6 Things PGY2 Skimps On

I wrote about 6 things I splurge on with my limited PGY2 60k annual income. Today I’ll share 6 things I skimp on which gives me the money to splurge on what I care about without stopping me from accomplishing my financial goals, including paying off my student loans, maxing out 23.5k of Roth space (18k in Roth 403b and 5.5k in Roth IRA), and this year maxing out 14k in Mini Wise Money’s 529 college savings plan.

 

  • Clothes
    • I bought my entire professional wardrobe with $300 in Jacksonville when I was living on a boat docked at a marina. I was auditioning at Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville August of my 4th To save on expenses, I found myself room and board on boat for $100 and cooking for the boat captain. It was a really fun experience, having the sea-man’s rock while sitting in the reading room, sailing out to sea, finding giant clams and then making the freshest clam chowder that very dinner. There was a Good Will close to the Marina, where I bought silk Ann Taylor pants in nearly new condition for $4. With a mere $300 bucks, I bought an entire wardrobe to last me decades (as long I don’t get bigger.) I’ve had the good luck of fitting perfectly into a dress I bought at the age of 18 for our residency graduation dinner 14 years later.
    • I wear scrub for as many days of the year as possible. They are comfortable and multi-purpose. I wear them to work, as pajamas, cleaning, working out… I have innumerable pairs of scrubs which I wash and change between purposes.
  • Haircuts
    • My wonderful now 8 year old daughter Mini Wise Money started cutting my hair after she secretively cut her own (to our dismay) at 2.5 years old. I figure since she has the interest, I might as well encourage her. The first time she cut my hair, my hair turned out 2 inches shorter on the left than the right. She was so happy to play with mommy’s hair, I didn’t really care much about the length discrepancies between sides.
    • After more than 20 some haircuts, Mini now is a pro and I have life time free haircuts from her.
short hair tod
This was my attempt cutting Mini’s hair… not talented as MWM is with hair cutting. So we agreed that I can’t cut her hair but she will cut my hair for free for the rest my life!
  • Car
    • Is a total tool and nothing but a tool in my opinion. I need it to get from point A to B. in 2007, I walked into Honda dealership wanting to purchase a Honda Fit for the most economic price and gas millage to transport Mini and me safely. I walked out that very same day with a Honda Pilot… That goes to tell you, one the salesman was good, two, I really don’t care what box with wheels my means of transportation is.
    • I have a Toyota Prius, which is a pass me down from Mini’s dad. I love its gas millage and am determined to drive it until the wheels fall off.
  • Shoes
    • I don’t skimp on the quality of the shoes, but I do skimp on the quantity of my shoes.
    • Mini says, “Mommy, let me buy a new pair of shoes, your shoes have holes right now… I can see your socks which also have holes… through the holes of your shoes…” My response is, “Honey, I don’t need to replace these shoes yet, look where the holes are? They are on the sides and they are small… don’t impact the functionality of these great shoes at all… just cosmetics.”
    • I don’t care about how things look, just how they work.
  • Fancy meals
    • One of our favorite treats is a local authentic, mom and pop Mexican food shop that cooks everything from scratch. No cans in their kitchen. Going there is like eating at home, without the dishes, with excellent service and attention. We sometimes also use the $10 off $30 above coupon, which is incredible. We spend about $25, tips included for our family of 3 and have plenty of left overs for the next day. What’s best is that $25 at McDonalds (most of our society believe the cheapest food is fast food) will only get you Empty calories, nasty food-like petroleum products, and horrible health consequences and no left overs.
  • Spend less and live more
    • This is more of a principle than an item that I skimp on.
    • Notice how I ramble on more with this Skimping article rather than the Splurging article? It’s because not spending requires more creativity than spending. Anyone can make the dollar bill rain, without thought, consideration, or resourcefulness. No wonder Americans keep consuming, keep feeling more bored and need more stimuli which they keep seeking in more consumption. This is madness. Let’s break the cycle and stop splurging. Or at least think about what splurging brings to the sum happiness and meaning of your life.
    • Challenge yourself to consume/purchase nothing other than food/gasoline/electricity and other necessities to survive for a week. See how you feel. You might just end up loving the detoxifying effects of not consuming endless materials you have no need for.
    • Go for a night walk, make a yummy organic seasonal vegetable medley tonight, star-gaze, write a letter to your kid, read a book, or turn on YouTube and do yoga! I find these things immensely more enjoyable than going shopping… after all, what do I need that I don’t already have?

What do you skimp on? Flip side, what do you splurge on? Are you happy with your skimp/splurge balance?

 If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.

Get Money Wise & Support Mini Wise Money!

I recently started writing for Physician’s Money Digest.

It has been great fun, reaching so many doctors/ aspiring doctors on such a reputable discussion forum.

 

An awesome bonus is every unique reader/visitor of any one of my articles on PMD generates a small payment, on which after I pay taxes, I’m contributing to Mini’s 529 college savings.

 

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Mini has always be a loving & giving kid, even before she could talk. She was 6 months old here, feeding her grandma seaweed in her little clutch, at a tender age when she prefers to use her hand over a spoon.

 

I’m currently publishing Wednesdays and Fridays, 2 articles a week. I may slow down the frequency to once a week As my wise radiology residency program director Dr. G told me, “people don’t want to read that much. Publish less frequently, and people will be more eager to read your articles.”

 

If you know Mini or like Mini from learning about her on this blog, help contribute to her college fund by reading my fun/informative PMD articles.

Once you click on the article link, you can read as much or as little of the article.

If somehow debt terminator or making $400/hr being your own boss bores you to tears, you can just click and share without reading at all.

 

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Your clicking & sharing will help a young aspiring artist, Mini Wise Money, pursue her dreams and aspirations. This is Mini’s version of Jackson Pollock. She plans to Jackson Pollock her room ceiling this year.

 

Thank you so much for your support. Please click and share away!

Here you can find all the articles by Dr. Wise Money on Physician’s Money Digest. 

Thanks to you all, my articles have made the top 5 favorite the first and 2nd weeks I published on PMD. Let’s keep the awesome trend going.

 

Seems Costly, but Definitely Worth It.

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.”
― Lao Tzu

 

pure joy
How could I wish Mini to continue emanating pure joy, when I wasn’t doing the same?

 

I have rarely felt peace this past 10 years; I’m turning 32 this June. This last decade, I was too busy living in the future or in the past. When I slowed down and looked around me, I was shocked to find how pleasant and amazing the now could be.

 

Recently, I arrived at a heart-wrenching decision to live separately from my partner of 10 years. He is a good-hearted man. I love him. I’ve worked really hard to love, serve, and collaborate with him for my daughter’s sake and for my own idealism. I met him at 22 and have always wanted to grow old with the singular man for the rest of my life.

 

However, I finally had to acknowledge that I could not force our relationship into a functional and nurturing one, at least not in our current living arrangement. We are not making each other better people. I looked at my life, closely for once. I realized I was miserable.

 

I’ve changed, so gradually over the last decade that it was imperceptible to the un-reflective and numb me.

 

I used to cook up a storm and invite 20+ girl friends over for dinner in my college apartment (much smaller than my current home, though it felt plenty spacious for my gregarious social life.) I used to laugh and giggle about the smallest things. I used to swim backstroke while singing Pocahontas’ Colors of the Wind.

 

I used to praise more and criticize less; sing more and yell less; love more and fear less; smile more and frown less; admire more and envy less.

 

I used to like who I was. Realizing the contrast between my glorious distant past and my recent past is depressing.

 

So I chose to take action. Now. Today.

 

As much as it is scary and hurtful to live separately from him, I have to do it. It is by all criteria: logical, emotional, spiritual, the best thing for myself, my daughter, and him.

 

Timing is never good.

 

I chose the toughest year of my professional life to live separately from him. I will be working at the hospital 10 weeks on night calls and 6 24-hour-weekends. I dare not think of the logistical nightmare of finding childcare, trusting someone else with Mini while I’m gone from 7pm-8am, 7 continuous days at a time.

 

But I’m determined. The fear of the unknown future should not stop me from living today.

 

So I’m sticking to my decision.

 

As my sister said, “Unfortunately no matter how much an endeavor makes sense or how worthwhile it is, those merits cannot overcome the pain that might accompany the undertaking.”

 

I have reflected over the pros and cons of separation from my 10-year-partner; the former outweighs the latter by a landslide. But the action of severing from the known, familiar, “safe” habits is still painful and frightening.

 

Yet for the peace I can embrace today, I’m sticking to my decision.

 

Life is too short to live in a future that I dreamed up or

be stuck in the past that I wished I could return to.

 

I am living the life I want. Today.

I will be posting the financial consequences & impacts of living separately from Mini’s dad soon.

Yes, it is a financially costly, as it is opposite of WCI’s mantra “one house, one spouse, one job.”

Yet the intangible & deeply perceived benefits are priceless.

peace

I want to see her eyes of peace & joy again.

I want Mini to laugh without a care for anything around her.

I want Mini to sing & dance upon waking each morning without worrying about disturbing others (exactly what I love doing too.)

If you were in my shoes, wouldn’t these wishes warrant you giving your all?

 

dream home
This is Mini & my dream home, 7 minutes from Mini’s dad. Fingers crossed, final offer submitted 5/6/16.

 

Dear close friends and family members,

Do not worry. This decision is truly for the better.

Mini’s dad is a wonderful man. He just needs different things from what Mini and I need now. Mini and I are gregarious; we enjoy hosting play dates & dinners. Mini’s dad works a lot & cherishes his peace and quiet. All 3 of us think the Mom’s house & Dad’s house set up is beneficial. We get the best of both worlds.  I’m purchasing a home close by, & Mini’s Dad’s buying our current home. We get to spend family time whenever we’d like & also relish different lifestyles in 2 separate physical dwellings 🙂

More happy updates to come!

Love and peace,

DWM & MWM

 

 

  • Have you ever made a seemingly costly decision which you knew was totally worth it?
  • Are you living the life you want today? If so, how did you accomplish so?
  • If you’re not living the life you want today, what is stopping you?
  • Have you ever heard someone, (a miserable partner) said, “we can’t afford to live separately?” Do you think this is a matter of affordability?

5 Great ($) Habits You May Already Have to Become a Millionaire!

me in real life (image Sesame Street)
You’ve become incredibly educated in your trade by going to school till 28th grade. Now get yourself financially literate as well. A little bit of knowledge and discipline in your finances will pay you beyond your imagination.
  1. You value education.
    • Have you ever heard that the best pay one can get is $0/hour? Since our time, due its limited nature, is worth infinite amount of dollars, why would making $0/hour be the best pay? It’s because when we use our time to learn, especially something as complex, intricate, and eye-opening as medicine, our minds expands in amazing and unpredictable ways. And our mind indeed is our greatest asset and will for all our lives– regardless of how old, frail, or even disabled physically we may be—make us money if we allow it to.
    • So kudos to you for paying $50k a year just so that you have the privilege to work your butt off for 80 hours/week, work and learn on every day that ends in day, as well as on short-staff holidays.
    • The fact that you are willing to go into 300k debt @ 7% interest rate does mean that you’ve got your priority straight! (This post help you terminate your educational debt.)
  2. You value human beings.
    • Each person’s greatest asset is his or her individual mind. The greatest asset of our society, is our collective minds. Since you value other human beings and your relationship with them, your innate focus in life is much more internal and meaningful than most of the external stuff that costs lots of money. Your tendency is probably to take a hike with a friend rather than window shopping the mall. Right? If I guessed right, you are not inclined to go spend money, instead of you love spending your time with people. Learning from, laughing with, and supporting those around you is awesome and mostly free. You can lead a rich life figuratively (with good friends and company) and literally (with maxed out retirement accounts, college funds, etc.)
  3. You value charity.
    • You love giving. You share your time, attention, care, nurturing, your most precious resource, your mind freely with your patients and colleagues. Those who give generously usually end up with plenty. Givers are usually planners. You are able to give because you have made room for and prioritize giving.
  4. You are disciplined and diligent.
    • If you are not, you’d have been one of those self-declared pre-med who became pre-something-else 2 weeks into general chemistry in college.
    • If you apply the discipline and diligence you master in academic and professional life to money matters, you will be a millionaire before you know/plan it.
  5. You have amazing work ethic or you are a genius.
    • Both are helpful to making you rich… goes without saying.
trained mind
Arthur of Rich Dad Poor Dad. As we do travel rotation at famous institutions to learn from the most esteemed physicians in our field of study/medical specialty, I recommend learning from great minds such as Kiyosaki in the world of financial wisdom.

Now take these 5 wonderful habits/traits into your money matters,

Better still read and avoid the 5 bad habits Bo wrote about.

Keep the good & rid the bad, you’d be prosperous beyond your wildest imagination.

 

You can do it!

Finding Happiness from Inside Out

buy-1299519_1280Us Americans are notorious for our relentless consumptive drive.  Buy, buy, buy.

 

We find every single occasion to buy, every excuse to go shopping. To the point, the term “retail therapy” is actually legitimate term. Urban Dictionary defines “retail therapy” as the act of shopping as an outlet for frustration and a reliever of stress. The entire calendar year is a continuous buying streak from one holiday and festivity to the next: starting with new year, running into Valentine, than Easter, mother’s day, father’s day, labor day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, then the ultimate shop till you drop holiday, Christmas, then it’s all over again.

After a very hard final in medical school, one of my friends said, “I did so poorly on that test, I need to go to the mall and feel better about myself.”

As much as I tried I couldn’t understand what she meant… how does buying things at the mall with student loans that cost us 4% to originate and 7% interest rate the day we started medical school, make us feel better? Was that fancy purse the answer to our financial burden and to our performing better academically, and most importantly, how was that purse the answer to our sense of self-worth or happiness?

fashion

As Americans, we’ve all bought into the idea that happiness could be bought, and we tend to buy happiness from outside in. We buy expensive clothes, try to keep up with the fashion, cars, accessories, adorning ourselves and our belongings on the outside. We measure our self-worth from the outside, by how well we did in school, how much we make, how much we could afford to spend and to show and tell. If you ask an average American, he would probably opt to pay his car loan over a membership to the gym; she would probably spend her personal care budget on clothes rather than yoga classes or buying “expensive” organic, pesticide-free wholesome foods.

Maybe that’s why we shop so much, yet we are so depressed, sick, fat, and nearly dead in both spiritual and physical sense. US spends twice the amount the money but with the worst health outcome compared to the other top 7 developed countries in the world. Something is seriously wrong with the way we approach health and happiness as a nation.

Why don’t we try something different?

You are about to buy yet another dress, which may bring you happiness for the first 3 minutes after you buy it.

Think “What if I start exercising 30 minutes a day instead? Won’t I look amazing in anything if my curves are kicking?”

You are about to buy another pair of earrings, which you will likely wear once since you have more than 50 pairs at home right now.

Think “What if I read a book and learn something new?” “What if I go call up a friend that I’ve been missing but have yet had a chance to do so?”

You are about to buy a fancy purse for your mother as Christmas gift, who has been wearing the same purse for the past 5 years, regardless of the lines of purses you have bought her in the same period of time.

Think “What if I do a YouTube Yoga class for the 5 days with Mom while I’m visiting home? Both of us will be healthier for it and we can bond over doing yoga!”

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This dress was bought at clearance for $30 when I was a college freshmen. I wore it a few times over the last 14 years… Rule of 72, if I invested that $30 bucks 14 years ago, I could have $120 today. Considering this dress has come in handy for several “formal” dinners and I have not purchased another formal dress over the last decade, I could live with $120 less in my nest egg today.

Before you make a purchase, ask yourself “What do I need this for? Does this bring me happiness? If so, how much and how long? Is there something else deeper, more fundamental that I’m neglecting? How’s my physical, mental, spiritual, intellectual health doing? Am I just numbing some pain temporarily with this purchase?”

You know yourself best, or perhaps due to stress and longtime neglect of who you are and what you truly need, you may be a little lost, then ask as close friend or family members.  “Why do you think I go shopping?” “What do you think is missing in my life?”

Let’s find our happiness from inside out, rather than outside in.

You just might find true happiness and realize that it is not bought with money,

but with the most precious and irrecoverable asset you’ve got,

the presence of your mind, your attention, your time.