gaskets of your fridge.
My husband and i celebrate by having a great time at home with friends. We like to have people over for dinner instead of going out, it helps that the food we cook is always beter!
Great points. In relation to everyone thinking you are available because you work from home, I think it is really important to have really strong boundaries and enforce them. A little bit like puppy training really (hee hee).
For summer celebrations, we make pulled pork BBQ out of boston butt. Our state has quite a few hog farms, so pork is often on sale for 99 cents a pound. I've found them for as low as 59 cents a pound. I slow roast them in the oven until they are falling off the bone, then put the meat on a smoky grill with wood chips to give it a nice smoky flavor. This easily feeds 10 people. We couple the BBQ with baked beans and slaw, both inexpensive to make. Some sweet tea and lemonade and we're good to go!
Hi Lesley,
I guess it depends on what kind of lettuce you are buying. I tend to go for the heartier greens, such as Romaine. I chop it as you would to make a Caesar salad, in larger pieces, and I wash it and make sure it's dry before storing whatever I don't use immediately. I have a salad spinner-an item that I used to think was worthless until someone gave me one as a gift. Now I'm not sure how I got along without it. You can find them at thrift stores fairly cheaply. But even after using it, I let the lettuce sit out for an hour or so to make sure it is dry (a very small amount of moisture is okay, so don't make yourself crazy wiping it down with paper towels).
If you are prepping more delicate lettuce, such as Red or Green Boston, those tend to wilt a little more quickly. Using an airtight container is also important. Baby lettuce and other pre-packaged greens always wilt quickly because they've already had a lot of traveling to do-I also worked in the Produce Department at the local co-op where I learned these little tips. If you can, only buy fresh lettuce, and local if possible. It's also less expensive than buying packaged lettuce.
I hope this helps!
I love Harry Potter, but I'd never thought about how prevalent personal finance is in the books. This was really fun to read and makes me even more excited for the last movie to come out.
I call bull on the baking soda in the fridge trick. That was merely a successful marketing ploy and not real science. How can an inert powder compact in a box shuffled to the back of the cooler really filter the air. If the smell is slightly acidic, maybe it will neutralize it slightly, but more than likely the baking soda will crust over from the excess moisture in the fridge.
I place burden of proof back on writer for some real research and not to continue to proliferate this myth.
Besides, how bad are your fridges that a smell builds up and lingers in your cooler!?!
homemade ice cream and hot dogs instead of steaks!
Absolutely love this post and it's tips. I've worked out of my home office since 2005 and it is not easy. 1) There are no clear boundaries to you or your family members. 2) Some people believe you don't have a real job and you are available any time to handle their needs. 3) Some believe you should be available 24/7/365 because you work from home or own your own business.
I love the idea about boundaries or taking your work to the local coffee shop (although spending too much on a latte is never good)... thank you so much!