Author Archives: Thom

A clear sense of purpose

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Twice a year our church has a worldwide conference in which our leaders instruct us through five sessions of two hours each. These conferences are always enjoyable and invigorating, though a bit embarrassing as well. By the mid-point of the conference I’m always feeling excited about the things I’ve been hearing and ready to turn over a new leaf and become a better person. But invariably I come to realize that much of what they’ve been telling us they also told us last conference. Somewhere during the previous six months I let everything slide in spite of my good intentions.

I’ve decided, however, that it’s okay. It’s probably expected that at least some sliding will take place, else why would they schedule the conferences every six months? We are human, and chances are we only really adopt and implement one personal improvement per conference. The rest we need to be reminded of again and again to make sure we get back to working on it again.

I think what I enjoy most about these conferences is how clear my priorities become by the end. I realize that only a few things really matter–work on those and the rest will take care of itself. Whether I like being reminded that I’ve slipped or not, I need that regular realignment. I need to discard much of the dross of life and refocus myself with a clear sense of purpose.

Whatever our priorities and purpose in life may be, it can be quite fulfilling, uplifting, and energizing to step back every once and awhile and refocus ourselves. Mental “junk” accumulates, and requires regular spring cleaning to keep from getting weighed down with distractions. We need to remind ourselves of who we are and what matters most to us.

Who are you, and what should you be doing first and foremost with your life? What’s getting in your way? Refocus yourself. Rediscover your purpose.

Thoreau and I find common ground

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I’m making good progress in my study of Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”, the supposed seminal work on self reliance. It’s not an easy read, as his prose is full of references, many of which cannot be understood without the help of the editor’s footnotes. I also find his tone a bit too self-righteous and absolute.

Nonetheless, I probably agree with his basic assertions more often than not. We are too interested in the accumulation of things. We can become slaves to our own possessions. We could get by more simply than we do. I’m not sure I’m ready to take it to the level he does, but I’m quite certain my life could be more simple than it is.

But where I really start to agree with him most is his section “Reading”, in which he discusses what literary pursuits are most worthwhile. He recommends the classics (though of course he insists that we must read them in their original language). And though I may disagree with him somewhat on what qualifies as a classic, I do feel that his differentiation between worthy literature and trite, “for entertainment only” literature is valid. I’m not against reading for entertainment, necessarily, but I do feel, especially these days when my time is at a premium, that if I am going to read something it should be something that will either elevate my soul or educate/exercise my mind (no, not exorcise, thank you).

I do not necessarily join Thoreau in his dismissal of children’s books. They may be light and trite, but they are no less full of truth sometimes. There is something to be gained, actually, in remembering how to view the world through a child’s eyes–or at least the eyes of a writer trying to appeal to children. I find books by Cynthia Rylant, for example, to be quite fun–especially her “Mr. Putter and Tabby” books. She has a charming sense of humor that manages to find gentle humor in everyday life, and at the expense of no one. While the characters are often the source of the humor, it is clearly in a spirit of love, not derision, that she elicits laughs.

But I digress. I think that the stories and information we take in helps form who we are in many different ways. We should be more cognizant of what we read and more careful in how we spend our reading time. As the saying goes, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

Thoreau on delegating our work to others

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Lest you think from my previous posts that I find little of value in Thoreau, I present this passage that struck me today:

There is some of the same fitness in a man’s building his own house that there is in a bird’s building its own nest. Who knows but if men constructed their dwellings with their own hands, and provided food for themselves and families simply and honestly enough, the poetic faculty would be universally developed, as birds universally sing when they are so engaged? But Alas! we do like cowbirds and cuckoos, which lay their eggs in nests which other birds have built, and cheer no traveler with their chattering and unmusical notes. Shall we forever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? (From “Walden”, Economy)

I have not built my own house. I, like the cuckoo, live in a “nest” that has been thrice inhabited. But I have built a backyard shed and a playhouse with my own hands and, with some temporary exceptions, found the process invigorating and enjoyable. I certainly have a better appreciate of the work that went into my own house (and, in some cases, better recognize the cheap corner-cutting that went into some parts of it).

I do not advocate throwing off our responsibilities and learning to do everything ourselves. But I do think we are benefited when we develop at least some cursory skills in various other “trades”, such as construction. The joy of honest labor and the satisfaction of a job well done (or at least completed) are potent emotions.

And simply knowing how to do something should you ever need to is always a solid investment. Whether drying your own fruit or jerky, sealing and freezing produce from your garden, or changing the oil on a car, those who know how have more options than those who do not. Waiting for periods of need to prepare yourselves is a recipe for failure, as we’ve been told by Aesop’s “The Ant and the Grasshopper” since the cradle.

It is an interesting note on the period Thoreau lived in that he, an intellectual, still knew at least rudimentary carpentry and root-crop storage. How many of us could pick up and move into the forest with any hope of survival? While I would never advocate it, I suspect we may someday be required to endure at least somewhat significant changes to our way of life that we would do well to be prepared for. Intellectual and philosopher or not, if that day comes, I’d want Thoreau around.

What self-reliance is not

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Though I am still researching what I believe self-reliance to include, there is one thing I am certain it is not: complete independence of all other human beings. I will never advocate that anyone become a hermit or a nomad. That would be missing the point. Self-reliance is not to live so that you need nothing from anyone else.

One of the great human developments has been specialization. The ability for a person to increase their skill in one area at the expense of many other potential skills raised productivity considerably. The become completely independent of anyone else would be a step backward, both productively and socially.

Indeed, Thoreau’s experiment in simple living came at a cost. He had no one out there living with him on Walden Pond, no one dependent on him for survival. He had no wife, no children. As a husband and a father I have to declare that if “enlightenment” depends on remaining single and childless, then I don’t particularly care for any, thank you. In fact, I would argue that one cannot become completely enlightened and miss out on the opportunity to share one’s life with another human being at the level of intimacy a family affords.

That a family could still live the Walden lifestyle and be both healthy and happy I do not dispute. But Thoreau would have had to devote much more time to sustaining life than he had to when it was just him. He would have had much less time to devote to mediation and philosophizing. Yet I think he would still have found wisdom and enlightenment in the selfless endeavor of sacrificing for one’s family.

But my point is this: self-reliance is to be able to minimize the degree to which you must intrude on others for support. It is not to never need anyone else. If a person becomes sufficiently skilled in a trade or craft to be able to provide himself and his family the essentials of life, even if he must sell or trade his labor to another in order to do so, he is self-sufficient in that area. He need not know how, on top of everything else, to birth a calf so long as he has a skill that he can market to a rancher or farmer in exchange for meat.

A person need not be so emotionally independent that he never need take a problem to a friend. Rather they just need to have the emotional maturity to recognize good advice from a friend and know how to take it to heart. No one need be some socially self-reliant that their own company is all they ever need. They just need to know how to get along well with others to the point that they never lack for companionship and interaction when they need it.

It if fortunate for all of us that true self-reliance does not require that we go put ourselves to the test by living by ourselves from the solitary industry of our own hands for several years. For most of us, that would either put self-reliance out of reach, or require us to seriously damage the relationships that sustain us while we push others out of our life for a period of time.

No, true self-reliance is much more connected–and hence rewarding. It is being an active, engaged member of a larger world while at the same time asking no more of it than is fair and reasonable. No Walden Ponds required.

Walden update

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I’ve found a copy of Thoreau’s Walden and am making good progress through the first section, Economy. I have to admit to being somewhat underwhelmed so far. Yes, he makes some good points–all we really, truly need is food, clothing, and shelter, and to pursue even those beyond the basic necessities can poison the soul–but it’s not enough that he make them. He has to belabor them–forty pages so far, and I’m only half way through this section.

My promise to you: When I get ready to write my magnum opus on self-reliance I won’t beat any single topic to death for more than, say, twenty to thirty pages tops.

 

Don’t forget to exercise

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Sorry that posting has been light lately. Part of the reason is that I’ve been doing research for this blog. The other is that I’ve been very busy, and very stressed. I won’t go into all the stressors I’m dealing with because it would be pointless. Probably about half of you would think “What’s the big deal, wuss!” and the other half would think, “Oh, you poor man!” The reality is that we each have things that really stress us out that others would hardly bat an eye over, and vice versa.

Anyway, in my case the load built up to the point it was making me sick–on the very day I had an important interview. After spending most of the morning trying to sleep it off I finally decided to make myself go exercise. It did the trick. I put in about twenty minutes of rigorous (for my current physical state) exercise, and then went to take a shower. I felt much better. The interview went pretty well.

I’m still working on a complete list of areas in which one can be self-reliant, but emotional self-reliance is on that list. We need to have the tools–and the discipline to use them–to help us maintain emotional balance. Exercise is one of those tools for me and for most people. Don’t forget to exercise regularly.

 

My self-reliance project

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These last few weeks I have been struggling a bit with life in general. This weekend I spent some time soul-searching, scripture-searching, and just generally thinking. It occurred to me that self-reliance is more than just getting your finances and food storage in order. There is spiritual, emotional, and social self-reliance as well. And it occurred to me that in many ways I still have a long way to go toward being self-reliant.

So I’m going to start a project. Within a year I want to have a thoroughly mapped-out plan for personal self-reliance, and I want to have made significant progress in each area.

To kick it all off, I’m going back to the source. Well, one of them, anyway. Today I checked out Thoreau’s “Walden” from the library. It should be a good starting point, anyway.

So stay tuned. I’ll be posting more soon as I contemplate just what I’m getting myself in for here.

 

Tax refunds are not a savings plan

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When I was in college I would get a decent chunk of money back every year as a tax refund. I would call it my “Government Savings Program”. That was until my brother explained it to me. I was giving the government an interest-free loan for up to a year using money that I could actually be earning interest on. My perspective changed after that.

Don’t get me wrong. I am in no way anti-taxes. I prefer a government to no government, and there are quite a few services I enjoy. I’m willing to pay for those, even if I don’t always agree with everything my taxes get spent on. It’s the price we pay for living in a country where we are free to complain about, protest, or even seek to overturn government taxation. I could post in this blog that I think taxes are criminal, and all politicians should be shot–and I won’t be noticed, let alone arrested, beaten, and/or shot.

However, there is no reason why we should float the government a large loan every year just so we can feel good about the sudden influx of capital every April/May. The reality is that we could have been using that money ourselves for a variety of good causes, such as stimulating the economy for real, not just on paper. All it takes is a little bit of bookkeeping and discipline on our part.

Your W-2 form allows you to claim deductions that reduce the amount your employer withholds from your paycheck for taxes. If you find you are getting more than $1000 back from the Federal Government each year you may try increasing the number of deductions you claim by one or two. The goal is to get as close to zero refund as you can, though a few hundred dollars over or under certainly isn’t a problem.

Then note the amount difference in your paychecks. This amount, if you are already living within your budget, is extra cash flow that can be used for a variety of things, such as savings, investments, or funding some of your self-reliance projects such as building up a reasonable reserve of food, building a 72-hour kit, or laying up a supply of firewood.

It is worth noting, however, that the federal government and the state government tax at different rates. For example, even though I get close to a $1000 refund each year from the US Treasury, at least half of that goes into paying the amount of state tax I owe. I don’t adjust my W-2 further because the difference between federal and state taxes are pretty closely balanced. I use one to pay the other and walk away a few hundred dollars left over.

I’m sure most of us have said–or at least thought–that we could use our tax money at least as well as the government does. Well, if your yearly refund is larger than it should be, here is your chance to prove it.

 

Managing money requires visibility

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Many people will tell you the first step in managing your money is to create a budget. While I do believe budgets to be important, for many people the first step is something much more basic: getting in the habit of tracking your money.

This is not as easy as it sounds. In our highly-competitive society, there are more options for anything than we really need or know what to do with. For example, consider all the different options for simply paying for a purchase:

  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit card
  • Debit card
  • Money order
  • Gift card
  • Credit
  • Electronic Funds Transfer
  • PayPal

I’m sure there are more, but you get the idea. Most of us use at least three of those options. I personally use all but two between my personal spending and my business. With so many different ways to buy something, each with a different means and rate of tracking, it can become very easy to at least temporarily forget where your money has gone.

It can be very easy, for example, to charge something on your credit card and then forget you’ve made that purchase until the statement comes up to a month later. It can be nearly impossible to stick to a budget if you spend money in a certain category, forget you spent is, and then spend that money again thinking you still have it available. When the bill comes you will likely find yourself surprised and over budget.

So what is the solution? Well, there are two, actually, that work together: Simplify and Track

Simplify: Do you really need all those different payment methods? Do you really need, for example, to have your savings account at one bank and your checking account at another? Do you need to use three different credit cards? Do you really need to use both checks and a debit card? Look for ways you can reduce the number of “Outgoing Streams” you use. While I did admit to using nearly all of the payment methods listed above, there are only two I use with any regularity.

Look for ways to simplify. Use only one credit card if you can. Put all your accounts together at a single bank. Choose to use either your debit card or your checkbook exclusively. If you find it difficult to choose between some options, always select the one that is easier to track.

Track: Develop a habit of gathering evidence of every purchase you make. Hold on to receipts. Write down all checks you write in your check register. Check your credit cards and/or bank accounts online at least twice a month. Keep a running total of all your accounts and expenditures in a single place and consolidate all your records into that Single Source of Information (SSI) at least twice a month.

I use Quicken as my SSI, but anything will do, so long as it is simple and you’ll use it. I keep the books for my homeowners association in a paper ledger, for example. because it’s simple and portable (for taking it to meetings for the members to audit the books). I consolidate my records three times a month; mid-month, just before month-end, and after month-end when my bank statement comes. Others may need less often than that, and some may need more, but I’d recommend no less than twice a month or you’ll miss making important payments.

Once you Simplify and Track you’re in good shape for devising a budget and getting your finances under control. You can’t control what you can’t see and understand. If you don’t develop the discipline to at least track your money you’ll never be able to develop the discipline to create and stick to a budget. Tracking your money is the foundation to every other step that leads to financial self-reliance and, potentially, independence.