Economic Side Affects of Work Travel

I have a lot of spare time on the road. I use some of this time to analyze my budget, spending, and future goals. I am always looking for ways to get a few extra dollars/points/value out of everything. Today I realized that traveling (a lot) for work is saving me money personally too. Here is how:

• Gas for the car: my car is parked at the airport all week. I am in a rental car with everything paid by the company. No wear and tear on my own car and no gas used. Nice!
• Food: I get a daily per diem that is mine to keep no matter what I spend on the road. I easily bank half of it every day I travel. Free food + cash!
• Finding points/miles deals/bonuses online: I have a lot of time to use the internet at night. I usually find myself taking advantage of bonus points and finding great ways to use those points. This pays off big with my vacations and fun weekends!
• Slightly lower utilities at home: I am not home consuming power, water, and gas. While I am already frugal with those not using them at all saves 100%! Small but still a gain.
• More Points and Miles for me: Every time I am traveling for work I am earning points all over the place. All work expenses go on my credit card. I keep the points from flights and hotels and car rentals. All of these play a big part in my awesome international trips each year!

All of the above are gains for me. They are part of the reason I like to travel for work. I actually earn more money and other perks when I am on the road. It is less boring overall and I get to do fun international trips more often than if I was not traveling as much. It is all give and take but in my opinion the benefits outweigh the cost at least for now. 

Your personal economy: what really matters to us!

These days there is a lot of talk about the economy, recession, depression, or whatever you want to call it. Some say it is improving and some say it is getting worse. It is all a matter of perspective. We are all affected by the economy as a whole. What really matters is how your economy is doing.

Your personal economy consists of:

• Your job/income
• Your net worth
• Your expenses
• Your ability to weather bad times
• How you are managing the above factors
  

You can have a surplus or shortage of any of the above. In this case we all want a surplus in all of them except expenses. If we have a shortage in any of them it affects our daily lives and what we focus on as we move forward in life.

Personally my "economy" is in a long recession since I am digging myself out of a lot of debt (surplus expenses). My job/income is OK for the moment and my net worth and ability to weather the bad times (emergency fund) are growing each month. I am on my way to recovery and hopefully growth!

There are many things that can cause a change in our personal economy. Here is a list of the major events that can make a big change positive or negative:

• Job Loss
• Raise
• Inheritance
• Buying a home
• Running up a credit card you cannot pay
• Having a child
• Getting Married
• Getting a second job
• Being frugal

The above list can go on forever. All the choices we make in our lives affect our personal economy in some form or fashion. Some will help us out financially in the long run while others will hurt us financially. It's a fact of life. The goal is to have more positives that negatives so we come out on top!

Doing an annual financial review is a good way to gauge your personal economy. Its a yearly "how am I doing" and "where am I going" exercise that we all should do. I find that tax season is the best since you are already digging into your finances from the past year anyway to file your return. Give yourself a personal economic checkup today!

Tighter credit policies are good for us!

Their has been a lot of talk about the fact that credit for most people is harder to get these days. Some say it is a bad thing and will hurt our economy and others disagree. I too disagree as having less access to credit keeps us that much more out of debt. The banks are getting hit hard with defaults and really pulling back. I am glad!

Rewind a few years and think about all the different credit card and personal loan offers we got. Also remember the housing prices skyrocketing and banks lending to practically anyone who had a paycheck. Fast forward to today and look at the mess they are in. Credit limits are dropping, interest rates on consumer debt skyrocketing upwards, and foreclosures are left and right. Both banks and people got in over their heads and this is the fallout.

Based on these events it is now more difficult to obtain credit. I like this because it forces us to save for what we want and not senselessly borrow for it. I cannot think of a better reason to accelerate our debt repayments (aside from saving on interest) than the very fact that it is now a lot harder to get more credit! I hope it stays this way for a long time.

America really needs to get their savings rate up. We cannot rely on government bailouts and social security to carry our weight forever. If we lose at least some access to credit we will be forced to save or go without which I think is a great thing. Get out of the paycheck to paycheck rat race and act like we have a future to save for!