Jet Setter Interview – Karen of MakintheBacon

 

Hello there, this is your pilot speaking! (Why yes, I am calling myself a pilot.)

Today, our Jet Setter Interview is with Karen, of MakintheBacon fame.

This series covers Passengers on the Jet Setter Manifest, so we can all learn more about money from the experiences of others.

Drop me a line to be featured in an upcoming Jet Setter Interview, we would love to have you on board.

 

Welcome on board! Who are you?

Thanks! I’m Karen- writer, founder and owner of MakintheBacon.

Money is for buying stuff, what was the last purchase you made?

A 12 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. It wasn’t for me though.

Why did you buy that stuff, in particular?

We had people over for dinner and needed to get more beer.

We like airplanes around here.  When was the last time you were on an airplane and where were you going?

May 2014. I went to Greece and would love to go back there again someday.

What is your current financial goal and how did it come to be your goal?

I’d have to say trying to plan a small and intimate non-traditional wedding, if that counts as a financial goal. I’d been humming and hawing over the idea of marriage, thinking the only way to keep the costs way down was to go civil or elope. Then I realized I could put the same mindset for a wedding, the way I did for my finances. If it was important to me, I’d do the intensive research, find a way to make it work and make it a priority.

Who is your favourite person in Top Gun?

I don’t have a favourite person in Top Gun. I saw the movie once; a very, very long time ago. I do like the “Highway to the Danger Zone” song though.

Many people harbour some sort of fear of flying.  What do you find the most overwhelming or scary about money?

That it can be used to manipulate and control things and people. It’s also scary what some people will do for money.

If I was super-rich and gave you $50,000 with no strings attached, tomorrow, what would you do with it?

(I’m pretty benevolent.) I’d probably use $40,000 to put a lump sum payment on my mortgage. Boring, I know, but then I would use the remaining $10,000 to go on a huge trip to Asia.

Lots of things “cost peanuts,” what is a small expenditure that you just can’t live without?

My Blackberry. Yes, I still have a Blackberry. We don’t have a landline and just use our cell phones.

How long have you been the pilot of your own money? Did you have a job as a teenager? Did you have a lightbulb moment at a certain point in time and take control of your finances?

I would say the first time I sat in the pilot seat with my money would be when I went away to school. So that was over 20 years ago. Yikes. I feel old. I only had a job during the summers as a teenager. My parents were pretty strict growing up and preferred that I focus more on my education. I didn’t work part-time until my last year of high school. Unfortunately I don’t recall having any particular lightbulb moments.

Pretend you have a sky-writing airplane (that can write as many words as you want.) What is the main money message that you want the world to hear?

Money: Work hard to earn it, but be careful not to burn it.

You can read more of Karen’s writing at MakintheBacon. She’s also on twitter @MakintheBacon1, give her a follow!