Word of the Year 2020: Build 8: Money

ATM in Yerevan, Armenia. March 2012.

On Build thus far

Word of the Year 2020: Build 1: After the Floods
Word of the Year 2020: Build 2: Fronterista
Word of the Year 2020: Build 3: "House"
Word of the Year 2020: Build 4: Chosens
Word of the Year 2020: Build 5: It Takes a Village
Word of the Year 2020: Build 6: Elevation
Word of the Year 2020: Build 7: Trail Building




Last month, I said ....

If I visualize a long trail such as the Appalachian Trail, there are sections, each with different geographic and climate features. I can divvy up my through hike into sections, too:

1. Money
2. Health
3. Relationships
4. Service and activism
5. Creative life
6. Rootless goals I want to achieve

This month is about money. 

About money in the context of this year's word: Build. About money for the future.

Why?

My mission: Live independently for as long as possible while maintaining a pleasing quality of life. 

I have a three-stage strategic plan:

• Until age 70
• Age 70-80
• Age 80 - demise

I've drafted this post several times, only to scratch out the draft, start over, scratch it out, start over.

Got too involved in sharing details that, at the end of the day, are relevant only to me.

Really, all that matters are:

First: Have a plan. 

1. Have a plan to bring in money.
2. Have a plan to save money.
3. Have a plan for how to spend money.
4. Have a plan to deal with plan disruptions, as much as one can. 
5. If you've got consumer debt: have a radical plan to pay it down as fast as possible, without incurring new consumer debt.

In fact, have three plans:

• Short-term (now)
• Mid-term (five-to-ten years from now)
• Long-term (10 years and longer from now)

Second: Execute the plan.

And be ready to re-route the plan if the severity of an inevitable disruption requires it.


Related posts on money

• Being Debt-Free (October 2010)
• Ability to Be Rootless: The Seeds Sown (November 2013)
• Stuff: 10 Tips for Downsizing Your Money Life (February 2016)

Creative Life: Tithing

You might not think of tithing as a "creative life" sort of thing, but:

• I don't want to create a whole new category of stuff on Living Rootless; and
• Tithing - my tithing - is, in a sense, a creative endeavor. 

My decision to tithe sparked in a moment, like menopause, but that one moment was just the final ball drop after this bystander's bobbling and bumping along her twisty path.

The moment occurred while I sat in my daughter's church on a Sunday morning this year. The pastor delivered a pitch on church tithing, and things clicked for me during his sermon.

Ah, tithing. That's the envelope that had been missing from my little collection of ideas about how I wanted to give financial support to others.

What would it be like if I gave 10% of my monthly income to whomever or whatever I deemed a "worthy cause"? Can I afford it?

Certainly worth a try.

Oliver Lee State Park, New Mexico - Pennies on campsite table. September 2012.

In fact, something like this is on the bucket list I typed up decades ago. At that time, I wrote:

"Give some money or goods anonymously each month to a person or family down on their luck - a different person each time." 

At the time I wrote this goal list - it was before there were such things called "bucket lists" - I was, myself, down on my luck. Indeed, toward the top of this list it said:

"Be above survival level ..... " 

I wrote the list just a few months past the height of the unemployment rate during Ronald Reagan's trickle-down era. I was a single parent; my daughter was only barely four years old; I had just started back to school at a community college - possible only because of financial aid. Thank goodness for aid such as:

• Food stamps
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
• Head Start
• Pell Grants
• Subsidized housing

Yeah, folks like to shame those who receive financial aid. I am not embarrassed at my need. I was one of the lucky ones. Albeit poor, I was not generationally poor, and that made all of the difference. I knew things were better out there. I knew I could climb out of poverty. Not all of us are so lucky.

When I was very down and out, so many decades ago, my maternal grandmother sent me a check every month for $25. I don't remember how long she did this; maybe a year, maybe less. That's not a whole lot of money, but gosh, it sure made a difference to me.

It's not in my nature to disburse money to others. It's a behavior I've had to learn, and it still doesn't come entirely easy to me.

But I've had role models, especially in the last 10 years, such as here: On the Way to El Paso: A Remarkable Thing.

I began my tithing a few months ago, though it's taken a bit to actually get up to the 10% mark. This month (October), I'll be making up for some of that with several hefty (for me) donations to local classrooms.

To maximize my limited resources, I intend to focus on three areas:

1. Educational support for schools in low-income neighborhoods
2. Immigration and refugee support
3. Access to affordable health care

 

El Paso: Segundo Barrio: The Turtle and the Treasure

Felhaber turtle, Segundo Barrio, El Paso, Texas. October 2016.

October 2016

Well, I am laughing as I write this. Because you just never know what incredible story lives behind a picture, a discarded item on the street, a tiny altar, a ribbon tied onto the desiccated branch of a dead tree, a half-clothed Barbie doll stuck through a chain link fence. 

So it was with the militant turtle-dinosaur(ish) on the wall above.

I snapped the turtle (heheheh) because I had a language student affiliated with a company that has a turtle logo. I planned to show him the image and we'd consider the messages it conveyed.

But I also looked up the business that shared the wall.

Holy tortoise shells!

The headlines burst at me:

• Buried Treasure A Mystery To Authorities
• Tattered Cash a Buried Treasure or Something More Sinister?
• Ruined U.S. Cash Worth Millions, but Stories are Priceless

The story opens like an action movie that glues you to your seat for the next two hours: The businessman arrived at the Treasury Department carrying a suitcase stuffed with about $5.2 million. The bills were decomposing, nearly unrecognizable, and he asked to swap them for a cashier's check. (Associated Press)


You can watch the real-life trailer here, in this AP video:

And people ask me why I moved to El Paso.

On the Way to El Paso: A Remarkable Thing

A highway in New Mexico. August 2013.

On the way to El Paso, the most remarkable thing happened to me. Two things. Two remarkable things. No, let's make it three. All in the space of a day.

After visiting an aunt and uncle in Dallas, then a detour to see an aunt in Austin, I was on my way for reals to El Paso.

I left my Austin aunt's apartment about mid-afternoon, then pulled over for the night in Junction, Texas, at the Motel 6 there.

The first remarkable thing

I passed a pleasant night at the motel. The next morning was warm and sunny; a shining day to begin a new chapter in a slow-travel life. A man sat on a chair outside his room, adjacent to mine, drinking his morning coffee. He and his wife were on a bit of a road trip.

We chatted as I went in and out of my room, putting stuff into my car before checking out.

The man had spent his career as an attorney who focused primarily on administrative issues. Now retired, he provided pro bono services to low-income people in need of legal help.

I told him some about me, that I'd sold my house and all my stuff a few years back, that I moved every year, wrote a blog, that I was en route to my new home in El Paso.

It was a nice conversation. And in trying political and social times - in the midst of a harrowing presidential election process in late August - I felt sustained by talking to someone throwing good stuff into the universe via his pro bono work.

When I was about ready to get in my car and go, the man reached his hand out to me, and it had a fold of money in it. I laughed, taken aback, and literally backed away, saying, "No, no, I don't need any money! Why are you doing this?!" I may have even nodded toward my 1995 vehicle, exclaiming, still laughing, "I drive this car by choice!"

The man was persistent, and I don't know why I accepted his gift, but I did, eventually, saying, "I'm going to accept this, but I'm going to pay this forward to someone! Thank you!" I got into my car, tossed the folded bills onto the passenger seat without looking at them, and drove away. Laughing in amazement about the generosity demonstrated by one soul toward another, for motivations unknown.

The second remarkable thing

I drove from Junction to Fort Stockton, a happy day of pretty weather, exceptional music (curated by moi), and the continuing glow from the first remarkable thing.

At Fort Stockton, I turned into a truck stop to get gas, go to the bathroom, and refresh my coffee. I pulled up alongside one of the pumps. I got out of my car, about to slide my card, select my fuel, and pump the gas.

I glanced over to my left and, parked over on the edge of the lot, I saw a man and woman standing outside a large sedan. The woman walked over to me.

"Are you coming from Louisiana?" she asked.

I thought to myself, "Wha? How could she possibly know that I've only recently moved from Louisiana? I don't have Louisiana license plates. I don't have any bumper stickers that link me to Louisiana."

I replied, "No, but I did move from there recently. Why do you ask?"

She said, "We lived in Baton Rouge. The flooding. We had to leave. We've lost everything. Now we're stranded here; we're out of money."

I looked at her silently for a moment. 

Days earlier, South Louisiana suffered massive flooding, turning many residents out of their homes.

I looked at the sedan - with Texas plates, not Louisiana plates. I asked her about the plates. The woman said, "That's my mother's car. We went to her house and she's letting us use her car." She called to her husband to bring her wallet, which he did. She opened it up to show me her driver's license. Louisiana.

I forget where she said that she and her husband were on their way to. The car was loaded with stuff, indicating a move. Just like my car.

I said, "I have something for you. You won't believe it, but only this morning, a man I don't know gave me money, for a reason I don't know."

I moved to my car door, opened it, reached over to the passenger seat where I had flung the folded bills. For the first time, I opened up the fold to see how much money was there. Three twenties. Sixty dollars. Damn, that was a lot of money.

I gave it all to the woman, who was dumbfounded (as I would have been) and so grateful for the unexpected gift.

When I was in South Louisiana, I knew a Creole woman. And she had lived some hard times along with some good times. A practicing Christian, she told me one day, "You've got to give to people in need and not worry what they're going to do with it. You've just got to trust. That person asking for help could be Christ."

It felt darn good to pass along the man's gift to another person, to just take the risk and trust. Besides, that money was never mine.

It was a remarkable encounter.


The third remarkable thing

I went inside the truck stop, used the restroom, refreshed my coffee, and returned to my car. The woman and her husband had left.

And that's when the third remarkable thing happened: the internal script began to unroll - thoughts about their choices in life, how they'd got into their predicament, why didn't they this, why hadn't they that?

Amazing how quickly I hopped onto the judge-y train.

So quickly, that it pulled me up short. I had forgotten how being poor is not just about having money or not having money. Being poor pervades every aspect of our thoughts and actions. There is fear, anxiety, fatalism, sometimes despair, sometimes who-gives-a-fuck what I spend my money on today, because I owe so much, any dollar I throw at my problems is like spitting into the ocean, and I better grab some gusto while I've got some to grab. Sometimes I make good decisions; sometimes I make stupid ones.

This money wasn't about that couple. It wasn't about what they did with that money. It was about me. It was about having the trust to just give it to another human and let it go.



These three remarkable things came from a man sitting outside his room at a Motel 6 in Junction, Texas, drinking a cup of coffee on a warm, bright Sunday morning in August.

Thank you.

Gifts For the Frugal v. 2016

An ATM in Awassa, Ethiopia.

It's getting that time of year again. Gift suggestion lists. I've got a penchant for looking at gift recommendations for the budget-minded traveler or just for the budget-minded.

Most of the time, the suggestions are for some level of "budget" that is over my head. Like some of these.

Liberty Bank, Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

Adventurous Kate has offered one of the best, the meatiest, the most comprehensive gift lists I've seen. She has many items that are less than $25. For people who feel good just reading lists, it delivers many utils of satisfaction.

There's also "What Do You Want For the Holidays? For Frugally-Minded Folks," by Trent Hamm. I like all of his suggestions except for the Fitbit idea. The last thing I want is to be dictated to by a little tyrant strapped on my wrist.

ATM in Yerevan, Armenia.

Opelousas: The Long Reach of Racism: Pensions

A pretty house on South Street, Opelousas, Louisiana.

I went looking for a historic spot in Opelousas awhile back, and I couldn't find it, even though I had an exact street address from the biography of Cat Doucet (doo'-say), a long-time sheriff of St. Landry Parish (often referenced by James Lee Burke in his Dave Robicheaux series). 

I pulled into the parking lot of a business that, in theory, would be next door to said historic spot. I went inside, greeted the man and woman I saw within, and said, "Uh, I've got a crazy question to ask you." And I told them about the Doucet biography, the name of the illustrious owner of the business site I sought, and the exact address as per the book. Whereupon the woman explained that it was likely that street numbering had changed between the time of the book's publication and now, and she didn't know the location of the historic site.

But we started talking, and the business woman - a Creole woman in her 70s, perhaps - told me some of her story. To avoid having to refer to the business woman only as "she" and "her," I'll call her Ms. Theresa.

When Ms. Theresa was a child in Opelousas, people of color could only enter a store by way of a back or side door, not the front door. Ms. Theresa and some of her friends refused to subject themselves to this. They had a fair-complected friend of Creole heritage; Ms. Theresa's friend could enter such stores through the front door, so Ms. Theresa and her other friends gave her money to go in and buy their desired items.

Ms. Theresa attended college and obtained a teaching degree. When it came time to seek a teaching position in St. Landry Parish, she discovered she was expected to give money to certain official(s) in order to get a teaching job. This she refused to do, so she moved to another part of Louisiana to teach for a number of years. For a time in Louisiana, she taught at an integrated school, where she encountered the daily situation in which her white students were encouraged by their parents not to pay the respect to her they paid to her white colleagues at the school, such as standing up for her when she entered the classroom, as did students in that era.

Eventually, Ms. Theresa made her way to Georgia to teach, where her salary was significantly higher than in Louisiana. This is where she spent most of her teaching career.

After retirement, Ms. Theresa decided to return to Opelousas, where she'd grown up. An observation she made: Her retirement pension exceeded, by far, that of her contemporaries who'd remained in Louisiana. My impression from Ms. Theresa was that this difference had a direct impact on their respective economic quality of lives today.

Which brings me to the title of my post: The Long Reach of Racism.

Ms. Theresa's observation made me wonder: Did retirement institutions in the US, particularly in the South, adjust their pension calculations to address earlier years of discriminatory wages? To date, I haven't been able to find any answers to this.

If retirement institutions have not made such an adjustment, then there are hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions? - of black retirees who receive a lower pension than their white counterparts, based on past systemic discrimination in:

• Wages;
• Promotional opportunities (and therefore, higher income); and 
• Professional development, e.g. tuition reimbursement (and therefore, higher income).

Most pension plans include these variables in their pension calculations:

• Years of service;
• Average payment for a certain number of years; and 
• Some sort of percentage multiplier. 

The Louisiana teacher retirement pension plan appears to be an example of this.


Let's say I'm a 70 year-old woman of color who taught in the Louisiana public schools, now retired, but who taught between the ages of 25 and 60. I:

• Was born in 1946
• Began teaching in 1971
• Retired in 2006

And let's say I began my teaching career at the same time as a white counterpart, "Ms. Marie." When we began teaching in 1971, she received $10,250 per year, and I received $10,000. ... a $250 annual wage disparity.

Every 10 years, we received a 10% increase in salary. Therefore, in: 

• 1981: Ms. Marie earned $11,275; I earned $11,000 --> $275 disparity
• 1991: Ms. Marie earned $12,403; I earned $12,100 --> $303 disparity
• 2001: Ms. Marie earned $13643; I earned $13,310 --> $333 disparity

If I use the Louisiana retirement plan calculation, my understanding is that I'd: Multiply years of service x average of final three years of compensation x 2% or 2.5%.

Assuming 2%, I calculate our pensions as follows:

• Ms. Marie: 35 years x $13,643 ($477,505 lifetime earnings) x 2% = $9550 pension per year
• Me: 35 years x $13,310 ($465,850 lifetime earnings) x 2% = $9317 pension per year

My retirement pension is $233 less per year than Ms. Marie's, or $19 per month.


References

Teacher Salaries in Black and White: Pay Discrimination in the Southern Classroom (1890-1954)

From Encyclopedia of Louisiana, Jim Crow's Demise, article by Nikki Brown:
"In 1965, only five Louisiana parishes submitted plans for integration. By 1967, thirty parishes still had made no arrangements to desegregate. In 1970, forty-five parishes were ordered to come up with a legitimate plan or risk the loss of federal funding; full integration of Louisiana’s public schools did not come until the mid-1970s. Similarly, Louisiana was ordered—on at least ten occasions between 1965 and 1998—to integrated segregated universities and professional schools or compensate the state’s historically black colleges and universities for generations of neglect."


Related post

Opelousas: Death in Black and White

Stuff: 10 Tips for Downsizing Your Money Life

Art and money at an ATM in Yerevan, Armenia.

Recently, Lifehacker published an article, Go On a Regular Purge to Downsize Your Life and Save Money.

I like the take on this article, which is more about purging expenses than stuff. The author references an article in a website new to me, MoneyNing, titled How to Downsize Your Lifestyle.

Both articles are frustratingly fluffy, but there's enough yeast in them to get one thinking.

Here are my own tips

1. Get into the right frame of mind.

Set concrete financial goals:

• "I want to have x dollars in the bank by x month and year."
• "I want to be debt-free by x month and year." 

Your desired future guides your financial goals. You don't need to have it all figured out today, but do you have a rough idea of what you want your life to be like in the next five, 10, 20, 40, 60 years?

Accept that different phases of your life cost more than others. Depending on your age, family status, and so on, there is an ebb and flow of income outflows, such as student loans, setting up a home, daycare for young children, extra-curricular activities for school-aged children, etc. Think over the long haul (the roughed-in vision of your future), but always with an eye on living within your means today so you can achieve the goals for the future.

2. Challenge what you think you know.

Question common "truths."

For example, do you HAVE to take on student loans to get an undergraduate degree? Hell, no. But to avoid this, you will have to buck the crowd mentality. For example, maybe you'll take six years to graduate instead of four, so you can work your way through school. Maybe you'll get a relatively inexpensive associate's degree at your local community college and then go to a four-year university as a junior so you can get your bachelor's there. None of your friends are doing this? Who gives a fuck? You'll graduate without a student loan that will chain you down for 10+ years. ...

The same strategy works for other rites of passage. Does it make economic sense for everyone to buy a house? No, it doesn't. The common wisdom about a house being a better financial investment than renting isn't always correct.

3. Do follow some rules of thumb

Set aside a fixed percentage of all income for short-term and long-term savings. ANYTHING is better than nothing. The point is to make it a life-long habit to pay into your future with every paycheck or windfall.

Set these two financial goals regardless of your vision of a desired future:

• A fund for sudden expenses, such as a car repair, appliance/equipment replacement, doctor's bill. 
• Six to nine months of replacement income in case you lose your income stream. 

4. The road to hell: "just 10 bucks a month"

If I can get something I want for just 10 bucks a month, that sounds good to me. Unfortunately, there are lots of things that are only 10 bucks a month, and if I add them up, I'm suddenly at 100 bucks a month and, damn, how did that happen?

Go through your list of small monthly expenses. Purge the ones you use only occasionally. Peer closely at the ones you use frequently - can you get the same or similar service or product another way, for free or at a lower cost?

5. The other road to hell: Bundling and Friends

Bundling our services is seductive, as is joining a service that our friends and family members belong to, because we can (we're told) save money.

But these can suck your money in cunning ways:

• You include an unnecessary service into the mix because it's "only" 10 bucks a month or because you "need" to add this service to get the bundling benefit of a reduced cost on a service you do want or need.
• You voluntarily chain yourself to the bundle because you agree to a contract that will cost you a penalty if you leave before the end of the contract period. 
• You voluntarily chain yourself to the bundle because it's such a hassle to un-bundle if you want to try one service that another provider offers, while keeping the other services in your bundle. 

It's almost always best for me in the long run to keep a diversified portfolio when it comes to phone, internet, and cable services. Therefore, I do not bundle. (Nor do I ever use an email account that is tied to an internet service provider because that is just another chain that keeps me tied to a particular vendor.)

If you bundle, look at your contract's expiration date. Research no-contract phone services. Check the numbers on your family plan to see if you can do better by each person using a stand-alone, pay-as-you-go plan. Do you still need cable or satellite TV? Do you still need a land line? Come up with a bundling exit strategy.

6. Beware of automatic withdrawals

On one hand, using automatic withdrawals for paying our bills is liberating. No more paper! No more forgetting to pay the bill! No more late due notices! Better credit rating!

On the other hand, we continue to pay for goods and services we no longer want or need because:

• We signed up for automatic renewal of a subscription and - DAMN! - we missed the deadline to cancel and now we're stuck with another year of something we don't want, don't need, or can't afford. I have done this myself.
• It's a pain in the ass to contact the company to stop the automatic withdrawal, so we just tell ourselves we'll get around to it next month. (Oh, and some companies are notoriously slow at stopping the automatic withdrawals.) Ch-ching. 

Pore over your credit card bills and checking account balances for forgotten or neglected automatic withdrawals. Calendar renewal dates so you can cancel timely.

Dave Ramsey is a popular financial adviser who I admire for what he says about managing our money. (Note: This does not mean I endorse his political, faith, or other personal views.)

Dave Ramsey's tag line is brilliant:

“Live like no one else now so later you can live like no one else.”

10 Gifts Under 10 Bucks for the Portable, Budget-Minded Minimalists Who Like to Travel

A budget-minded, portable minimalist's space, dressed by light. Opelousas, Louisiana.

The title sounds so specific that surely it's all about me, right?

In a way, yes. But only in that I'm using myself as a focus group of one. This is because travel gift lists tend toward the extravagant. "Living simply" gift lists tend toward the smug and expensive. And "frugal" and "budget-minded" mean different things to different people, mostly resulting in gifts that are still over my price range.

If I were to create my own list of gifts for the portable, budget-minded minimalists who like to travel, this is what would be on it:

1. Write a letter with a pen and mail it to the recipient. Doesn't have to be lengthy or detailed. Might just be three sentences telling the recipient you were thinking about them, hope they are well, and that they have a wonderful year ahead.  
2. Make a phone call. Express the same three sentiments as above: I was thinking about you, hope you're well, want to wish you a wonderful year ahead. 
3. Cash. It fits everyone, is accepted everywhere (except Norway), and has no expiration date. Quantity unimportant. Five bucks- woohoo! There's a lot one can do with five bucks. 
4. Whistle. For one, whistles are cool. They're small. They're useful for security (or at least a reassurance of security). They may or may not scare bears.
5. Travel alarm. Sure, your recipient has a phone with an alarm clock app on it. But shit happens. The phone, for whatever reason is inaccessible or unusable. You inadvertently set the alarm volume to zero. (Not that I've ever done this. Not even three times.) You can get a perfectly serviceable, eminently packable travel alarm for less than 10 bucks. 
6. Paracord lanyard. If you're crafty, you can make your own and distribute them as gifts. Otherwise, you can buy one. I like the idea of a paracord lanyard because of its utility, strength, and style. Search on "paracord lanyard" and you'll find lots of DIY instructions and also where to buy them readymade. 
7. Drawstring bag (aka "sack bag"). I've come to appreciate my two cheap-ass drawstring bags, which I got free as promotional items from a booth at some event. They're lightweight, take up virtually no space in my car or apartment, and they attract no covetous interest by strangers. I use them on short hikes, at the grocery store as a plastic-bag substitute, and at dance venues, so I can take along a fan, bottle of water, and a few other items. 
8. Small flashlight. Do some review searches for the best-quality small, budget flashlights. Sure, your recipient may have a camera with a flashlight app, but this assumes a charged phone when, where, and for how long she may need it. Besides, like whistles, little flashlights are cool.
9. Duct tape. You can buy a travel-ready roll or you can create one for your recipient. 
10. L-o-n-g clothesline. Cotton or nylon, whatever. Just the rope; no fancy-schmancy hooks or rigs. I say long (i.e. 20 feet) because it will still pack up compactly and offer maxium utility to the recipient: Camping, tying down trunk lid when transporting bulky stuff, hanging laundry in hotel rooms, etc. If necessary, the recipient can cut off a length as needed. I currently use my clothesline as a way to hang artwork on one wall in my apartment. The excess length is coiled neatly (kind of) in a corner.

But I'm not much for creating lists. 

Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip, Part 5: Loose Ends

On June 30, 2011, I published Taking a Budget Road Trip, Part 5: Loose Ends. This was from my Take a Road Trip series.

Art and ATM in Armenia. March 2012.

In Part 5, I tie up loose ends:

•     Money
•     Should I rent a vehicle for my road trip?
•     Ask to see the room
•     Mile markers, exit numbers, and odd/even highways
•     Road-tripping while brown

Ware Street car, Jefferson City, Missouri. December 2006.

Money

Common budget busters


In the previous articles, I covered the biggest budget busters. Below are some more: 

Not keeping track of your spending along the way. Note your expenditures in a small notebook as you go. (This is actually faster than using your smartphone to do it.) If you don't write down what you spend, you will lose track of your spending. And this means you’ll likely over-spend. Writing down the expenses is also important if you're traveling with others and you split costs. Avoid conflict later. Write. It. Down.

Watch the card use!  We can lull ourselves into thinking that if we put it on plastic, it doesn't really count. Or we rationalize an impulse buy ("A balloon ride! Only $200? Life is short!") that is going to hurt us really bad when we're back home and have to come up with the extra $$$ to pay off that unanticipated credit card debt. But see "forms of money to take" below.

Buying new clothes for the trip. The cost of the trip starts when you start buying trip-related stuff. Instead of buying new clothes "for the trip," go the opposite direction: A road trip presents an opportunity for unloading clothes that you're ready to retire. Old underwear especially - wear 'em, then pitch 'em. Those trousers that are almost, but not quite ready to be tossed? Perfect for long driving days when your only goal is to chew miles. Wear them on those long driving days, then pitch them when done.

Souvenirs. Consider making your road trip a souvenir-free trip. Or set a souvenir budget before you leave and factor it into the overall cost of the trip. Consider what you might do with the money if you choose not to get any souvenirs. Spend an extra night on the road? Pay for a tank of gas? Pay the admission to an additional event or attraction?

Highway 104 between Las Vegas and Tucumcari, New Mexico. August 2013.

Forms of money to take

When I'm at home in the US, wherever that might be, I operate almost entirely by debit card, thus carry minimal cash.  But if I'm on a road trip, I'll consider these options:


Credit card. I have a cash-back credit card, so as long as I have the money set aside to pay my credit card in full after my trip, using my credit card on a road trip offers some advantages. One benefit, of course, is the cash back. Another benefit is that the credit card statement serves as a tidy tracking and analytical tool post-trip. Finally, the credit card company offers me some protections in case I lose the card or I buy defective goods or have a dispute with a vendor.

Paying with a credit card is NOT a good idea for those of us who already have a lot of debt or who tend to be over-spenders.

Debit card. My debit card is my usual payment method of choice for a road trip. Because the money is withdrawn from my checking account immediately, it keeps me on my budget. I also take a credit card; sometimes I'll use it throughout the trip to pay for gasoline.  

Checks. Not an entire checkbook, which is bulky and just weighs me down, but depending on the road trip length, one or several loose checks. There are many small vendors out there who don't take plastic, but they will take checks, even an out-of-state check. I burn a check when the desired purchase will use more cash than I want to release at one time, such as for a local artisan item at a market or fair.

Cash. There are several ways to go with this, such as: 

• Assume 80% reliance on plastic, and bring 20% of your budgeted amount in cash.  
• Decide to go primarily with cash so you are more likely to stay within your budget, and in that case, distribute the cash among three places: your wallet, a piece of luggage, and perhaps a money belt.

For me, it's annoying to have to replenish a cash supply, so I prefer to estimate how much cash I'll need and have it with me from the start. My default is the first option above. 


What to have in your wallet

This falls equally into a security category as it does in a money category. Don't take wallet items that will be a pain in the ass for you to replace if your wallet disappears.

• Credit cards: Take only one. Leave others at home. 
• Debit cards: Ditto.  
• Library cards and other local membership cards: Leave at home.
• Social Security card: You shouldn't have this in your wallet even at home. 
• Driver's license: Take. 
• Car insurance card: Take.
• Health insurance card: Take.
• Travel club membership cards, e.g. AAA: Take

Should I rent a vehicle for my road trip?


There's no right or wrong answer to this question. Factors to consider include: 
 

• Number of people in the party 
• Road types, e.g. paved roads, some gravel/dirt that are level and in good condition, or some gravel/dirt roads that are heavily rutted 
• Condition of your vehicle 
• Gas mileage of your vehicle 
• Your personal deal-breaker threshold re: the reasonable likelihood of a breakdown in your vehicle or your ability to deal with a break down if it happens 
• Duration of road trip

If I use myself as an example, I won't hesitate to take my 1995 Toyota Camry (150k 199k miles) on a road trip of any duration or distance, assuming:

• Number in my travel party is no more than two, maybe three adults
• The roads I'll be on are paved or gravel/dirt in good condition (my car rides low)
• My car passes a thorough pre-trip check at my auto repair shop or I can get current or potential problems fixed before the trip

I have AAA roadside service membership, so I'm not that concerned about dealing with a breakdown. I also figure that if my car breaks down on the road, it would have also broken down at home, so I just factor in the repair bill as an ordinary cost of using my car.

Unlike the hapless family in National Lampoon's Family Vacation, it hasn't been my experience that auto repair people have tried to gouge me when I've had a problem on past road trips. (I’ve had a flat tire on the Denali Highway in Alaska, a flat tire in Nebraska, locked my keys in the car in Sedona, needed a jump start in Albuquerque, and needed a couple of new tires in Cuba, New Mexico.)

On a road trip with three or four people, with all their gear, I’d likely be looking at sharing a roomy rental with good gas mileage unless one of my companions owns something comparable and s/he is OK  using it for the trip.

Here's another voice on the matter of renting or not: Your Next Road Trip: Is it Better to Rent a Car or Take Your Own? at PT Money.

Vaughn, New Mexico. July 2013.

Ask to see the room


When you go to a motel, hotel, or hostel, it is perfectly OK to ask to see the room before you commit for the night. No matter how low the price, it is appropriate to expect:

• Clean bathroom
• Working locks on the doors and windows
• Clean bedding (feel free to pull back the bedspread a bit to ensure the sheets are clean)
• Working shower, sink, and light bulbs

If the room you're shown lacks the above, you can either ask to see a better room or move on to another place.

But let's say you don't find out til after you check into your room that it's a bad one. Don't unpack. Leave your stuff in the room, proceed directly to the front desk, explain the problem, and ask to see a different room. Look at the alternate room before moving your gear. If it's OK, then move. If not, request a refund, put your gear in your car, and go somewhere else.

Be calm, polite, and firm. Most places will try to make you happy.

Columbus, New Mexico and Las Palomas, Chihuahua border

Mile markers, exit numbers, and odd/even highways



Which way? I'd be embarrassed to say how old I was before I knew that odd-numbered highways go north/south and even-numbered highways go east/west. (Don’t try to apply this in Lafayette, Louisiana, however, because you will go mad in the attempt.)

Exit numbers. In most states, exit numbers correspond to the mile markers for the highway they're on.

Mile markers. The mile markers correspond to the number of miles on a given highway within the state you're in. So it's kind of nice to know that if you're going west on Interstate 70 in Missouri, for example, you know exactly how many miles you have left til you get to Kansas. This is because the mile markers descend in number. Once you hit the Kansas border, the mile markers start over; they begin with the last mile, thus you know immediately how many miles you've got to go before you arrive in Colorado, should you follow I-70 the whole way.

Going around. Want to avoid going through a city and instead go around it? Cities of sufficient size build highways that divert traffic around them. They mark such highways by adding a numeral (e.g. 1, 2, 3, or even a 4) in front of the through-going highway’s number. For example, Highways 170, 270, and 370 in the St. Louis Metropolitan area move you temporarily from Interstate 70 to a highway that swings you around parts of St. Louis, and then returns you to Interstate 70 on the other side.

The hotel so hard to find in Dubai's Gold Souk, you need a map.

I mentioned this in Part 4, but it’s worth repeating here: When on a road trip, have paper maps on hand even if you’ve got a smart phone or a GPS.  Phones and GPS devices are too small to give you the big picture you may want (or need) to make informed decisions about where you want to go. Also, mechanical devices and connections fail on occasion.

The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1940, by Victor H. Green. Credit: Wikipedia

Road-tripping while brown

At the time of this update in 2015, there seems to be a spike in overt racism (and, at the same time, an environment of greater harmony). The vast majority of time on a road trip, I'd not anticipate any ugliness. But as one friend has told me, he never knows when it's going to pop up and surprise him.

From 1930 to 1966, African-American road-trippers could consult The Negro Motorist Green Book for guidance on how to get from Point A to Point Z safely and enjoyably. (You can read the entire 1949 issue here.)

You might think such a guide isn't necessary today, but you never know.

NPR's Latino USA did a show on Traveling While Brown, which you can listen to here. Summary: "For people of color, travel can bring all sorts of unexpected experiences, both good and bad. We talk to journalist and author Farai Chideya about how blending in or sticking out can affect travel."

If you run into unpleasant situations in restaurants, motels, or stores, there are good mechanisms for dealing with these (usually after the fact, alas), such as traveler review sites (e.g. tripadvisor and yelp) and letters to managers, owners, or corporate headquarters.

Police stops have the potential to be a different matter, so:

Police stops

Road trips, by their very nature, take us through speed traps and into areas that are hyper-alert to people who look different from the usual residents. If we've got out-of-state plates on the car, all the safer (politically) to stop us.

The following guides are good for all of us, but especially for road-trippers who are brown, for those who are under 25, and for those who appear poor (i.e., without allies):

• From the ACLU: What to do if you're stopped by police, immigration agents, or the FBI
• From BlackPolice.org: What do do when stopped by the police
• From Ohio State Bar Association: Your rights if questioned or stopped by the police
• From Louisiana Public Defenders Office: Know your rights on the streets and in Lousiana courts

Be a more boring driver when you're on a road trip. Watch your speed. On the interstate, stay in the right lane unless you're passing. (On the first day of one road trip, I got pulled over - and received a ticket! - for driving in the left lane on a Missouri interstate.) Use your turn signals. Come to complete stops at stop signs.

Tickets are expensive. They could raise your car insurance premiums. They really mess with your happy road-trip vibe. 

Near Capulin Volcano, New Mexico.

Louisiana: Settling In

“Settling in” is a euphemism for spending a lot of money the first few days of a move-in. What I bought the first two days:

Non-perishables

• Toaster ($12)
• Full-length mirror ($6)
• Step stool that will serve as step stool, foot rest, and side table for the veranda outside ($9)
• AA battery replenishment
• Swiffer system – all my floors are vinyl ($20) + pad/soap refills
• Colander ($2)
• Dishwasher detergent ($4)
• Small plates in the infant section – (five for $4)
• Small glasses with lids in the infant section – (five for $3)
• 62-oz size plastic food storage ware that I use for large bowls, such as for salads
• Roaster pan for doing up my chickens and occasional turkey ($8)

Food

• Turkey on sale @ .69 per pound … Thanksgiving, you know
• Two roaster chickens
• Large bags of frozen brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and baby peas
• Large bag of frozen “tropical” fruit mix
• Plain, nonfat yogurt
• Pumpernickel bread
• Onions
• Sweet potatoes
• Bag of frozen sweet potato patties
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Green peppers
• Cucumbers
• Coffee
• Eggs
• Pam spray
• Cooking oil
• Sugar-free blackberry jam

Ouch, my wallet hurts!

What hasn’t translated to Louisiana from New Mexico

• My shower/tub already has a shower curtain and rod, so there’s no need for the tension rod and curtain I bought in New Mexico, which I used to partition off my den from the living room.
• I’m going to try and use my vacuum sweeper, bought in New Mexico, in my new place instead of buying a broom and dustpan. We’ll see.

What I’ve been able to re-use from New Mexico or prior purchases

• Coffee maker
• Flatware
• Work table
• Desk lamp
• Cutting board
• Spices
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Shelf stereo
• Plastic 4-drawer, rolling storage cabinet
• Skillet, some pots, baking sheet, and a small square cooking pan
• Large stainless bowl
• Vacuum sweeper (hopefully)
• Twin-size sheets, pillowcases
• Blankets
• Pillows

As in New Mexico, I use my storage bins as side tables.

Still to get

• Second-hand table for dining and to do artwork
• Second-hand chairs for dining and guests
• Second-hand office chair for working

I’ll get an air bed for visitors, but I won’t get one (or two) til right before they arrive.

I’ll work up my total relocation expenses in the near future.

Ability to Be Rootless: The Seeds Sown

Here in Lafayette and back in Alamogordo, when I went to rent an apartment, I knew I wouldn’t fit the usual financial profile of a desirable tenant. My income is well below what lessors are looking for.

The reason I got approved at both places is that I’ve got an exceptional credit rating. I don’t have an exceptional credit rating because I was affluent in the past – that’s never been my situation. I have a sterling credit rating because:

• I have always paid my bills.
• I lived within my means so I could pay my bills.

A secondary reason for rental approval, if needed, is that I saved my money. I always put aside a certain percentage of my income into short-term and long-term savings. So I’ve got some savings that help reassure lessors that I do have the wherewithal to pay rent. 

I am debt-free.  

I’m not posting this to brag – I’m posting it for those of you who dream of long-term travel some day.

If you haven’t started college yet, avoid falling for the myth that you must take out student loans (or quite so much, especially for an undergraduate degree). Some strategies to offset large student loan debt:

• Get an associates’ degree at a community college first, where it’s less expensive than a four-year university.
• Price shop at universities. Look for value over brand.
• Who says you have to graduate in four or five years? Take it slower and work your way through in six years. The money you save in debt could be far more important than the extra time you take.
• Cut your monthly expenses, especially those that relate to data plans.
• Got a late model vehicle that you owe money on, which also means full insurance and higher personal property taxes? Sell it and get a beater that you own outright, transfer to liability-only insurance, and enjoy lower personal property taxes. Crunch the numbers – this could make sense even if you lose money on the sale.

Rootless Freedom: A New Job!

I just received good news!

I've been accepted as an online English teacher for a company based in Europe, which has adult learners all over the world.

All of my experiences thus far with this company, which I'll call Artemis, have been professional, positive, and respectful of both its clients and prospective teachers. Good teaching materials. Decent income for this online-teaching newbie. (Not giddy-good, but decent.)

I've got the usual new-job jitters, of course. I will try to remember these life lessons. And to have fun. 

This new job gives me freedom to live anywhere in the world that has a high-speed internet connection.

Combined with another modest source of income I have, my compensation from Artemis will serve most of my financial needs.

This feels really good.

Alamogordo: Center of the Second-Hand Universe

You're into shopping at thrift stores? Alamogordo is your next vacation destination. Bring a truck.

Despite a population of only 30k, Alamogordo has at least 11 thrift stores, which works out to one thrift store per 2700ish residents. They are:

1. King's Treasure, White Sands Boulevard
2. Bargain Qwest, 818 Hwy 70 West (my favorite)
3. Goodwill, 10th Street
4. Salvation Army, used to be on New York Avenue, but recently moved
5. Zia Thrift Shop, 9th Street
6. Community Connection Thrift Store, 1st Street
7. Father James B. Hay Thrift Store, White Sands Boulevard
8. Habitat for Humanity Restore, 10th Street
9. A 2nd Second Hand Store, White Sands Boulevard
10. Classy Cats Thrift Store, New York Avenue
11. Twice Blest Thrift Store, White Sands Boulevard

The above list doesn't include the thrift stores in nearby Tularosa, Cloudcroft, or Ruidoso. (King's Treasure has a branch in Cloudcroft.)

With a military base nearby, do you think there are many yard sales? You betcha.

In fact, Alamogordo has so many yard sales and similar for-sale-by-owner items, the city has its very own craigslist that isn't craigslist: it's the venerable hollomanyardsales.com, which not only posts yard sales in Alamogordo and on the Holloman Air Force Base, but posts business services, free stuff, lost and found, and things "wanted."

Are you into used books? Here again, Alamogordo is where it's at. Books Revisited has an inventory that changes daily (largely because it receives so many donations and there's not enough space, so every day "new" books get put out to replace those sold), and is located in the White Sands Mall. It's operated by the Alamogordo Public Library Foundation, and staffed by volunteers. Proceeds go to the library. This is a big store with a wifi hotspot, and nice tables out front. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. There's a food court in the mall, too, so you can go buy some books, enjoy lunch, and just hang out and read.

Speaking of the library (on 10th and Oregon) - are you passing through Alamogordo and you've gone through all your books? Walk into the library and you'll see directly ahead of you bookshelves that invite you to swap your finished books for new-to-you books. Free! Apparently there are a few folks who take and don't leave, so don't you be one of those.   

Credit Card Slut?

Photo credit: Public Domain

Two seductive invitations in two days:

1. Air Trans is offering me two round trip tickets if I charge $2000 in the first three months of using its card.
2. Delta Airlines is offering me 35,000 miles if I charge $750 in my first three months of using its card

Well, I'm pissed at Delta because it charged me for a piece of checked baggage on a technicality when I flew between Istanbul and St. Louis. The employee could have used his discretion, but no he didn't, citing the fact that the travel agency had booked two separate tickets: one from Istanbul to New York and another from New York to St. Louis. So even though I had free checked baggage on the international leg, I got zinged for the NY to STL leg. ... I'm getting irritated all over again just writing about it, the assholes. So, no, Delta, I'm not going to accept your offer. You did me wrong back in July.

So .... two round trip tickets? I have no grudge against Air Tran. I'll have to crunch some numbers. See, the thing is, although two round trip tickets somewhere sounds nice, there are collateral costs that come with a trip that maybe I hadn't planned on taking.

But now that my head has been turned (sorry Chase), I've a mind to see what else is being offered out there.

We've already established I can be bought, now it's just a matter of negotiating the price.

The 5 Laws of Souvenirs

Credit: Mount Rushmore

If you fall into any of these categories, then this post is not for you:
 

• You love to shop! 
• It makes you happy to be surrounded by items you've collected from your travels.
• You adore giving gifts! 

You already know what you're doing and are having a good time doing it. Carry on. 


No, this post is for people who:

• Don't really enjoy shopping
• Often seem to buy the wrong souvenirs
• Feel anxious about which souvenirs to buy for folks back home  
• Feel like you "should" buy a souvenir, but really don't want to collect any more stuff

First Law: You don't have to buy any souvenirs


Freeing yourself of souvenir-buying saves you:

1. Time shopping, which you can spend on more pleasant pursuits.
2. Money that you can apply toward a longer stay, a lodging upgrade, additional stops, more activities on your trip ... or keep safe in your savings account. 
3. Luggage bloat that is inconvenient and perhaps costly.
4. Guilt that you aren't doing something you think you should be doing while traveling.
5. From having to apply a work attitude while on vacation, toward the goal of souvenir purchase.

Freeing yourself of the chore of buying souvenirs allows you to enjoy sensory-dazzling markets without a care, merely offering gracious "no thank you's" to vendors. You can devote your experience to taking in the sights and smells and sounds. Taking photos. Touching the wares. Or, get this: You don't have to visit a market at all, if you don't want.

If you happen to see something you must have, great! That is serendipitous and adds to the travel experience in a positive way. 



Second Law: Remember the light at home.

What looks stunning and exotic and perfect! on your trip may look out of place at home.

This applies especially to artwork, and it especially applies to situations where you've bought an item in a sun-drenched location and brought it back home to, say, the Midwest, New England, or the Northwest, where the light is so completely different.

The color palette of a painting that looked smashing on your trip might not make sense in your house. It might not work with your existing decor, or your light does not support the wonderful energy you saw in the painting when it was in its original environment.

Sometimes it's best to just appreciate a work of art in the moment and in its original context, and leave it there. If you wish, take a photo of it, if the vendor allows, so you can revisit the piece in an album as often as you wish.

This rule also applies to clothing. As beautiful as that scarf, shawl, harem pants, caftan, or traditional hat is ... will you (or your unsuspecting recipient) actually wear it back home?

On my first trip to Ethiopia in 2006, I bought several gorgeous (gorgeous!) shawls of the most brilliant hues and designs. But what I found upon returning home was that I never quite found the right opportunity to wear them, or even the knack to wearing them in a way that felt comfortable to me. I brought back a number of scarves for gifts, but as beautiful as they were, the recipients didn't wear them.

Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself before buying a souvenir:

• Will I (or the recipient) really wear this at home? When? Where? With what? 
• Where will I (or the recipient) display this in the house? Will the colors work with the light and decor? Is its size the right scale for the room?

Another technique I've found useful is to walk away from the item and continue shopping. If I still want it after I finish perusing the market, then that's a green light. Often, I find that I don't want the item enough to go back and retrieve it, thus saving myself buyer's remorse later.



Third Law: You are a rabbit, the vendor is a hawk. Never forget that. 

Rabbits and hawks are both worthy creatures, but each has its own agenda.

The hawk's agenda is to separate you from as much of your money as possible. Your agenda, as the rabbit, is to enjoy the day and get home with your hide intact.

Do not feel sorry for the vendor or worry that you might take advantage of the vendor. [Insert uproarious laughter here.] Regardless of the vendor's age or gender, trust that the vendor is a master hunter and you are the game.

When you forget this rule, you may:

• Buy souvenirs you don't really want
• Pay more for souvenirs than you want to pay
• Feel bad about your buying experience

If you don't want to buy anything: 

• Don't make eye contact with vendors unless you want to engage in a conversation
• Don't answer questions unless you want to engage in a conversation 
• Don't shake hands unless you want to engage in a conversation
• Say "no, thank you" and repeat as needed if you're looking at a vendor's wares. If you're just walking through, then keep on moving.

If you're interested in an item:

• In cases where your travel location is famous for certain items, such as precious metals or stones, or textiles, or whatever, do some research before you go to the market. Know, in general, what to look for in quality, price, plus any common scams.
• In a market where haggling is the norm, a rule of thumb is to offer half the vendor's asking price and go from there. But do some research about what the bargaining norms are for the country you'll be in. Asking a clerk at your place of lodging is a good strategy.
• Have a limit on what you're willing to pay for an item and stick to it. 

Fourth Law: Think Ahead


If you want to get souvenirs, then before you leave on your trip, think ahead: 

1. Who do I want to buy souvenirs for (including myself)? 
2. What artwork will complement my house vis a vis color, size, style?
3. What is my souvenir budget (total, per person, per category of recipient - such as family, friends, work)?
4. What do my gift recipients like? What are their interests? What do they wear? Do they have pierced ears? What size clothing do they wear? 
5. Would any of my prospective recipients, truthfully, really prefer nothing, as they don't want to add to the stuff they already own? 

Write this stuff down and take the list with you. Use the list as a daily prompt to help you keep an eye out for items as you enjoy your day.


Making such a list will help you avoid situations where you: 

• Just buy "stuff" in quantity and assume you'll figure out who to give it to when you get home
• Forget to buy a souvenir for an individual you want to give something to
• Are in a last-day panic of "I've got to go buy souvenirs today or else ...!" 
• Buy things you really don't want
• Spend more than you want

Fifth Law: Check the Bottom

I'm not going to mention names, but I still shake my head over the gift a friend gave me upon his return from a certain country far, far away. It was a wooden carving representing a figure from that country. When I turned it over, I saw a sticker, Made in China.

Helloooooo?!

[If you're going to buy something "local," but see that it was made in China, then at least take the sticker off. ;).]