Johnaberdeen's Blog

Although I may get a lot of heat over this, there has been a burning question in my mind.  Is college all it's cracked up to be?  Before I go on, I will say that I do have a college degree.  In the society we live in right now, we are programmed to think that college is a must.  It is unfortunate because I think there is something to be said about learning a trade and apprenticing.

In my current job, I don't really use a whole lot that I learned at the university.  College to me was more about life skills (i.e. getting out of your parents' house, learning to do your own laundry, managing time, cooking etc.).  It was a very expensive 4 year life skills class! 

College tuition is sky rocketing, and it is going to get tougher and tougher to pay for it.  I know several people who have had all kinds of debt and had to get debt consolidation help to put their kids through college.  I know that debt was the main reason I didn't attend graduate school.  I didn't think the difference in income and what I learned was enough to overcome the debt relief counseling I would have to go through.  There are people who are hundreds of thousand dollars in debt because of 5 or 6 years of college.

My question is, in a perfect world, would college be necessary?  My stance is absolutely not.  College should be elite...for those who are looking to get into medical, legal and educational fields.  I think people in business and communication fields would do better with on the job training and seminars personally.  Because this is America and we bleed capitalism, inelastic needs like college are ungodly expensive.  This will never change, but I think the prices of tuition, on campus housing and even books are rediculous. 

I don't know if there are any fellow soccer fans out there, but it is a sport that I have loved my entire life.  I played in high school and college.  Unfortunately it doesn't get much love stateside.  Its really tough to catch MLS games or anything that isn't the World Cup on free TV here in America, as every US resident soccer fan knows.  What is even harder is finding a soccer store that stocks a wide variety of soccer merchandise and gear.

It seems like the only chance as far as brick and mortar stores go are the occasional small soccer shops and big sporting good stores.  Stores like Dick's don't really give me the selection I'm looking for...a lot of their soccer stuff is very general.  A black, generic Adidas jersey and black, generic Nike cleats.  I really like the small, mom and pop soccer stores.  However, they are few and far between in my area.  My question to everyone out there is where do you buy your soccer gear like soccer jerseys, soccer cleats, soccer club memoribilia etc.

The last soccer jersey I bought was online.  I bought a Celtic jersey for St. Pats.  Online seems like the way to go as far as soccer stuff goes, however finding a good fit can be difficult.

In this kind of economy, I have been really cutting back on "non essentials".  I haven't necessarily been abstaining from things that I can live without, but I have been making wiser financial decisions.  I know nobody likes a recession, but to be honest with you I think it has made me a far better shopper.  I am of the belief that necessity breeds creativity.  With that being said, I am curious what everyone is spending their money on?

I'll start with the essentials:  food, clothing and shelter.  Has anyone's dining habits changed at all?  Mine have drastically.  I try to keep my restaurant franchise visits at a minimum...twice per week maximum.  I have also seen a lot of differences at the supermarket.  I am buying more generic substitutes and more food in bulk that won't go bad.  Just last week, I bought a good amount of soup and pasta because I got a good deal on bulk buys.

As far as clothing goes, I have a certain level of dress I have to keep up.  With that being said, us guys can find a nice work shirt for $60 at stores and franchises like Macy's and Express, and we can find them for $15-$20 at some cheaper discount stores.  I still buy clothes when I need them, but I try to search around for the best deal.  Watching my spending has probably been the most effective in this area.  I don't think I'll ever shop for clothing the same again.  How has the recession changed how you shop?

Shelter is as inelastic as needs get.  Unless you really like the weather where you live, you need a home.  I still have my house down here and thankfully have a job that pays my mortgage.  For all you apartment dwellers out there, has your rent changed because of the recession?  I would imagine home buyers have had quite an array of houses for sale to look at.  How has your house hunting changed?

I've been spending a lot of time on the 'net lately researching ways to save money and better control my finances.  Even though there is a recession going on, I am happily, thankfully employed.  However, I am looking at this economic meltdown as a wake up call for my spending habits.  Now is as good of a time as any to scale back some wasteful spending.

I've been looking online at different budgetting websites like Mint and Quicken.  I've also looked into websites that track your cell phone and credit card to see if you can get a better plan or rate.  In addition, I have been reading frugality forums and blogs.  These people really have my respect.  Talk about making a dollar stretch!  I've always been interested in cutting financial corners and recycling old into new and creative.  

Something I've wanted to do for a while is cut back spending on clothing.  Instead of buying franchise and going to a large retail franchise to buy a t-shirt, I was going to see if I could find alternative ways.  I'm going to start really hitting all of the local Salvation Army stores and goodwill stores.  Also, consignment shops are always a cheap alternative.  I want to do some shopping online as well, especially eBay and ETSY. 

Upon my endless journey through the internet, I stumbled upon a very interesting site.  KnifeThrowing.info talks about the "sport" of knife throwing.  This unique site discusses the ins and outs of competitive knife throwing:  everything from types of knives and targets to proper safety and technique.  I know that knife throwing and throwing stars are very prevalent in certain martial arts disciplines, but had no idea there was independent competitive leagues.

I'd be interested to see how I'd make out in one of these competitive throwing leagues.  I'd be the guy who would show up in full hunting regalia throwing Ka-Bar knives at the target.  I would actually be afraid for my life around these types of people.  I imagine if I looked at one of them the wrong way with my Ka-Bar, I'd be leaving in an ambulance!  Good luck with the competitive knife throwing!

This question came to be via a woman I know who follows me on Twitter (yeah I know, I am on Twitter!).  She asked me what are the best business opportunities in a recession.  She narrowed down the question to three acceptable answers:  franchise, starting your own business and getting the few open jobs remaining out there in the corporate and business world.

It was a pretty tough question, but honestly I'd say the best chance of success lies in buying franchise.  I will give you the reasoning for this, as well as the reasoning against the other two.  First of, some of the best franchise opportunities out there can be successful even in a recession.  We're talking the fast food, coffee shops and gym franchises out there.  Food, coffee and working out is pretty inelastic to most people.  You would also be surprised how many people won't cut down on their gym membership or morning coffee even in a recession!  Obviously fast food isn't going anywhere because it's cheap.

Starting a business right now would be extremely tough unless you have a good amount of capital already.  The kicker with starting your own business is that you have to pay for everything from the building right to the advertising, marketing and promotion.  A franchise takes care of a lot of the expensive marketing aspects of a business.  Plus, what kind of small business would work in an economic climate like this?

Getting a corporate/business job would seem like a good idea at first, but be careful.  The steady pay and benefits are always nice, and honestly if I thought the economic climate would be getting better soon I'd say this was the best choice.  However, I personally don't expect the economy to bounce back for a few years.  This being said, we all know how it is in the business world:  last one in is first one out.  You are putting yourself in a position to be laid off.