Slashdot Mirror
Resolutions for 2007?
JoeCommodore asks: "It's that time of year where many of us review our last year and look at ourselves in the mirror, checkbook balance, and/or social schedule (EPs, stats, and skills, for those who relate to RPGs) and make resolutions to improve ourselves. One of my resolutions is to stop my increasing diversionary tactics when working on my many projects at home. You know, instead of working on some problem problem I turn to the internet (Slashdot), games, snacks, and so on. Either I need to get better at controlling my diversion habits or turn them them into something positive. So what have you thought of doing for yourself in 2007?"
This year, rather than make specifics, I went with one thing: be more awesome.
Crazy, right? In the last year, I started doing everything I needed to do to have a great life. This year, I want to keep doing those things and stay consistent. And even try a few new things. No point in making concrete goals -- the goal is to be more awesome in everything that I do.
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YES!
I was laid off five years ago on my 49th birthday and haven't been able to find a tech job since. My income dropped from over a $100K/year to under $20k (some years under $10k). After we were married (almost 30 years ago now) my wife and I started putting 10% of our gross income into various forms of savings. As we got raises we took part of the raise and put the rest in savings. When I was laid off we were putting nearly 30% of our combined gross into a mixture of pre and post tax savings. Over the last 30 years we have both had extended periods of unemployment and sometimes we did have to stop saving just to cover our locked in expenses. But... we own our cars, own our house, and are able to maintain a comfortable life style while I retrain and start a new career. What little debt we have is due to a decision to keep investments in place so long as the return on those investments is greater than the interest on our debt.
Save, save, save... you never know when you will need the money.
Stonewolf
P.S.
No matter what you may believe, you *can* live on 10% less than you currently make.