Archive for June, 2009
How Not to Move
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Frugal Living on June 30th, 2009
My wife and I packed up our stuff and moved to St. Louis this weekend. Because one of my hobbies is maintaining a personal finance blog, you might expect this post to be full of useful tips and ideas about how to optimize your move. Wrong. This might help you in some way, or all it may do is destroy whatever credibility I have with the people that regularly read this blog. Hopefully the former.
Our move was somewhat complicated by the gap in our closings. We sold our condo in Kansas City. The official closing date and transfer is scheduled for July 1st, but, anticipating our move, we went ahead and met last Friday to sign the papers. Our closing on the place we bought in St. Louie isn’t until July 13th. I’m actually out of town for work the entire week of the 13th, so we’re going to do that one early, too (while reserving Rachel’s right to do a walk through on the 13th – before we take possession). Anyway, we’re subletting a place until we can move in to the place we just bought:
Cost – $750 for the month of July.
Rachel rented a truck for our move. We went with Penske. They assured Rachel that based on the size of our condo, all we would need was a fourteen foot truck. She went with her gut, and we got a 16 footer:
Cost – $160
We also had a very small window of time for which to move. My wife, always a clever Craigslist hound, found a moving company that charged $40 per hour. When we told them what we had and how big our place was, they estimated that it would take three hours.
Supposed Cost – $120 (a very good value I might add)
It didn’t take three – it took about 6, and that was with Rachel and I moving everything we could as fast as we could, and those guys dragging behind (Craigslist comes with a risk).
Actual Cost – $240 (I could have refused to pay them more than the $120 they gave us in the estimate, and it’s likely that nothing would have happened, but they were nice guys and between them I think they had about 100 kids).
Halfway through the truck being loaded, the moving guys (Manny and Gilbert) came to us and said that we weren’t going to be able to fit everything in the truck. Rachel told them they’d get an extra tip if they could make it work. We started mapping out a contingency plan. Rachel called Penske and complained. The nice people at Penske told her that she could (a) come switch out for another truck or (b) keep the truck for a couple extra days on them (she’s good with people). We opted for (b), the plan being that I would drive the truck back and get the rest of the stuff on my own. This would have increased our fuel cost and time cost, plus it would have necessitated an extra trip back to get my car.
Supposed Cost – $100
We ended up giving some of our stuff to Manny and Gilbert and packed the rest the best we could. Her car had more stuff in it than any Toyota Matrix in the history of the Toyota Matrix (only since 2002). She had to hold stuff up while driving (not the safest), but she didn’t complain. My Camry was equally loaded down, but we were leaving that behind. The plan was, if we got everything to fit, that I’d take the train back, go to my KC hearing Monday morning, then drive my Griswaldesque loaded down car to StL on Monday night to attend a resident’s dinner with my wife, the other residents in her program, and all the people they answer to (this was actually a lot of fun by the way).
The bad news is, we had cancelled my train reservation when we thought I was driving the rental truck back. We lost our $33 ticket and had to pay $66 when we reserved again. Making matters worse, we learned that they don’t charge you for the ticket if you don’t show up and pick it up. There’s essentially zero incentive to cancel. We didn’t know. C’est la vie.
Cost – $66
Because we’re subletting a place until we close on our multi-family, we needed a place to keep our stuff. Rachel found a storage unit for and introductory rate of $21 a month. The second month, the rate goes up to $229 per month (we need to make sure our closing doesn’t get pushed back!).
Cost – $21
We got a couple of guys (James and Lonnie) to help us unload the truck, too. After the other debacle, we got a guarantee that they could move everything in 2 hours. They unloaded the truck and moved it into storage in 1, but there was a 2 hour minimum.
Cost – $100
Total – $1,437. That’s a big number. I think my wife did a good job of finding the best deals on movers by using Craigslist. She also went with the cheapest truck she could find, and got us an introductory rate at a storage facility. All in all, I don’t think this is too bad for moving across the state (about a four hour drive). We definitely made lots of mistakes. Our single biggest expense was not managing our closing dates right. Our realtor is partially to blame for that (realtors rarely make anything better – although we do love our KC realtor), though we’re partially to blame for not insisting it go the way we wanted.
The bad news is, we aren’t done paying. We’ll probably hire someone to help again when we move into our place! We have friends that have offered to help, but I declined. I think you reach a certain point in life where you should just hire a mover instead. I don’t know. One of my friends gave me this list as a gift once (around 6 or 7 years ago), called the Bylaws for Buddies (maybe he was giving me a hint). One of the many bylaws was this: “you’re a grown up now, hire a damn mover.” Maybe, deep down, I just didn’t want to violate those bylaws. Thanks for reading.
This Week in Review, Michael Jackson Edition
Posted by: Todd Metheny in This Week in Review on June 26th, 2009
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Michael Jackson died yesterday at the age of 50. I have never considered myself more than a casual fan. I only know his songs that were big hits, and though I own a couple of individual tracks in my iTunes account, I’ve never bought an album. I think Billie Jean is the all time best song to dance to at weddings, though, and my wife counts the Jackson 5’s I’ll be there amongst her favorite songs. He was such an eccentric blend of talent and, for lack of a better word, weirdness. I don’t know why he liked to have children spend the night at his house, or why he dangled his baby out the window on television, or why he altered his appearance through surgery until he was literally beyond recognition. In any case, my thoughts and condolences to his friends and family. Here are some of the things I’ve been reading over the last week or so:
What’s the connection between abortion and careers @ Penelope Trunk’s blog – You have to admire someone like Penelope who is willing to just lay it all on the line. She’s had two abortions, and she talks about it here, concluding that you don’t need to have an abortion to protect your career. I don’t want to weigh in on the political, moral, and philosophical issue that is abortion. I don’t know whether it’s right or wrong. I’m a male, and I’ve never had to make that choice. My parents did, though. I was born to two teenagers (15 and 16 when they found out they were pregnant) who discussed abortion as a possible solution. I’m personally glad they didn’t try to salvage their careers, which I’m sure suffered on some level. I’d like to think that I would have done the same if put in their shoes, but I’ll never know. Penelope is a phenomenal writer when she’s on, and this post is a good one. Check it out.
Why Twitter Is More Fun the Less You Use It @ Deadspin – Will Leitch is another of my favorite writer/bloggers. Here he lets us know how he feels about twitter, and a bunch of other stuff. Plus, he’s a Cardinals fan, which practically makes us brothers. After being on twitter for about a week, I’m already obsessed with it as a news aggregator.
Do you keep money secrets from your spouse @ Free From Broke – I try not to have any secrets from my wife. I usually ask her before I do anything with our money. We are, after all, a team (and a good one, at that). Check out this discussion of where you’re at in that department.
Be Successful by Learning Delayed Gratification @ Bargaineering – This is something that I’m usually really good at. I have been severely tempted lately by the new iPhone. I want one. Why? Because it has a compass. I don’t need a compass, but I think it’s cool that the new iPhone has one;)
Things You Own End Up Owning You @ My Two Dollars – I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to talk about it, so I’m just going to follow that quote with another quote from the club that will remain unmentioned: “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes. We work jobs we hate so we can buy [junk] we don’t need. We’re the middle children in history, man. We’ve no great war, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, and our great depression, is our lives.” Hopefully you don’t think of your life as a great depression, but I think Tyler’s point is this – stuff won’t make you happy, and money can’t buy you love. Thanks for reading.
I had a post included in a carnival over at Blogging Banks.
Quotable Quotes, Albert Einstein
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Business Profiles on June 25th, 2009
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone tell me something or another about Albert Einstein. “You know, Einstein flunked algebra,” says someone that’s heard that as many times as the rest of us like it’s a brand new discovery. According to his wikipedia page (and other sources), that isn’t even true. I don’t know how you heard it, but the way I’ve always heard it is that it was some type of mathematics. It was actually an entrance examination into a specific school that he didn’t pass – but his page says he got “excellent marks” on the math and physics sections. I haven’t read the new-ish Einstein biography, but I’ve heard it’s excellent. It would probably do a good job of explaining what really happened (I did read (and loved) the fictional Einstein’s Dreams). In any case, Einstein has become synonymous with genius. He’s thought of as one of the great intellects and contributors to the history of science. He helped shape the world of science as we know it. For that reason, he may have had something worth saying now and then. Here’s an interesting gem:
If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances.
I think it’s interesting that the thing that Einstein felt like he didn’t have enough of was independence. I think about him as someone that should have been able to study or pursue whatever he wanted. He wanted more independence. That’s what I want out of life, too. To be independent. To study and learn and be what I want. To pursue work that’s meaningful and I can believe in. I guess I’m just like Einstein;)
Einstein’s need for independence sort of makes sense in that his fame made it difficult at times for him to pursue his work. He reportedly was a very private sort of person. The takeaway, for me, from the Einstein quote is that no matter who you are, whether you’re famous, or brilliant, or whatever else, you’re likely to be happiest when your life is your own. Listen to Einstein. Seek independence. Be happy. Good luck and thanks for reading.
There are Only Two Ways to Build Wealth
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Entrepreneurship, Value Investing on June 24th, 2009
I read everything I can get my hands on. I enjoy it. I like learning. I think part of the reason I love it is because I think of it as being very individualized. You get to pick what you’d like to learn about – then learn it (or not) at your own pace. Reading exposes you to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Forcing your brain to process information keeps you sharp. Because my interests run in that direction and because I maintain this blog, I tend to read a lot of business books. I think it’s one of the best things you can do with your time, but it’s no substitute for common sense. You can read all the books, blogs, magazines or whatever, in the world, and it won’t make you wealthy.
Read the title. It isn’t news. It’s fairly intuitive. There are essentially only two ways to build wealth: (1) Investing, or by (2) Building equity in a business. The first occurs from saving and investing your money. Saving requires that you spend less money than you earn. Depending on how much you earn, that probably requires you to live somewhat frugally. Saving alone won’t do it, though. The investing component is essential. Almost everything you buy decreases in value as soon as you buy it. Gadgets, cars, televisions become worth less almost immediately after you buy them and continue to do so the longer you own them. Doesn’t it seem silly to buy these things? Would you lend me a dollar if it would only be worth fifty cents when you got it back? Only assets give you a chance at accumulating wealth. Assets (stocks, bonds, real estate) hold their value, or, ideally, increase in value over time. Only investing your money gives you this wealth building edge.
The second way to build wealth is by building equity in a business. Self-employed people make up less than 20% of the workers in America but make up two-thirds of the millionaires. Any time you’re working for someone else, the reason they can afford to hire you, theoretically, is because they are making more money off of your work than it costs to pay your salary and benefits. If you think about the wealthy and financially successful people you know, I think this holds pretty true. The people I know who have had the most success aren’t working in management for big companies, they’re working for themselves in their own companies. That’s not to say that everyone who is self-employed is wealthy, because many people aren’t. Like any investment, starting your business often has greater risk but also has a potentially higher return. If you’re reading this in the United States, you’ve had the good fortune of living in a country that both encourages and reveres entrepreneurs. In fact, according to this article, we’ve done a better job at fostering entrepreneurship than any country except New Zealand. Think about the obvious correlation between this and the overall wealth of a country as you look at that linked list.
I guess the point I was trying to make in my intro was this – you can read all the business books, self-improvement books, investing books, etc., but none of those books contain some sort of secret formula for success. The formula is one you already know. Work hard, spend less than you earn and invest your money. If you have an inclination toward entrepreneurship, even better. In either case, live beneath your means. Good luck. After you’ve built an extraordinary amount of wealth, think about donating to the site;) Thanks for reading.
Should You Refinance?
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Real Estate on June 23rd, 2009
I hear a lot of talk about refinancing lately. I think it’s because although rates are relatively down right now, a lot of people think they’re going to be on their way up soon. The Federal Reserve is printing money and putting it into circulation. An increased money supply, in theory, will create a risk of inflation. When the money supply increases, the thought is that people will spend more money and bid up the cost of goods and market prices. Scarcity gives money value, and as money becomes less scarce, it has less value. This, of course, is all in theory. Right now, inflation isn’t occurring at the rate that everyone fears, because even though the money supply is being increased, we have a generation of people that are all simultaneously tightening their belts. Blatant rampant consumerism is no longer en vogue. It’s been replaced – frugality is the new hip thing.
If you read this site with any regularity, you know that my wife and I are in the process of buying a multi-family piece of real estate and selling our condo. It’s been a rush of mortgages, titles, negotiations and closing costs. To be honest, it’s been fun in a lot of ways. What won’t be fun, however, will be paying all the closing costs on our loan. When we were shopping for lenders, I would always ask for what I referred to as a “term sheet.” Lenders prefer to call this a “good faith estimate.” To me, if you’re making a deal about something, it’s a term sheet. But I digress.
The truth about closing costs is they can be fairly substantial. Real estate has generated a tremendous number of jobs. Mortgage brokers, real estate brokers and agents, title companies and appraisers all make their living off of these transactions. They all chip away at the transaction. Everyone gets their piece. Many of those pieces are negotiable.
Here are some of the costs typically associated with the loan and closing: loan origination, title insurance, escrow fee, application fee, appraisal. Other fees may apply as well. Here’s an example of what we’re paying.
Credit Report – $50
Processing Fee – $60
Underwriting Fee – $435
Wire Transfer Fee – $25
Escrow Fee – $150
Title Insurance – $800
Courier Fee – $60
CPL – $25
Wire Fee – $25
File Retention Fee – $8
Recording Fee – $120
We’re at $1,758 already, and we haven’t even gotten into insurance, taxes, or page any of the mortgage or interest. We’re giving a lot of people a living by buying houses. It’s easy to see, when you think about how many people are employed by this industry, and we haven’t even mentioned people who work in home improvement or building industries.
If you’re thinking about refinancing, consider checking out this handy dandy refinance calculator. The key is seeing how long it will take you to recoup the money it would cost you to refinance. Then you have to think about whether you think you’ll stay in the home long enough to get that value back. Numbers are the only relevant consideration when it comes to a refinance. A good rule of thumb is that if you can get a whole percentage point difference in your interest rate, it’s a good idea to refinance. That being said, you still have to compare the dollars saved by refinancing to the amount you’ll pay to do so. Keep that in mind. Good luck, and thanks for reading.
The Investor’s Dilemma
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Uncategorized on June 22nd, 2009
I’ve read dozens of books about personal finance and investing. The basic principles of personal finance don’t change that much from person to person. Spend less than you earn. Use debt wisely. Save for retirement. Live a sustainable lifestyle. Of course, every finance writer will attempt to have a unique angle that’s fresh and easy to identify with…you don’t sell books by admitting that you’re saying the same thing that the last ten people said. If you read books about investing, though, I think you’ll find that the advice is very different. Large numbers of people actually disagree about investment – what it is, who should do it, how it should be done.
I can think of two very essential divides. One is between stock people and real estate people. Obviously, many people are both, but I’ve encountered many, many real estate people who are adamant that they’ll never invest in the stock market. Another is between people that see value in taking individual positions, and people who think that it’s a pointless errand, and keep their money invested in index funds. The index people would think it’s foolish to invest your money with a fund manager, because half of them won’t beat the market. And then there are, of course, also people who exclusively invest their money in fixed income investments. According to her wikipedia page, for instance, Suze Orman has almost all of her money invested in fixed income investments.
I’m going to focus on the divide between stocks and real estate. I’m going to ignore returns, although I would think that should be one of the primary considerations for investment. I don’t want to get bogged down with the historical returns, because I always hear such a wide range. For stocks, for example, the historical returns are often reported as being between 7-12% compounded annually. Some of the figures are including dividend reinvestment, while some aren’t. According to the chart 3/4 of the way down this page, since 1988 the S&P 500 has had a compounded annual growth rate of 8.8%. According to the Case-Shiller index, real estate has offered less than a 2% return historically. That number focuses exclusively on capital appreciation, of course, and ignores the fact that real estate can earn an income stream.
The real estate people all used to be fond of saying that real estate never goes down. For about a decade, they were right. Like any other market, though, real estate showed us that it wasn’t immune to the most basic tenet of economics, supply and demand. Warren Buffett talked about housing at the annual meeting. He said that at the height of the boom, builders were building about 2 million houses a year. Now they’re building about 500k per year (according to Buffett). Real estate people like real estate because you can touch it. You have more control over it. Having a rental property is like running your own small business.
Stock people will often site the headache that real estate often brings with it. Even if the returns are comparable, you’re spending your time and effort to earn those returns. Your time cost money. Liquidity is another big advantage stocks offer. The transaction costs are also much, much lower. You can sell $200k worth of stock for $5, or you can sell $200k worth of real estate and dole out nearly 10% of that to get the transaction to other people.
The biggest problem I see with real estate investment is its lack of diversity. Stocks aren’t just pieces of paper, they’re underlying ownership interests in businesses that make money. Lots of different kinds of businesses are available and it’s easy to diversify. Investing in real estate tends to be very localized. If you own a home, you’re already investing a large portion of your available wealth in a particular area. We just bought a piece of property in St. Louis, Missouri – and if something bad were to happen in St. Louis, that could lower the value of our investment tremendously. Just ask anyone that owns property in Detroit. Owning a diversified bundle of stocks gives you exposure to companies in different industries, and different places, that make their money in different ways. To me, that sounds safer.
I’ve also heard it said that investors should specialize in one thing that they know and that they’re good at. If real estate is what you know, they argue, that’s what you have the best chance of making money at. I think that argument makes some sense. It’s like Ricardo’s division of labor – you can’t become an expert at everything, so maybe you should just focus on something you know you can become good at.
At the same time, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to take advantage of an asset class that could boost your returns and help you meet your financial goals. Step outside your comfort zone a little bit. You should, at a minimum, understand what your retirement account is invested in. Have a plan. I think everyone should invest in what they know to an extent. At the same time, as long as you’re buying assets, you’re on the right track. I would advise against shunning an asset class altogether, especially one as broad and powerful as stocks. I saw a list of some things that millionaires had in common (on a blog – I don’t recall which one). One that jumped out at me was, millionaires believe that stocks are worth the risk. That makes sense to me. Happy investing. Thanks for reading.
Quotable Quotes
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Business Profiles, Real Estate on June 18th, 2009
There’s a section at the end of the latest Forbes full of quotes. It’s labeled “thoughts on the business of life.” A couple of the quotes caught my eye and I thought I’d comment on one of them here. Please indulge me this slight digression from our personal finance conversation.
This quote is from a famous, perhaps the most famous real estate developer in America, Donald Trump. If there’s such a thing as a business celebrity, and there is, it’s Trump. This what he has to say, according to Forbes:
When I build something for somebody, I always add $50 million or $60 million onto the price. My guys come in, they say it’s going to cost $75 million. I say it’s going to cost $125 million and I build it for $100 million. Basically, I did a lousy job. But they think I did a great job.
The reason I’m reproducing that here is because I’m simply struck by the incredible arrogance it must have taken to say something like that. He’s proud of it. He’s bragging that he spent more money than the job required, but because he wisely built in a $50 million cushion, he surprised the customer by doing the job for less than he said it would require. It’s pretty typical advice for anyone with someone to answer to – Under Promise, and Over Deliver. Building in the cushion makes a lot of sense. It’s sound advice.
Trump is not someone that I’m particularly impressed with. He has had some success. He’s a big brand. He’s done an excellent job of marketing himself and promoting his celebrity. He’s made some money, an estimated $3 billion, according to Forbes, but he, of course, says he’s worth $10 billion. He’s just not my kind of guy. The showy, bravado that he carries himself with isn’t for me. He’s very authoritative, bad with people, impressed with himself. I tend to be a lot more impressed with humility. I admire how Warren Buffett uses his influence and carries himself. He’s humble and frugal, despite his success and intelligence. Buffett has the type of grace I’d like to exhibit when I have success in life. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him pat himself on the back for something he’s done right. I’m of the opinion that if people are something great, they shouldn’t have to tell you about it all the time. I feel like Trump is constantly trying to tell us how great he is. As Nolan Ryan would say, you’re not my guy, friend. Thanks for reading.
Review of The Dip by Seth Godin
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Careers, Reviews on June 17th, 2009
My wife and I have been going to bookstores about once a weekend and sitting and reading the books together. It’s a cheap date, and it’s fun. Sometimes we go to the library instead, or, if we already have control of something we want to read, we go to a coffee shop or a park and read there. A lot of the time, we end up putting the books aside at the coffee shop and just talk. I think it’s one of the times we really connect. We’re out, and not burdened by the business of being home, and in a lot of ways that allows us to just relax and talk about things. I really enjoy it.
Trips to the bookstore to read leads me to try to pick books that I can read in one or two sittings without buying the book. This is how I read The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team (read my review here). This is, in part, why I chose to read The Dip by Seth Godin. I love Godin’s blog, so picking up one of his books seemed to be a logical step.
The Dip is a very short book. I would estimate that I read it in about an hour. It’s concept is simple – quit the things that you can’t be exceptional at and pursue the things you think you can be exceptional at, even when the pursuit becomes tiresome and difficult. He refers to that time when things seem too hard as “the dip.” This is undeniably good marketing, as I’ve already started to think of that point where things start to get hard as the dip, and I tell myself to push through.
According to Godin, anytime you start something new, like a job or a business, you are filled with enthusiasm and energy to further your success. At some point, however, some of the duties of running your business or doing your job will become something of a grind. They’ll become difficult. You won’t feel inspired every second of every day. You won’t feel invigorated. You might feel like quitting. This is the dip. He offers marathons as an example. No one quits at mile 25, when you can see the finish line and hear everyone urging you on. Most people, in fact, quit at mile 20, when you’ve run a long way and feel like you physically can’t push through.
Of course, Godin says that sometimes you should quit. He says you should quit if you can’t be the best in the world at whatever it is you’re trying to do. Of course, both “best” and “world” are subjective terms in this context. If you’re looking to go to the best barber, you’re world is limited to someone in your town or immediate area. Best is limited to whatever criteria you assign it. Best might mean the quickest, or friendliest, or the person most highly recommended to you by friends and family. If you can’t see yourself being the best in your field, then you should quit immediately.
Godin gives us a couple more clever phrases to refer to where were at in what we’re trying to do: the cul-de-sac and the cliff. The cul-de-sac refers to where you’re at when you realize that you can’t be the best in the world in your field. It’s basically when you can’t go any higher – a dead end job. The cliff occurs when you can’t quit something until you fall off a cliff. Godin doesn’t really go into this with very much detail. The only example he gives are cigarettes. Cigarettes are addictive, he says, and the more you smoke, the more addicted you get. This addiction rises continually until eventually, you get sick from emphysema and die. That’s his example for the cliff. I personally don’t see how that example translates into many other situations – and Godin admits that it’s rare.
The key, then, is to be able to distinguish what situation you’re in. Are you in the dip, in which case you should keep working diligently, or are you in the cul-de-sac, in which case you should abandon your current plight and search for greener pastures. That’s the question. It’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own.
The book is light on hard data. It doesn’t prove anything, but it does offer lots of good examples. One is General Electric (GE). When Jack Welch took over GE, he demanded that they abandon any business division in which they couldn’t be one or two in, even if they were profitable divisions. Why? Because the value in being number one is enormous. Almost 30% of all the ice cream sold in the United States was vanilla. The runner up was chocolate, with less than 8%. To the victor go the spoils. Things tend to go this way. Number 1s tend to win big. Top movies on an opening weekend tend to gross far more than the second place ones.
So how can we deal with the dip? According to Godin, the key is to decide under what circumstances it makes sense to quit. Don’t decide during the dip, because that’s often exactly when you’ll want to quit the most but need to work the hardest. Overall, I think it was an excellent book. Unfortunately, I read it directly after reading Malcolm Gladwell, and I missed having so many assertions being backed up with data, but that doesn’t change the fact that I enjoyed the book. It’s definitely worth the minimal time investment (for many people 1 hour or less) that it would require to read it. If you’ve read it, or any of Godin’s other books, please let me know what you thought by email or in the comments. Thanks for reading.
Craigslist as a hiring tool
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Uncategorized on June 16th, 2009
I’m in the process of planning a bachelor party for my cousin. We’re starting off at the Cardinals game and going from there. Because alcohol will likely be involved, and we don’t want to mess with trying to hire 15 different taxis (we’re convinced that going lots of places = fun), and limos tend to be pretty expensive – I’m hiring someone to drive my car for the night. I don’t know who that person will be yet.
In order to make this happen, I posted the following ad on Craigslist:
“I’m looking for someone willing to drive my car around on the evening of August 1st, from about the time the Cardinals game ends until the wee hours of the morning (around 8 or 9 am). Price is negotiable, but I think we’re willing to pay around $100. It’s for a bachelor party, and all you have to do is have a driver’s license and drive us around for the night. Feel free to bring something to read, to make calls while you wait, etc. I know this sounds ridiculous, but please send a resume if you have one. Make inquiries to Todd through the anonymous craigslist email. Thanks in advance.”
The response was overwhelming. I got about 50 responses, 10 of them within an hour of posting. It was an interesting array of people: an EMT, a mechanical engineer, a nurse, a welder, and a writer to name a few. Lots of students responded. Men and women responded equally. I got lots of resumes and references. I couldn’t believe how zealous the response was. The hard thing is choosing someone. I don’t know the people, and it’s hard to tell just by looking through resumes who you’re going to enjoy having drive you around for the night. I think we would actually prefer having someone drive us who will just leave us alone – but it wouldn’t hurt for it to be someone that we like to be around.
Anyway, there’s demand for this job, which really won’t pay that well – 12 hours of sitting in the car and driving people around at their whim – for a less than $10 per hour return really isn’t that great of a deal. But to some people that’s an adequate return on their time for one night. The instant cash outweighs the prospect of a potentially exhausting night of driving around four guys in their late 20s. If that’s the case, then there are lots of other jobs that you might want to hire out in a less than traditional way in order to capitalize on your ability to network through Craigslist.
For instance, let’s say you’re willing to pay someone $50 to help you move – post an ad on Craigslist and see if you’re able to get any responses. Why not? You can offer an hourly rate or a flat rate. It’s a market based system. The people combing through these ads are people that can use the quick cash, so keep that in mind when you write your post.
You could use it for temporary contract work for your business, too. If you need someone to do data entry for a couple of weeks, this gives you a way to find someone without using an agency. If you decide you need an entourage with components like a personal assistant, this might be an excellent place to find it. If you have your own business, you might also consider hiring an “intern” for tasks you don’t want to have to hire. Good luck. If you’ve hired someone for something off of Craigslist, let me know how it went by email or in the comments. Thanks for reading.
Much Ado About Twitter
Posted by: Todd Metheny in Reviews on June 15th, 2009
When I was in my first year of law school, I was in an informal study group with several of the people in my class. One of the girls in my study group was the first person I knew on the then-new Facebook. She was sitting their checking the profiles of some people that she went to undergrad with. While we were waiting on the other people, she started telling me about how I should jump on the facebook bandwagon, how it was going to be really big – bigger than MySpace. At the time it was only for students. I remember thinking it was a tremendous waste of time. But I ended up signing up. I don’t check my account very frequently anymore – just occasionally, but I can’t discount it’s ability to keep people connected. I know more about what’s going on with my closest friends than I would without it. On the other hand, I also know a lot more about what’s going on with lots of people that I’m really not that close to.
The most recent thing to go viral, it seems, is twitter. I see multiple news stories a day about twitter. Hundreds of celebrities and journalists are on twitter. Because the buzz around twitter was overwhelming, I decided to sign up today. If you’d like to follow me on twitter, you can click here. Please do.
If you’re anything like me, the idea of twitter sounds pretty useless. They offer an opportunity for you to answer the question: What are you doing now? It’s essentially broad based instant messaging. In fact, you can do the exact same thing on facebook, which offers a box that says, what are you doing now? So what’s the difference? For one, lots of top journalists, authors and celebrities are on twitter. Lots of stories are scooped on twitter first. It’s an incredible news source for almost anything you’re interested in.
For instance, I’m a baseball fan. In particular, I’m a big fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. On twitter, I can follow a variety of different bloggers and journalist to essentially give me up to the minute news about the Cardinals. It’s ability to link to news that interests you in particular is one of the strengths of twitter. It’s something of a news feed – about the things and people you’ve stated you’re interested in by following them. You can follow ex-GE CEO Jack Welch, athletes like Shaquille O’Neal, movie stars, journalists, bloggers, and just about anything else you can think of.
The neat thing about twitter is that it’s an interactive conversation. It’s crowdsourcing at it’s finest. You can ask your followers questions and get hundreds of answers and rationales (assuming you have that many followers). It’s easy to see why so many people are so into something that’s seemingly useless. I drug my feet, and I’m late to the party, but after one day on twitter, I could see myself becoming one of them. Thanks for reading.
