Friday, May 8th, 2009
This is one of those days where I just start writing and write until stuff comes to mind. Having said that, I have no responsibility of what may be said and the order they’re presented.
I guess you can call it my “hmmmm” moment in RDL.
For starters, I’m currently wondering when will the tattooing thing going to take off like I want it to? I’ve been handing out business cards to at the oddest of places. Fast food drive thru attendants that have tattoos. Waitress’s that have tattoos. I’ve even posted my portfolio on a couple of message boards. I’ve since tattooed on one customer from a message board and none by manually handing out my cards. For some odd reason, I’m getting customers out of the blue through word of mouth though.
Another thing that’s been on my mind is my income and outcome. For some reason, I have money even though I feel like I’m broke as hell. I’ve been spending a lot lately and it doesn’t seem to be catching up with me. Hopefully it’s all in my head.
Seems like I’ve inherited my middle daughter’s softball team. The head coach officially asked me when did I want to practice in front of the other parents. Kind of caught me off guard as I rambled while trying to think of the audacity. We all finally agreed on Saturday morning (tomorrow).
I’m at a cross roads with the wife and her job situation. It’s nice having her home taking care of the home but at the same time, it’d be nice to have another source of income coming in. To top it off, (not saying it’ll happen) I was reading about this guy that had a stay at home wife and as soon as the kids left, she got bored and wanted a divorce. A divorce I could handle (not want to but could deal with it), but she get’s half of his everything all because she was a stay at home mom. Oh well, I guess you can’t live thinking of the possibilities, or can you?
Now I’m left with wondering how much spending money I should take on the October cruise we’re going on? I did my first betting goal on my first cruise (bet $100) on one blackjack hand. Now I want to accomplish my next goal of placing $500 on one blackjack hand. By the way, I lost the $100 bet. Not only will there be gambling, we’re going to South beach the day before the cruise for a day of partying. I’m thinking $1000 should be enough for the entire trip.
We seem to be looking at some more money come in soon. My wife is getting a small settlement (under $5k) from when she got in a car accident last year. It’ll basically be money we spent on her medical expenses being reimbursed plus some small additions of pain and suffering of her sphincter or whatever.
I’m also wondering when will this egg sized hematoma inside my scrotem from vasectomy complications go away? The doctor says it may be a couple of months and it feels like it’s shrinking a little bit but I’m skeptical of doing anything active because I know it’s there. It’d be nice to play some softball or flag football (might even give it a shot at quarterbacking tomorrow)
Another thought is… when will the market be up to near it’s all time peak again? We’d tend to make a lot of money if that was the case since we currently have about $40k in the market at the moment. This weeks gain was nice but somewhere near it’s all time high would be GREAT!
There you have it… those are my most current random thoughts I decided to write about. What are some of yours?
Posted in Informational, Personal debt, goals, purchases, success | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
A number of the people profiled in “Millionaires tell how they did it” made their millions as entrepreneurs. But working for the Man doesn’t mean you have to be a wage slave or resort to buying lottery tickets to strike it rich. The trick is to maximize your income on the job (and know when to move on), make the most of your employee benefits and tax breaks and use that extra money to start investing.
1. Keep your eyes peeled for better ways to do your job. Streamline a procedure, shave costs, create a new profit center, become an expert on a specific topic, volunteer for a company committee — anything that will make you stand out as a prime candidate for a promotion or a pay boost.
2. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. In a study of master’s degree graduates from her university, Carnegie Mellon economics professor Linda Babcock found that those who negotiated their first salary boosted their pay by 7.4% compared with those who didn’t bargain.
3. Get your ducks in a row and your numbers on paper. If possible, quantify how much your efforts add to the company’s bottom line. If that’s not feasible, spotlight your value with comparable salaries for workers in your position from a Web site, such as Salary.com, or from a professional association.
4. Plot your strategy when it’s time to move on. Create a professional-looking page on MySpace that tells prospective employers why you’re an exceptional candidate, recommends John Challenger of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. And don’t neglect more conventional networking: Join a professional association or show up at school reunions toting business cards.
Milk your benefits
5. Contribute as much as you can to your 401(k) and other tax-deferred retirement plans. You’ll not only build a bigger nest egg, but you’ll also cut your tax bill. In the 25% federal tax bracket, every $1,000 you contribute to a 401(k) trims your taxes by $250. And you’ll save on state income taxes, too.
6. Flex your tax-saving muscle. Contribute pretax dollars to a flexible spending account to pay for dependent care or out-of-pocket medical expenses. If you set aside $1,500 per year and you’re in the 25% bracket, avoiding federal income and Social Security taxes means Uncle Sam will subsidize almost $500 of your expenses.
7. Review your tax withholding. If you’re expecting a refund this spring, you’re having too much tax withheld from your paycheck — and making an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam. That’s no way to become a millionaire. Put more money in your pocket by using Kiplinger’s withholding calculator and then filling out a new Form W-4.
8. Stash savings in a Roth IRA if you’re eligible. Withdrawals in retirement, including decades of compounded earnings, will be tax-free. This year, income-eligibility limits for a Roth increase to $114,000 for individuals and $166,000 for married couples.
Invest like crazy
9. Don’t delay. The quicker you get a jump on putting money aside, the easier it will be to stuff a seven-figure cushion. If you start at age 25, for example, investing $286 per month will get you $1 million by age 65, assuming you earn 8% annually.
10. Invest automatically, either through your employer’s retirement plan or by setting up a regular deposit to a mutual fund or broker. You’ll never miss the money, and you’ll avoid two big mistakes: buying too much when stock prices are high and not buying at all when prices fall.
11. Watch for fund fees. The more you pay, the tougher it is to earn an above-average return. The typical hedge fund, for example, takes 20% of any gains, a huge hurdle to overcome. A better bet: no-load mutual funds with expense ratios of 1% or less. If you trade individual stocks, watch those commissions.
12. Keep it simple. Be wary of get-rich-quick schemes or sales pitches for complex investments, such as oil-and-gas partnerships, that trade on the millionaire cachet to lure investors into buying high-fee products they don’t understand. Most millionaire households accumulate their wealth over the long term by sticking to a regular investing plan in a balanced portfolio.
Posted in Informational, Inspirational, education, success | No Comments »
Monday, March 23rd, 2009
One of the more common fears among homeowners facing foreclosure is that the bank will suddenly start garnishing their wages in order to pay back the loan. With how far behind some homeowners fall, this fear can result in the anticipation of their not having enough money to pay the bills, keep the lights on, or feed their children. Especially if the income situation has deteriorated quite a bit, there may just not be enough money to pay the mortgage at this point.
However, the good news is that banks can not garnish a homeowner’s wages during the foreclosure process. The very simple reason for this is that the real estate is collateral for the loan — no other assets or future income source is pledged. If a car loan goes into default, the car is repossessed first; same with a mortgage in default: the bank can only take back the collateral that is pledged on the loan and there is no recourse to any other asset or income source.
Thus, the bank will have to take the property all the way through the foreclosure and have the court order it to be sold at a county sheriff sale. This auction is the legal mechanism by which the bank is allowed to attempt to recover the amount it is owed on the loan. If the sheriff sale pays off the mortgage in full, there is nothing further to collect.
If the property does not sell for enough to pay the loan off completely, some states allow mortgage companies to sue for a deficiency judgment after the foreclosure. Again, not all states allow this under the foreclosure laws, but it would give banks the right to garnish wages after the foreclosure, if they decide to sue for the judgment. But again, this comes only after the sheriff sale, and there would be no wage garnishment during the foreclosure process itself.
Banks rarely, if ever, sue former clients for deficiency judgments, though, because they know foreclosure victims do not have a lot of extra cash to pay down another judgment after losing their homes. It would take the bank too much time and money to sue again, when they did not collect very much on their original foreclosure lawsuit.
Lenders, of course, do nothing to dissuade homeowners from having the fear of wage garnishment. In fact, being sued after foreclosure, and the threat of losing their job, income, or other assets is often used by customer service representatives of mortgage companies to compel homeowners to keep making payments, even if they can not afford to do so. But foreclosure victims do not have to fear that the bank will come after their income during the foreclosure, and will not have to worry about the possibility even after losing the home.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
In light of our strained economy, how can you keep your love life intact and still scale back on spending?
Remember that money isn’t everything. The most important thing is that you’re together.
Whether playing the field or in a couple, there are a number of free (or cheap) ways to mind your wallet without sacrificing your dating life. After all, a recession won’t keep you from finding love, it’ll just make you more creative!
For those playing the field
1. Dinner and a movie DIY-style: Instead of going to a restaurant and theater, grab a Netflix and cook your date dinner.
2. Have a picnic: Grab a picnic basket with some home-made goodies, a comfy blanket and spend a romantic day in the park.
3. Free wine-tasting: Most wine shops feature free promotional wine-tasting events, a perfect (and educational) date!
4. Your own personal sunset: Take a stroll and let the sunset be the destination for your date — pretty and, more importantly, free!
5. Get sporty!: How about getting a little down and dirty with your date? No, not that way — participate in a local or city-wide recreational sporting event: how about a game of ultimate Frisbee or touch football?
6. Free culture: Most art galleries and/or museums that normally charge entry fees, usually have at least one “free night” a week — take advantage!
For couples
1. Lather up!: Light a few candles, maybe turn on your favorite music and take a romantic bubble bath together.
2. Eat in, but make it fun: Instead of spending cash on eating out, cook at home together — try new recipes and new foods — for cheap!
3. See the sites: No matter what city, most residents rarely do the typical “tourist activities.” Why not take the opportunity to do some local site-seeing —- most tourist attractions are relatively cheap and monuments or scenic sites are usually free (and only cost a guidebook!)
4. Volunteer together: Nothing’s sexier than doing good.
5. Take in some flea market finds: Peruse local flea markets/garage sales with your significant other — if you do buy something you know it will be cheap and even if you don’t, flea markets are always a fun excursion.
6. Start a photo blog: Why not create something with your partner? Spend some time out and about taking photos. You can even start a photo blog that your friends and family can follow and you can update together. It’s free and you’ll always have something cool to look back on!
And remember that money isn’t everything. The most important thing is that you’re together and you’re having a good time. If your date doesn’t appreciate spending time with you without spending a lot of cash, then you probably shouldn’t be with her/him.
Regardless of your funds, each of these ideas can be an exciting change of pace. You may be feeling financial strain — but you don’t have to feel it alone!
Posted in Informational, purchases | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
I was just sitting around thinking about finances and other things that randomly run past my brain when it occurred to me that throughout my entire debt free blogging I have no financial goals outside of getting (almost) debt free for ‘08.
More specifically, at the beginning of the year when I create my financial budget and distribute it to people, I usually have a round-a-bout number of how much we’ll have in savings at the end of the year. Last year, my ‘07 goal was to have $10k in the bank which I easily beat. I ended up writing checks totaling $20k check last year paying off most of our bills.
Last year completely drained our savings, and it took approximately 6 months to get out of tight spending mode. This year though, when doing our budget for the year we were on pace to have more than $20K in savings. Then I got laid off in March which put a damper on that projection.
With me taking a $15k pay cut this year, we’re now projected to have close to $14k in savings at the end of the year. Not a bad number but I’d like that to be better and it will (significantly) since we’re getting a lump sum in a few weeks due to my wife’s company being bought out.
So despite the lump sum payment we’re going to receive, I’d like our savings goal to be $13K at the end of the year. The way I usually come up with the number is, I take the projected savings we’ll end up with at the end of the year and subtract $3-5k. Since we’re in the 3rd quarter of the year It looks like we’ll be around the $13k range. If not, I may have to think of more ways to be creative with the budget in order for us to obtain that goal.
In the meantime, I’m working on tweaking my budgeting spreadsheet to be more user friendly. I’ll distribute it for ‘09 closer to when that time comes.
Posted in Generate income, Informational, Personal debt, goals | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
I constantly search for new ways to dump debt and I’m currently facing a changing point in my life to where I need to start going to the basics. Basically, I’ve come to the realization that there’s obvious debt and hidden debt.
For instance, I have no obvious debt in my Yukon because it’s completely paid for. However, the maintenance and upkeep along with constant rising gas prices is making it become a debt problem to drive. So here’s my solution…
As I’ve said before, I think I can get $15-$17K out of my car (I paid $19K 3 years ago). I’ve realized that I don’t need something other than a dependable older car that will get me to point A & B with as much comfort as possible. I think I can reach that comroft level within a $8K budget. So considering, I sell the Yukon for $15-$17K, That’d leave me with $7-!0K to put invest or save.
Not only will the lump sum monetary gain be obvious, but the better gas mileage/ less expensive car will also pad the savings account that much more. That extra $10K will go a long ways towards my wifes $30K student loan debt (still a ‘09 goal - $288/month).
Considering we’re going to be paying $1400/month in daycare, that aligns us to be able to pocket or invest $1000/month once 2 of my 4 children are in public schooling. In the process, that means that once the student loan is paid off & daycare is no longer an issue, we’d be able to put $2500-$2700/month total towards a house payment (we’ll add our current payment of $1000/month).
That $2500-$2700 monthly payment puts us in a very nice middle to middle upper class neighborhood in a Kansas City suburb.
I can’t wait.
BTW: It’s official! The Nebraska Furniture Mart bill is PAID OFF IN FULL! $524 more to go on my student loan.
Posted in Generate income, Informational, Personal debt, education, goals, purchases | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
By Liz Pulliam Weston
Link
Most Americans should use their economic stimulus checks exactly as they told pollsters they would: to pay down debt and boost savings.
But retailers are doing their best to get a chunk — or, better yet, all — of your rebate check. The latest spin: offering you a gift card worth 10% more than your stimulus payment. So far, Sears, Kmart, Lands’ End and the many grocery chains under the Kroger and SuperValu umbrellas have announced such deals. Wal-Mart is expected to announce a plan within days.
Here are some of the reasons I hate this:
Your check won’t help your community as much as it could. The stores offering these deals aren’t the mom-and-pop places that could benefit from your checks the most and keep your money in the community longer. (The Kroger grocery chain includes Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Gerbes, Hilander, Jay C, King Soopers, Owen’s, Pay Less, Ralphs, Smith’s and QFC stores. The Sears rebate deal applies to Sears, Kmart and Lands’ End stores as well as LandsEnd.com and Sears.com. SuperValu includes Albertson’s, Jewel- Osco, Cub Foods, Shaw’s and Shop’n'Save, among others.)
Buying U.S.-grown groceries or U.S.-made appliances is better than buying a plasma TV made overseas, of course, but if you really want your check to make an economic impact, spend it with a local business.
You pretty much have to give up your whole check. Kroger stores will at least give you change; you can buy as many gift cards as you want in increments of $300 and get change in return. Not the Sears stores, though. They want the whole check and will add 10% to the total loaded onto the gift card. And do you really want to spend it all at one store?
I hate gift cards on principle. They’re OK if you’re not actually giving them to someone. But they’re too easy to lose, and some come with fees that reduce their value over time (though that’s not the case with the Sears or Kroger gift cards). Also, they can become worthless if the chain files for bankruptcy, as Sharper Image’s recent filing showed.
But here’s the big one: You could be blowing your chance to get ahead. An ACNielsen poll in 2005 said 28% of U.S. consumers were living paycheck to paycheck, with “no spare cash” after paying bills. If that’s you, the last thing you want to do is squander this windfall.
Having just a few hundred bucks in savings could help you climb above the “work, spend and debt” rat race, as I wrote in “Why you need $500 in the bank.” That small cushion can help you avoid bounced-check fees, stay clear of payday lenders and avoid maxing out your credit cards when the next emergency inevitably crops up.
A young couple who throw their $1,200 combined rebate into a Roth individual retirement account and don’t touch it could have $20,000 by retirement, given typical long-term rates of return. Not a fortune, but way better than facing old age with nothing but a Social Security check.
Buy freedom instead
It’s more important, psychologically and practically, to have that little pad than it is to pay down high-rate debt — although that should be your next priority.
You may be telling yourself, “Well, I have to buy food anyway” or “I was planning to buy something at Sears eventually,” but that’s a slippery slope. You’re locking yourself into buying a certain amount from a certain retailer. Consider, instead, buying yourself some freedom from always living on the edge.
Resisting retailers’ siren calls is just going to get tougher as the Internal Revenue Service begins mailing out rebate checks and businesses ratchet up their advertising. So here’s my advice for a two-step plan:
* Figure out what you should do with the money. If you haven’t already, read “America, don’t blow this rebate” for a recap of your best options, including paying down debt, boosting savings and, if your finances are already in good shape, buying American. Make your decision now, before your head can be turned by advertising.
* Commit to that plan. You can read “Learn when you’ll get a rebate check” to find out when your check is due. If you plan to save the money or pay down debt, set up an automatic transfer that will take effect a week or so after your check is scheduled to arrive. Want to apply the money to your highest-rate credit card? Set up a transfer between your checking account and your credit card account. Want the money to go into savings? Set that up with your bank, or open a high-rate savings account online and have the money transferred there.
The key is to do this before the check arrives. When something is important — investing for retirement, saving for a goal, paying down debt or boosting an emergency fund — it’s best to make a decision once and set it up to continue automatically, rather than give yourself opportunities to change your mind.
Posted in Informational, Personal debt, education, goals, purchases, success | No Comments »
Monday, April 21st, 2008
I can’t sit here and take credit for my (relatively) recent financial makeover. In 2006, I received a tidbit of recommendation from the most unlikely of sources to check out the Dave Ramsey program… MY SISTER.
After listening to the (then) most financially irresponsible person I knew at the time sell me on the Total Money Makeover (TMM) audio book, I’ve become a cult Dave Ramsey follower. I’ve always been good with money by mainly listening to my mother and grandfather talk about how to budget and constantly instilling that credit cards are the devil. I’ve held true to those values but without a plan.
Despite the teachings of my parent’s and grandfather, I was never taught how to become debt free until I ran into TMM. From start to finish, I found myself being captivated and inspired by following 7 small common sense steps to get my financial future on the right path.
To be quite honest the journey is half the reward. It’s amazing how things become SO possible once you create a plan and set goals. For instance, I once laughed at my cousins idea that he should be able to pay off his house within five years. I was brought up believing my fathers teaching that we’re always going to have bills. I’m here to tell you inf act… IT’S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE!
I’ve since apologized to my cousin for making a mockery of his suggestion. I’m nowhere closet o paying off our mortgage but I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s impossible. If I really dedicated myself to doing that, it could easily be accomplished within 5 years or so.
Here’s the basics of Dave’s Financially Fit plan (7 baby steps):
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$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund |
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Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball |
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3 to 6 months of expenses in savings |
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Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement |
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College funding for children |
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Pay off home early |
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Build wealth and give!
Invest in mutual funds and real estate |
Because of baby step #3, despite my time of currently being laid off, I’ve been completely stress free because of Dave’s plan to achieve financial responsibility.
Having said everything but, “I want to have the man’s child”, I highly suggest you read it also so we can really get an understanding as to what we’re trying to accomplish and how we’re going to go about doing it.
Posted in Informational, Inspirational, Personal debt, education, goals | No Comments »
