•July 9, 2009 •
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Always a good question, what is too much information or not enough information to give them the financial education that they won’t get in school. I want my kids financially literate so they become responsible adults that won’t rely on me to bail them out. I believe if we build the strong financial education foundation they won’t need the “bail out” later down the road, or maybe not as much….
So I was reading this article about sharing/showing your household expenses to your tweens and it made me think about how I will do it when my kids are ready for it. I think it is reasonable to show them the electric bill, phone bill, cable bill, these are things they have input on as a household member, as well as most households have them. Since you are still educating your kids it might be easier to speak about paychecks and big ticket items like Mortgage or car in percentages, you don’t need the neighborhood kids or school friends talking about how much you make or how much your mortgage is. IE, for ease of reference I will use round numbers; if you make 4k per month and mort was 1K it would be 25%, after you outline the big ticket items (house and car) and then show the percentage remaining for household expenses and show how much money is spent on those things they take for granted, they may begin to see that it isn’t realistic for you to shell out $20 every few days for their entertainment needs. As you advance these conversations, add in insurance, the importance of that, as well as an emergency funds, investments, savings, charity/tithing. This isn’t a one day conversation, it is an evolution that will happen as they grow, perhaps show a phone or cable bill to them when it comes in the mail. Or maybe a better one to start with is the electric bill. My son who is five, we now “save the polar bears” (we recently saw Arctic Tale, and there was a public service announcement regarding saving energy which will help save the polar bears). By conserving electricity, very easy to do, if you notice a light left on or standing there with the frig/outside door open, let them know that increases you electric bill, get the connection early and you will create life long conservation habits.
If you need help with this, shoot me a note, I will be happy help you outline a plan for your individual situation or concern that you are dealing with in regards to money and your children.
Posted in Common Money Challenges
•July 7, 2009 •
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I read an article from Ramit and it was an interesting article(see link below if you want to read full article). It talks about looking at the big picture of things, great concept, he was focusing on the 20-somethings, I couldn’t relate to some stuff but the idea of talking with people that are 10 years older than you, and find out what they wish they had saved for. This can assist in your mid-term planning stages, farther than the here and now and closer than the retirement stage. He may have gotten a little more complicated by creating buckets for individual things like wedding, wedding ring (remember he is a 20-something). It is a good idea to be prepared for the 10 year window, I believe a committed emergency fund contribution , say 5% if you currently have a 10% savings plan, if no savings, shoot for 10%, and take it out of paycheck so you don’t see it. That would be a more simple strategy with a potential bumps in the road/upcoming things list that the emergency fund would cover, and no that would not include covering bills until next paycheck. If this happens, time to re-evaluate your current spending plan. Anyway, my husband are on this “plan” but instead of having an emergency fund we are paying down our equity line, throwing everything extra at it, so if the “Emergency Items” situation comes up we will be covered. If an equity line has already been cut-off or you don’t have one, commit to that emergency fund contribution, every paycheck, put money in that account until you get that 6-8 months of expenses of cushion under you, it will give you peace of mind and the confidence to move forward with your financial future. That is why it is important to sit down and know your 1-5-10 year goals, write them down, commit to them, look at them, see how you are doing against them, and change them as your situation changes, it is always good to work towards something, if you aren’t moving forward you will falling back. As always, I am here to assist you anyway I can and for $150 for a year’s worth of services, it is the best money you could spend.
http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/already-handled-basics-save-money-get-ahead/
Posted in Common Money Challenges
•July 6, 2009 •
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It was a holiday weekend, most people having off F-S-S. People were taking off for weekend getaways, gatherings, celebrations. And we like everyone else had numerous options to choose from, but with my husband leaving this week on a business trip we decided to lay low for the weekend and just spend the time at the house. Well mission accomplished. We started off the weekend on Thursday evening, grabbing a bite to eat and heading over to the library to load up on books and videos. It was a great way to get the kids to help get the house cleaned up during the day…bribery at its best. We had an ultimately lazy weekend, a couple errands Friday morning and after that we didn’t do anything except hang out at the house, mostly by the pool, grilled out, did some landscaping and spent time with the kids. But the best part…..it was amazing. So we have a 4 and 5 year old, not real condusive to taking to a fireworks display, that time a night could cause major misery for us parents regarding children meltdowns. We decided to make a big deal out of the NYC fireworks on TV, the kids were so excited all day, another way to get help getting everything cleaned up/keeping things clean
So the time came and we turned the big screen on, turned out all the lights, we could hear fireworks outside and my son says, “Are those from New York?” Very cute. Anyway, I popped some popcorn and we curl up on the couches to watch the fireworks, kids on one and my husband I on the other, half way through my daughter climbs up on me and my son climbs up on my husband and says “I love you”, of course it turned into “I love you too” fest but it was the perfect moment, I know mushy. Anyway, I believe we have started a new tradition for 4th of July, it isn’t the hustle and bustle of throwing or going to a party or getting to a park to see the display, it is simply being together, and that doesn’t cost a thing.
Posted in Common Money Challenges
•July 1, 2009 •
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We recently went to a Brazilian Restaurant where they come to your table and carve off meat for you, this experience isn’t for vegetarians. It is fun, great to do with a group of people or a date night. We took our two kids, they had a great time, well behaved and 6 and under eat free so it was great for us. We signed up for their “e-club” and got notice that July it is 1/2 off Mon-Thurs. That is a great deal for this experience. There is one in Orlando and there is a map locator on the site as well to see if there is one close to you. http://www.texasdebrazil.com/ You can go to their website and sign up. Enjoy the experience, we did!
Posted in Deals out there
•June 30, 2009 •
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We all have them around our computer or stuffed in a drawer or maybe I am the only weirdo that hangs onto old empty print cartridges. My Dad used to collect them from me since he lived near Staples and would take them in for a $3 credit, and then turn around and buy me some paper with the credits. Then we discovered Walgreens would refill Black for $10 and color for $15. FYI, getting refills, they don’t last quite as long and you start to have trouble with them after a couple refills, or at least I had a problem with them. I ended up taking it back and getting a refund because the quality of my prints was horrible. The guy said it had to be something wrong with the cartridge because he never had issues. Maybe I will have to try the refill process again, I am on my last cartridge of a multi-pack that I had purchased after my last go around with re-fills.
Posted in Deals out there
•June 28, 2009 •
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I was recently reading an article about the movie industry having a tough time in this economic environment, as is everyone else, but in a different way. They are having a tough time delivering the dramas and serious movies because in this environment people want to be entertained in a happy way, life can be heavy why pay for some movie that can make it heavier. This is always been my motto so I pretty much stick to the chick flicks and light movies. But now they are taking the light movies and putting some serious messages under the surface which you aren’t aware of until you are smack dab in the middle of it. Two examples, bear with me, they are a little aged since I use Red Box instead of going to the theatre. Anyway, I watched “New In Town”, labeled a romantic comedy, Renee Z and Harry C., thought it would be nice. Well, especially in this layoff environment, it could be quite depressing, they do revive it with a entrepreneurial twist and fight for what you believe in theme and it ends up good in the end but wow, the road to get there could be rough, and the story is ringing true for so many in the Midwest right now. Then “Confessions of a Shopaholic”, I thought it would be a cute comedy, especially since I am so not the shopping type, this movie had serious undertones of addiction and debt and could really knock you in the teeth if the characters’ tendencies rang true in your life. I could not relate, since I am not a shopper, but to think if others had these issues in their lives, wow, could be some heavy stuff. So be ready, what you think you are buying in a movie, may just be on the surface and you may be in for a more serious message.
Posted in General/Current Events
•June 22, 2009 •
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I had blogged back a few months ago about reading an article that cited that that “industry experts” were saying that 60% of available credit was going to be cut by 2010. At the time I did not see anything on my personal accounts. I have been letting my credit cards “cool” since no one is offering good balance transfers deals that can compete with the Equity line prime rate so I have not been carrying any CC balances except for one, Capital One who offered a deal that made sense for me after I did the breakeven analysis.
Anyway, I got new ATT(Citigroup) cards in the mail yesterday, I thought I would jump on and see if there were any offers, well they cut my line by 60% (rounded up,59.78%). AND there are no balance transfer deals being offered at this time. So I guess Citigroup is getting the idea of deleveraging and cutting risk in this environment. So being curious I jumped on Chase to see if it happened there as well. The credit limits there have not changed and they are still offering balance transfer deals, the deals don’t make sense for my situation but they are still offering them.
So beware, if you are counting on credit cards to fill gaps or perhaps looking to tap them in case of emergency, be checking them, I would say monthly, to make sure what your credit limit is and to make sure the “cushion” you are looking for is still there.
Posted in General/Current Events
•June 20, 2009 •
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With the news that banks are starting to give back money and “supposedly” the economy is pulling out of the ditch(I am not completely convinced of this, but would be ecstatic if it was true). People are wondering where did all the money go and are we now getting it all back. Well I was reading the Motley Fool and pulled up the following article, I have added the web address so you can read the article in full.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/06/19/where-did-all-the-bailout-money-go.aspx
Here is the table used in the article to tell you where the money went, the “source being from the Treasury’s official bailout website — financialstability.gov — here are the latest figures:”
Money Still Held by Banks $172.6 billion
Homeowners (mortgage modifications) $18.3 billion
AIG $69.8 billion
Auto Industry $85 billion
TALF ( Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility) $20 billion
Already Repaid $70 billion
Uncommitted/Not Yet Spent $264.3 billion
Total: $700 billion
Consider yourself more informed for the day, I do.
Posted in General/Current Events
•June 19, 2009 •
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You know those BBB coupons, the one’s for 20% off one item. Somehow I got signed up for them; I get the flyer and coupon in the mail. I assume you can request them on their website, if you don’t get them. Well I recently learned that they will take expired coupons as well as multiple coupons at one time (one coupon for each item), at least locally they do, I have been talking with others and they said yes that they have been told the same, so you may want to check with your local store but it may make sense to shop around keeping in mind that 20% off coupon.
Posted in Deals out there