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In this week’s Ten Money Questions, we speak with Gena Haskett of Out on the Stoop. Gina had some extraordinarily thoughtful things to say about money. In her opinion, it all boils down to being alert and vigilant. Her theme below touts self-sufficiency and that makes for one powerful interview. Enjoy!
1. You wrote a post called Losing the Urge to Shop, where you discuss your shopping vice. You write, “Some women do shoes, I do electronics.†What opinions do you have about wants vs. needs when it comes to material things?
We all want a salve or bandage to cover our hurts. When I get stressed I want to cover the pain. A new camera, gadget or a book mainlines an immediate source of pleasure.
What I have come to understand is that I have to deal with the source of stress in a non-material way. I’m not perfect in this practice. I am helpless in a bookstore but instead of buying $50 worth of books I can switch to a photography magazine for $15.
2. What is your most significant memory about money?
I’ve got too many of them, many of them painful. If I pick one it would have to be being so broke I only had money for a cheap bag of frozen French fried potatoes or toilet paper. It was an echo of a similar event in my childhood.
When you get that broke you cross into humiliation that is stinging. You turn on the TV to numb out but every advertisement is about consumption. That can lead you to feel deprived and humiliated. Or in my case it produced an anger that provoke me into truly accepting I can’t depend on anyone to take care of me.
I can’t slack off of that job. I have to be alert and vigilant.
3. What is your worst habit around finances?
Fear as a habit of inaction. That fear can cause me not to make future plans. I have to automatically transfer money into my savings account. I will forget. I then spend time beating myself up that I didn't do what is right. That is wasteful energy so by putting it on automatic withdrawal I beat down that fear.
I feel safer with an emergency fund. I can have more than one bank account. This is my way to counter the implied message I got as a kid which was “Get it, spend it, be deprived, get it, spend it.â€
I don’t underestimate the power of fear based inaction. But I am getting better at recognizing it when it pops up.
4. If you could buy one thing right now what would it be?
A Fuji S5200 or the next generation up or that new Sanyo Xacti HD Camcorder coming out in March 2007. For the record, I don’t need either one of those products.
I need a car. I’m spending money for driving lessons. But I don’t want a car the way I want cameras and camcorders. The whole car buying thing is scary. I don’t know about cars, buying them seems to be a racket and I don’t like monthly payments for anything.
I’m plowing through Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports. I have a book or two on how to buy a car and what not to do. For me it always comes back to knowledge as power.
5. You once left a comment on a BlogHer Personal Finance post that said, “Compound interest is your friend and lover - run to that relationship and embrace that sucker!†How does this principle impact your life?
Could we look at this as another expression of the Universal Laws of Attraction? That if I receive money and send it immediately out the door I am saying that I only have basic level needs and I don't want more than I am able to acquire in one month.
Do I welcome prosperity or chase it away?
But what if I make a different statement to myself and the Universe with the same amount of money that comes in a month? If I plan for my living expenses, make sure I have a fun factor built in and plan for my future goals by making a financial place for them then I am saying something quite different.
It is a shift in attitude. I am welcoming the money and ask a bit of it to stay around my account for a bit. The money gets to talking and tell a few friends to stop by and pretty soon there is a party
