Money

Money!

Corvallis Oak Prairie, Oregon 10.13.22 

I don’t think I’ve ever written about money, but since I tend to have thoughts about just about everything, I figured I’d give it a try. I think from my earliest times as a child I knew a thing or two about money. Partly, I knew that it was something that could help you get things you wanted to get. My parents gave me an allowance from a young age and eventually, my allowance was tied to things like mowing the lawn. It’s kind of humorous that now I spend hours during my week trying to figure out how to get rid of lawns, but that’s another story that, if you’re a regular reader, you know all about!

Eventually, I started making money of my own. My Dad, Richard Kaufman, 86 now, and living in Jenkintown, PA with my Mom (81), had a small computer business in the 70s. One of the clients he had was a group of doctors (pediatricians that I went to see as a kid, actually) and they needed help with their computer billing. So, every month my Dad would come home with computer-generated bills which we’d have to rip apart (they were on computer-fed paper which was perforated), and then we’d take them and stuff them into envelopes. We’d get $3/box and also free pizza and soda. This effort needed to be done once a month and he brought my brother and sister into the mix, too. This went on for years. It was dull work, but we did it for the money and I’m sure it helped my Dad out, too. Now that I think back on it, I realize at the time I really was only doing it for the money. But I realize that it was a huge help to my Dad who would have had to pay someone real wages to do this work if we hadn’t done it!

This work led to me selling things I would make – candles – door to door. I also tried selling seeds for Burpee door-to-door, but that didn’t last long. Eventually, I had my first job as a newspaper delivery boy in Junior High. I remember my first morning of waking up at 4:30 am to find a stack of papers on our doorstep and then I went around our suburban Lawrence neighborhood by foot to deliver the papers. I remember throwing up that first morning. I’m not sure why. Then, there was going around from door to door to collect payment for the paper. I think I did that weekly – and that led to some fun tips over the years and also a chance to see into the houses that were around me in my neighborhood. I really could have used a better calculator during those times to make sense of what I was taking in, though doing it the way I did probably helped my math skills.

After that job, I went on to work at Arthur Treacher Fish & Chips. That experience could probably be written up in a small book. My main work was to drop frozen triangles of fish and rounder frozen chicken fillets into a large vat of boiling oil – without getting my hands burned. I also lived nearby and somehow ended up being the one to close up at night. That job led to a sweet gig at Sam Goody’s where I was the guitar/amp/instrument/effects pedals salesperson. This was probably one of the best jobs I’ve ever held. I spent my time tuning decent instruments and learning what the different effects pedals did. Had I played my cards right I’ve always thought I could have been a part of a band that went somewhere – or been a musician who would tour, but of course, life had other ideas for me in mind. I watch people like Jackson Brown or Bruce Springsteen play and I am just 10 years younger than them. I know if I’d focused I probably could at least be backing them up if not leading a band of my own 🙂  But instead…

I went on to have jobs like – working on a kibbutz in the Negev Desert in Israel with milking cows (feeding them, milking them, driving a tractor, etc.)

Working in NYC at a place called Lox, Stock, and Bagels during my freshman year at NYU. I’ve actually worked at 3 different bagel places, but this one was for the longest time. Another short book there – this place was across from Madison Square Garden where I ended up seeing many a Grateful Dead show and a few hockey games!

I’ve had a job for 6 months as a rodman in a surveying crew. Another 6 months after that – this was 1986 – as a data miner (a bit before computers came into fashion – so we were on the phones) at Peterson’s Guides for Graduate Schools. Then there have been years of temping in NYC for the investment banking and perfume worlds.  Now that I think of it, I did do a short piece about some of these positions and my thoughts on work. I wonder if other writers have that happen where they find themselves repeating their writing after a while.

Anyway, I love this topic and I’ll probably come back to it again as I’m trying to figure out money now at 61, too. I have enough at the moment, but I also feel limited to moving about the gameboard as I’d like to. I also know that having more money is an attractor to the opposite sex and I am in “wanting to date” mode. So, we’ll see if I take the dive into more money-making efforts. We’ll see!

Squash Blossom

Squash Blossom, Fall in Portland, Oregon 2022

Finances and Debt

Finances and DebtDragon

I got turned onto The 4-hour Work Week years ago. It helped guide me in so many ways and I spent a year closely listening to Tim Ferris as he began an amazing podcast series which has since gone on to be the #1 business podcast many years running, I believe. Tim spent all this time interviewing many people who run the companies we all use every day. This podcast shares all sorts of ideas, but one that regularly comes up is reducing debt and ways to do that.

Really, the key thing I’ve learned is to try to avoid getting into debt in the first place. But if that’s not possible then reducing your debt takes precedence over other things. If you consider the interest one pays for keeping credit card debt you can see that that can quickly add up over time and can definitely weigh on you in many ways. A way I was able to pay off my college and grad school student loans was by taking a job in the high-tech sector for a couple of years. It was boring work, but it paid very well. Once I had my loans paid off I moved away from that sector mostly. I realize this is not possible for everyone, but if you do have debt figuring out ways to reduce and eliminate it will help you out greatly. I’ll never forget the day I paid off my loans and the smile that crept over my face when I realized I was done with the monthly payments.

I wonder if that’s partly why I’ve been unwilling to start down the road to home ownership. Or, home moanership as I hear it referred to, often. I do think I’ll own a home at some point, but up till now the goal as evaded me. I was actually close, once – during the time I was working for those high-tech companies. I qualified for a $400,000 loan, but I was pretty sure my time in Seattle was coming to a close. Had I bought a house then it probably would have doubled in value in the last 20 years, but what can you do?

Back to debt and finances. Another wonderful resource in this area is Mr. Money Mustache. His tagline is “Early Retirement through Badassery”, and he really walks his talk. I think I’ve learned more about life and how to live a good one from Mr. Money Mustache than any other source. I recommend signing up for his newsletter. It comes out very infrequently, but often has something interesting and different to say about living in our society. One of his main themes is about how to live a high-quality life through things like – killing your commute; what kind of car or truck to buy; the types of phones and phone plans that are out there and his encouragement for us all to learn to repair what we own vs. paying someone else to do it or buying new things.

So, what are your thoughts about debt and finances? If you’ve got anything to add please leave a comment below – especially if you have any great stories when it comes to this topic. I’ve learned a lot over the years from peoples’ comments on my writing and I hope that continues as long as I live.  Thanks for reading and enjoy the day!

Sincerely,

Albert Kaufman, 7.19.21