I just read the eye glasses care article on wikihow.com.
It was a great article. One of the more interesting points was this:
1. Never clean a pair of eyeglasses with a dirty optic microfiber cloth, by doing so you can actually scratch the lense.
2. Isopropyl Alcohol (70%) is supposed to be an excellent glases cleaner and cheaper as well. The aricle claims that it is the active component of most commercial solutions. Has anyone tried this?
Regards, makingourway
Showing posts with label saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label saving. Show all posts
Friday, November 21, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Revisiting our online money market interest rates
A friend recently called and asked where to put her emergency cash.
I recommended placing a portion in a local accessible source and the rest in an online money market account (MMA).
This isn't something we've looked into for a while, so I checked out what we receive from countrywide - which has been a high payer historicaly. Currently it's 3.55%.
I then went to bankrate.com to compare. The MMA rates are a bit hard to find, but accessible on the home page. Here's a short cut.
For the moment 3.55% looks fairly competitive. I'm not sure how convenient the mostly local banks who make the top tier are for access, fund transfers, etc....
An interesting point is that Countrywide's offering did not appear until I selected MMA's with 10,000 or greater deposits required to setup the account. Here's the link. Interestingly enough, the top tier high interest payor group stays the same, but the 3.5% tier is very crowded.
One thing to stay away from is the promotional rate group. I'm uncomfortable with large banks that offer seductive short term rates that eventually become less competitive longer term rates. I remember feeling poorly treated by these same banks as they imposed unattractive terms on my business checking accounts.
Regards,
makingourway
I recommended placing a portion in a local accessible source and the rest in an online money market account (MMA).
This isn't something we've looked into for a while, so I checked out what we receive from countrywide - which has been a high payer historicaly. Currently it's 3.55%.
I then went to bankrate.com to compare. The MMA rates are a bit hard to find, but accessible on the home page. Here's a short cut.
For the moment 3.55% looks fairly competitive. I'm not sure how convenient the mostly local banks who make the top tier are for access, fund transfers, etc....
An interesting point is that Countrywide's offering did not appear until I selected MMA's with 10,000 or greater deposits required to setup the account. Here's the link. Interestingly enough, the top tier high interest payor group stays the same, but the 3.5% tier is very crowded.
One thing to stay away from is the promotional rate group. I'm uncomfortable with large banks that offer seductive short term rates that eventually become less competitive longer term rates. I remember feeling poorly treated by these same banks as they imposed unattractive terms on my business checking accounts.
Regards,
makingourway
Friday, August 01, 2008
Frequent miles versus cash back - which to choose?
Here's a great article favoring cash back, but there are also several excellent responses in favor of miles.
My gut says that cash back will rule as airlines continue to squeeze their loyalty programs.
This should reverse in the next few years as defection reduces airline loyalty.
If I continue to travel frequently for work i'll be garnering many miles through usage.
Regards, makingourway
My gut says that cash back will rule as airlines continue to squeeze their loyalty programs.
This should reverse in the next few years as defection reduces airline loyalty.
If I continue to travel frequently for work i'll be garnering many miles through usage.
Regards, makingourway
what remains to convert to compact flourescent
The following are difficult to convert and unfortunately, some are fairly commonly used:
1. outside lights - takes too long to turn brighten and a pain to install
2. chandeliers - i have several (kitchen, foyer, dining room). It would cost a fortune at $9.00 each to convert. and they still aren't that attractive. let alone figure out how to climb all the way up to the taller fixtures.
3. loft lights - i have a few in a lofted ceiling - when service men come to fix a gutter, i may convert them too.
4. dimming ceiling sconces - requires candlesticks.
5. dimming canned lights - i have about 20!!! mostly in the basement.
The kitchen chandelier is used most frequently.
On the whole, i have quite a bit of work to do, but figure about 80% of my commonly used lights are converted. Still, the others could save money, however, the cost is daunting.
i'm tempted to convert them onesy twosey style, but my better sense says to wait and see what new technology is introduced.
How do we know if any of the bulbs we're buying to day will make sense in light of new products 2-3 years from now?
Regards,
makingourway
1. outside lights - takes too long to turn brighten and a pain to install
2. chandeliers - i have several (kitchen, foyer, dining room). It would cost a fortune at $9.00 each to convert. and they still aren't that attractive. let alone figure out how to climb all the way up to the taller fixtures.
3. loft lights - i have a few in a lofted ceiling - when service men come to fix a gutter, i may convert them too.
4. dimming ceiling sconces - requires candlesticks.
5. dimming canned lights - i have about 20!!! mostly in the basement.
The kitchen chandelier is used most frequently.
On the whole, i have quite a bit of work to do, but figure about 80% of my commonly used lights are converted. Still, the others could save money, however, the cost is daunting.
i'm tempted to convert them onesy twosey style, but my better sense says to wait and see what new technology is introduced.
How do we know if any of the bulbs we're buying to day will make sense in light of new products 2-3 years from now?
Regards,
makingourway
Thursday, July 03, 2008
maintaining the swimming pool
Well,
It's been an interesting time. Last week i tried for the first time to maintain the swimming pool on my own.
What a delicate eco-system a pool creates. Just enough Ph, Alkalinity and Chlorine. Don't forget to deal with algie levels, etc....
So far, so good.
I have to check the chlorine level every few days to calibrate the flow from the chlorinator.
I also learned how to increase the PH and have a small warehouse of pool chemicals.
They certainly cost less than what my service was charging.
In a few weeks we'll see if it's been worth the effort.
One thing for sure is that you quickly learn how to use the test kit!
Regards, makingourway
It's been an interesting time. Last week i tried for the first time to maintain the swimming pool on my own.
What a delicate eco-system a pool creates. Just enough Ph, Alkalinity and Chlorine. Don't forget to deal with algie levels, etc....
So far, so good.
I have to check the chlorine level every few days to calibrate the flow from the chlorinator.
I also learned how to increase the PH and have a small warehouse of pool chemicals.
They certainly cost less than what my service was charging.
In a few weeks we'll see if it's been worth the effort.
One thing for sure is that you quickly learn how to use the test kit!
Regards, makingourway
update on our compact florescent lightbulb push
While most of our lightbulbs have been converted to compact flourescent (CF), we noticed about a $50 savings in electrical bill during the winter - rough drop from $220/mo to $150. We won't see much new with the air conditioning running this summer.
However, we still have quite a few lamps that are not converted. These are the lamps that do not typically lend themselves to CF solutions:
* Ceiling fans with 4 bulbs - we have quite a few of these - maybe 4 = 16 bulbs
* Ceiling fixtures that take 4 candle stick bulbs - maybe 4 = 16 bulbs
* Can lights with dimmers - we have several of these in key areas
While walking throught target I found several interesting things:
1. Spiral bulb style lights that are dimmable - unfortunately I need floods
2. Ceiling fan lights - on sale for $4.59 each - GE energy smart 40, uses 11 watts - I bought 3 to test.
3. CF candlesticks - I didn't buy one, but am planning to do so - also by GE
What I don't care for is the price. Individual GE CF light bulbs are much more expensive than bulk purchased Feist bulbs from costco. Then again, costco doesn't have 1-3 yet, so maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and pay the premium.
It just so happens that the light fixtures we use the most are the ceiling lights in my office and bedroom and the candlesticks in the hallway.
I still don't have an adequate solution for a dimmable flood, but if I tried, I might find something.
I did find an interesting site called top bulb, which does have an incredibly large volume of CF's of many styles, however, the candle stick bulbs looked almost 100% more expensive than what was available at target.
Perhaps over the weekend we'll move forward and get closer to comprehensive CF utilization.
Oh, one admission, we are not using CF's for outside lights or in our garage - shame on us - we should be. I even have the lamp pole to do the installation!!
Regards, makingourway
However, we still have quite a few lamps that are not converted. These are the lamps that do not typically lend themselves to CF solutions:
* Ceiling fans with 4 bulbs - we have quite a few of these - maybe 4 = 16 bulbs
* Ceiling fixtures that take 4 candle stick bulbs - maybe 4 = 16 bulbs
* Can lights with dimmers - we have several of these in key areas
While walking throught target I found several interesting things:
1. Spiral bulb style lights that are dimmable - unfortunately I need floods
2. Ceiling fan lights - on sale for $4.59 each - GE energy smart 40, uses 11 watts - I bought 3 to test.
3. CF candlesticks - I didn't buy one, but am planning to do so - also by GE
What I don't care for is the price. Individual GE CF light bulbs are much more expensive than bulk purchased Feist bulbs from costco. Then again, costco doesn't have 1-3 yet, so maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and pay the premium.
It just so happens that the light fixtures we use the most are the ceiling lights in my office and bedroom and the candlesticks in the hallway.
I still don't have an adequate solution for a dimmable flood, but if I tried, I might find something.
I did find an interesting site called top bulb, which does have an incredibly large volume of CF's of many styles, however, the candle stick bulbs looked almost 100% more expensive than what was available at target.
Perhaps over the weekend we'll move forward and get closer to comprehensive CF utilization.
Oh, one admission, we are not using CF's for outside lights or in our garage - shame on us - we should be. I even have the lamp pole to do the installation!!
Regards, makingourway
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
What to watch when you no longer have TV
Having cancelled our cable TV, we have just made a major change in how we spend our time and entertain ourselves.
For the children, we go to the town library and borrow 5-7 DVDs. This is all they have to watch over the next week until our next trip to the library.
I've noticed recently that they will try to watch the same DVD over and over. Although the seem to be watching less TV, the repetition seems to mitigate some of the reduction.
However, one of the benefits is that I can review the DVDs they borrow. Programs with great violence, such as Ben10, Naruto, etc... must wait until they are much older.
As for parents, my in-laws watch TV over the internet and my wife and I are exploring our DVD collection. I wonder how long it will last.
Regards, makingourway
For the children, we go to the town library and borrow 5-7 DVDs. This is all they have to watch over the next week until our next trip to the library.
I've noticed recently that they will try to watch the same DVD over and over. Although the seem to be watching less TV, the repetition seems to mitigate some of the reduction.
However, one of the benefits is that I can review the DVDs they borrow. Programs with great violence, such as Ben10, Naruto, etc... must wait until they are much older.
As for parents, my in-laws watch TV over the internet and my wife and I are exploring our DVD collection. I wonder how long it will last.
Regards, makingourway
New monthly expense actions
We've decided to reduce our monthly costs by taking the following actions:
Actions and savings:
1. reduced unnecessary subscriptions ($25 - $30 per month)
2. cancelled cable tv ($150 - $190 per month - comcast incentive expired)
3. reduced Nanny to 1 day per week ($288 per month)
4. plan to maintain our swimming pool on our own ($300 per month)
We have to figure out more creative ways to save, though reducing our leasing cost on our SUV would save some money. Though changing cars for better mileage doesn't seem to yield enough savings when you factor in new car costs, downpayments, etc....
We've talked about scheduling meals and eating out less, which would probably save us $400 per month, but frankly, we eat out sporadicly and not that frequently. We'll have to look into this more.
Regards,
makingourway
Actions and savings:
1. reduced unnecessary subscriptions ($25 - $30 per month)
2. cancelled cable tv ($150 - $190 per month - comcast incentive expired)
3. reduced Nanny to 1 day per week ($288 per month)
4. plan to maintain our swimming pool on our own ($300 per month)
We have to figure out more creative ways to save, though reducing our leasing cost on our SUV would save some money. Though changing cars for better mileage doesn't seem to yield enough savings when you factor in new car costs, downpayments, etc....
We've talked about scheduling meals and eating out less, which would probably save us $400 per month, but frankly, we eat out sporadicly and not that frequently. We'll have to look into this more.
Regards,
makingourway
Saturday, June 14, 2008
can we care for the pool ourselves?
I've been thinking that we might try caring for the pool ourselves.
I'm not sure all that it will entail, but the maintenance company has offered to teach me.
We'll need grandpa's help to clean it.
Our only cost should be chemicals and heating.
Should save $300 per month.
Regards,
makingourway
I'm not sure all that it will entail, but the maintenance company has offered to teach me.
We'll need grandpa's help to clean it.
Our only cost should be chemicals and heating.
Should save $300 per month.
Regards,
makingourway
the impact of compact flourescent bulbs on our electrical bill
Our average electrical bill (winter) dropped from $220 per month to $150 per month.
Now that we're using air conditioning, it's back up to $212 - but what a difference!
I still have a few incandescent bulbs to eliminate - in the garage, outside lights (used only occassionally) and candlestick style lights.
Summer hvac will push up the bill quite a bit as will heating for the swimming pool.
Regards,
makingourway
Now that we're using air conditioning, it's back up to $212 - but what a difference!
I still have a few incandescent bulbs to eliminate - in the garage, outside lights (used only occassionally) and candlestick style lights.
Summer hvac will push up the bill quite a bit as will heating for the swimming pool.
Regards,
makingourway
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Rethinking Flexible Spending account net savings
Like many people, I elect to have my employer withold a certain dollar amount from my paycheck pre-taxes and deposit it into a flex spending account. I believe I was withholding about $140 a month. At the end of the year, we had almost $900 left over. Like many plans I can spend any surplus into early 2008. Oddly the surplus was spent on expensive undiscounted eye glasses from an optician who was completely aware I had few other options to spend it on.
In retrospect, this seems ridiculous.
Fortunately, I've reduced my flex allocation to $100 per month. Depending upon how we spend money, I expect children's medical costs to rise a bit this year, we'll probaby have a $400 overage which will be a more reasonable spend on eyeglasses.
The bottom line is saving $1600 for medical expenses and spending only $700 on expenses and using $900 to overpay for eye glasses just doesn't make sense. We're wasting more than the 40% tax savings.
Then again the eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses are very nice...
Regards,
makingourway
In retrospect, this seems ridiculous.
Fortunately, I've reduced my flex allocation to $100 per month. Depending upon how we spend money, I expect children's medical costs to rise a bit this year, we'll probaby have a $400 overage which will be a more reasonable spend on eyeglasses.
The bottom line is saving $1600 for medical expenses and spending only $700 on expenses and using $900 to overpay for eye glasses just doesn't make sense. We're wasting more than the 40% tax savings.
Then again the eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses are very nice...
Regards,
makingourway
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Entertainment '08 Coupon book
Does anyone use the entertainment '08 coupon book?
I just picked up a copy for $15 at Walgreens.
I was attracted to the offer of half price circus tickets - something I would take my children to see - I'm guessing the half price would be covered by the ticket savings alone.
There seemed to be several other coupons for retailers, so we'll see how helpful it is. I know I'd certainly save some money if I ate doughnuts, but I'm too fat for that.
Regards,
makingourway
I just picked up a copy for $15 at Walgreens.
I was attracted to the offer of half price circus tickets - something I would take my children to see - I'm guessing the half price would be covered by the ticket savings alone.
There seemed to be several other coupons for retailers, so we'll see how helpful it is. I know I'd certainly save some money if I ate doughnuts, but I'm too fat for that.
Regards,
makingourway
Friday, February 16, 2007
electronic bill pay makes correct postage unnecessary
I remember several years ago weighing the benefit of paying $8.50 per month for checkfree (via Quicken) or paying for postage stamps on all of my bill payments via US mail. It was a narrow distinction, but I decided I'd pay more promptly with checkfree.
Nowadays I send all my payments electronically for free or use a credit card on a website. I must make more than 30 electronic transactions per month, which would be about $12.00 in aggregate, plus the convenience of paying on my schedule vs. the USPS and not having to worry about correct postage.
Not a bad side benefit: convenience and cost savings rarely go together.
Regards, makingourway
Nowadays I send all my payments electronically for free or use a credit card on a website. I must make more than 30 electronic transactions per month, which would be about $12.00 in aggregate, plus the convenience of paying on my schedule vs. the USPS and not having to worry about correct postage.
Not a bad side benefit: convenience and cost savings rarely go together.
Regards, makingourway
February Savings and Investing Plans and 529 thoughts
Today I am transferring $7,500 from our money market accounts into our Vanguard non-retirement account. We will buy more of Vanguard's 2025 Target Retirement Mutual Fund (VTTVX). The money is earmarked for our Children's 529 plan contributions, which we will continue to accumulate and contribute en-masses in the last quarter of the year. I expect to put about $20k away this year in 529 plans. Please note this represents a transfer of money from savings to investing accounts. It will read differently on our balance sheet, but it does not represent new savings.
In addition we expect to transfer $15,000 from our operating accounts into our operating reserve (money market accounts). This will let us earn more interest and reflects the benefits of both our incomes significantly exceeding our current expense load.
Furthermore, we will put another $1200 into either our operating reserve or our Vanguard non-retirement account to accrue for the annual 529 contribution.
Finally, we have been quite aggressive in saving into our 401(k) retirement plans. Our motivations have been as follows:
In addition we expect to transfer $15,000 from our operating accounts into our operating reserve (money market accounts). This will let us earn more interest and reflects the benefits of both our incomes significantly exceeding our current expense load.
Furthermore, we will put another $1200 into either our operating reserve or our Vanguard non-retirement account to accrue for the annual 529 contribution.
Finally, we have been quite aggressive in saving into our 401(k) retirement plans. Our motivations have been as follows:
- I'm still not 100% confident in my new job, if it ends soon, I'd like to maximize my savings, though my reviews have been positive.
- With my wife most likely to change employers, she wants to contribute to the plan she's eligible for. She may have a 90 day or 365 day exclusion from her new employer's plan.
MY 401k contributions
Year to date: $12,186.00 (includes 1/2 Feb contributions)
February expected: $11,440.00
I will max out my contributions by month's end at $15,500.
My wife's 401k contributions
Year to date: $13,110.00 (includes Feb Contributions)
February expected: $6,675.00
She will max out her contributions by mid-March.
Once we have maximized our retirement savings I will put all extra money into either a high interest money market or our Vanguard non-retirement account.
The goal is to max out non-deductible IRA contributions for this tax year - but only after we've moved and are settled in the new home. I don't want to imperil our cash situation.
Regards, makingourway
Monday, February 12, 2007
Shopping while business travelling
I'm on the road travelling for business.
Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and bought quite a bit of food - $40 in an attempt to stave off the overpriced purveyors at my airport hotel. I am on a 3 night, 3 day trip.
I bought:
Yesterday, I went to the supermarket and bought quite a bit of food - $40 in an attempt to stave off the overpriced purveyors at my airport hotel. I am on a 3 night, 3 day trip.
I bought:
- 6 1L bottles of water
- 8 activia light yogurst
- 1 pound of monterey jack cheese
- 1 roast turkey breast
- 1 very large salad
- 6 apples
- 5 bananas
$40 was more than I had expected to spend. The again, the $36 shrimp wrap I had bought one night at the hotel was also more than I expected to spend.
The $9 roasted turkey was last night's dinner and today's lunch.
I'm still working my way through the rest of the food. If I can make it work, it should cover all of my breakfasts, one lunch and one dinner. I'll have a combination of personal meals and business meals for the rest. Due to my schedule it's not really practical to try to bring lunch to my office, etc... food can be bought there.
What would you buy? What did I forget to buy?
Regards, makingourway
Friday, February 09, 2007
Thoughts on our move and career plans for the Makingourways
After several grueling weeks of contract negotations, my wife's prospective employers decided to actually read the contract changes proposed by our attorney and then found most of them not only acceptable but improvements to their executive contract template -- I wonder if I should forward his bill to them?
We have a strong feeling the country bumpkin lawyer representing my wife's potential employer first dismissed the changes - causing the company's leadership to dismiss them until they actually read the recommendations.
As they agreed to virtually all the changfes - all 25 - we are expecting a revised contract any day now. If the changes were not corrupted by their company's attorney, she might actually sign the contract.
This will resolve the question as to whether we should stay or move to Southern Virginia, Chicago or Atlanta. The next step will be planning departure, finding a new house in IL, planning the move, etc....
The Atlanta opportunity was quite interesting, incredibly well run, but ultimately there offer didn't seem as generous or enticing. My wife felt all the hard work had already been done in Atlanta, whereas the Chicago opportunity will be a chance to shape the business. I applaud her desire to build something meaningful.
I expect we will move around mid-year, take a vacation in July and my wife would start work later in July or in August.
This might actually help our annual income picture a bit as she will have her current (higher) salary for another month.
Once we move to Chicago our finances will be quite different. Our overall income will decline about $75k, but still be higher than last year's income.
We'll have one time expenses for the move and a month without income for my wife.
Everyday expenses will change:
We have a strong feeling the country bumpkin lawyer representing my wife's potential employer first dismissed the changes - causing the company's leadership to dismiss them until they actually read the recommendations.
As they agreed to virtually all the changfes - all 25 - we are expecting a revised contract any day now. If the changes were not corrupted by their company's attorney, she might actually sign the contract.
This will resolve the question as to whether we should stay or move to Southern Virginia, Chicago or Atlanta. The next step will be planning departure, finding a new house in IL, planning the move, etc....
The Atlanta opportunity was quite interesting, incredibly well run, but ultimately there offer didn't seem as generous or enticing. My wife felt all the hard work had already been done in Atlanta, whereas the Chicago opportunity will be a chance to shape the business. I applaud her desire to build something meaningful.
I expect we will move around mid-year, take a vacation in July and my wife would start work later in July or in August.
This might actually help our annual income picture a bit as she will have her current (higher) salary for another month.
Once we move to Chicago our finances will be quite different. Our overall income will decline about $75k, but still be higher than last year's income.
We'll have one time expenses for the move and a month without income for my wife.
Everyday expenses will change:
- Groceries - similar if not cheaper
- Property taxes, much higher, but offset by lower state income taxes (8.25%->3%)
- Mortgage, much bigger - another $1,500 to $2,500
- Insurance - higher
- School - Montessori school will probably be more expensive
- Nanny - about $25k per year
I'll have to create a detailed model on overall effects. I would still like to max out retirement savings, put at least $15k away for 529 plans (shooting for $20k), max out non-deductible IRAs (for later Roth conversion) and save at least $48k after tax.
How far we'll get, I'm not sure yet, but we'll find out. In our current circumstances, I plan to save about $16k this month and $7k next month.
Regards, makingourway
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The first edition of 30s and 40s Personal Finances: Wealth Accumulation Carnival
Welcome to the first edition of 30s and 40s Personal Finances: Wealth Accumulation Carnival!
I’m very grateful to noble 20 contributors who have submitted postings for our first edition.
I’d like to give special thanks to Moomin Valley and Barry Barnitz for the first two submissions to the Carnival
As this is our first run, I’ll keep things fairly simple:
INVESTING
From Moomin Valley this posting discusses the very small size of small cap funds and their investments relative to other funds and equities.
Barry Barnitz writes a very interesting post explaining the original financial research behind Modern Portfolio Theory; i.e. equities in combination with fixed debt instruments lessen reduce the effective risk of the equities (which are usually riskier).
Empty Spaces presents Investment Pimps posted at Adventures in Money Making. Money Shaker describes the unattractive deals high pressure investment promoters push – please be wary!
Rich presents Darn, The Market's Rising posted at Be Reasonable by Rich E. Obscure. Wherein poor Rich bemoans the lack of buying opportunities in a rising market – as well as reminds us that falling markets are indeed less to worry about than one would think (if you have time).
Paul Smith, a member of our Australian contingent (Moomin another member) presents Quick Analysis of 0 -10c stocks with PE under 10 posted at Investing using Fundamentals on the Aussie StockMarket. Paul performs a survey of inexpensive Australian stocks with low PE ratios. Helpful for those investing low down under.
David E. presents Everything You Need to Know About Financial Success in Less than 100 Words posted at Worldwide Success. David E. has a very nice review of Scott Adams (author of Dilbert) key thoughts on savings and wealth building. Like other unexpected voices of economic reason, it’s quite good.
Jonathan Lambert presents How To Avoid Cracking Your Nest Egg posted at Wise Bread Personal Finance. Jonathan discusses the vulnerability our brokerage accounts are to on-line fraud and theft. Very interesting.
Debt Blog presents Get In On Great Companies Without Paying A Fortune posted at Debt Free. Debt Blog discusses how to buy stock directly from a company rather than through a broker. Quite interesting.
Makingourway discusses Contribution Limits for Those With Multiple Retirement Plans. A straightforward discussion on maximum retirement savings when you combine multiple retirement accounts.
CAREERS
Super Saver presents Could Your Job Become Extinct? posted at My Wealth Builder. Super Saver lists 5 signs that might be indicators your job is next.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
Madame X presents Are You Saving TOO MUCH for Retirement? posted at My Open Wallet. An intriguing conversation that questions the common wisdom that most people over 51 years old do not have enough wealth to retire – X then applies the findings to her personal situation (while in her 30s) – should she plan to save less later?
BUDGETING
Steve Leung presents When Not to Buy a House posted at Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog. Steve reminds us that there are times when we are simply not ready to buy a house, despite the potential capital gains and lifestyle improvement. Very good points.
Ranjan presents Budgeting is for Sissies; Millioaires Don't Need Budgeting posted a tMusings on Money, Business, Finance and Investments. Ranjan discusses key tips on budgeting – even if he doesn’t believe in it!
Erek Ostrowski presents Getting Out of Debt (Part 1) posted at Verve Coaching. Erek has an interesting discussion of the psychology of indebtedness.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Hapless Home Buyer?s Guide posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog. Mad has a funny discussion on how to negotiate and buy a house. Odd that it’s appeared in so many carnivals. Do we need a recycling policy here? Some things are good to recycle like plastics, but other things, like chewing gum, well, you get the point.
SIDE BUSINESSES
Lazy Man and Money presents Alternative Income Streams Progress - February 2007 posted at Lazy Man and Money. Lazy Man discusses his evolving personal income stream and how far he needs to go to achieve economic independence. I’m impressed how much his blogging income actually pays for – most of his utilities, cable and a burger!! Read on to learn more.
SAVING
Bryan C. Fleming presents Million Dollar Savings Club Update: Week 5 posted at Bryan C. Fleming. Brian gives us an update on his wonderful savings club – feels like group motivation for weight loss (hmmm I could use that) – actually it’s a great idea and nicely done!
Queer Cents presents Are You Prepared to Lose Your Job? posted at Queer cents. Do you have enough saved away in case you lose your job or primary income source – a very good question – I personally wonder if high earners are at the greatest lifestyle risk.
Mr Credit Card presents Personal Finance Issues in Mid Life posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog. Mr. Credit Card analyzes his various competing savings requirements and determines that he needs more income. In order to do so he believes he needs to not diversify his investments to seek larger gains. It’s a very interesting discussion; one I fear will end in tragic results. The anecdotal evidence seldom provides a balanced perspective; i.e. survivorship bias makes concentrated investment efforts seem less risky. I recommend Malkiel’s Random Walk Down Wall Street.
TC presents Simple Living - 25 ways to save money posted at InvestmentsLoans.net. A quick sweet list of 25 money saving ideas. Quite good. BTW, I think a Super = Superannuity (think foreign 401k).
I’m very grateful to noble 20 contributors who have submitted postings for our first edition.
I’d like to give special thanks to Moomin Valley and Barry Barnitz for the first two submissions to the Carnival
As this is our first run, I’ll keep things fairly simple:
INVESTING
From Moomin Valley this posting discusses the very small size of small cap funds and their investments relative to other funds and equities.
Barry Barnitz writes a very interesting post explaining the original financial research behind Modern Portfolio Theory; i.e. equities in combination with fixed debt instruments lessen reduce the effective risk of the equities (which are usually riskier).
Empty Spaces presents Investment Pimps posted at Adventures in Money Making. Money Shaker describes the unattractive deals high pressure investment promoters push – please be wary!
Rich presents Darn, The Market's Rising posted at Be Reasonable by Rich E. Obscure. Wherein poor Rich bemoans the lack of buying opportunities in a rising market – as well as reminds us that falling markets are indeed less to worry about than one would think (if you have time).
Paul Smith, a member of our Australian contingent (Moomin another member) presents Quick Analysis of 0 -10c stocks with PE under 10 posted at Investing using Fundamentals on the Aussie StockMarket. Paul performs a survey of inexpensive Australian stocks with low PE ratios. Helpful for those investing low down under.
David E. presents Everything You Need to Know About Financial Success in Less than 100 Words posted at Worldwide Success. David E. has a very nice review of Scott Adams (author of Dilbert) key thoughts on savings and wealth building. Like other unexpected voices of economic reason, it’s quite good.
Jonathan Lambert presents How To Avoid Cracking Your Nest Egg posted at Wise Bread Personal Finance. Jonathan discusses the vulnerability our brokerage accounts are to on-line fraud and theft. Very interesting.
Debt Blog presents Get In On Great Companies Without Paying A Fortune posted at Debt Free. Debt Blog discusses how to buy stock directly from a company rather than through a broker. Quite interesting.
Makingourway discusses Contribution Limits for Those With Multiple Retirement Plans. A straightforward discussion on maximum retirement savings when you combine multiple retirement accounts.
CAREERS
Super Saver presents Could Your Job Become Extinct? posted at My Wealth Builder. Super Saver lists 5 signs that might be indicators your job is next.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
Madame X presents Are You Saving TOO MUCH for Retirement? posted at My Open Wallet. An intriguing conversation that questions the common wisdom that most people over 51 years old do not have enough wealth to retire – X then applies the findings to her personal situation (while in her 30s) – should she plan to save less later?
BUDGETING
Steve Leung presents When Not to Buy a House posted at Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog. Steve reminds us that there are times when we are simply not ready to buy a house, despite the potential capital gains and lifestyle improvement. Very good points.
Ranjan presents Budgeting is for Sissies; Millioaires Don't Need Budgeting posted a tMusings on Money, Business, Finance and Investments. Ranjan discusses key tips on budgeting – even if he doesn’t believe in it!
Erek Ostrowski presents Getting Out of Debt (Part 1) posted at Verve Coaching. Erek has an interesting discussion of the psychology of indebtedness.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Hapless Home Buyer?s Guide posted at Mad Kane's Humor Blog. Mad has a funny discussion on how to negotiate and buy a house. Odd that it’s appeared in so many carnivals. Do we need a recycling policy here? Some things are good to recycle like plastics, but other things, like chewing gum, well, you get the point.
SIDE BUSINESSES
Lazy Man and Money presents Alternative Income Streams Progress - February 2007 posted at Lazy Man and Money. Lazy Man discusses his evolving personal income stream and how far he needs to go to achieve economic independence. I’m impressed how much his blogging income actually pays for – most of his utilities, cable and a burger!! Read on to learn more.
SAVING
Bryan C. Fleming presents Million Dollar Savings Club Update: Week 5 posted at Bryan C. Fleming. Brian gives us an update on his wonderful savings club – feels like group motivation for weight loss (hmmm I could use that) – actually it’s a great idea and nicely done!
Queer Cents presents Are You Prepared to Lose Your Job? posted at Queer cents. Do you have enough saved away in case you lose your job or primary income source – a very good question – I personally wonder if high earners are at the greatest lifestyle risk.
Mr Credit Card presents Personal Finance Issues in Mid Life posted at Ask Mr Credit Card's Blog. Mr. Credit Card analyzes his various competing savings requirements and determines that he needs more income. In order to do so he believes he needs to not diversify his investments to seek larger gains. It’s a very interesting discussion; one I fear will end in tragic results. The anecdotal evidence seldom provides a balanced perspective; i.e. survivorship bias makes concentrated investment efforts seem less risky. I recommend Malkiel’s Random Walk Down Wall Street.
TC presents Simple Living - 25 ways to save money posted at InvestmentsLoans.net. A quick sweet list of 25 money saving ideas. Quite good. BTW, I think a Super = Superannuity (think foreign 401k).
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
traps when travelling on business
I recently read the small print on the hotels min-bar refrigerator, which by the way is not refrigerating anything.
Moving items around the refrigerator may result in false charges against my hotel bill - i.e. the hotel has a motion sensor to determine what you buy and what to restock. Very interesting.
My yogurt and cheese are spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. I'm going to request a personal refrigerator for "medicine". I hope there is no ridiculous fee.
Regards, makingourway
Moving items around the refrigerator may result in false charges against my hotel bill - i.e. the hotel has a motion sensor to determine what you buy and what to restock. Very interesting.
My yogurt and cheese are spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. I'm going to request a personal refrigerator for "medicine". I hope there is no ridiculous fee.
Regards, makingourway
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Family fun doesn't need to be expensive
We had a great family day today. Active, exciting and involving everyone.
In retrospect, it was fairly inexpensive.
We had a soccer game ($50 for the season and t-shirt), we went to a stables and met the horses (big for the little ones - helping groom the sources), we rode the horses (for a whopping $20), had a great family discussion about world war II reconstruction in Europe, read some comic books together ($2.70 each) - Fables is adult but accessible to the children and ran a few errands. Dinner was a roasted chicken from the super market ($6.00) - surprisingly tasty and home made Pad Thai.
Sure beats a trip into the big city - we always spend $150 or more on such grand adventures.
The key is a schedule of organized community activities (sporting events) and inexpensive commercial entertainment (the stables).
And making time for family moments (reading) and discussions.
We also practiced karate, which resembled acrobatics more than anything else - "the flying makingourways"! Even karate classes are inexpensive fun for the whole family.
Regards, makingourway
In retrospect, it was fairly inexpensive.
We had a soccer game ($50 for the season and t-shirt), we went to a stables and met the horses (big for the little ones - helping groom the sources), we rode the horses (for a whopping $20), had a great family discussion about world war II reconstruction in Europe, read some comic books together ($2.70 each) - Fables is adult but accessible to the children and ran a few errands. Dinner was a roasted chicken from the super market ($6.00) - surprisingly tasty and home made Pad Thai.
Sure beats a trip into the big city - we always spend $150 or more on such grand adventures.
The key is a schedule of organized community activities (sporting events) and inexpensive commercial entertainment (the stables).
And making time for family moments (reading) and discussions.
We also practiced karate, which resembled acrobatics more than anything else - "the flying makingourways"! Even karate classes are inexpensive fun for the whole family.
Regards, makingourway
Friday, January 26, 2007
More ways to save money while travelling on an expense account
I'll be on the road for another week so questions regarding how to save money (and retain my per diem) come to mind.
Here are some thoughts:
Here are some thoughts:
- Buy things that fit into the hotel's mini-bar refrigerator - cold cuts and bread can fold - large yogurts cannot
- Many hotels will provide you with a free refrigerator if you as for it (with out the mini bar contents)
- If you ask the front desk, you might get access to the concierge lounge for free liquor and food (think happy hour for free)
- Bring a swimsuit and workout clothes
- Know where the nearest super market is - buy lots of bottled water. Business class hotels can sell it for $8 a bottle. You can buy luxury water for $1-$2 per bottle or less
- Decide where to eat before you arrive. Use the internet, friends, references, colleagues to learn the best most reasonable restaurants
- Plan ahead - if you have a lap top, you can bring your own DVDs or rent them at a local blockbuster - beats $12 for a hotel movie
- Have dinner at a friends house - spend your meal money on a gift for their children - it's much more rewarding if you have local friends
- Buy a snack before you get on the airplane and don't drink while flying - it's easier to dehydrate in the air
Here are some gotchas that I always find challenging:
- Internet access - Big Company usually picks it up, but it would be nice to have it waved
- Parking - city hotels usually try to slaughter you with fees - what's a good alternative in the suburbs where there are limited alternatives
Please post a comment with other recommendations.
Regards, makingourway
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