A Guest Blogger For You

    Hello! This is Neal’s son, Craig. I’m recently back in town for a visit from traveling around the world for eight months (www.alsupsworldtravels.com) and dad invited me to write a little guest post on his blog. We still have about 8 or so months left to travel. He asked me to give my best attempt at answering the most often asked question conerning the whereabouts of his “baby boy”. First, let’s get to know one another just a bit. I’m 26 years old, have a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, and have been married for 3 years. I have seen the Grand Canyon and the Great Pyramids of Giza, been for a ride on a camel and an elephant, skydived from 10,000 feet, taught in a village school in the Fijian Islands, eaten stinky durian fruit, been scuba diving with 6-foot sharks,  and floated in the Dead Sea. How do we do it??? We’re guessing that most people mean financially. That’s the most often asked question, by the way. I would love to say that we won the lottery, one of us was hired as CEO of Microsoft, or that we had somehow talked someone into financing our trip for us. The reality, however, is that we would never base our future on the farce that is the lottery. We are not qualified for gaining riches through commanding the mighty ship that is Microsoft. We did try to talk a few companies into some kind of sponsorship, but to no avail. You know what? I lied to you. I know, we are at the beginning of our relationship and one little lie could ruin it all, but I fibbed just a bit when I said that “I would love to say” any of those things was the way we made this little trip of ours happen. 

    How do we do it? How can people in their mid-20′s, fresh out of school, and with no trust fund in hand travel for ~18 months to places that most people only dream about? The truth is: It’s not that difficult. Who here picked out their clothes this morning? Decisions, decisions. That’s what this life is all about. We made a decision that this trip would happen and let that decision lead all of our other decisions for the next 2 years. It all starts with one little decision. That decision leads to a couple questions: How can we make more money? How can we spend less money? Let’s look at these questions one at a time:

1.    How can we make more money? ANSWER: At this point in our lives, making more money is a combination of three things. The first is as it always is, God’s will. I am under no illusion that we have afforded this trip all on our own. To be truthful, some things worked out for us that would not have if not for divine intervention. We were both working regular jobs, making pretty decent money one day and then it happened: Both of us got a call from new employers on the same day offering us new jobs and a total of $13,000 worth of extra pay over the next year. We took the jobs one year before we left for our trip. We also had pretty amazing part-time jobs. I worked as a psychologists assistant for 20 or so hours per week extra and my wife worked as a pharmacy tech. for the same number of hours. That leads me to the second thing that helped us to make more money: HARD HARD WORK! Some of you just cringed. I felt it. You know what though? We looked at one another about a month into our trip and said “It was all worth it. All of the weeks working 60+ hours per week over the past two years were worth it.” That means that the last 7 months have been bonus and that the next 8 or so will be bonus as well. How’s that for return on your investment? The third thing is a little thing I like to call the “Great American Yard Sale”. That’s right folks! Yard sales are no longer just your grandmother’s Saturday hobby. They are a tool. A tool to get out of debt, get rid of clutter, and even help pay for a trip around the world. We had several yard sales over the past couple years. We actually had so many that we had to start taking family donations in order to fill all of our tables. We sold a car at a yard sale (!!!). We dumped all of our useless junk off on someone who could appreciate it. We did not win the lottery, didn’t rob a bank, didn’t have a rich relative pass away. If you bank your future on any of those things, you’ll be quite disappointed in life.

2.    How can we spend less money? ANSWER: I recently read a magazine article (btw, reading is very good for you, do it and do it often) that showed the average weekly grocery expenditures for typical families from around the country. The lowest amount spent on food for a one week period was over $250 USD. We budgeted (Dave Ramsey’s Monthly Cash Flow Planning Form) $150 per month for the last two years that we saved and planned for this trip. Now, I know you are saying one of a few things, so let’s look at those: 1) The two of you don’t have kids, so it’s easier for you to spend less on food. Do your children really eat $850 worth of food each month and you only eat $150? Or are you making up excuses for not living the life you dream of? 2) But you must have eaten Ramen noodles every night and we can’t do that. Wrong. We had fish, chicken, shrimp, turkey, pasta, rice, vegetables, and a lot of other good stuff. We had all our favorite foods. We cooked them at home, bought large packs that would last longer and split them up to freeze, took sandwiches for lunch, bought the store brand of everything (almost everything…Jen wouldn’t give on the ranch dressing), cut down on snack foods (which simultaneously made us more healthy), and used coupons. 3) Budget? We can’t agree on a budget! Evaluate some things. Quickly! The majority of all marital discord comes because of the inability to agree on money. Change this pattern. Sit down and come up with a do-able budget TOGETHER. Today. The rest of our expenses also went on a written budget which we completed prior to the beginning of each new month. In the words of Dave Ramsey, “Every dollar, on paper, on purpose.” It is hard at first, but after a couple months of going through the motions, the expenses really start to shrink and the savings really start to add up. When you start seeing extra money in the bank, the budget gets easier and easier.  

    Now I don’t mean to make it seem too simple to anyone or to put you down for not living your dreams before this point in your life. I am just a very strong believer in intrinsic motivation. The kind that comes from within. If you want something in life (and I believe that we all do) you have to motivate yourself to reach that goal. You have to wakeup daily saying “I want that today. I want to be there. That is the best me! How can I get there?”. Too often, people sit and wait for their prince charming, unicorn, place in the sun, or journey around the world instead of stepping out in faith and courage in the direction of that dream in order to meet it halfway. You know what? If you sit and wait all your life, you will have been halfway the whole time, only needing to do your part. Your dreams will come to you if they are dreamed with good intent. But only halfway.

 

    Craig Alsup is a fellow blogger, world traveler, and first and foremost, loving Hubby. He has written in and maintained he and his wife’s blog at www.alsupsworldtravels.com over the past couple years. Future plans include book writing, a Ph.D. and private psychological practice, and babies!!!