Saving Money - A Rap Story Pt 1

In case you've been under a rock for the past couple of years, and never saw the following videos - "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and "$ave Dat Money" by Lil Dicky - please watch them as it will help for reference.

If you've seen these videos before, you know that the whole point them is to be frugal with your money; to go against the flow of the materialistic, instantly gratifying, lazy, and full priced culture we have created for ourselves.

Bennett, you're acting like some cold ass honky. What exactly are you talkin' about? Glad you asked. My generation has become so overcome with having things in the here and now, that our personal financial values have left us faster than snagging that last penny from a "Take One. Leave One." dish at a convenience store. My generation has a spending problem.

An example I see all too often is a young person working for their paycheck, and in a short amount of time, spend majority of it before deciding what would be best to do with it given their current situation. Maybe part of it should go towards student loans. Maybe they have a big expense coming up next month. Maybe they don't actually need $300 bottle service to have a good time on the weekend.

Now don't get me wrong by thinking I'm an old bag for not spending money. I am all for rewarding myself, but my god, it needs to be at the right time and it should be smart. With a simple and responsible plan, the fruits of one's labor can still be enjoyed (detailed more in part 2). What I'm asking is to take a little bit of Lil Dicky and Macklemore's message to heart and consider asking yourself, or a friend, "Is this the right purchase, and is it the best for me long term?", "Could I maybe get this cheaper somewhere else?", "Do you think they charged me for the ice-cubes?"

There are times and places to live in the moment but I think proper financials need to be practiced early and responsibly, so there is less worrying and stress each time someone checks their bank account.

B

(At this point, most people would start trimming, but I like to hold off as there is still a lot of growing to be done to get a nice thick beard. I'll continue to trim the neck line and start to clean up the upper check soon) 

A Quick Refresher on Social Media

Being apart of social media is programed within most of us at this point in society but the issue I see is people being lazy, uninterested, and not actively bettering themselves through the platform. The ability to be a contributing part of social media is a muscle within us that we need to continually buildup and flex during important moments in our lives.

We all have a message to get across in social media, whether that may be something simple and light (for example, this post about a cat) or monumental and significant (such as political views like John Oliver's). But how do we contribute productively and responsibly? By giving these muscles a regular work out that often get taken for granted. Social media is all about the compiling of an audience and the freedom to share your voice. We each have individualized audiences that we have (in a way) control over by what we post, but more often then not, we over look that and it's a shame.

We have the opportunity to build report, respect, and importance with this audience by posting meaningful, educated, and interesting opinions and information.

Now Bennett, how can I "flex these muscles" to give myself a better social media presence? Well, a good first place to start is properly using hashtags. Invented by Chris Messina (a former Google developer) who wanted to group internet subjects together and be able to take in a great amount of information, opinions, and thoughts effectively. However, I feel for many this definition has lost it's importance.

Too often I see people using these ironically, or satirically, when there is a good message in their post but it is because they aren't sharing something great to a potential audience or it simply isn't search-able because there aren't hashtags. If something is important to you, why not provide a thought that other people can take in and consider to grind through the 'ol brain blender, to interpret, and respond to in their respective manor (this is something I have not been the best at but I will strive to be better in everything I post in the future).

Now I'm not saying to go crazy and post wild, emotionally driven, uninterpretable rants every day, nor simply sloth videos every 20 minutes as that is a sure fire way to loose your audience, followers, and maybe friends if you want to be more than a one trick pony. Listen to what your mind and body tells you when you find something that makes you think. Is it infuriating? Is it different from others? Do you have more, well thought out, opinions about it? Why not help yourself in continuing to grow the respect for your audience while expanding and provide more to the web community. Keep flexing those social muscles.

B
(An important tool to grow a great beard is beard oil to keep your skin/facial hair healthy and smelling great. When it comes to this stuff, a little bit goes a long way. Depending on length of your beard: a couple drops, lubricate between fingers, and massage your face and beard while smoothing styling along the way)