It's one thing to say I'm going to increase my savings in 2010...it's another thing to have an actual plan of action. Type A me has a plan of action for short term and long term savings growth.
1. Increase my Roth IRA contribution to the maximum (currently $5,000 a year)
As my favorite financial guru, Suze Orman would say, let's do the numbers. Let's say I start investing $5,000 a year in to my Roth IRA, when I am thirty and I make the same $5,000 investment for 30 years. (30 years because at 59 1/2 I can withdraw money from my IRA). That's $5,000 X 30 years for a total of $150,000. But we are not taking in to account compound interest. Let's assume an 8% average annual return on my investment. That will give me about $662,000 after 30 years. If at 59 1/2 or 60 I decide to take all that money out, my tax bill will be zero and I would get all $662,000. Reality Check: I may not be able to invest in a Roth every year for 30 years because there may come a point when my income disqualifies me. That makes it so crucial to sock as much money away as I can in to my Roth IRA.
2. Put more towards my mortgage
You might ask how paying more on my house increases my savings. Do you know that if you were to make one extra payment a year on your mortgage you could shave 5 years off the mortgage? Since it doesn't seem like I'll be able to sell my house any time soon I might as well work towards paying it off sooner.
3. Put side hustle in to savings
I am fortunate to have some additional income from a side hustle. But this is going to be really hard for me to do because I rely on the money I make from my side hustle of teaching to finance my travel plans. I think it is essential to put all the money I make teaching in to my savings account. Where there is a will there is a way and I will ALWAYS find a way to travel.
4. Downgrade to Upgrade
My apartment lease is up for renewal and it's a good time to negotiate for a lower rent. If they won't lower the rent it might be time for me to move. Sometimes you have to downgrade (in this case to a smaller or less expensive apartment) in order to upgrade (and increase my savings).
5. Time for a Raise
The economy has been rough for the last few years but the recession is thawing. I haven't gotten a raise in 2 years...not even a cost of living increase. This might be out of my control. It really depends on if the company decides to do a company-wide salary freeze (no raises in 2010). But I know I have worked my ass off and with the higher cost of insurance in addition to the higher costs of everything it's really time for a raise.
Any other ideas on how to increase my savings? What are you going to do to increase your savings for the short term and long term?
Showing posts with label Money Matters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money Matters. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Friday, October 30, 2009
Pre-Marital Financial Counseling
We have all heard the stats that about 50% of marriages ends in divorce. However this stat does give credence to the statement, "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worse." Maybe if more couples engaged in pre-marital counseling or better yet in pre-marital financial counseling that stat might not be so high.
There is a company in Boston, Lantern Financial, that does pre-marital financial counseling through a program they call Harmoney. The New York Times recently did a piece on the company and what they consider to be the four financial issues that should be discussed before getting married. There are of course other issues but I agree with the four.
1. Ancestry
Because so many of our money behaviors are learned, couples should share their earliest money memories. How did your parents deal with money, how does that impact how you deal with it, and how might that impact the relationship.
2. Credit
Full disclosure on the credit history. No real explanation needed, we all know how important our individual credit ratings are.
3. Control
Who will be the person responsible for paying the bills each month? How much will each person contribute to the household account? When you have been living on your own and managing the bills yourself, you may or may not want to give up that control. It's highly unlikely you and your mate make the same exact amount of money so how do you fairly divide the bills?
4. Affluence
What is your desired level of affluence? Basically how rich do you, as a couple, want to be one day? If she wants a big house and a large family and he wants a small house and no kids, you gotta find some happy medium and decide what that is before you say "I do."
So what's my solution to avoiding divorce and not becoming another bad statistic? Getting married later in life (I'm almost 30 and marriage is not on the current horizon) and I know I will seek pre-marital counseling of every form. Because I'm Type A and have to have a plan for everything ;)
There is a company in Boston, Lantern Financial, that does pre-marital financial counseling through a program they call Harmoney. The New York Times recently did a piece on the company and what they consider to be the four financial issues that should be discussed before getting married. There are of course other issues but I agree with the four.
1. Ancestry
Because so many of our money behaviors are learned, couples should share their earliest money memories. How did your parents deal with money, how does that impact how you deal with it, and how might that impact the relationship.
2. Credit
Full disclosure on the credit history. No real explanation needed, we all know how important our individual credit ratings are.
3. Control
Who will be the person responsible for paying the bills each month? How much will each person contribute to the household account? When you have been living on your own and managing the bills yourself, you may or may not want to give up that control. It's highly unlikely you and your mate make the same exact amount of money so how do you fairly divide the bills?
4. Affluence
What is your desired level of affluence? Basically how rich do you, as a couple, want to be one day? If she wants a big house and a large family and he wants a small house and no kids, you gotta find some happy medium and decide what that is before you say "I do."
So what's my solution to avoiding divorce and not becoming another bad statistic? Getting married later in life (I'm almost 30 and marriage is not on the current horizon) and I know I will seek pre-marital counseling of every form. Because I'm Type A and have to have a plan for everything ;)
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Living On Less Again
You may remember that in April I did a "living on less" challenge. To summarize, if you get paid biweekly you take 5% of your gross out of your first paycheck of the month and 10% of your gross out of your second paycheck and put the money in to savings.
I did it and I didn't think it was that hard. Not having that money didn't hurt/wasn't painful but I think the fact that I did the challenge in a month that I got 3 paychecks helped to ease the pain. So I have decided to do the challenge again. October is the month that I'm getting a 3rd paycheck so I thought it was a good idea to do it again.
Anyone want to join me? It's been a rough year but we are three quarters of the way through it. Let's remain financially fit.
I did it and I didn't think it was that hard. Not having that money didn't hurt/wasn't painful but I think the fact that I did the challenge in a month that I got 3 paychecks helped to ease the pain. So I have decided to do the challenge again. October is the month that I'm getting a 3rd paycheck so I thought it was a good idea to do it again.
Anyone want to join me? It's been a rough year but we are three quarters of the way through it. Let's remain financially fit.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
In Debt We Trust
This weekend I watched a documentary from 2006 that is still relevant to our current economic times. The documentary was In Debt We Trust. You can watch it on YouTube as well.
The movie talked about what would happen when the housing bubble burst...and exactly what they said in the movie would happen did. The movie talked about what would happen when there was a shortage of credit...and it happened.
To illustrate how not just poor people but rich people are affected, Lorraine Bracco from the Sopranos talked about how she had to file for bankruptcy in 1999. She said, "I was land-rich and cash-poor."
Then I watched The Debt Trap on Dateline NBC. It talked about where we are at now. Credit card debt is at an all time high because of unemployment. One couple featured use their credit cards to pay for groceries, car insurance, gas, etc. They aren't using credit cards for wants...they are using them for needs...they need them to survive day to day.
There are many people to blame for our current economic crisis but at the end of the day it's all about personal accountability. So you can blame the banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies, Wall Street...whoever...but look at yourself and how your own situation/spending behaviors may have contributed as well. I understand emergencies, unexpected things happen all the time. I understand losing a job. But part of personal accountability is having a plan. Plan to keep your credit card charging to a minimum, plan to live on less, have a plan to pay back what you charge.
The movie talked about what would happen when the housing bubble burst...and exactly what they said in the movie would happen did. The movie talked about what would happen when there was a shortage of credit...and it happened.
To illustrate how not just poor people but rich people are affected, Lorraine Bracco from the Sopranos talked about how she had to file for bankruptcy in 1999. She said, "I was land-rich and cash-poor."
Then I watched The Debt Trap on Dateline NBC. It talked about where we are at now. Credit card debt is at an all time high because of unemployment. One couple featured use their credit cards to pay for groceries, car insurance, gas, etc. They aren't using credit cards for wants...they are using them for needs...they need them to survive day to day.
There are many people to blame for our current economic crisis but at the end of the day it's all about personal accountability. So you can blame the banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies, Wall Street...whoever...but look at yourself and how your own situation/spending behaviors may have contributed as well. I understand emergencies, unexpected things happen all the time. I understand losing a job. But part of personal accountability is having a plan. Plan to keep your credit card charging to a minimum, plan to live on less, have a plan to pay back what you charge.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Challenge Carry Over
I have done a few challenges this year everything from not eating out for a month to purposely living on 5 to 10% less of my salary. But when the challenges end I don't necessarily go back to what I was doing before I started the challenge.
I still try to cook as often as I can. And I'm proud of me when I bring lunch 2 or 3 days a week. Or when I eat dinner at home instead of going for convenience and eating out.
I still try to live on less. I don't buy books I borrow them from the library or wait for my request to come up in the book swap club. When I go out to a club I make sure to get there when entry is free. I used to get a pedicure/manicures every 2 weeks, now I go once a month.
I've curbed my travel plans BUT I do feel like I'm spending more to hang out locally it's just not nearly as much as if I was traveling. And I only use one credit card and my debit card. Any other cards are out of use. I pay the bill off every month or if not the entire balance, most of it.
In what ways are you challenging yourself? Personally? Professionally? Financially? Etc.?
I still try to cook as often as I can. And I'm proud of me when I bring lunch 2 or 3 days a week. Or when I eat dinner at home instead of going for convenience and eating out.
I still try to live on less. I don't buy books I borrow them from the library or wait for my request to come up in the book swap club. When I go out to a club I make sure to get there when entry is free. I used to get a pedicure/manicures every 2 weeks, now I go once a month.
I've curbed my travel plans BUT I do feel like I'm spending more to hang out locally it's just not nearly as much as if I was traveling. And I only use one credit card and my debit card. Any other cards are out of use. I pay the bill off every month or if not the entire balance, most of it.
In what ways are you challenging yourself? Personally? Professionally? Financially? Etc.?
Monday, May 04, 2009
Living On Less Challenge - Results
For the month of April in addition to not using any of my credit cards I also did a living on less challenge. Honestly I think I just picked a good month to do the challenge. There were a few factors that made living on less, less of a challenge.
1. April this year had 3 paychecks instead of 2 (normally May has 3 paychecks). So even though I put 5% of my first paycheck for the month and 10% of my second paycheck for the month in to savings I still had that third paycheck.
2. I did a bunch of balance transfers at the end of March/beginning of April. So the combination of moving debt around actually left me with a few extra dollars to spend. I didn't spend the money but I had it just in case. I'm prepping to make larger credit card payments on the cards that I used to consolidate debt.
3. I got my federal and state refunds. I used the federal refund to pay off a credit card and then balance transferred 2 other cards to the 1 card I had paid off. State refund I used for some car repairs. This is all money I hadn't budgeted in to my monthly budget. But the car repair cost was also not something I had budgeted for and was still able to pay while living on less.
The harder question is could I live on less every month? Every month could I put in to savings an additional 5-10% of my gross salary? And sadly I think the answer is no. I think this challenge proved that if I'm forced to live on less I could. But every month I don't have the factors that I had this month to make it easier to live off less. I have some major expenses coming up (Trip to St. Thomas in a few weeks, cruise in October, etc.) that I need pay for so that 5-10% is going towards that. October is the next month I get 3 paychecks so I may do the "living on less" challenge again?
For those who took part in the challenge, how did it go? Would you do it again?
1. April this year had 3 paychecks instead of 2 (normally May has 3 paychecks). So even though I put 5% of my first paycheck for the month and 10% of my second paycheck for the month in to savings I still had that third paycheck.
2. I did a bunch of balance transfers at the end of March/beginning of April. So the combination of moving debt around actually left me with a few extra dollars to spend. I didn't spend the money but I had it just in case. I'm prepping to make larger credit card payments on the cards that I used to consolidate debt.
3. I got my federal and state refunds. I used the federal refund to pay off a credit card and then balance transferred 2 other cards to the 1 card I had paid off. State refund I used for some car repairs. This is all money I hadn't budgeted in to my monthly budget. But the car repair cost was also not something I had budgeted for and was still able to pay while living on less.
The harder question is could I live on less every month? Every month could I put in to savings an additional 5-10% of my gross salary? And sadly I think the answer is no. I think this challenge proved that if I'm forced to live on less I could. But every month I don't have the factors that I had this month to make it easier to live off less. I have some major expenses coming up (Trip to St. Thomas in a few weeks, cruise in October, etc.) that I need pay for so that 5-10% is going towards that. October is the next month I get 3 paychecks so I may do the "living on less" challenge again?
For those who took part in the challenge, how did it go? Would you do it again?
Friday, May 01, 2009
Suze Orman Challenges Over
I finished my 3 Suze Orman challenges.
I took one week in February and I didn't spend any money. No eating out for lunch or dinner. No random trips to the grocery store. And I wasn't tempted in that week to spend either. I estimated I saved $50-$100 by not spending for a week.
I took the month of March and I didn't spend money going out to eat. I did have a few friends treat me to a birthday meal here and there to compensate. I was tempted to eat out, especially when I was tired and didn't want to cook. But I didn't give in to temptation. I estimated that I would have saved $300-$500 by not eating out for a month. I say would have saved because I spent what I would have saved on groceries. When your home isn't stocked with food it actually takes about 2 months to realize a saving on the eating out vs cooking at home expense. And eating out is one of my largest expenses second only to travel.
I took the month of April and tried to not use any of my credit cards. This was a tough challenge and I failed. I used my credit card to pay for some future trips. On the positive, at least those trips will be paid off by the time I take them because I'm paying on them now.
The challenge is over and I estimate I saved $500-$800. I'll be honest. It doesn't FEEL like I saved that much money. But that's because I spent the money elsewhere. The extra money went in to my savings and towards paying down credit card debt. So although the money is not in my hands it was used wisely.
I took one week in February and I didn't spend any money. No eating out for lunch or dinner. No random trips to the grocery store. And I wasn't tempted in that week to spend either. I estimated I saved $50-$100 by not spending for a week.
I took the month of March and I didn't spend money going out to eat. I did have a few friends treat me to a birthday meal here and there to compensate. I was tempted to eat out, especially when I was tired and didn't want to cook. But I didn't give in to temptation. I estimated that I would have saved $300-$500 by not eating out for a month. I say would have saved because I spent what I would have saved on groceries. When your home isn't stocked with food it actually takes about 2 months to realize a saving on the eating out vs cooking at home expense. And eating out is one of my largest expenses second only to travel.
I took the month of April and tried to not use any of my credit cards. This was a tough challenge and I failed. I used my credit card to pay for some future trips. On the positive, at least those trips will be paid off by the time I take them because I'm paying on them now.
The challenge is over and I estimate I saved $500-$800. I'll be honest. It doesn't FEEL like I saved that much money. But that's because I spent the money elsewhere. The extra money went in to my savings and towards paying down credit card debt. So although the money is not in my hands it was used wisely.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Property Assessment
For awhile I have been debating getting a reassessment on my property value because given the recent housing downturn I was sure the value of my property had gone down and I was paying too much in property tax. But I wasn't sure if it would be worth the battle, my property taxes are not that high compared to say, New Jersey. And I know the counties need every penny they can gets. So I let it go.
But today I got the following email:
DEKALB BOARD OF TAX ASSESSORS AGREES TO RECALCULATE REAL ESTATE PROPERTY VALUES
The Dekalb Board of Tax Assessors, Property Appraisal Department mailed out Assessment Change Notices. Included with the Assessment Change Notice was a cover letter stating that the Board did not consider foreclosure sales and in some cases bank sales in determining fair market values.
On April 14, 2009, the governor signed into law a bill that changed the definition of criteria to use in determining fair market value of real property. The new law requires that the Board consider among other things, foreclosure sales and bank sales in determining fair market value of real property.
The DeKalb Board of Tax Assessors will be recalculating real property values to include in their consideration the additional criteria of “foreclosure sales, bank sales, other financial institution owned sales, or distressed sales, or any combination thereof, of comparable real property,” as well as “decreased value of the property based on limitations and restrictions resulting from the property being in a conservation easement.”
The Board expects to complete this review and mail new Assessment Change Notices to all affected property owners by mid-May, 2009.
Property Appraisal Department
www.co.dekalb.ga.us/propappr
I paid $136,000 for my house and as of this blog my house is worth $90,000. I think I pay about $1100-1200 a year in property tax. I'm not sure because the money gets escrowed and my mortgage company makes sure it gets paid. Who knows at what value DeKalb County is charging me property tax for. And I know every dollar counts so I'm glad that the property tax may go down but I'm even happier that I didn't have to fight the battle on my own. AND the assessment should be coming just around the time my escrow account gets reassessed.
But today I got the following email:
DEKALB BOARD OF TAX ASSESSORS AGREES TO RECALCULATE REAL ESTATE PROPERTY VALUES
The Dekalb Board of Tax Assessors, Property Appraisal Department mailed out Assessment Change Notices. Included with the Assessment Change Notice was a cover letter stating that the Board did not consider foreclosure sales and in some cases bank sales in determining fair market values.
On April 14, 2009, the governor signed into law a bill that changed the definition of criteria to use in determining fair market value of real property. The new law requires that the Board consider among other things, foreclosure sales and bank sales in determining fair market value of real property.
The DeKalb Board of Tax Assessors will be recalculating real property values to include in their consideration the additional criteria of “foreclosure sales, bank sales, other financial institution owned sales, or distressed sales, or any combination thereof, of comparable real property,” as well as “decreased value of the property based on limitations and restrictions resulting from the property being in a conservation easement.”
The Board expects to complete this review and mail new Assessment Change Notices to all affected property owners by mid-May, 2009.
Property Appraisal Department
www.co.dekalb.ga.us/propappr
I paid $136,000 for my house and as of this blog my house is worth $90,000. I think I pay about $1100-1200 a year in property tax. I'm not sure because the money gets escrowed and my mortgage company makes sure it gets paid. Who knows at what value DeKalb County is charging me property tax for. And I know every dollar counts so I'm glad that the property tax may go down but I'm even happier that I didn't have to fight the battle on my own. AND the assessment should be coming just around the time my escrow account gets reassessed.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Obama and Credit
I know President Obama had a meeting today with the leaders of credit card companies. I appreciate him scolding them but I want the new legislation that I blogged about last month to be implemented ASAP not in 2010.
And I think store charge cards are the WORST. I JUST had another incident with a store charge card this week. I have 3 store charge cards: Macy's, Home Depot and Firestone. Now y'all know how I feel about Home Depot. I have paid off that card but haven't closed it.
I have a Firestone card for car-related emergencies/repairs. They have this deal where every time you make a charge to your Firestone card you have 90 days to pay it off before you are charged interest. So I had one offer that was supposed to end May 5th and one offer that was supposed to end June 5th. With my last payment these mofo's applied my payment to the newer balance rather than the older balance BUT they didn't change the due date for the promotion. AND THEN they were complete assholes to me on the phone. They acknowledge it was a mistake on their part but "there is nothing we can do to change the automated system." So I promptly cancelled that card. One less store charge.
And I think store charge cards are the WORST. I JUST had another incident with a store charge card this week. I have 3 store charge cards: Macy's, Home Depot and Firestone. Now y'all know how I feel about Home Depot. I have paid off that card but haven't closed it.
I have a Firestone card for car-related emergencies/repairs. They have this deal where every time you make a charge to your Firestone card you have 90 days to pay it off before you are charged interest. So I had one offer that was supposed to end May 5th and one offer that was supposed to end June 5th. With my last payment these mofo's applied my payment to the newer balance rather than the older balance BUT they didn't change the due date for the promotion. AND THEN they were complete assholes to me on the phone. They acknowledge it was a mistake on their part but "there is nothing we can do to change the automated system." So I promptly cancelled that card. One less store charge.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Failed Challenge
This month I was trying to not use any credit cards and I failed miserably.
I was counting on a check from my last teaching gig to come so I wouldn't have to use my credit card. The check didn't come and the deadline came so I used my credit card.
I'm going to Costa Rica for Christmas break and the deadline for the deposit was April 15th. I'm also going to a journalism convention in August and the early bird registration deadline was April 15th. And since I had already made 2 purchases on the credit card I said fuck it and charged the balance of the cruise I'm going on in October. And I still have several plane tickets I need to buy.
So now when the check does come I'm going to use it to pay the balance on the credit card. I also start teaching another class today so when that check comes when the class ends I'll pay off the balance with that check.
I'm a little bummed. Didn't think it would be so hard to go without charging on my credit card. Again, I'm not the type to charge every day but I do use it for large purchases. I guess I'll have to try this challenge again some other month.
How is everyone else doing in the no credit card use this month?
I was counting on a check from my last teaching gig to come so I wouldn't have to use my credit card. The check didn't come and the deadline came so I used my credit card.
I'm going to Costa Rica for Christmas break and the deadline for the deposit was April 15th. I'm also going to a journalism convention in August and the early bird registration deadline was April 15th. And since I had already made 2 purchases on the credit card I said fuck it and charged the balance of the cruise I'm going on in October. And I still have several plane tickets I need to buy.
So now when the check does come I'm going to use it to pay the balance on the credit card. I also start teaching another class today so when that check comes when the class ends I'll pay off the balance with that check.
I'm a little bummed. Didn't think it would be so hard to go without charging on my credit card. Again, I'm not the type to charge every day but I do use it for large purchases. I guess I'll have to try this challenge again some other month.
How is everyone else doing in the no credit card use this month?
Monday, April 20, 2009
What To Do With My Roth IRA
I opened a Roth IRA a little over a year ago because my financial shero Suze Orman told me to.
You might remember that Suze Orman was on Oprah and she gave away her book "Women and Money" on Oprah.com for free. I immediately downloaded the book, printed it out, put it in a nice binder and read it that following weekend taking lots of notes. I'm a student of personal finance. Within the book was an offer to get started with an IRA.
Suze Orman has a business partnership with TD Ameritrade (which to some is a source of controversy) To convince viewers of her show and readers of her book to begin saving, Suze suggested going to Saveyourself.com (a Web site she set up) and opening an account with that firm. If you deposit $50 a month in each of the first 12 months, the bank will match you — up to $100. “It’s a savings rate of 15 percent,” she has repeatedly said. The trouble is, after the first $600, the interest rate drops to an ordinary one, making the offer more of a marketing ploy for the bank than anything else.
And actually the offer has changed slightly since I did it a year ago. Now you have to deposit $100 a month in each of the first 12 months, the bank will give you $100 in the 13th month. Still a pretty good return of 8%.
So I started the Roth IRA funding it with $50 a month but I also watched the annual percentage yield (APY) go down. When I first opened the Roth IRA the APY was 2.75%. That's not a lot but it's better than the rate of a traditional savings account. As of this blog post the APY is 0.50%. That's still better than a traditional savings account but overall I think that APY sucks.
My question to everyone is what should I do next? Should I find another bank, brokerage or mutual fund company to move my Roth IRA too? Should I put the money in to a CD? Should I stick with who I'm with because everyone's rates suck? Do I move the money to a municipal bond fund? Should I just call TD Ameritrade and see what they suggest?
You might remember that Suze Orman was on Oprah and she gave away her book "Women and Money" on Oprah.com for free. I immediately downloaded the book, printed it out, put it in a nice binder and read it that following weekend taking lots of notes. I'm a student of personal finance. Within the book was an offer to get started with an IRA.
Suze Orman has a business partnership with TD Ameritrade (which to some is a source of controversy) To convince viewers of her show and readers of her book to begin saving, Suze suggested going to Saveyourself.com (a Web site she set up) and opening an account with that firm. If you deposit $50 a month in each of the first 12 months, the bank will match you — up to $100. “It’s a savings rate of 15 percent,” she has repeatedly said. The trouble is, after the first $600, the interest rate drops to an ordinary one, making the offer more of a marketing ploy for the bank than anything else.
And actually the offer has changed slightly since I did it a year ago. Now you have to deposit $100 a month in each of the first 12 months, the bank will give you $100 in the 13th month. Still a pretty good return of 8%.
So I started the Roth IRA funding it with $50 a month but I also watched the annual percentage yield (APY) go down. When I first opened the Roth IRA the APY was 2.75%. That's not a lot but it's better than the rate of a traditional savings account. As of this blog post the APY is 0.50%. That's still better than a traditional savings account but overall I think that APY sucks.
My question to everyone is what should I do next? Should I find another bank, brokerage or mutual fund company to move my Roth IRA too? Should I put the money in to a CD? Should I stick with who I'm with because everyone's rates suck? Do I move the money to a municipal bond fund? Should I just call TD Ameritrade and see what they suggest?
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Money Values in the Midst of a Financial Crisis
THIS IS AN EXTRA BLOG POST ABOUT A POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO BE FEATURED IN A STORY AND GET SOME HELP. READ ON FOR MORE INFORMATION AND HOW YOU CAN SUBMIT YOUR INFO:
IS THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN SOME WAY CAUSING YOU TO QUESTION THE MONEY VALUES YOU RAISED YOUR KIDS WITH?
Have you come to feel that your kids had too much before (for example, brand name clothes, electronics, big allowances)? Or perhaps you’d like to curb your childrens’ spending or change those of your family as a whole? A national financial publication is looking to speak with families that are grappling with these family money issues due to a financial change—say a lost job—or just a reassessment of what’s important amid this crisis.
We’d especially love to talk to couples who:
•are in their 40s or early 50s
•have pre-teen or teenage kids
•have professional careers
•have household income over $100,000-$200,000 (and are willing to share this, as well as some numbers about what they spend on kids)
Please send a photograph and contact information (phone and email); and let us know what you do for a living, how you spent on your kids before, and how you’d like to change that.
In return, you will get personally directed financial advice from a financial planner.
If interested, or you know of a family that would be a great candidate, please send information to alexis_jeffries@moneymail.com
IS THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN SOME WAY CAUSING YOU TO QUESTION THE MONEY VALUES YOU RAISED YOUR KIDS WITH?
Have you come to feel that your kids had too much before (for example, brand name clothes, electronics, big allowances)? Or perhaps you’d like to curb your childrens’ spending or change those of your family as a whole? A national financial publication is looking to speak with families that are grappling with these family money issues due to a financial change—say a lost job—or just a reassessment of what’s important amid this crisis.
We’d especially love to talk to couples who:
•are in their 40s or early 50s
•have pre-teen or teenage kids
•have professional careers
•have household income over $100,000-$200,000 (and are willing to share this, as well as some numbers about what they spend on kids)
Please send a photograph and contact information (phone and email); and let us know what you do for a living, how you spent on your kids before, and how you’d like to change that.
In return, you will get personally directed financial advice from a financial planner.
If interested, or you know of a family that would be a great candidate, please send information to alexis_jeffries@moneymail.com
Friday, April 03, 2009
In Suze Orman, I Trust
Before you mumble and groan that I'm talking about my financial shero again I promise to only bring Suze Orman up when it is absolutely necessary. Well last Saturday I was watching her show and she gave away something for FREE.
Suze Orman has a Will & Trust kit that normally sells for $13.50 (not a bad price) but she is giving it away for FREE. So I know your next question is what is a Will & Trust Kit and what does it include. I snatched the description from the website:
This is an easy-to-use and fast way for you and other members of your household to create your own advance directive, also known as a living will, durable power of attorney for health care, living revocable trust, and all the other must-have documents you need to protect you and your family. It’s as easy as 1-2-3—simply personalize, print, and protect. Suze Orman and her own estate trust attorney have created the most state-of-the-art documents found anywhere. There are more than $2,500 worth of estate documents in this kit. Why pay thousands of dollars when you can get the same documents in this kit!
This kit includes:
• More than 50 state-of-the-art documents
• Free automatic on-line updates
• Verbal and written instructions taking you step by step through the four must-have documents (living will, durable power of attorney for health care, living revocable trust, financial power of attorney)
• Password protection securing multiple users’ information
• A tutorial that shows you everything you need to know
• 10 electronic books
Now I know you are like why do I need a will, trust or any of these documents. Bottomline, because you just never know. For example, I'm single with no kids but I have a house in Atlanta. If I don't create a will the house would just go back to the bank. There may be someone in my family I want to will the house too. Or God forbid I get in to an accident, my family has no idea where I stand on wanting my organs donated or if I want to be taken off life support, etc., etc. I know no one wants to talk about/deal with these issues but if this economic crisis has taught us anything it's that at minimum we need to have some plan in place for the future because you just never know.
It's extremely easy to get the kit:
1. Go to Suze Orman.com
2. Click on Will & Trust Kit
3. Click on Gift Code
4. Enter "People First" in to the code area
5. You will immediately be given an activation code to start using her Will & Trust Kit
If you don't want to use the kit right away, just get the activation code so you can use it at a later date. Some things are happening in my family that I'll talk about in the coming weeks but I'll just say that an offer for a kit like this for FREE couldn't have come at a more appropriate time in my life.
Suze Orman has a Will & Trust kit that normally sells for $13.50 (not a bad price) but she is giving it away for FREE. So I know your next question is what is a Will & Trust Kit and what does it include. I snatched the description from the website:
This is an easy-to-use and fast way for you and other members of your household to create your own advance directive, also known as a living will, durable power of attorney for health care, living revocable trust, and all the other must-have documents you need to protect you and your family. It’s as easy as 1-2-3—simply personalize, print, and protect. Suze Orman and her own estate trust attorney have created the most state-of-the-art documents found anywhere. There are more than $2,500 worth of estate documents in this kit. Why pay thousands of dollars when you can get the same documents in this kit!
This kit includes:
• More than 50 state-of-the-art documents
• Free automatic on-line updates
• Verbal and written instructions taking you step by step through the four must-have documents (living will, durable power of attorney for health care, living revocable trust, financial power of attorney)
• Password protection securing multiple users’ information
• A tutorial that shows you everything you need to know
• 10 electronic books
Now I know you are like why do I need a will, trust or any of these documents. Bottomline, because you just never know. For example, I'm single with no kids but I have a house in Atlanta. If I don't create a will the house would just go back to the bank. There may be someone in my family I want to will the house too. Or God forbid I get in to an accident, my family has no idea where I stand on wanting my organs donated or if I want to be taken off life support, etc., etc. I know no one wants to talk about/deal with these issues but if this economic crisis has taught us anything it's that at minimum we need to have some plan in place for the future because you just never know.
It's extremely easy to get the kit:
1. Go to Suze Orman.com
2. Click on Will & Trust Kit
3. Click on Gift Code
4. Enter "People First" in to the code area
5. You will immediately be given an activation code to start using her Will & Trust Kit
If you don't want to use the kit right away, just get the activation code so you can use it at a later date. Some things are happening in my family that I'll talk about in the coming weeks but I'll just say that an offer for a kit like this for FREE couldn't have come at a more appropriate time in my life.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Living On Less Challenge
Where is Erika, Keisha and Monique? I bet y'all thought I forgot. It's time for our "Living On Less Challenge."
1. First paycheck of the month, take out 5% of the gross and put it in to savings.
2. Second paycheck of the month, take out 10% of the gross and put it in to savings.
Bonus Challenge: Find a way to make (or save) 10% of your gross annual salary. I'm doing it through Amazon book sales, teaching, selling stuff on ebay and selling stuff on craigslist.
It's not as hard as you think. I already scheduled to have 5% of my first paycheck for the month of April and 10% of my second paycheck for the month of April to go automatically in to my savings. For the bonus challenge I'm teaching a seminar in May that I didn't originally plan to teach.
The purpose of this challenge, as with any challenge, is to get motivated. And clearly, by how often I blog about personal finance, I get hype about money.
So who wants to join in? Come on, we could all do for a little financial fitness. Let's really push ourselves to live on less this month.
1. First paycheck of the month, take out 5% of the gross and put it in to savings.
2. Second paycheck of the month, take out 10% of the gross and put it in to savings.
Bonus Challenge: Find a way to make (or save) 10% of your gross annual salary. I'm doing it through Amazon book sales, teaching, selling stuff on ebay and selling stuff on craigslist.
It's not as hard as you think. I already scheduled to have 5% of my first paycheck for the month of April and 10% of my second paycheck for the month of April to go automatically in to my savings. For the bonus challenge I'm teaching a seminar in May that I didn't originally plan to teach.
The purpose of this challenge, as with any challenge, is to get motivated. And clearly, by how often I blog about personal finance, I get hype about money.
So who wants to join in? Come on, we could all do for a little financial fitness. Let's really push ourselves to live on less this month.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Do Not Use My Credit Card Month
Here is the last part of the Suze Orman challenge. I picked a month to not charge anything to any of my credit cards. That lucky month is APRIL!!!
I love a challenge and the two previous Suze Orman challenges were helpful. I KNOW the third is a great idea. One month of not adding to credit card debt is obviously a good thing. Again I don't know how much I will save this month. I guess I would have to estimate a certain amount that might have been charged plus the interest on it to see how much I will save.
Anyone want to join me for this last leg of the challenge? For one month just put all your credit cards away. Debit card usage is allowed. Let's keep on saving together.
I love a challenge and the two previous Suze Orman challenges were helpful. I KNOW the third is a great idea. One month of not adding to credit card debt is obviously a good thing. Again I don't know how much I will save this month. I guess I would have to estimate a certain amount that might have been charged plus the interest on it to see how much I will save.
Anyone want to join me for this last leg of the challenge? For one month just put all your credit cards away. Debit card usage is allowed. Let's keep on saving together.
Monday, March 30, 2009
March Freebies
I have to say March was a very good month for me. I think it helped that it was my birthday month. Everybody offers birthday specials and you can really take advantage of some sweet deals.
1. Free Meals & Drinks
I want to thank all my friends that took me out for various birthday lunches, dinners and drinks. I also want to thank y'all for supporting my "no eating out" month challenge. Some might say I was being cheap but those that know me knows the challenge was about pushing myself to cook and comparing the financials of paying to eat out vs paying to cook...but I'll blog about that tomorrow.
2. Free Lip Gloss
Sephora has a deal for Beauty insiders that they can redeem up to 14 days after their birthday. This month it was a set of 3 lip glosses.
3. Free Game Play
I LOVE Dave & Busters. I have a registered Power Card so D&B sent me an email for $10 worth of free game play. I'm addicted to the Super Trivia game and Deal or No Deal.
4. Free Eye Brow Wax
I am 29 years old and had never had my eyebrows waxed. I had been thinking about it because every time I go to beauty events the makeup artists always comment that I should get my brows cleaned up even though I explain I use my brow hairs to cover some scars I have. So I was surfing around on Bliss Spa website and came across the Free Brow Event. I was able to get a $30 painless eye brow wax for FREE!!! SO I think I'm addicted now. I know people normally pay about $8-10 for a eye brow wax at the nail salon but once you have had a Bliss Signature Brow wax you will never want to let anyone else do it. They use a painless low heat wax that doesn't require the use of a strip to rip it off.
5. Free Workouts
I took some classes at New York Sports Club and Crunch. Right now there are some great deals and everyone is willing to let you try them out for free. As much as I love my Wii it's not enough. So I'm going to join a gym, more to come on that later.
Do you know of any other freebies that you can get, and not just for your birthday? I'm all about FREE!!!
1. Free Meals & Drinks
I want to thank all my friends that took me out for various birthday lunches, dinners and drinks. I also want to thank y'all for supporting my "no eating out" month challenge. Some might say I was being cheap but those that know me knows the challenge was about pushing myself to cook and comparing the financials of paying to eat out vs paying to cook...but I'll blog about that tomorrow.
2. Free Lip Gloss
Sephora has a deal for Beauty insiders that they can redeem up to 14 days after their birthday. This month it was a set of 3 lip glosses.
3. Free Game Play
I LOVE Dave & Busters. I have a registered Power Card so D&B sent me an email for $10 worth of free game play. I'm addicted to the Super Trivia game and Deal or No Deal.
4. Free Eye Brow Wax
I am 29 years old and had never had my eyebrows waxed. I had been thinking about it because every time I go to beauty events the makeup artists always comment that I should get my brows cleaned up even though I explain I use my brow hairs to cover some scars I have. So I was surfing around on Bliss Spa website and came across the Free Brow Event. I was able to get a $30 painless eye brow wax for FREE!!! SO I think I'm addicted now. I know people normally pay about $8-10 for a eye brow wax at the nail salon but once you have had a Bliss Signature Brow wax you will never want to let anyone else do it. They use a painless low heat wax that doesn't require the use of a strip to rip it off.
5. Free Workouts
I took some classes at New York Sports Club and Crunch. Right now there are some great deals and everyone is willing to let you try them out for free. As much as I love my Wii it's not enough. So I'm going to join a gym, more to come on that later.
Do you know of any other freebies that you can get, and not just for your birthday? I'm all about FREE!!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
We All Get A Raise
One week from today we will all be getting a raise.
The centerpiece of the Economic Recovery Plan is President Obama’s “Making Work Pay” income tax credit of up to $400 for individuals and $800 for couples in 2009 and 2010. The money will be delivered through paychecks as a reduction in Social Security withholdings, and is intended to bolster consumer spending by giving a small lift to household pocketbooks. So in your next paycheck look to find about $8 to $16 additional dollars. Officials hope you will spend it and not save it.
I know $8 or even $16 does not sound like a lot so in support of President Obama trying to do something to stimulate this economy listed below is my list of 10 things I could spend (not save) $16 on.
1. With gas at about $1.75 in my area I could buy 1/2 to 3/4 of a tank of gas
2. Get a pedicure/manicure
3. Buy lunch 2 days out of the week
4. Go to the movies
5. Rent about 3 DVD's from Blockbuster
6. Take a cab home from work
7. Buy a book
8. Buy the newspaper every day for a week
9. Buy a bottle of wine
10. Buy a tall chai tea latte from Starbucks, 5 days a week
Notice everything I listed in my list of 10 in some small way does stimulate the economy. I'm sure a newspaper would love if I would buy a newspaper every day. Or the movie industry would thank me if I went to the movies. Maybe one less bookstore would have to close if I bought another book.
Don't get me wrong. I know that $16 doesn't go as far as it used it. But I just think, at least for myself, saving the $16 won't be more beneficial to me than spending it.
What could or will you do with the extra money?
The centerpiece of the Economic Recovery Plan is President Obama’s “Making Work Pay” income tax credit of up to $400 for individuals and $800 for couples in 2009 and 2010. The money will be delivered through paychecks as a reduction in Social Security withholdings, and is intended to bolster consumer spending by giving a small lift to household pocketbooks. So in your next paycheck look to find about $8 to $16 additional dollars. Officials hope you will spend it and not save it.
I know $8 or even $16 does not sound like a lot so in support of President Obama trying to do something to stimulate this economy listed below is my list of 10 things I could spend (not save) $16 on.
1. With gas at about $1.75 in my area I could buy 1/2 to 3/4 of a tank of gas
2. Get a pedicure/manicure
3. Buy lunch 2 days out of the week
4. Go to the movies
5. Rent about 3 DVD's from Blockbuster
6. Take a cab home from work
7. Buy a book
8. Buy the newspaper every day for a week
9. Buy a bottle of wine
10. Buy a tall chai tea latte from Starbucks, 5 days a week
Notice everything I listed in my list of 10 in some small way does stimulate the economy. I'm sure a newspaper would love if I would buy a newspaper every day. Or the movie industry would thank me if I went to the movies. Maybe one less bookstore would have to close if I bought another book.
Don't get me wrong. I know that $16 doesn't go as far as it used it. But I just think, at least for myself, saving the $16 won't be more beneficial to me than spending it.
What could or will you do with the extra money?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis
A few weeks ago Time magazine did a great story on the 25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis. I actually missed this story because the main cover story was on faith so I didn't notice that they had done this story until someone else asked me about it. I'm not going to pontificate because the story speaks for itself. It's actually nice to know who we should possibly blame BUT I suggest you check out #5. That one might surprise you ;)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
New Credit Card Laws
This week on the Suze Orman show she talked about the new credit card laws BUT they don't go in to effect until July 2010. So Suze says (and I agree) it's a case of too little, too late.
1. No more Universal Default
Currently if you are late on one card the other cards can raise your rate. They will no longer be allowed to do this.
2. End to raising interest rate increases for no reason
Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise your rate for the heck of it. You will have to be over 30 days late for them to be able to raise your interest rate.
3. No more double-cycle billing
Say you charge a $1,000. You get the bill and you pay 900. The next month all you owe is $100 but the credit card company still charges you the interest rate on the full amount of what you originally charged. So they are charging you interest on the $1,000 and not just the $100 you owe. That is a double-cycle billing and will no longer be allowed.
4. Payments will apply to higher interest rate balances first
Let's say you have a $1,000 on your credit card that are purchases with an APR of 15%. But you also have a balance transfer on your card of $1,000 with an APR of 3%. Right now when you make your monthly payment the money goes towards the part of your balance that has the lower APR. So the interest on your higher APR balance is still growing and doesn't decrease until you pay the lower APR balance first. That is going to change. The payments you make will be applied to the higher interest rate balance first.
I'm glad these much needed changes are coming in 2010 but why can't they be enacted sooner. I'm sure the credit card companies are boo-hooing that they need time to update their computer billing systems in order to properly bill customers. But in this age of technology they shouldn't need over a year to update their systems. Congress should force them to do it in the next 3-6 months. This year is already off to a terrible start. Citigroup is probably going to fold so credit card relief of this kind needs to be implemented immediately not in 2010...as Suze said by then it may be too little, too late. I don't even want to IMAGINE what the state of the economy might be by then.
1. No more Universal Default
Currently if you are late on one card the other cards can raise your rate. They will no longer be allowed to do this.
2. End to raising interest rate increases for no reason
Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise your rate for the heck of it. You will have to be over 30 days late for them to be able to raise your interest rate.
3. No more double-cycle billing
Say you charge a $1,000. You get the bill and you pay 900. The next month all you owe is $100 but the credit card company still charges you the interest rate on the full amount of what you originally charged. So they are charging you interest on the $1,000 and not just the $100 you owe. That is a double-cycle billing and will no longer be allowed.
4. Payments will apply to higher interest rate balances first
Let's say you have a $1,000 on your credit card that are purchases with an APR of 15%. But you also have a balance transfer on your card of $1,000 with an APR of 3%. Right now when you make your monthly payment the money goes towards the part of your balance that has the lower APR. So the interest on your higher APR balance is still growing and doesn't decrease until you pay the lower APR balance first. That is going to change. The payments you make will be applied to the higher interest rate balance first.
I'm glad these much needed changes are coming in 2010 but why can't they be enacted sooner. I'm sure the credit card companies are boo-hooing that they need time to update their computer billing systems in order to properly bill customers. But in this age of technology they shouldn't need over a year to update their systems. Congress should force them to do it in the next 3-6 months. This year is already off to a terrible start. Citigroup is probably going to fold so credit card relief of this kind needs to be implemented immediately not in 2010...as Suze said by then it may be too little, too late. I don't even want to IMAGINE what the state of the economy might be by then.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Next Bailout: Student Loans
There is a Facebook group, Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy. In fact, a few of you have already joined the group. The basic premise to the group is that if the government really wants the economy to be stimulated forgiving student loan debt would have an IMMEDIATE stimulating effect on the economy.
I'm torn on the issue and part of the reason is that I agree with Michelle Singletary, Color of Money personal finance columnist for the Washington Post. She wrote a column a few weeks ago about people whining about the fact that they were financial responsible and because of that they weren't eligible for any of the government financial bailout programs. I get how everyone thinks that because so many companies, banks and people are getting helped by the government that we should all get help. BUT I agree with Michelle that people that aren't getting bailouts should be HAPPY they aren't in a position where they need a bailout.
So because of this I'm torn on if the government should wipe the slate clean on my student loan debt. Of course I would love the additional money BUT I only pay $176.50 a month on my student loans. And the interest rate is 3%. The debt is really not a burden for me. My credit card debt is a much bigger problem.
The founder of this facebook group says people would be more inclined to spend the money they now put towards student loans. He also says it would be more successful than the 2 stimulus checks we received in the last 4 years. Most people either saved their stimulus check money or put it towards a credit card debt. So for me, if the government was to forgive my student loan debt I would do just that. Put $76.50 a month more in to my savings or Roth IRA and $100 a month more towards a credit card bill.
But on the flip side I get how some people, particularly people with advanced degrees, who pay a hell of a lot more a month in student loan repayments might be more inclined to spend. I can only imagine how much a month a lawyer, doctor, MBA, PHD, etc. pay a month for their student loans. So let's say a person is paying $1000 a month in student loans and their student loan debt was forgiven. Even if they put half in to savings that would still leave $500 that they would probably be more willing to spend and thus stimulate the economy.
If you go to the group or check out a blog post on the idea on U.S. News & World Report you can see the various comments and they go both ways.
Would I like some economic relief? Absolutely. Do I necessarily think the way to do that is to forgive my student loan debt? I'm not sure. I'm the type of person that believes you should pay what you agree to pay. When I signed on the dotted line on my student loans I knew what I was getting myself in to and if I'm going to be a financially responsible person it is my duty to pay it back, as I agreed too. But I don't know because I could be one of the people Michelle Singletary scolded in her column. I don't like that my hard earned money is bailing other folks out but we live in a democracy and things aren't always fair.
What do y'all think? If your student loan debt was forgiven what would you do with the additional funds? For those that joined the group on Facebook, why did you join?
I'm torn on the issue and part of the reason is that I agree with Michelle Singletary, Color of Money personal finance columnist for the Washington Post. She wrote a column a few weeks ago about people whining about the fact that they were financial responsible and because of that they weren't eligible for any of the government financial bailout programs. I get how everyone thinks that because so many companies, banks and people are getting helped by the government that we should all get help. BUT I agree with Michelle that people that aren't getting bailouts should be HAPPY they aren't in a position where they need a bailout.
So because of this I'm torn on if the government should wipe the slate clean on my student loan debt. Of course I would love the additional money BUT I only pay $176.50 a month on my student loans. And the interest rate is 3%. The debt is really not a burden for me. My credit card debt is a much bigger problem.
The founder of this facebook group says people would be more inclined to spend the money they now put towards student loans. He also says it would be more successful than the 2 stimulus checks we received in the last 4 years. Most people either saved their stimulus check money or put it towards a credit card debt. So for me, if the government was to forgive my student loan debt I would do just that. Put $76.50 a month more in to my savings or Roth IRA and $100 a month more towards a credit card bill.
But on the flip side I get how some people, particularly people with advanced degrees, who pay a hell of a lot more a month in student loan repayments might be more inclined to spend. I can only imagine how much a month a lawyer, doctor, MBA, PHD, etc. pay a month for their student loans. So let's say a person is paying $1000 a month in student loans and their student loan debt was forgiven. Even if they put half in to savings that would still leave $500 that they would probably be more willing to spend and thus stimulate the economy.
If you go to the group or check out a blog post on the idea on U.S. News & World Report you can see the various comments and they go both ways.
Would I like some economic relief? Absolutely. Do I necessarily think the way to do that is to forgive my student loan debt? I'm not sure. I'm the type of person that believes you should pay what you agree to pay. When I signed on the dotted line on my student loans I knew what I was getting myself in to and if I'm going to be a financially responsible person it is my duty to pay it back, as I agreed too. But I don't know because I could be one of the people Michelle Singletary scolded in her column. I don't like that my hard earned money is bailing other folks out but we live in a democracy and things aren't always fair.
What do y'all think? If your student loan debt was forgiven what would you do with the additional funds? For those that joined the group on Facebook, why did you join?
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