Foreigner's Finances

The decade is officially over.

2009 is out. Hello 2010!

The internet has seen it’s fair share of resolution and 2010 goal posts over the last week, so I thought I’d contribute as well.

However, I don’t believe in waiting for the end of the year in order to start goals, so back in October I posted a goals for September 2010 post. I included five financial goals I had set for myself and this is the first update I’ve given on these goals.

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Welcome to the 210th edition of the Festival of Frugality!

Today’s festival is bitter sweet. It’s not only the last FoF of 2009, but also the last of the decade! (What are we calling this decade anyway?)

To celebrate frugality in the ’00s, let’s take a look back at the decade’s most frugal – or richest people. It’s not easy to be rich, but this elite group managed to mix frugal living with money and business savvieness. I’ve included a link to each billionaire’s Wikipedia for further reading about these fascinating people.

I hope you also enjoy the week’s best frugal blog posts. Along with each bloggers post, I’ve included a link to their Twitter in case you’d like to follow them.

Have a great New Year’s!

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Many of my junior high students are surprised to hear that Christmas is such a major holiday in most of the western world. In Japan, New Year’s Day is considered the most important holiday of the year. The Japanese recognize Christmas, but it’s mostly just a nice day for couples to be together and exchange a present or two.

The more I talked about Christmas with my students, the more I was learned about the many differences between American and Japan when it comes to theses two major holidays.

Below you’ll find a few of these differences and I hope it shows you how differently Americans see the world from other countries.

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In two hours it will be Christmas Day in Japan so I just wanted to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas.

I hope you’ll enjoy time with friends and family, delicious food, and wonderful presents.

Corinne and I will be spending time with other ALT friends in the area and fitting in some Skype time for family back home. It should be a nice and relaxing day :)

Have a wonderful holiday and I’ll see you soon!

-Austin

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Photo by scottfeldstein

Clark Griswold embodies the American dad. A caring family man who wants nothing more than to host the perfect Christmas for his family and leave everyone smiling. As we know, there were some wrinkles in the process but in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Clark manages to carve out the perfect Christmas for his family.

Here are 10 money tips I learned from Clark Griswold and Christmas Vacation. I also included a quote with each money tip to get you in the Christmas Vacation mood.

Happy holidays!

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Winter vacation is near!

Starting Wednesday, Corinne and I are lucky to have two weeks off at the same time and we’re going to do some exploring around the prefecture and elsewhere. We’re also taking care of our friend’s hamster so that should provide some interesting entertainment

Here’s our major plans for break:

- Visit friends in Kyoto and Nagoya
- Go skiing for the first time
- Onsen
- Finalize the layout of our apartment

What are you guys up to if you have time off?

I’m also very pleased to announce that this is Foreigner’s Finances 50th post!

In a little under four months I’ve learned a lot about personal finance, social media, and blogging and I’m excited to bring more content to you as I get move on to 100 posts! (For those Super FF fans, at 3 posts a week I should get there in early April – see you then!)

Here’s 4 personal finance posts I loved the past two weeks:

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I’m currently an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) through the JET Program. I work at a Japanese junior high in a small town in western Fukui, about a two hour train ride from Kyoto.

I didn’t even know this job existed until two years ago.

It’s unfortunate that so many jobs and professions can be overlooked by people just because they don’t know they exist.

So what is an ALT? What’s the job description? What is the average day like? Is it fun?

ALTs teach English in junior highs and high schools across Japan. The biggest misconception about the job is that you need to know Japanese. Besides a handful of words, I have no and this almost never negatively affects my workday.

Different variations of the ALT exist across countries all over the world. But with over one hundred ALTs in my prefecture alone, I’ll attempt to introduce you to our way of life as an ALT in Japan through the JET Program.

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Welcome to part 2 of the newly named “Money Around the World” series where we take a look at how citizens of different countries use and view different aspects of personal finance.

Two weeks ago we took a look at how countries in Asia use credit cards. From Japan to Russia we learned about the varying opinions and use of credit cards in Asia.

This week we’re going to travel west to Europe to see how six of the continent’s countries use credit cards.

Like most places, Europe uses credit cards much more conservatively than America. According to MSN.com, “only 27% of all plastic in issue in Europe is credit cards, and 73% is debit cards.” The idea of carrying over credit card debt from one month to the next seems like a foreign idea to most of the countries in Europe.

Regardless, I managed to find some intriguing facts about six of Europe’s most powerful countries and how they view and handle credit cards.

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The envelope system is a popular budgeting tool that allows you to easily keep track of monthly expenses and limit spending in certain categories. I was initially attracted to the envelope system for its ease of use and suggested it to my girlfriend for our monthly food expenses.

When she arrived in Japan in September we agreed to split the food budget 50/50 and I thought if we each paid in advance to a monthly envelope we could avoid any arguments about money. Our first month is in the books and it was a great success. Here’s how to organize the process and what we’ll do to tweak it in the upcoming months.

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Christmas time is here. I just finished watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and I’m officially in holiday mode. While watching the movie I couldn’t help but think about the specifics behind gift giving and how necessary it really is.

Far too often when we get a present for the holidays, it stays in our lives for weeks, months, maybe some years and then it drifts away to the back of a closet or the basement attic. Collecting dust and creating clutter, the present may be found sometime down the road for a tiny burst of nostalgia, but these instances are few and far between.

I’ve realized a sad fact. I can’t remember five times in my life where I felt a present I received had a long-standing effect on my life. Maybe I need new friends and family with better gift-giving skills, but I think this is a pretty universal idea for too many people.

So what should you do if you don’t want to add to the pile of junk in your friend’s closet this holiday season? Give a donation.

Charitable donations on the behalf of an individual are a much more effective use of money and can also create a strong connection between the giver and receiver over a social issue. These presents may not have the wow factor on Christmas morning, but it’s almost guaranteed to have a bigger and far-reaching impact in the long run.

Giving charitable donations on the behalf of a friend or family member is a way to educate and spread the word about a charity or non-profit organization that is close to your heart. Perhaps, your friend doesn’t know about the need for coats for the homeless in your town. When you make a $100 donation in their name, that person will probably tell his or her friends about your unique present idea. This spreads the organization’s message exponentially faster than you donating money yourself.

Donating to a charity isn’t a cop-out for a real present. It’s a way to make an impact on society with your resources, while simultaneously educating others.

Sorting through the thousands of charities and non-profit organizations can be a daunting task so I’ve done the grunt work for you. Here are 15 charities you should consider donating to on the behalf of friends or family this holiday season.

I’ve also included links to each organizations Twitter and Facebook. If you’re not going to donate this season, please add them on both social networking sites to help spread their message!

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