It’s Sunday, and I’m relaxing from the gig I helped with yesterday. Reading, catching up with family, and walking dead in the background. I came across an article while thinking about recipes. It was about rising prices of different things, including rent.

Now of course no one wants rising prices, but there is ways to fight back. I don’t know if you want to, but what is the alternative?

I’m going to link the article to this post, read it, and then this blog post will make sense.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/rents-haircuts-americans-start-feel-price-hikes-32828723

Now, rent was the first thing the article addressed. Of course this is our own faults. For some reason having a fixer upper house is out of the question because no one is willing to do the work in having a house or even…….God forbid…..purchasing a piece of land, build your own house, and building slowly. I was raised on cash is priority, not credit or loans. Now, I also know that cash for buying a house is hard to come by. What does that mean?

Patience and Planning.

First, I know everyone wants to live in a the nicest place place possible. Also means you are going to pay a pretty penny for it. Do your research. One thing I love about having the housing help I have is they ask the landlords I rent from to prove that your place is worth the amount your charging. If so, they ask me ‘do you really want to pay that amount?’. It makes you think about priorities. What can you go without/sacrifice for now. Everyone wants the luxury that their parents or grandparents had but it took years or planning, sacrifices, really asking yourself what was important in your living situation.

For me, I’m getting a fixer upper, and making it my own. If I have to pay a lot for a house, and have a mortgage, it’s going to be worth it, and a reflection of my hard work. Not a cookie cutter house that looks like five other houses and cost a fuck load of money I really can’t afford.

Planning is researching what programs are available to you. One, that government has, is called the hope program, and it’s income/credit based. It lets get a mortgage through the government based on what you can afford. Now, of course some will think ‘that’s a government handout, I’m not doing that’.

Here’s the thing. You pay taxes. You are entitled to help if needed. If you don’t need the help, take a stand by not settling for the rent that’s quoted. Really think about what is important to your living situation. I mean if you aren’t home a lot, why do you need every bell and whistle in the apartment/house?

The next two subjects are easy to fix even if you are still stuck with high rent/mortgage if you can’t get around it.

Eating out and haircuts.

Now, you guys should have a handle on this, and why we(as in society) have let these prices get out of control is beyond me.

With haircuts/beauty issues is really simple.

Find a hair school.

These people need you to learn. Teachers are right there watching and advising every step. For my urban peeps(nappy hair peeps), like myself, this where Bargaining, Barter, and Network comes in(BBN Theory).

You have to channel your inner business person to make it work. If you have a skill/hookup, see if you can cut a deal with others to help you out, if needed. In most cases, the hair schools can do just about 80% of what you want done to your hair. Reserach this option when making an appointment. Only times I run into issues is when services like hair extentions are involved. Otherwise, call the hair school to help you out. If you didn’t know about this option you have lived under a rock.

Eating out is real simple. Stop doing it. It cost ridiculous amounts to go, in most cases you can do it yourself, and honestly, as I stated on the FB page, it doesn’t taste the price it’s worth. Our household goes by these standards:

1. If we can cook it, we don’t order it. Exception: if we are having dinner after 9pm due to activities.

I try to not let that happen too much, which is why my crock pot may break by the end of the year. LOL. This where your planning out meals and shopping comes in. I have tons of entries on this stuff, so look under the ‘Cooking 101’ for ideas.

2. If we all like it, we make it a family experiment of recreating the dish in the kitchen.

This also helps teaching your kids math, and how to cook. I can take pride in the fact my kids won’t ever die for hunger unless they are just lazy.

3. If you must go out, we only support the small business restaurants.

THIS IS CRUCIAL AND CRITICAL!

These people keep the economy going and invest into your community. It helps to build relationships in your area. I find that doing this also is good in the sense if you are involved in charity work you can give feedback on who actually cares about different causes. Like fundraising for your kids education, or helping out local social causes. On a simple level, you get to taste more intimate foods, opposed to food that is mass produced. Small restaurants take the time to make your food damn near perfect because it’s their passion. Franchises/Corporate places can really give a shit about your tastebuds, they just want your money. I worked long enough in the sector, this isn’t a assumption, this was part of my trainning on the job.

4. Go big or stay your ass home.

Go to a place that if it’s pricey, it’s worth it, and leave a huge tip. If you can’t afford to go, don’t bother.

When you put going out to eat in these prospectives, it really narrows down where you go, and then you’ll notice you are saving money. Example, I love iced coffee. For the longest time,  Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts was my BFFs. With what I was spending, I went out to the market, bought a reusable coffee mug for my car, really awesome premium coffee and different creamers/ingredients to add to my homemade brew. Same with lattes and smoothies. The only thing I haven’t figured out is Panera’s Green Tea. When I do you’ll be first to know.

Main point is quit throwing way your money. Want a night out with friends? Have a potluck at home. You want to relax with friends. Nothing relaxing about getting dressed up, and hoping your deposit is in the bank to have only a broke ass budget.

Love those Appetizers at TGIF or Applebees? Look that shit up on google, make it yourself and chill out. If you add up what you spend going out to eat, you could make it yourself, and start to save for bigger things you like. Out of country vacation or something special you have been eyeballing for a while now.

One secret is, if you can’t afford to tip when going out, don’t bother. These people barely make anything as it is, don’t insult them a second time.

What is boils down to is you have to prioritize. That’s how are parents, grandparents, and etc made shit work. It didn’t just happen. It takes time, thought, and really asking yourself “what do you truly need or are you trying to keep up with everyone else?” I mean think about it, do you make major bucks first starting out on a job? Hell no. You have to build on that, even if you go to school. Building your life is no different.

Fuck impressing everyone else because when shit hits the fan financially, where are these people you are impressing? No where to be found, and you are in the welfare by yourself wondering how the hell you ended up here.

Challenge the establishment. Why settle on what they put out there? You don’t have to pay these prices. You settle and just pay. We choose to pay out the ass for things we don’t need. I paid cheap rent for myself and kids when I lived in a small town in California 15 years ago. Yes we had to drive a while to get around, but it also meant we could go on vacations, to the movies, and have a quiet space. Now, I could have paid more and lived in LA but then it would be crowded, and smaller space. If you live in the city, and don’t mind the higher rent, then drop the car and take public transportation. You can still have the nice place, but don’t need the car, and save on car expenses, including insurance and repairs.

That’s what I mean by really think about what you need and what you want have to impress other people. Then if you need it, really research other ways to make things work within you budget. Don’t settle for status quo.

Great businessmen when you read on them, never settled on the status quo and challenged their establishment in their own ways. In this day and age, you really have to, and it’s getting to the point you really should feel obligated to.

Want to change these articles? Start with you and what you put out there. Rent is high because we are renting more than anything else. Why? Well student loans. Did youreally think about what you spent them on, and did you research on other ways of paying for college(work study, scholarship, cheaper method of attending college)?

Yeah going to a 4 year college like Stanford is awesome, but what are you going to spend to do so? Thought of 2 years at community college then a state school? If not, don’t bitch about not having the money to buy a home, because in your mind it was more important to have the bragging rights you got into an ivy league school.

It’s all about priorities and prospectives. What is truly important.

 

~CSM~