I am feeling pretty good about life these days. I spend a lot of time just feeling thankful and grateful for the opportunities that I have to do the things that I imagine. Things are still a bit rough financially and I’m looking forward to next week when a number of my payments start coming in. This is the third moment in the past 3 years where I’ve had to confront the reality of debt and how its presence in my life affects my future.
The first moment was realizing that I was staying in a job that I was rapidly beginning to hate (I used to really, really love my job)because of money. The way that I was working was having a very real, and very negative affect on my life and I was feeling very frustrated about that situation. The third “come to Jesus” moment that I had with money was realizing that I’m wanting to get married and have little people and I don’t want them to have to deal with the chaos that my debt creates in my life. Also, as an only child I am concerned about my ability to help my mom/grandma out is greatly hindered by my debt.
Some April Link Love:
- I Just Put the Equivalent of My Old Salary Towards To Debt Melanie Dear Debt
- Overwhelmed by Student Loans-Start With A Budget Kirsten Indebted and in Debt
- Listening to Life’s Whispers Tonya from Budget and the Beach
Michelle Over at The Money Spot
I had an amazing opportunity to speak with Melissa Jasmin of the The CFO Woman. She lives in Honolulu and it just happened that she contacted me when I was in Honolulu (she had no idea I was there!) I knew we had to meet. I had the opportunity to meet with her and her lovely family and it was a pleasure to speak with her upon my return to Colorado. Here is my interview with The CFO Woman. Also, spend some time checking out some of the other wonderful interviews that she’s done (Tonya from Budget and the Beach and Melanie for Dear Debt).
I helped facilitate a wonderful conversation about money for Money Smart Week. I collaborated with 6 other bloggers for two evenings of financial conversations ranging from: budgeting to rebooting your debt repayment. You can listen to the first night at the line above.
I got financially real in the 2015 Financial Literacy Awareness Carnival Hosted by wonderful Shannon from The Heavy Purse. She is a wonderful advocate for financial literacy, writes with compassion, and is a wonderful resource for people (especially families) looking to answer financial questions.
On Poverty
I have lived a very blessed life. My life’s foundations began with the work ethic of my Great Grandparents who were sharecroppers in Mississippi. In fact, my Great Grandfather was foreman of the plantation that they lived on.
My extended family members (on both sides) worked hard. In factories, on farms, in kitchens, and other difficult jobs that were just a job-but provided stability and put food on the table. My relatives did not think about job happiness. They worked and rose up from their humble beginnings, purchased homes, went on simple vacations, and sent their children to college.
I have traveled the world, gone to college, attended world class events, and own property. I have benefited from the foundations set by my relatives before me. But not everyone is so fortunate.
Things Have Changed
Factories no longer rely on large numbers of human workers. Tasks are being rapidly mechanized, and family structure (both parents in the home) has broken down in poorer neighborhoods. We saw the riots in Baltimore this week and last fall in St. Louis. Chronic poverty, low educational attainment, and lack of jobs due to mechanization are America’s biggest issue. If we don’t address this we will continue to see riots, anger, and other situations that occur when able bodied people aren’t working.
I wrote a post on Facebook this week that said the following:
“A ramble. On Baltimore/St. Louis and riots. Chronic poverty is a national issue and has been for my entire lifetime. American capitalism is supported by poor workers. As an independent voter I feel comfortable saying that Democratic policy keeps people victims and Republican policy demonizes poor people. There has to be a middle ground. Being angry at poor people reflects on the angry person. And creating victims takes away people’s power. The frustrating thing is that rioting ultimately takes away your ability to be heard because we stop listening to you. And that’s unfortunate because you need to be heard. And you have a right to be angry.
I have been writing for awhile on and off about the fact that people’s jobs are going away and the mechanization of tasks is hitting a crisis point. I am not the only person concerned about this. But, as middle class people begin to lose their jobs maybe this issue will get more traction. Jobs at risk include: bank tellers, cashiers, waitresses, brand ambassadors, anything that includes factory work, farmers, and the list goes on. People ALL of our jobs are at risk due to mechanization. Not to be a downer-but you have to be aware and cover your ass.”
This is not just a problem for poor black people. Your jobs are also on the line. Mechanization of tasks is the unspoken elephant in the room and you need to be preparing for when you’re rendered obsolete. Even my previous job-where I did IMMIGRATION! For foreign nationals was starting to become highly computerized and fewer people would be needed (supposedly) to manage student records.
These riots are a bigger issue than people are angry. Be compassionate, think deeper. Don’t cop out and say that it’s “they’re problem.” It’s everyone’s problem. Sooner or later.
Latest posts by Michelle (see all)
- How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
- How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
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Lots of good, deep thoughts here, Michelle. I am impressed by your attitude to be grateful especially because, right now, it’s probably really hard while you anxiously await those payments.
And I’ve seen how we are losing some of those pillar jobs in the name of efficiency. Even grocery stores now have self checkout lines. And at my engineering company, there is a push to automate any process that can be automated. It’s truly everywhere.
Well, my thought is that if I cave in now and use credit I will always do that instead of digging deeper.And YES-it’s really hard 🙂 I am actually working with a group that is deeply concerned with the automation issue, how it affects jobs, and how that automation affects everyone’s jobs. It’s an issue I think more of us should be worried about.
Thanks for the link love and I FINALLY found the podcast I was on. She never let me know when it aired. I think you have some good thoughts there, but also wanted to add that as much as sites like fiverr and taskrabbit open up doors for people to pick up side hustles, they also, at least in my particular industry, have de-valued it. Why should someone pay for good quality work when they can just get it for $5, although they usually get what they pay for. I also think age-ism exists big time in the work force. Millennials are always going on about how tough it is for them, but we GenX’ers are fighting for those same jobs too, and more than likely companies are hiring someone who looks younger, so it makes it tough, and it’s probably even tougher for baby boomers. I think for all of us, it’s important to be flexible, and constantly educate ourselves in whatever way we can to stay hirable and employable. You can’t rely on old systems to take care of us. Have to take advantage of whatever cards are handed to us. Know what I mean?
I never used fiver or task rabbit so those were completely off my radar-I hadn’t even thought of those in terms of my concerns about the changing job scape. I think that the generational conversation is very indicative of post WWII conditions. As a GenXer I recall us kind of…tuning out regarding the whole “how tough things are conversation.” I feel like we just shrugged and kept moving on. I 100% agree with the idea that we have to continue training and educating ourselves to remain relevant. But, I feel like that would be the case regardless.
I love your thoughts on poverty. Not sure if I agree that Democrats keep people victims. Then again, I’m a Democrat, so take that with a grain of salt.
I truly hate that people think of poverty as a) mostly a minority problem and b) not their problem. It’s a reflection of just how much capitalism has made us jaded. It’s a heavy slog, but if you’ve ever read Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism… He has some pretty interesting theories on how we’ve gotten ourselves into this mess.
Short form: Protestants believed in pre-destination. Whatever happened was supposed to happen and was, therefore God’s will. If you were successful, it was because God favors you; if not, you weren’t a good enough Christian/person/whatever.
This also made it a moral imperative to succeed. If not, it reflected poorly on your soul, or at least your relationship with God.
I thought it was interesting, and there are definite parallels of that thought in today’s society.
I have always been an independent except for during President Obama’s administration when I joined the Democratic Party. I will switch back to independent after he finishes his term (he’s not perfect-but I love what he’s done). I love that you brought up Weber’s Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. I tend to wonder how people would feel if they were the ones who were stuck in chronic poverty? I think it’s very easy to throw stones. I do think though that people need to rethink waiting for other people to advocate on their behalf. You will wait forever! That’s why I love seeing all the protests. That speaks to a fed up and suddenly empowered populace. I think we will begin to see some things actually begin to happen.
My week has been so great so far, as well. I finally got a new side hustle, website designing. This is the first project I have in website designing. I am so excited about doing it and the results. Thanks for the articles. It seems like it’s a good read. I loved the Listening to Life’s Whispers by Tonya. Thanks Michelle.
Congratulations on your new side hustle! Website design is a great side hustle to have and I’m sure that it will continue to grow and move you towards bigger and better things. That is a great post by Tonya!