Cash Money Life

I recently received a copy of the book, Make Money, Not Excuses, by best selling author Jean Chatzky. The subtitle is Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever. I think that sums up what this book is about - taking control of your financial situation and coming to terms with the fact that no one is going to do this for you.

It’s only fair to note that this book is written for a female audience. But if there is one thing I’ve learned about money is that it doesn’t discriminate!

About the author. Before reading this book, I was not very familiar with Jean Chatzky, who is a best selling author and a semi-regular on the Oprah Winfrey show. She is also a journalist, financial editor for the Today show on NBC, and she hosts a nationally syndicated daily radio program, Talking Money with Jean Chatzky. With these credentials, I would say she is someone who is well qualified to talk about money!

About the book. The book’s goal is too help people get over their fear of money. In my opinion, this book is designed to help people who may be intimidated by money get over their fears. This is aimed more toward people new to money management, but there are some solid tips within it’s pages that are applicable to everyone.

What I liked. Jean Chatzky has a no nonsense approach to money matters. I would classify her writing as a female version of a mix between Dave Ramsey and Larry Winget, who wrote You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. The tagline on the back of the book is “Get Rich, Don’t Bitch.” I like that phrase, because it reiterates that you hold the keys to your financial future.

Each chapter starts off subtitle highlighting a common complaint many people have regarding handling money. It is titled: “Don’t Bitch.” Then Chatzky discusses common ways to deal with these situations under the heading “Get Rich.” Whining about the situation won’t fix anything, but action will. And this book is a call to action.

I also like how this book deals with the psychology of money instead of just cold, hard numbers. There are other great tidbits of information including how to reduce loans, pay off debt, make saving automatic, and a great glossary of financial terms used throughout the book.

What I didn’t like. There is not much bad to be said about this book. However, it is written as an entry level financial book. That doesn’t mean there isn’t value there, because there is a lot of value - it just depends on the audience. This book is directed toward women, so some men may not appreciate it as well as women might, but I still think they would gain a lot from reading it. This is also not an investing book and won’t tell you where to put your money to make millions. But in many ways it is more important than an investing book, because it helps people change their money habits whichcan be infinitely more rewarding.

Buy or don’t buy? Make Money, Not Excuses is targeted toward women, so definitely take that into account when making the decision to buy it. However, I think there is a lot of good information that can be learned from this book. This book is a very good introduction for someone looking to turn around their finances and I would recommend it for anyone who needs to change their money habits. If the audience is a man who wouldn’t be caught dead reading a book with a pink cover, then I would recommend You’re Broke Because You Want to Be, by Larry Winget.

Want a free copy?

I’m giving away my copy to one lucky reader. To enter, you must send me an e-mail with the secret phrase as the subject. The secret phrase is included in the footer of my RSS Feed or e-mail subscription. Here is more info about how to subscribe if you are not familiar with it. Once you have the secret phrase, you can e-mail me via my contact form. Subscribing is free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

How the winners will be selected:

The giveaway ends May 24th at 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Saving Time. I will use a random number generator to select the winner, which I will announce on this website Sunday, May 25th.

Good luck everyone!

As most of you know by now, I resigned my job last week. The biggest reasons I resigned from my job were career stagnation and lack of job satisfaction. I approached my managers multiple times over the last 9 months or so to try and find something more challenging within the company, but I was told nothing was available.

This has been a long time coming, and I gave my managers plenty of time to work with me. In fact, I was a little surprised that they were surprised when I resigned.

The counter offer

Shortly after I came into work yesterday morning my manager asked to see me. I closed the door to his office and sat down. He started off with a little small talk, “How is the transition plan coming?, I hate to see you go,” etc.

Then, he made his offer. “Patrick, we like the work you’ve been doing and we want you to stay. I sat down with my boss, and he agreed that you are a valuable asset to our company. After crunching numbers and getting corporate approval, we are prepared to make a counter offer to keep you here.”

I didn’t give any response because I was already 99% sure that I wasn’t going to accept any counter offer they made. But I let him play his hand.

When my manager saw I wasn’t going to ask him how much the counter offer was, he proceeded. “As you know, things have been tight, but I was able to convince upper management that we needed to keep you here. They gave me approval to offer you a 20% raise.”

His offer was met with silence from my end. He waited for my reaction, but I didn’t really have one. I was impressed they offered a 20% raise because that is very high for my current company. But, money doesn’t address the reason I looked for a new job in the first place. He looked at me with expectation in his eyes. I declined his offer because I am not interested in staying with my current company.

He asked what it would take to keep me, and I told him I had already made my commitment to another company. He pressed for more details about my new job, and I eventually told him the job offer I accepted came with a 32% raise. At this point, it didn’t bother me to share that information. Our professional community is fairly tight knit, so I think they could have found out the rough numbers anyway. But I stressed that the money was not my driving factor for leaving - it was a combination of things, mostly career opportunity and growth.

He asked me to wait and he came back a few minutes later with his manager and the guy I ultimately report to. Long story short, they ended up offering to match the salary offer I received from my new company. I thanked them for their time and for the offer, but I stood firm. I was not accepting the counter offer.

Why I won’t accept the counter offer

I tried for 9 months to get a different assignment within my company. I talked to managers within and outside my work stream (with my direct manager’s knowledge). However, the company is doing some restructuring and they asked me to be patient. I showed more than enough initiative and patience, and in the end, my company didn’t meet my professional needs.

What I don’t understand is why they suddenly perceived me as valuable as soon as I mentioned leaving? It’s frustrating and I was a little upset until I decided it doesn’t matter. I am leaving.

There are other reasons I won’t accept their counter offer.

• I gave my commitment to my new company. I signed a job offer, and I don’t want to burn a bridge I just built.
• Perception. I didn’t want my coworkers or managers thinking I was staying around until I could find a better opportunity.
• My future with the company. Would accepting a counter offer affect my chances at promoting or receiving raises? Or would I be perceived as a flight risk and relegated to menial tasks until they could find a replacement.
• Would my role change? The main reason I am leaving is not money. While a 30% raise is enough to make me consider leaving, that was not my main motivation. What they don’t realize is that I never would have submitted my resume or application elsewhere if they had worked with me sooner. Even with the counter offer they gave me, they didn’t address the underlying issues of job satisfaction and career growth.

Be prepared for a counter offer

I had an idea my company would make a counter offer, so I prepared for the offer before I even submitted my resignation. I made a list of all the issues I had with my current role. Reviewing these issues before accepting the new job offer and before turning in my resignation was very beneficial in helping me make my decision.

Not every company will make you a counter offer, but if they do, you should be prepared for it before you resign. Otherwise, you may decide to do something before thinking it through.

Accepting or declining a counter offer is a personal decision

In the end, you know what is best for you. But I strongly recommend being prepared for a counter offer before you even resign, then looking at all your options before making a decision to accept or decline a counter offer. Will the counter offer resolve the underlying issues that forced your resignation? Will money alone fix the problem? Do you need a flexible work schedule? How about a different role within the company? Only you know your situation, and only you can answer those questions.

Here are a couple articles I found very helpful in forming my personal decision:

10 Reasons I Won’t Accept a Job Counter Offer by Ron @ The Wisdom Journal. Ron has a lot of professional experience and his thoughts are extremely well presented in this article. I met Ron a couple days before I resigned and we talked about a few of these topics. Talking with him in person really helped solidify my decision.

Accepting A Counter Offer Can Be Risky Move by Jason @ Frugal Dad. Jason uses examples of being branded as disloyal or causing jealousy among peers if word of a large raise gets out.

The other day I was chatting with my friend David, who writes two blogs - My Two Dollars and The Good Human. Many of you are probably familiar with My Two Dollars, because it is part of the M-Network, along with Cash Money Life and several other great personal finance blogs. If you aren’t familiar with The Good Human, it is a blog about the environment.

The main topics David covers on The Good Human are environmental topics such as sustainability, conservation, being “green,” environmental issues that affect your health, and being socially responsible.

At first, some people may think that the environment and money aren’t related. But I think they have more similarities than many people realize.

Conservation and frugality are very closely linked - they’re both about being frugal and maximizing your resources. One of the main topics I write about on Cash Money Life is doing more with less. I am a frugal person by nature: I like to find ways to save money, energy, time, and other resources. And I think many of these principles can be applied to conservation.

Conservation isn’t just for tree-hugging hippies. Conservation is for everyone. Our world has a finite supply of land, raw materials, and fuel, as recent increases in prices of oil, food, and other raw goods have shown. Part of the reason these prices are increasing is our faltering economy and the falling value of the dollar, but much of it is simple supply and demand. There simply aren’t enough resources to easily satisfy everyone’s needs.

Increasing productivity without increasing consumption is a hobby for me, but it is also borne out of necessity. Resources are not only in short supply for me, but they are in short supply for everyone. I know not everyone can live off the grid, use solar power, or drive vegetable oil fueled cars, but there are little things we can all do every day to lessen our environmental and financial footprint.

One of my favorite ways to do this is to apply the Three R’s - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. There are dozens of ways I try to apply these principles at home, many of which may or may not apply to your situation. Think about a few ways you can apply the Three R’s to your daily life. Your changes might not have an immediate life-altering impact, but I guarantee you that over the long run your wallet will thank you, the earth will thank you, and your grandchildren will thank you.

Last week I wrote about two job offers that I received. Last Friday I accepted one of them and resigned from my job. Even though my resignation seemed to catch my management somewhat off guard, it went fairly well. I will have an exit interview with them later this week or early next week, and I will be sure to write about it.

As I mentioned in my previous article about comparing job offers, the two jobs were fairly comparable on several levels. The professional opportunity, health benefits, 401(k), commute, and travel requirements were all in line with what I was looking for.

The main differences boiled down to this:

Company A: 40% pay raise, $5,250 tuition reimbursement, formal company structure, formal business attire, rigid 8-5 schedule

Company B: 32% pay raise, $10,000 tuition reimbursement, informal company structure, business casual attire, flexible schedule, pension plan

My wife and I discussed the job offers at length, and while I think the positions both have a lot of potential, I accepted Company B’s offer. Even though the salary offer from Company A was larger than Company B, I chose the second job offer because quality of life is more important than money to my wife and I.

My current (soon to be former) job requires me to wear a suit and tie every day, and while I don’t mind wearing business attire, business casual is more comfortable and cheaper to maintain. I also like the idea of having more freedom with my work schedule. I think this will be extremely important if my wife and I have children in the near future.

Accepting the job offer

I contacted my interviewers and hiring manager last week by telephone and let them know I was accepting the job offer. I also signed and faxed the acceptance letter to the HR department. At this point, everything seems to be official. The only thing I wish I could change is my start date. My new employer is in the middle of a project and they need me to start right away.

I would have loved to use some of my vacation days with my old employer and take some time off. I also wouldn’t mind taking a week or two off between jobs, just to take a breather and catch up with some chores around the house. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

I won’t complain though! I am excited about this opportunity, and I look forward to working with a new group of people and in a new environment.