Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money

Crazy Two Days from MSN

2008-08-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

Wow!

Crazy traffic over the last few days via MSN Moneyblog and Karen (again)! She linked my Brett Favre piece and over 4,000 people came in two days.

Thanks to all who came, especially those who have signed up! Good stuff coming this weekend.

Work is crazy now with three major projects being wrapped...Only home long enough for a shower, shave and repack!

Wish all the best and Thanks Again! Especially to Karen who has picked up three of my posts and given my little blog an amazing exposure!

What the Green Bay Debacle Can Teach Us

2008-08-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

First off...I love football. I am not a big pro sports guy, but I enjoy all levels of football. From little kids playing Pop Warner, to High School, College and the Pro's, for me there is no better drama in sports.

Even though I am no Green Bay Packer fan (Go Cowboys!) I can't help trying seeing parallels in our own career path that we need to understand.

For those not following the story; basically Brett Favre, a future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback for Green Bay (GB), decided to retire at the end of last season. It was a shock, given that the team well over achieved expectations. It wasn't a shock though that it was coming. A 15 year veteran, he had hinted at it for two years. Brett retires, team moves on, new QB, other personnel changes...then Brett decides he made a hasty rash decision and he wants to come back...(cue record scratch sound). Team says we have moved on, Brett say fine trade me to this team. GB says nope, they are our rival and it would hurt our fan base, but you are under contract so we control that move.

It gets worse from there, now there are rough feeling etc.. It isn't resolved as of this writing, but probably will be this week.

So...how does this ties to personal finance and career advise?:

No matter how good you are, you are replaceable - Brett's one of the best ever, but the team has moved on
If you don't own the business, you don't hold the cards - Brett is famous, rich and well liked...But see #1. It doesn't matter if you are the star performer, the business can move on without you
Don't make rash career decisions - If Brett had not rushed his retirement call (even if pushed) he wouldn't be in this spot with no leverage.

Its a sad story for a sports hero, team and fans to learn that even the best, eventually, are displaced. But it is a lesson we all should know too.

July Finance Review: The Month That Was

2008-08-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

The smell of firecrackers are gone, and the first whiffs of "Back to School" are in the air. The month that was is, is was and will be is now! (say that 3 times fast!). Great month even with the Evil Ninja fair popping up and spending too much there, we still did pretty darn well with an increase of $2, 093 to our Net Worth!

Highlights:

Lowered a few Bills - Made an effort to kill a bunch of these $5-10 nagging monthly charges from various accounts. A few more to go, but we also killed a few bigger quarterly ones as well. This will save us over $1000 a yr!
Net Worth up by $2,093 - Still mostly debt reduction, but better to kill a 12.99% credit card debt than earn 3% in a savings account!
Reached the 1/3rd pay off point in our consumer debt! (OK 32.73%...close enough to celebrate!) Original number: $68,897.23 - Now: $46,344.81 - Paid off since 10/07: $22,522.42

Points to Work on:

Property Taxes Coming in October - Need to step up savings if not gonna touch Emergency Fund. $3,040 in ETrade Account right now for it, probably need another $1500!
Weekly updates op MS Money and Excel charts - Daily too much bi-weekly to long. Today took 2hrs to get everything to my love OCD-esque level.
All of us to pull reins in tighter when envelopes are empty...No more robiing Paul to pay Peter!

Goals:

Pay Off StateFarm CC - $2836 - Down to $1920! #1 Snowball debt getting payments of $280!
Pay Off Car - $4594.87 - Down to $2474, Coming down quick!
Pay Off CC CitiBank Platinum - $8989 - Now $8345 This is still getting Minimum payment as we snowball the State Farm Card
Pay off all CC Debt - Paid off $1600 since beginning of tracking
Save 100% 2008 Property Taxes - $4500 - $3040 Saved in E*Trade Account. Back to working this amount. Whatever not achieved will come out of Emergency fund, but would rather not tap it.
Keep Snowball 100% Intact - $308.43 Is the Current. Once StateFarm is paid off, it will be $654.72!
No CC Use - For the TENTH month! Getting close to the 1-year mark! 60 more Days!
Increase Average FICO-Score to 720- Without CC payoff not gonna happen this year, but still getting better. Now average 7001.7 over the three agencies!
Stick to Cash Budget System - Yep!
Net Worth increased by $20,000 - $12,000 so far!

Baby Steps:

Baby Step #2 - As stated above, now at nearly 1/3rd paid off!

That's it!

The More I Write, the Less People Read

2008-07-31T09:49:00.001-07:00

Quick post today.

I have noticed something interesting since I have been back writing the Blog. The more I post and write, the lower the subscriber list goes!

It made me think about how we all react to availability.

Question: What is generally the best Rated Episodes of a TV series...Answer: The Premiere and the Finale! It is probably the reason people used to really like mini-series!

Not that I will stop posting just to get my numbers up, but it was just an interesting observation (at least to me!).

The Tata Nano PTII

2008-07-30T04:26:00.000-07:00

Back in January I posted about a car that was announced by Tata Motors. The Nano was to smash price barriers for the third world and sell for less than $2500.

Well Tata, which recently bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, is having a tough time hitting the price point given the commodity price increase over the last 6 months.

Today in BusinessWeek they spotlighted the status of the little wonder and some of their prospective customers, especially in India. Based on the taxes and other initial expenses the car won't be quite as cheap as hoped. A good used car, with AC can be had for about $3000 (and if you have been to India, you'll recommend the AC!).

Will the Nano be as successful as its iPod namesake? Who knows, but I remember when dealer in the US were all worried be a car out of Eastern Europe...the Yugo!

First Blogger in Space

2008-07-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

I plan to be the first blogger in space. It would only be for 2 1/2 hours and 5 mins weightless, but it officially counts as space travel for the (very wealthy) everyman. Virgin Galactic can make that a real possibility.

OK, so I am $199,990 short on the ticket price (I have $10 left over from my allowance) and they have already per-sold 250 out of the first years 500 seats, but it still leaves 250 more :) Plus I'd like to go when all of the kinks are worked out!

OK, so personal finance would be out the window, but I am from that first generation of kids that had astronauts as hero's. I was just six-months old when Neil Armstrong made that "Giant Leap for Mankind," 8-yrs old when Star Wars came out not to mention in my teens when I realized it probably wasn't gonna happen in my lifetime, Buck Rogers or not. This really is stuff of dreams

Just a few years ago Burt Rutan changed all that. His PRIVATE company designed a ship that went into space, safely returned and collected the X-Prize. The X-Prize was a $1 Million prize to the first that could pull it off. While he spent well more than that to do it (Paul Allen of Microsoft fame was a key investor) the prize lit a spark under a great group of businessmen that went for it.

Richard Branson of Virgin fame, saw the excitement and quickly made a deal with Burt to turn his design into the first affordable space excursion available to man. Before this some very rich folk had bought $10 Million rides to the space station, but Virgin is taking it to a whole other dimension.

In the first year alone, as I said, Virgin hopes to fly 500 people into space. To put that into perspective, that is nearly equal to ALL of the people that have EVER gone into space. Pretty amazing.

Look, I get that this is a horrible investment. However it isn't dis-similar to wanting to climb Mount Everest or take a Submarine to see the Titanic. In fact the price will come down in time and with increased competition.

Anyway this is the sort of thing that is neat to at least highlight. Remember it is a curse and a blessing to say, "May you live in interesting times!"

Who's with me! Moon or Bust :)

Up like a Rocket, Down like a Feather

2008-07-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

The title is how I have always seen gasoline pump prices go. It seems like when oil goes up $1 barrel, gas will jump that day. Forget the logic that says, there is no way oil got from the Oil Derrick, to the refinery and to the gas station to be pumped into my car in Southern Oregon the next day.

However, the second part of the statement is true also. The day prices go down, do the pump prices? Nope. It can take days or weeks to fall. The talking heads (the PR people, not the band) will tell you, "OH, it takes time to filter through..."

I have to say though, this time feels different. Maybe this is due to demand actually falling this time and the oil companies trying to stoke usage. Summer is their traditional big demand month and yet in June demand was 5.2% off!

According to this article prices are going to dip up to 25 cents more by Labor Day. Cannot come to soon. Energy has been a key driver (along with cheap money) of inflation. Perhaps we can escape the "Pit and the Pendulum" one more time!

Are the prices coming down where you are as well?

Best of the Week; No Dawson's Creek

2008-07-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a staggeringly busy week as I have four projects all coming to a head, perhaps making my head implode at a date TBD.

That being said, plenty o' great stuff on others sites and given that all is TV today are Dawson's Creek Reruns (on four channels???) it shows me I have no more excuses to not post today! :)

Here are the Best of the Week:

Funny About Money - Great story about how a little good will is generated, by just paying attention. More stores should think this way!
Iowa Hippie Chick - Dawn discusses where the blame lies with extended debt...probably don't need to go past your bathroom mirror!
The Digerati Life - Neat article on becoming a professional blogger! SVB is one of the best, heed the advice!

Favorite Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money Post:

The Office of Doom - Based on the responces, I don't think i am the only one living in Doomsville :)

Well, that's it! Almost end of the month so I am beginning work on my month end report. So far, so good!

Video Games Kill Kids in the Congo

2008-07-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

In a recent article on Yahoo Games I read about how certain components in Sony's PS2/3 and other electronics devices directly led to a rare metal becoming scarce and driving third world dictatorships, like the Congo, to use Slave and child labor to mine the material.

I had never heard of the metal before, but apparently when the PS2 was really in demand Sony was having a hard time getting enough of an "unrefined metallic ore, coltan." After processing, coltan turns into a powder called tantalum. Still have never heard of it, but apparently demand drove the price of this stuff from $49/pound to over $250! You know how the dictators like their money, so "Leave the Blood Diamonds, and mine the Blood Diamond Pokemon!"

I am not trying to draw a conclusion here about video games at all. My real point is how much we have in the civilized world, and how much we take for granted. How many other product issues out their like this where a popular product (which could never be afforded there BTW!) Are being built at the expense of others...I have inspected factories in China, I will tell you...lots!

I often wondered what a person must think about people far away that spend more then they may ever make on...plastic! That they paint or process everyday!

To sum it all up, it is easy to focus on the hardships we can have here (see yesterday's post!). But for the most part our toughest day is way better than most ever achieve!

Take advantage of this bounty!

The Office of Doom

2008-07-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have talked about living in the modern Office before, but this is getting out of hand.

In our move to be more employee friendly we have had a series of Human Resource (HR) initiatives. these have been from the slightly odd to the down-right scary. The sad thing is that I am sure it comes from a place of best hope and wishes...OK I know better than that. It comes from internal surveys that measure employee satisfaction.

About 6 months ago we received the results of our Employee Satisfaction survey and, big surprise, it was low...really low. So low that we had to do something.

First blame HR. Check. Second ignore the horrible raises and oppressive time lines. Double check. Third, get some slogans. Triple check! Fine, then the beatings will continue until the moral improves.

So here are some of the "improvements" that have been made recently:

Hire a VP of HR - Especially get someone that doesn't understand out culture, but tries to be Hip by mis-using phrases and terms. Like, "Hey you are all into music so we should have a Square Dance!" And when you mention, for us, this is , well, stupid, you should be called out as a "wet blanket"
Change the name of HR to People Services - Um...OK!
Mandatory All-Company Meetings - Not a bad idea, but don't need a 45 min meeting to discuss when we should have a bake sale
Ignore all of the data from the survey - Even though the survey said in big 74 point type that people were frustrated with the pay scale, keep saying, "that is a symptom, not the root cause!
Use more Politically Correct Language! - When people are fired, they are now called "Alumni" What did they graduate??? When can I!

Anywho, I am sure that if I whine about it I'll just end up a, wet-blanket-alumni! Can't wait until the next survey. I am going to ask for a Pony, and hope for an Ice machine!

I Am the Madame Cleo of Oil

2008-07-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

Back in my post on July 9th I said it felt like the oil bubble was about to burst. Of course the day after I wrote it oil went up...To nearly $150. But a funny thing then happened, it slipped. No problem said the investors, "Its a temporary shelf price due to goblety-goob."

This ignored the gravity (pun intended) of the rest of the news. Demand is down, way down. In fact for the first time year over year gas usage in the US looks like it will contract. All it takes is a very small pinhole for a giant to blow-out or completely leak out.

I am not saying the $2 gas will be here by Christmas, but maybe $100/barrel oil...The oil producers got this. No one believed that the intrinsic value of the Texas Tea was anywhere near $150/barrel. The didn't think it was $20 either, the pendulum swings both ways...usually to far.

So unless Capt Crazy in Iran, or Major Mayhem in Venezuela pull off a Joker-level whackness act, I gotta believe the price support isn't there. If so it is going to be a big help to US families.

However, I AM the Madame Cleo of Oil predictions so I'll say $100/barrel before Christmas. It probably won't stay there, but it will touch it.

So let it be written...

ps - Like the "real" Madame Cleo I am a complete fake... :)

Fighting the Big Boys...

2008-07-22T04:48:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek had a great article story about how small, local, coffee houses were competing with Starbucks. And not just surviving, but thriving. While Starbucks is its own worst enemy (although they are at least taking the right steps to right the ship) in a lot of areas, including here in Southern Oregon, they are getting their butt handed to them by local, or regional chain.

So how do you compete with a behemoth?

Zig to their Zag - Competing directly can be suicide. If they are trying to expand into other areas, focus on your core. Or, Muffins vs Cookies. Pleasant people vs the not so nice (at least here).
Know your niche - They grew because they became an authority on coffee. If you are gonna compete find your niche or sub-niche, like fast service, special Teas better loyalty rewards, etc.
Work Harder - Howard Schultz works very hard, but the bigger you grow even a 1% bad apple quotient is gonna creep in (if not higher). Be prepared to personally out-work them. I have tried a lot of new places because they were, well, open! Hire other hard workers. Pay them more then the competition and only hire the best. If they aren't fire them and do it yourself. If you can't outspend them (and you can't!) Gotta make this step!!!

This applies to any business. If you say you can't compete, you can't. You won't buy better then them no matter how hard you whine, so work hard, work around them, and know your business and I guarantee success!

Personal Finance Tips from Jay Leno

2008-07-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Great article in USA Today about Jay Leno. The Tonight Show host is in the midst of a changing of the guard of the Late Night Hosts. Conan is set to replace Jay as early as next Summer as the Host ad Jimmy Fallon, of SNL fame is replacing Conan.

The fact the NBC would replace its host, who is still far and away the ratings leader (although I still prefer Letterman - Sorry Jay) shows how scared NBC was to lose Conan to another network. My gut is that, as Jay said in the article, he won't have a hard time finding a gig with either Fox or ABC.

So what's this have to do with personal finance?

Mixed in with the story you get some great tips from a guy with a lot of money:

Don't live beyond your means - Jay has NEVER used a dime form hosting the Tonight Show. It has all been banked. He still does 150+ gigs a year and lives off of that income.
Modest Tastes - Jay is still a burger and brat guy even though he could afford the best restaurants in the world. Often people spend money, because they this that they are Supposed To!
Making Your Hobbies Self Sufficient - Jay is one of the foremost authorities on cars...and he has a lot of them. But he also has sponsorship deals with GM and various magazines that help pay for the hobby. Plus the increased value of the cars once finished develops a great asset.
You can be Green and Frugal - The sidebar is great in talking about how Jay saves money via solar and the environment (and probably his guys health) by using alternative sources to solvents

Anyway I came away from the article a bigger fan of Jay's, not to mention I think that there are some great lessons for all of us here. That being said, if Jay wants me to drive any of those cars, you know just to keep them running, I am in :)

The Best Week Ever - Begins

2008-07-20T04:02:00.000-07:00

Another Week has come and past and I am the biggest fool at last!

OK not really, but I have been running around so much lately that i haven't really had time to spend with the kids. Well this weekend we are doing a bit more. Easy to forget that they grow up sooo fast!

We went to see Batman yesterday and today, the fair (all budgeted and saved for BTW!). The kids are excited since we really didn't get to have a real vacation this year. We all really enjoyed the movie, but a warning that it is dark. Other then the guy dressed up like a bat, it could have been a Scorsese crime drama. Really good. Joker steals the movie big time, making Heath's death all the sadder, this movie would have taken his career to the next level.

On to happier things, the Best of my Favorite Blogs:

Cath L - I nearly stopped here...Every once in a while she does these Uber post that are just amazing. It will take all week to read, but you'll gain really neat insight...I have 3-4 new must read blogs from it!
Get Rich Slowly - This is one of the Top Personal Finance Blogs out there as evidenced by this great post on Investing. Given that I get less than 1% of their traffic, I am sure my recommendation will be the final straw that pushes them over the top for success!
Simplicity In Kansas - This blog is always amazing and reminds us all how much we could be doing! This is a short/sweet post that made me laugh :)

Our Top Post this week was due to a challenge by Mrs Micah:

My Microsoft Money is Bigger Stronger Faster

A couple milestones passed earlier that I failed to call out but there are pretty darn impressive to me, as, like I have said, I am always appreciative that anyone comes here to read this blog:

Over 225 Posts!
Over 14,000 Visitors! Wow!

Thanks again for all the support and I look forward to the next 14,000!

Random Act of Conscience as I Fly Home

2008-07-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

Got in late last night. While flying home, I started thinking, I just can't believe July is half over already! Seems like it was just Christmas.

That being said did some quick bill paying and this is looking like a pretty good month (knock on wood!). Balances are coming down, no new charges. About ready to complete our 9th month without using a Credit Card (used our debit card only).

If I was reading this back then I wouldn't have believed it! Since we have kept our snowball up and as the minimums have reduced, we are paying more and more off per month.

How is your month going?

Well..off to sleep and getting ready to see Batman tomorrow with the Boy! We are looking forward to it, but I must say I waste good chunks of these shows watching his reaction! Then Sunday we are going to our local fair.

Big doin' at the Circle K Theodore!

I'll review with my post tomorrow!

Wow! Direct TV Sucks!

2008-07-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I had a horrible experience with Direct TV tonight. And after reading more on the net it seems that it is their modis operandi.

I received my bill for the month today when I returned from work. Given that I was paid today and I am traveling all day I want to get everything paid and ready to go before I leave.

So I open my Direct TV bill and notice that I am being charged for NFL Sunday Ticket. The first of 6 $41.50 charges have been added to my account. Only problem is that I told Direct TV that I would NOT be re-upping the service this year. Given that I am asking all others to trim and live in budget, can't ask any less of myself, so it is no go.

So, no problem it says right on the bill that you can address billing issues one the internet. After getting my Net account all going I go into billing and I CAN change my package type...as long as I am increasing my service...oh no..I know what this means. I am marketing boy.

Re-loaders

These fine folks are also called retention. They offer you deals or whatever to stay. Can't blame them as it is expensive to get new customers, try to keep them. But for me, I am not working them, I just wanna move on. I don't want to explain to Trixie that, "No I really do understand that its like Peyton Manning is in my house."

So I gotta call...

So I call the 800 number and can only describe my experience to that of brave Ulysses. First it is the "talk" system that picks the wrong input every time. I mean a random generator would have more luck (I miss the push button #2 days). I have to call back 8 times. As 6 times it finally routes me to the wrong port and drops my call, 1 time I believe I hit a bizarre tech chat line and then finally in cue...for 90 minutes...on hold…with a horrible message every 1-2 minutes.

"Hi this is Peyton Manning, press #2 to order NFL Sunday ticket now!" That mean I heard 45 marketing messages for the thing I am trying to cancel.

I finally get a real person, and you can tell they are being beat. You know, the kind of dog that lowers its head quickly when you go to pet it. Nice kid, but by this time dinner is cold, and I am chapped. I get a very nice explanation about how they will drop it, I review the next payment with him and I hope all is resolved.

Hey, I am a marketing guy, these companies survive by getting you and blocking all of the fire exits...I get it...but all the did is give me the desire to look to replace them!

Oh, yeah, Peyton...Go Cowboys :)-

Tempus Fugit is NOT a Rap Star

2008-07-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Crazy time at work right now. Five major projects on my plate all at once. One just launched, two more need to by the end of the month, and the remaining two follow quickly behind this.

The point of telling you that isn't for the sympathy (although I like the "Poor Baby" as much as the next guy), but to tell you about something that hit me hard today...The busier you are, the faster time goes. Today it felt like literally I walked in, had one big long meeting and then it was 7pm! And it wasn't just the meetings but all of the project prep. It has been like this for the past...career...kidding, this heavy for the last two weeks or so.

When this is happening to you, in whatever you are doing, here are some tips that I have developed to maintain sanity:

Remember; This too shall pass - Every job from CEO to stay at home Mom to combat soldiers, you can be busy all the time but the mayhem is usually x amount of time. If not there are larger issues in play!
Compartmentalize - Whatever thing you are doing right then, give it 100% attention. Multi-tasking is NOT as efficient as doing, completing and repeating
Track and Verify - Measure twice and cut once! Have a daily list with ABC priority; must get done, Needs to be done, and would be nice to be done. Not everything is an A! A good guideline is 20/60/20% buckets. Then do not quit until the A's are done...and save the list! When you get down on yourself review your progress. You've come a long way baby!
Don't allow interruptions - "Sorry no I don't have a minute, but please book a quick 5-10 minute meeting with me to resolve." It wastes so much time to start-stop-start-stop and you fall out of a groove. You'll be surprise how few people interrupting will book that time! But when they do, give them the same focus you were giving whatever you were doing when they came in.
Fill your schedule - With time for your A's. I know I need about 3-4 uninterrupted hours to get this stuff ready in time for thee presentations...Book it! If you are expected to stay pretty current on email, like I am, I book the time and the amount that I am gonna get through. I have 3-30 min slots to answers emails and I try to keep them brief!
Make sure one of those compartments is rest! - I have seen people choke a big presentation (Opportunity!) by not taking the time to eat, rest and focus.

Well my blogging compartment is now full! :)

What works for you?

New Is a Relative Term...

2008-07-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

We live in a "Here Today Gone Later Today" society. Folks are all geared up to see the new Batman movie that opens Friday. But know this, as sure as I am typing this we will be saying the same thing 2, 3 or 4 years from now, Can't wait to see the new Batman or Hancock 12 or get the new CD from our favorite artists.

This really got me thinking; to quote (or massacre a theory) from Einstein, time is relative. What is new, won't be later, the other thing that changes is our knowledge and perception.

OK enough of the deep stuff.

The wife doesn't like "old" movies, she like the new stuff, don't blame her, she is in the majority. Sure she has a few favorite DVDs that she'll watch a few times, but she isn't a nostalgia hound like me. I, on the other hand, love old (2-50 years) movies that I have seen a bajillion times. Are the effects as cool? Probably not, but the stories are there and they are still great.

So two weekends ago I had the two younger kids all day while the wife was picking our 15-year old up from her visit at Grandma's for the month (separate post!). I decided that I was going to indoctrinate the two into the movies I loved in my youth. It went over like gang-busters to where I am working the 15-yr old now as well.

As you who are old enough, probably can guess one of the moviews based on the pic, but here are a great 5 DVDs to buy (they aren't new so cheap!) or rent and enjoy these comedies:

Ghostbusters - The kids flipped! I had a good time as well. Still very funny. A little dated, but great mix or light fright and silly.
Back to the Future - Real soft spot in my heart for these movies. Longer story to be shared later, but the kids jump and cheered when Marty decks Biff!
Planet of The Apes - A HUGE personal favorite. All-time twist at the end, best line ever "Get your paws off me you damn dirty ape!" and for the older viewer great subtext. Plus written by Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame!
No Time for Sergeants - Andy Griffith at his funniest. Hard to get the wife past the Black and White cornyness, but the kids loved it!
Ferris Beuller's Day Off - Gosh this movie is funny and now a favorite of my 15-yr old. I feel sorry for today's teens not having John Hughes movies!

I currently have a touch over 1,000 DVDs (we bought most of them dirt cheap) and some special set boxes as well. Sure I could sell the less watched ones, but they really are a collection for me at this point and I happily lend them out when asked, "What's a good movie to watch!"

The first time you see a movie, or if it has been purged from the memory banks, it is new to you! So seek out those movies you either missed the first time, or loved and need to revisit. And if you do, expose someone else to it as well. It just might become a favorite for them as well!

One side note, the kids really loved that if they liked a movie, they could see the sequel right away!

My Microsoft Money Is Bigger Stronger Faster

2008-07-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

Responding to a direct challenge from fellow blogger, the lovely and talented Mrs. M, I completed a big finance project this weekend. Well OK it is never really compete, but my goal was to rest up my MS Money account. OK so I finished the project then accepted the already complete challenge, but she said it was OK, so there.

Never one to ignore the free gift of links from another, I said on her blog I would tell how/why the project came about.

Back in March my computer first went down. Something about a drive partition. It wiped out everything... Through Herculean efforts by this great resource I found locally for computer repair we were able to at least save my data, but no program data. So I had my last backup...from January. This was over 60 days old that was not really complete either.

Around this time (end of March) I was going through a burnt-out phase regarding finances due to a bonus that I still believe I was hosed out of as well as slower than expected growth opportunities at my current gig. In other words I was being a bit (re: a lot) pouty.

Luckily my Excel Master tracking sheet was fine and I survived by using this tool, which works good for basic tracking, but it wasn't designed, by me, for reports and spending pattern sort of duty. So, as I am want to do, I procrastinated. But, it has been in my short-term goals list to get up and going.

So this weekend I rebuilt the file from January complete to this Saturday (July 12th). To this I had to do the following:

Get a new copy of the software, as my last copy was a digital download. Always get the disc backup for $5 more...well worth it!
Get all of the bills together from the last 6 months (3.5" high stack!)
Input all of the data
Test the reports
Bring in all of the new accounts (lie E*Trade) and do the same thing for them
File all of the paperwork

Well I still need to get the stack filed but it is in chronological and alphabetical order!

I can once again use all of my favorite reports and "what-if" scenarios, but the main point is that I took one of the key opening steps:; Get organized!

My next project; Short, Medium and Long personal goals and tracking!

OK Mouseketeers, what's your next, or first, step in your plan!

The King of Beers Get an Emporer

2008-07-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

The King of Beers has met his match and for a mere $50 Billion will now be part of InBev, A Belgium Based, Brazilian run conglomerate that makes Stella Artois and others.

Originally rebuked by the BUD board InBev came back with an offer that just couldn't refuse, $70 per share, or 27% higher than its 2002 all-time high. This creates the world's largest Beer Company, and gives InBev #1 Market share in the US auto-magically Given that BUD has nearly 50% market share between all of its domestic brands.

Given BUD's investment in Groupo Modelo (Corona - 50%) and China's Tsingtao Brewery (27%) we are likely to see the FTC and EUro regulators step in and do their dance. However given the strength of other competitors in the market of others, likely only small changes to the portfolio are expected.

That, however, might not be the case (pun intended) for BUDs St Louis operation that may get pulled way back. Gotta pay for that premium some way and it will probably be on the backs of the workers there. InBev has promised that Budweiser will be the new Flagship brand for the company, but these deals are often paid for via the synergies of the two companies. Meaning that either St Louis will start brewing InBev brands and their breweries will close or the other way around...but usually "to the victor the spoils."

I wonder if the Clydesdales will be wearing wooden shoes at the next Super Bowl?

Best Week Ever; Pt XII

2008-07-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well this is now the 4th time I have written the same post. I use "Blogger in Draft" to schedule out my posts so that they are hot and fresh for you in the morning, right out of the oven!

Well, the oven keeps burning the toast (tell I can't cook yet?). Regardless this had been a gooweek for the blog as I just completed my second week back, traffic is coming back and people are commenting again (THANK YOU ALL BTW!)

That being said here are some great posts from other blogs to read as well as a special extra:

Mrs Micah - A great post about not replacing until it has to be done. And to be frank, when you are using two elastics from underwear to attach the laptop screen...it may be time!
Paid it Down - Sharon has started her Jar Cash System, I use a similar envelope system and I trully believe it has been the #1 thing that has helped my finances.
That Saddity Chic - A touching post regarding how those without a father in their life often feel, somehow tied in a neat way to commercial real estate investing as only she could do!
Iowa Hippie Chick - Yeah Dawn is back! If you don't read her blog you are missing out, and we all were for a bit. Beyond a great blog, though, she is trully a great person. Welcome Back!
Open Wallet - Winning for best pic in a post this week! A shrt so bad that even Samuel L Jackson is scowling at it!

For Life, Liberty and the Pursuit on Money:

Most Affordable Places to Buy a House - Most popular post of all week, even with the second half being totally silly! The best part of the post are the comments, really interesting to read where people would live if money was no object.

Thanks again for visiting and commenting!

IndyMac Bank Shut down by Government

2008-07-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

The US Government shut down former internet darling IndyMac Bank on Friday. This mortgage provider was and aggressive mortgage lender with very low rate at one time. The also feature great savings plans with above norm returns.

This really made me re-think a lot of what I have seen on Finance Blogs regarding bank and credit card arbitrage. In the case of savings, it is chasing the highest returns, and then pulling once the bonus is paid or the offer runs out. Often you need to set up direct deposit with then to get the bonus, or follow other steps that lock you up, or at least make it a pain to switch.

Credit Card arbitrage is a bit scarier, at least to me, although many are great at it. Basically, that is signing up for every 0% transfer rate Credit Card at once then maxing them out via a transfer to a bank account, usually at a bank with better than average deals ala ETrade or others like...IndyMAC.

As long as you aren't ever one day late (which triggers the higher rate) and are very diligent, you can make good money. Consider getting three $5000 one interest no payment cards for one year (using these to show the math, but banks are running away from no payments...not too tough. You max out the $15K in credit and start to get, say 3%. You then withdraw the money and pay-off the card at the end of the year. Worst case you earned $450 (actually a bit more since it compounds at least weekly).

Hey I'll take $450 for just paying my cards on time, plus say you have good credit and get $50,000; you could make $1500+ or more.

Downside, one slip up and it can wipe out your profit with late fees and penalties. OR even worse...the bank could go out of business. Yes they are (hopefully) FDIC insured to $100k per person, but it takes the FDIC often a lot of time to process claims! Hope you didn't need that cash right now sir!

Anywho, long story longer, just be careful when you see those over-stuff return rates, risk=reward, and sometimes you do get the fuzzy end of the Lollypop.

Most Affordable Places to Buy a House

2008-07-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek just ran a piece discussing the most affordable Global Real Estate. Given the run-up here in Southern Oregon, even after the crash, I say, lets take a look at their Top 10...Then I'll make pithy comments :)

Bogata, Columbia (Shown Above)
Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Charlottetown PEI, Canada
Granada, Nicaragua
Panama City, Panama
St. John's Newfoundland, Canada
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Manama-Muharraq, Bahrain
Aruba, Aruba
Suzhou, China

I am pretty sure the author was Canadian as they have 3 of the top 10! Every Canadian friend of mine (ok I have two!) tell me the, while not as bad as the US, Real Estate prices and currency changes are making it more expensive to buy property then ever before, OK they are in their 30's so they mean in the last 10 years.

I expected China and Columbia on the list. As nice as they are not the first place to move that pops into my head of somewhere I want to move to (at least those two cities), but maybe I just underestimate them. I also see two cities on the list that we "liberated" so maybe the Army made BW put them on the list....We'll know for sure next year in Baghdad is on the list.

Here are mine that are probably real affordable right now:

Baghdad, Iraq - Sure no power, but nicer then it was...a couple months ago
Three-Mile Island, Middletown, Pennsylvania - Lots of land available
Atlantis, Atlantic Ocean - A Little damp, but awesome technology
Santa's Villiage, North Pole - Hurry it is melting...
Chernobyl, Russia - Buy the whole city cheap

Given the choices (although Aruba sounds nice) I guess I'll stay here for now. Money no object, man of leasure time? I am off to somewhere in the Caribbean, and if I get sick for a white christmas, I'll visit :) Given that Santa's workshop is gone be underwater soon, I'll keep a room for St Nick ready too!

How about you? Money no object, where would you live?

200 Point Stock Drop Isn't Even a Crash Anymore!

2008-07-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

Percentage-wise a 200 point swing on a 11,000+ Dow isn't earth-shattering, but it still represents real dollars in my 401k (and yours!). Yesterday's drop received so-so coverage.

They say a Recession is when your neighbor loses their job, a depression is when you do. Well, I am not there, but a lot of my neighbors are worried. It was bad enough when everything was melting down, but now inflation is hitting at the same time; a big reason - $5 gas (coming soon!). As energy touches everything, it raises every ship in the harbor.

Heck, the interest rate cuts aren't even helping as promised, since credit markets are getting tighter. At least we could of had a refinance (I was hoping for one!) to dump some $$$ into the mean green machine.

So, how do we get off this Tilt-a-Whirl o' Doom....Eventually the Fed will have to tighten the money supply at some point. Which means it would get worse before it gets better. Not trying to be the Siren of Death, but it is one set of body blows after the next...gee I hope one of the political parties raises my taxes next :)

Then again, maybe I just shouldn't post after I pay bills :)-

Oil Bubble to Finally Burst?

2008-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Oil has continued to slide in recent days and is back down to the $136 level today. It seemed just two weeks ago the it was going to be "$150 or Bust."

I know for us and across the internet I see more and more tlking obut how they have had to cut back, how small town especially are getting decimated, and how Congress is being beat up up pretty badly for letting this gett so out of control.

Could this be the, not the end of historically high oil/gas price. Not so sure, but to rip off Churchill...I hope it is at least the End of the Beginning!

If this has been an investor bubble, which I believe, oil would over-correct ala the houseing market. Regardless it is going to be a wild ride as no political office holder want to be running with $5 Gas hanging over their heads.

It is going to get interesting...

The Power of Focus...

2008-07-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

*Warning - This post is being written while I can't sleep and I am digging deep into my ego/super ego!*

In the movie for "Brief History of Time" Steven Hawking said that ALS was one of the best things that happened to him as it made him focus on one key area of Physics. Now ALS is a horrible disease that I hope to see eradicated in my lifetime, but it makes you really think about the power of Focus and what I call "Compartmentalizing."

At a recent talk our CEO, when asked about his success and his career pointers for the audience, he said one word. Focus

Basically, if you try to be great at everything, you will be at best mediocre at a lot of stuff.

His point was that you can be really good at 2-3 things max; otherwise there is just not enough time in the day to focus on those areas. His point was he picked his Career and Wife. He tried to really focus on those two areas. He didn't get into Golf until later as his career had reached an apex, and he really didn't have the time to do other things to the level he felt where he was achieving.

My List of stuff I am Interested In:

Career
Family - Husband
Family - Father of Three
Music
Blogging
Other Writing
History
My Finances
Golf
Health (Or...I will die!...or diet :) )
Entertainment - Movies
Entertainment - Video Games

In other words...I am screwed.

Not to mention all the sub-bullets I am not listing, or that my attention span is that of a Gnat on Prom Night...I have really felt this pull in my life since I can remember, back to being a young child. I have had those feelings before that, "Work is great, Home life is crap..." Or, "Wow we are getting along well, too bad my boss is chapped at me!"

So to try to deal with these areas I am trying to compartmentalize, or really Focus on that area when I am on it. I am really trying to work the following:

Determining what really matters to me in whole and each area
Have real Short term, Medium term and Long term goals
Seperate the wheat from the chaff - Is it really important to lower my golf score?
Focus on what I am doing at the time (Compartmentalize). - If I am working on my finances I am working on my finances. If I am playing Legos with the boy (his Focus!!!) I am playing Legos, not emailing on the crackberry.
Realizing that the last perfect guy died on the cross 2000 years ago (not being flipant to my strong faith friends)

How's it going?...plans in place, goals are being made, but I know I can easily fall back into that Snoopy banner that I had on my wall as a kid..."I've got to start acting more resonsible...Tomorrow!"

Off to bed...need to Focus tomorrow!

The Positive Side of the Internet

2008-07-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

I read more and more online about what a dark, damp scary place the internet is, and how it is growing worse. Just looking up how to donate to the poor your computer gets a nasty virus, your bank is depleted and cats live dogs.

Well the internet has been, IMHO, the single largest knowledge change for mankind since the printing press (I'll get some nasty emails now :) ). Penicillin is pretty good too, but I can't use that to buy Gun's and Roses downloads at 11:30pm at night. It is easy to forget, how life was before Al Gore invented the 'net and Electricity and I believe Goats.

5 Racer X's Favorite Things about the Net:

When something tickles my fancy to learn about I can look it up right then! I am a history buff, especially Roman history. I have more at my disposal via Google then most University's had 20 years ago!
Recontact old friends. I have been able to reconnect the some old buddies by them finding me on press releases for the companies I have worked for!
The positive communities. I have learned more and been better supported by those on my blogroll then I have by people I know!
Bank and Commerce is so much easier. I can go right now and check to see if my checks have gone through, whether I have been paid yet. Internet retailing has leveled the playing field. More than ever you have the power, customers are more fiscal than ever...good for them!
Online education - Deeper than just poking around like #1, you can get a quality education through an online school around your schedule! The quality keeps going up as well as major Ivy League schools now let you go through their class materials and lectures!

Sure, anywhere you go, bad things can happen. Just protect yourself and explore, we are living in a wonderful time :)

...I think it may be the 3-day weekend getting to me though :) I will probably hate my fellow man again by...Thursday at the latest :)

Secret Obsession...

2008-07-05T13:29:00.001-07:00

OK I am secretly obsessed with World of Warcraft (I guess not so secret now...doh!).

If you don't know anything about World of Warcraft (WOW to us!), it is the most successful Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO). Over 10 million people pay each month to play, interact, and have fun.

I started playing in October of 2005, and you might think, what the heck does this have to do with Personal Finance??

Well I hate to say it, but my favorite part of the game isn't the leveling, Battlegrounds or Arenas. It isn't the great people you meet, even that is a close second...nope I really enjoy the player economy.

There is a robust auction system for buying the things that you win or receive in the game. Get a weapon you can't use? expose it to the rest of the server that might be looking for that item! You get money, they get the item they need...Adam Smith is pleased :)

But there are a small group of us players that like to basically day-trade. If you put something up that we feel has a higher value we buy it and flip it. When I was really working on it at one point I had 3% of all trade involving me!

From this I have learned the following:

Invest in what you know - I only buy and trade those thing that I have bought and traded I have in the past well.
If it looks too good, it is...run! - I have seen thing that look like they are trading cheap but it really is a function of a very limited supply and demand. See rule #1!
Treat others as you want to be treated - I have folk that directly send me items to buy, bypassing the Auction system and fees. I always make sure I am giving them the agreed upon deal or better. I rarely lose customers and most are sending me more!

The point is whatever your hobbies are, you can use these lessons in your personal finance life!

Have a great weekend!

Happy 4th!

2008-07-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

No crazy plans, just family gathering for a big potluck dinner / BBQ. It will be great to see my little Niece who is getting pretty close to her 1st Birthday. It is such a gather heart-warming time. Then we'll blow up stuff!

Then after the food off to see fireworks and launch the USS Guilt (my Mom's nickname) who will tell us we don't visit enough (she's probably right, which is why the guilt works).

So not much to talk about today, but since you were so nice to vist, tomorrow I will tell you about my secret obsession...Going since October, 2005.

It ties to finance, although you won't think it will!

Best of Fun Holiday for You!

P.S Ever notice that the Fourth is one of the few holidays we don't give cards for...hmmm

They Don't Get The Hint...

2008-07-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

As I caught up on mail over the past few weeks I noticed something...a slew of Credit card offers. Now this is nothing new as credit card companies are trying to find anyone with a pulse. It costs over $30 (probably closer to $100 now) to acquire a new credit card customer, and most of those have to be rate flippers.

So like I said nothing really new, except that I noticed I am getting bombarded by Chase Visa and American Express. I am now getting multiple offers...per week from both of them. It costs, even with great marketing consolidation and bulk, probably between 40 and 50 cents to contact me, just through the mail! $20-30 per year in junk just to me!

Now I know I can save trees and my mail carrier and probably kittens in a third-world country by blocking my adress either through the DMA (Direct Marketers Assc) or True Credit, where I get my credit report, but truth of the matter is I like to see the offers.

One, it is a great early warning system about how your credit ranking is currently. The offer reflect your credit FICO band...I have crept into the 700 band now, so we are getting pretty darn good offers, but not the Captain Insano ones (you need 720+ to get those). Second, I like being able to weight moving debt around if I can save money and I am not above call my card company and grinding them for a better deal.

So we dance...

Dance the "I may ask you out, but I am waiting for a better looking gal (or fella for the ladies)" sort of dance. However, if they want to save some money I will tell them NO for $10 :)

How's your mailbox?

June Finance and Goal Review

2008-07-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

Well June is done, stick a fork in the first half of the year as well. The days are getting shorter already as we head into the Fourth of July holiday, but as the sun sets on one month it is a great time to take stock of where we are as well as look at the missing few months.

With out further ado..

Highlights:

Stuck to most of plan - Used cash for cash bills, didn't use Cards and survived some Ninja Bills!
Improved Net Worth by $3455! - Mostly debt reduction, but still!
Back to blogging! - Missed you all. But keeping it in perspective! Moderation in all things, including moderation

Points to work on:

Still need to rebuild MS Money file after last computer failure...again!
Check mail more frequently - Avoidance doesn't work
Began saving for something - Need a good medium term goal that we can save for as starvation spending is grating on all of our nerves. Just feels like more tunnel is in front of tunnel!

Goals:

Pay Off StateFarm CC - $2836 - Down to $2228 or $608 less! Need to pick up pace to do it...iffy
Pay Off Car - $4594.87 - Down to $2706, $1888 less than the beginning of the year! Less and Less interest per payment...looking probable
Pay Off CC CitiBank Platinum - $8989 - Now $8749, $240 less than the beginning of the year. Not using it, still making progress, but given no bonus...no way.
Pay off all CC Debt - Paid off $848 since beginning of the year, another bonus causualty!
Save 100% 2008 Property Taxes - $4500 - $3024 Saved in E*Trade Account. Back to working this amount. Whatever not achieved will come out of Emergency fund, but would rather not tap it.
Keep Snowball 100% Intact - $308.43 Is the Current. Once StateFarm is paid off, it will be $654.72! Back at it in July!
No CC Use - For the Ninth month! Getting close to the 1-year mark!
Increase Average FICO-Score to 720- Without CC payoff not gonna happen this year, but Sstill getting better. Now average 700.7 over the three agencies!
Stick to Cash Budget System - Yep!
Net Worth increased by $20,000 - $9,932 so far! Halfway there. Broke the Negative $20K mark (small things are happy things!)

So goal-wise with no bonus or opportunity this year it is really gonna be hard to hit these payoff goals. All I can do is at least work my snowball, but a good lesson for my self-image...won't count chickens...

Baby Step Progress:

Baby Step 2 - We have paid off $20,057 worth of non-mortgage debt putting us at 29% complete. Don't know whether to cry or cheer about that!

That's it, warts and all! Hope to do better, but god knows I have done much worse!

Thanks for all of the support!

Man Sells Life on eBay...

2008-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

In bidding over the weekend a man sold his life on eBay.

No, he isn't now a slave to some non-descript Middle-Eastern Shiek or a Circus in a state where the family trees have no branches. Nope he sold all of his stuff, including access to friends and his current job. After a bitter divorse he is now going to pack it all up and move somewhere else and start over.

This raises some interesting thoughts:

Who would buy your life? - You think yours sucks, and yet someone thinks you are worth a six-figure buyout.
What if you paid all that money and found you were just as miserable? - This is the "grass is always greener" issue. It may just be you and not your life!
When will we see Life-bay (or LBay, once it catched on)? - Just another $40k and I can be suburbanite Tech worker with three kids!!!

This sounds like a whacky 1990's movie starring Scott Baio...Or maybe a show on the CW Network.

That being said, my life is up there now, bidding starts at $7.35. I've decided to bid on being a Cowboy :)

Personal Finance Mountain

2008-06-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

There's a bit of freedom knowing no one will probably read this. I have been away for quite a bit. Anyone that read before, thanks for coming back and stumbling across some more ramblings.

Have taken the last few weeks to try and really focus on one thing at a time. Now being back to getting all of my finances in order I noticed something odd...

During the two months off from the blog I didn't fall off the horse. Sure I could have probably done better, but no real catastrophe! It seems the systems I had in place worked. I never used a credit card, minimal use of debit card, and used cash for all of my cash plan items.

My Net Worth Improved about$3500 and I was able not to dip into the Emergency Fund even though we had some car repairs to pay for. I am sure that their are some ninja bills out there, but I feel like even if they come up I'll be prepared.

So the mountain...ah the over-thought metaphor of the night...Personal Finance and reaching your goals really is similar to climbing a mountain. Often you cannot see the top, you'll get discouraged, but if you work your system, even if you fall...it is just to the base camp not all the way down!

Enough about me! How have your personal finance goals been going? We are at the 6-month mark for the year, days getting shorter again. Are you closer or farther away from hitting the next base camp?

All the best in your Journey!

Moby Dick's Influence on Personal Finance

2008-04-22T16:39:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I know about myself is that I tend to run at 110% percent and then get burnt out on something. It isn't enough to get my finances in shape, I have to do it right now. I can't enjoy blogging without writing 3-posts a day and 20+ comments. I can't eat a basket of shrimp at Sizzler's...It has to be a gluttony battle with my brother on baskets killed. Kind of an all or nothing sort of mentality.

This is not unlike Moby Dick...I know you think that I am nuts, but it is a story of someone that loses the forest for the trees. He can't just hunt whales, but has to go after the Godzilla of a whale that crushed his boat and ate his leg...maybe with Tarter Sauce just to be extra mean.

I often feel the same way. I know that I MUST do X, Y and/or Z, but against my better judgement I try to do all of them and end up not getting any of them.

This was drilled home as a child. "Be anything you want, just be the best at it." Now, I am not some Freudian who blames their parents for their failures on the absence of Twinkies in my take-to -school lunch, and on the surface it is a pretty benign comment. The kind all parents, including me when I am channeling my mother, bring to the next generation.

On the other hand I have achieve a little measure of success due to this as well. i wouldn't be where I am at career-wise if i didn't push. But it is the extreme version of this that can be damaging.

Reading the blathering above..."what is the point", may come to mind.

The point is that it is OK to push yourself in anything including personal finance...just don't sink your boat and get your leg bitten off!

Getting Caught Up!

2008-04-21T12:49:00.001-07:00

OK now that I am back I need to get caught up! Both in terms of where I am financially and my goals. Back to Personal Finance 101.

After a series of Unfortunate Events (Taxes, Computer, Bonus, Ninja Bills) I have real been too passive with my personal finances. So with this weekend being my Anniversary I am going to take a few days (Friday-Tuesday) and do the following:

Compile and file all of my paid bills. They are in my "Out Box" but they need to get re organized. This weekend I alphabetized them and prepped for filing.
Re-Download MS Money and rebuild...ugh, not looking forward to this part, but it has to be done.
Reset calendar to adjust for moved bills. Some have been changing dates (CC Cards) didn't notice until I compiled...dirty apes!
Final March and prep for EOM April
Reset goal now that bonus is probably poof.

Also really need to get my short, medium and long term goals back in focus...feel like I have been treading a bit of water for a while.

Sarting was tough...restarting is tougher!

Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?

2008-04-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Hey all...Sorry had to take a bit of an extended break.

Here is why: The blog really turned into another full-time job on top of my 1.5x current job as well as being a parent and needing time to decompress. Also I had some really nasty posts about this blog on other blogs and realy thought...what's the point!

So frankly I didn't even look at my email on this account for over a week, but when I did I was very pleasantly surprised with well wishes and good thoughts from other blogs that I enjoy.

So I do miss writing, but probably not at the two post a day clip right now given crazy work demands!

So thank you all very much for the warm thoughts and I hope you will visits my new content coming soon!

Save 15% off of your Gasoline Prices

2008-04-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

I wish it was a coupon to print out, because traffic would go really crazy. However there is a pretty easy way (at least in theory!) to save 15% off of your overall gas spend. Given that here it is $3.45/Gallon now that is over 51 cents per gallon savings! That would help with my budget!

Ready!...Drive slower (I hear the groans).

Consumer Reports just did a pretty exhaustive survey to dig into the costs of driving faster. For example, if you drove a Toyota Camry on the highway set the cruise control at 65, then at 75, you would see that fuel economy changed. It would have been at 35 MPG then it dropped to 30 MPG, or 14.3% less! The older the car the worse it would be too.

Funny thing is last big oil crisis the government lowered the speed limit to 55, not for safety, but to save fuel! It stayed due to the safety issue.

Sure this isn't a deep thinking thing to save money "Burn More fuel=More Money" but for me it was realizing that it was nearly a 15% saving...that's real money, and can help with you personal finance!

New Car Smell from Hell! (And Charter Sucks!)

2008-04-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

As I am still working on my 1st quarter numbers, my Internet went out and who knows how long it will be out...Charter Sucks! So I am knocking out this post as I eat a sandwich at my desk and dream of holding these Ninja Bills at bay!

Neat report on Yahoo today about new cars that lose their value the quickest. Nothing is a better feeling then driving home in that new car, neighbors saying, "Hey Bob...Nice Car!" no spilled Cheerios in the back...or dog hair (we don't even have a dog either). But all of this is balanced out by one little personal finance fact: Buying a new car is a horrible financial decision!

You take 10%+ of the value of the car and flush it for just driving off the lot. And to make it worse, most people finance them...and not great rates. So you are spending current dollars in the future for something that's always losing value.

Just buying a 2-3 year old car can save thousands of dollars and will probably still have most of its warrantee intact. As bad as this call can be you can make it worse by driving a car that depreciated even quicker!

Here are the Worst Offenders:

Kia Sedona
Lincoln Town Car
Suzuki Reno
Suzuki Forenza
Suzuki Aerio
Mercury Grand Marquis
Dodge Durango
Chevy Uplander

As a point of reference the KIA only retains 20% of it purchase price value after a typical five year ownership! Five years isn't uncommon of car loans anymore either, which makes the impact worse.

A new car is fun and feels good, but is it really worth this big of an economic impact on your personal finances and budget?

Quick and Out

2008-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Working on a big first quarter overview...may take a bit as the numbers are coming out to rosey and I am a bit nervous something is amiss. With the computer crash Io amd rebuilding, but it looks good

More to come!

The US Treasury Brings Back the $500 Bill

2008-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Treasury Secretary Paulson announced sweeping changes to US currency today including that the US Treasury was prepared to bring back the $500 Bill, and perhaps even the $1000 as a measure to get consumers buying again.

"Let's be frank," the Secretary said, "the dollar doesn't buy what it used to, and therefore either does the $100. When we last printed the $500 and the $1000, the $100 was worth $867 in today's dollars, and that gap continues to grow. Already we have a currency gap with the rest of the world. The 500 Euro bill has been available since the Euro inception and the 100 British pound note is worth more then $200 US. "We can ill afford American's being treated a second class citizens abroad. We are also prepared to relaunch the $1000 bill at a later date if needed."

President Bush was quoted to say, "Secretary Paulson knows currency, he studied it, he understands it, heck he even has some!," the President said with a laugh. "All kidding aside, we will not let our greenbacks go the way of the yen. We will maintain the spending power and availability of cold hard cash."

When asked you would be featured on the bill, Secretary Paulson said that for the first time, two great American's will be featured on one bill. George Washington will be featured with Abraham Lincoln. The famous photo by Nathan Frost that hangs in the National Gallery entrance will be the basis for the new Bill portrait. "No other photo capures these two men in all of their glory and we believe the larger portrait to be a significant counterfeit fighting tool."

Other changes announced but not yet formalized include the potential end of the penny, wider distribution of the 50 cent piece and the classification of the dollar in a coin only.

Wow...big changes! I am glad they are bringing the $500 back as we are on a cash envelope system and it will be more convenient for us. I am not wild about the dollar coin thing though, but I guess it was inevitable.

How about you? How will this impact you?

Surviving Your Review

2008-03-31T05:03:00.000-07:00

I received my first annual review for my job at the end of last week. It was probably the most stressful lead up to one that I have had. It is a completely new position for the company, new boss for me AND fairly nebulous goals outside of the ones that I set for the sales portion of my job.

It actually went quite well, and even the slightly critical feedback was couched as a growth scenario.

It started out with me being told that my boss is a "very hard grader" so don't be surprised by several people. After hearing that multiple times I started thinking...wow, this must be a massacre coming. I had visions all of poor grades, except for safety, which I still don't understand why it is on our review from for Directors and VPs.

Our Grading system is this: 1-5 Point scale with 5 being top. 3 means you are doing everything asked of you, 4 means you routinely go above-beyond, 5 is near perfection. On the other side a 2 means you need improvement and a 1 means you are a moron :)

My review was a solid 4+. Only one 3, mostly 4's and three 5's. By the time we got to the accomplishment section I was feeling pretty good. I had my list of accomplishments with me, even though I had submitted them before. When he had 5 of my key 7 I brought up the others, which were added to the report!

After the final comes the raise part...I knew that even though there was a 3% raise pool, it was very tough to get more then that as a Director. Many friends had been told "That's why you have an MBO; Go earn more."

But I got 4%...Not gonna shake up the world, but it means in April my Debt Snowball can grow and I can chop down those debts faster.

For all of the stress I survived because I was prepared:

Get accomplishments to Boss before they write reviews
Clearly state what you want. In my case the end paragraph of my self review clearly laid out why I deserved a raise outside the norm.
Bring all of the same material to your review
Don't be afraid to accept constructive criticism; it will only make you better.
Don't be afraid to defend yourself either!

Best of luck on your next review. Get what is yours!

The Personal Finance Week That Was Is Again

2008-03-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Time to look at those more deserving...The best of the week.

This was an incredibly busy week that led to long hours and a multitude of Issues and Opportunities. Retailers are pretty nervous (i know we are) that store traffic is slow, an early Easter may save 1st quarter for some, but it is to be seen the impact of the stimulus checks and seeing if the cash registers ring or we all put the money under our collective beds.

March is going out like a Lion!

The following Bloggers are always very inspirational to me, in all different ways.

Best of the Week:

Fiscal Musings: A great piece about selling his first rental property he owned and the lessons learned. My Financial Youth!
Simplicity in Kansas: An amazing journey for me watching how and what someone can accomplish with their income if they decide to live life well within means. I don't even want to print the number of achieved savings, but a click-thru will blow you away! My financial Brain!
Paradigm Shifted: If Kansas is my brain, then sometimes deepali can act as my soul. Great perspective. My Financial Soul
Iowa Hippie Chick: Super piece on recycling you books and videos for cash! My Financial Heart!
Mrs Micah: Heartfelt Post about a tough week, burnout and pulling yourself up y the boot straps! She is my Financial backbone!

My Most Read Post of the Week:

When Not to Give Personal Finance Advice

That is it from rain-ville!

See ya Monday!

Better, Stronger, Faster...

2008-03-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

OK I have to give up...For the last two weeks I have done everything I could (within financial reason) to fix my data that was lost with the computer crash. I saved most everything except...my Microsoft Money File...

I have a back up of mid-January, and I had been doing the autoback up, but to the desk top...doh!

So I have to rebuild nearly three months worth of data...Luckily have have been doing double entry with the checks so all written checks are backed up...with paper (which never crashes BTW).

So this weekend I have make like Dr. Rudy and take something broken and mangled beyond recognition and rebuild it: Better Stronger, Faster.

Goofy segway, but The Six Million Dollar Man was a favorite show growing up. Had all of the toys including Maskatron! What's the real Colonel (Austin NOT Sanders) have to do with Personal Finance?...We'll: It is at least a great way to examine inflation. I don't think the Government can buy a toilet seat for under $6M now :)

The other lesson is that no matter how mangled, you can rebuild it...it just take a plan...That my weekend :(

New Home Sales Froze Over In February

2008-03-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

It is getting tougher and tougher to say that the worst has come in the housing market as every time we do...another part of the floor gives out. But there are signs of a very light thaw starting.

In February, new home sales were down 29.8% year over year. While this is better then expected, home sales still hit a 13-year low as no one wants to buy while things continue to slide. Home inventory is now at a 9.8 month supply and while the median price tick up a little month over month it is still down 2.7% vs last year.

Here in our little mecca in the woods the home values have been hit hard..of course that is directly proportional to the crazy rise in values here for the last 6-years as well. Frankly in you bought 5+ years ago here, you are in good shape even with the slide. But if you just moved back a year ago like I did you are down.

On the upside, open lots in our neighborhood (its about 2-years old) are now all sold out and a bunch of houses are being built. It feel a bit like Field of Dreams as I think the are trying to build their way out of this mess. That being said the other house we looked at in our neighborhood when we bought this one is still on the market 15 months later.

Things are tough all over brother!

How's your area doing?

The Marathon Wall

2008-03-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

I have said in this blog over and over again, "Personal Finance is Marathon not a Sprint." But like a marathon often even the best runner hits a wall.

The wall is where you just tire out. For others it is a loss of concentration. And even others describe it as a system breakdown.

Well...I have hit the wall. I am pretty sure it came from a series of Ninja Bills, that, as they do, jumped out of nowhere for their attack. The first was my computer going down, the second was prepping for my presentation, a bonus issue, a late review and finally the last one was just time...or the lack thereof.

It isn't like I have gone off the rails and started charging things, but I am just tired of thinking about my debt all of the time...it really is at times disheartening. It is a long road.

I know what I have to do...I have to get the train back on the rails and then get it moving. Get back on the horse. This weekend, when I have 10-mins...and not at 1am in the morning! I am gonna get caught up and back on track. I look at my sheet and we have accomplished a lot in the last 120 days that it would be a really shame to turf it.

How about you? Hit a wall in your quest? Did you go through it, around it, or are you there right now as well.

Personal Finance QuickTake: To Hell with Homeowner's

2008-03-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Treasury Secretary Paulson said today the housing prices should be allowed to continue to fall in order to allow markets to stabilize and allow buyers to come back into the market.

In other words...That $1.2 Trillion worth of Home Owner equity at stake in the crisis should evaporate. That $1.2T is from a seperate report looking at the write-offs that may happen in regards to loans. It doesn't take into account the lower values of homes that people will hold onto. Regardless $1.2 Trillion equals $4800 for every man women and child in the US, or $24,0000 for my family alone.

The problem with that statement is that it does forget families, which is whose skin this is peeled from. Imagine...they believe the sending my family $2100 is going to be a big stimulus to the economy...what do you think asking me to pay back that $24,000 is gonna do to the economy?

Unless a stabilization plan is put into place, people en masse are going to walk away from their homes. It is already happening. Then the next ripple is to those like me that hold our home and make our payments is that the value further erodes.

Hey...it is my debt, I signed for it. But if you are the government, make sure to see who your are flipping off before you raise the bird!

My Bonus Saga Continues...

2008-03-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

So my bonus saga continues. Actually this happened a few days a go and I have been too upset to even write about it.

During my business trip my Boss called my to say that he was going to hand out bonus checks that day and people were going to be upset as since they were all tied to the overall company OI (Operating Income). Tough year, no money. Mine was tied to this as well buy with a slight twist.

I also manage the ad sales portion of our business. You know when you get a magazine or catalog a page says "Advertisement" or "Advertorial?" Yep that stuff. We had a great year with that part of the business and over achieved plan by more then 10%. This would meant that I should have still earned 25% of my bonus + 10% more of that money for aver achieving.

Anyway, he is telling me that I need to not be too happy acting around the others as it would put salt in their wounds...I know this as I have managed people for years, but great, thanks for the heads-up.

About an hour later he calls to tells me that i did NOT make that number, in fact it was well under plan...HUH???

I have my tracking on this and I always know my numbers to the penny...Finance was just wrong. I again give my Boss the numbers and he insists we will get it fixed. I send him the spreadsheet for him to show we made it...comfortably.

Well our crack finance department wrote off over $1 Million worth of advertising! As they say the paperwork wasn't filled out right! I had a size 17 cow...

This is a year later, if there was an issue you would think before writing the amount off, they would...I don't know...check with someone? First my Guys ,so they could fix it, or me, so I could make it happen, or my Boss, the EVP of the company?

Nope the payroll clerk and the Account Receivable person made the call to write it off.

So now my team has to go back after every sale and collect for them...

The real moral of the story is...always know your numbers better that you need to. This is true for your job, budget, bank account etc.. Mistakes can be made and if you know them backwards and forwards you will be able to find out quickly and hopefully remedy the situation! Keep the personal in personal Finance!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Insolvant Government Programs

2008-03-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

In a new report and interview Treasury Secretary Paulson again rang the bell the both Medicare and Social Security are quickly coming to riding off the rails.

Basically Medicare will begin to spend more money then it takes in this year! Reserves will be 100% depleted, completely spent by 2019. Just 11 short years from now.

Social Security will begin to spend more then it takes in by 2017 and by completely out of funds by 2041, as 78 million baby boomers are knee deep into retirement. Given that for many Social Security is there only retirement funds it could get very bleak.

But the Government won't just turn off the spigot on those dates. Your Social Security checks will still come and a couple of things will happen:

We will all pay more...a lot more - Expect much higher taxes, and new ones as well. Must feed the Monster.
The retirement age will have to increase - the program was designed to be right at the end of your life cycle, not for 30+ years of withdrawals. Expect it to go to 70, then 75, maybe even 80.
Benefits (at least in real dollars) may have to be cut - It will be very tempting for Congress to under find and inflation increase as they will not have the money. They will be...
Borrowing the money - The government won't cut off you or your grand kids. They will though have to use more and more of the Federal budget for these programs.
Insolvency - Eventually if nothing is done, you flat run out of money. Or course before this the economy will be wrecked, unemployment will skyrocket, and inflation rampant.

If this isn't solved, the future of our country is at stake, period.

At least the country as we know it. Rampant inflation and class struggle happened less than 100 years ago and led to the rise of Communism and National Socialism.

Whoever you vote for, hold your Representatives feet to the fire on this, the feet you save may be your own!

The $200,000 Baby

2008-03-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

After the $22,000 Cat I guess it was inevitable...a $200,000 baby. Except this is not some baby that you design at an old Eastern European lab sneaking in past the US State Department, this is ANY kid born in 2007.

Apparently the average cost of raising a child has risen over the $200,000 level for the first time. This money stops at 18, no college, wedding and endowments beyond. Yep, just $200 grand hit to your personal finances to get this little guy through High School.

As a parent of three it is amazing the costs, some hidden and some blatant in raising a kid. Beyond the obvious food and clothes, think about housing. Most of us wouldn't get a 3+ bedroom house with no kids. Unless you trade over for an expensive loft that is a significant amount.

Don't forget about activities either. Summer Camp? It can be thousands of dollars and they might still come home early. Add in sports, Ballet (which I still say is French for Expensive), other hobbies, holidays, etc. and you can see how that the number racks up.

So am I saying don't have kids?...no way. If my three will cost $600k then it will be worth it. The are great people and I am proud to have them around...not to mention the caring for the elderly (me one day!) is probably more expensive and harder on your budget then raising kids...so it is an investment :) .

When Not to Give Personal Finance Advice

2008-03-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

Well...Mom is mad at me! Frankly a Holiday wouldn't be a holiday without it. It is really a case of me not keeping my mouth shut. I know better, but I apparently have the mouth control of a 15-year old at times.

Mom is going through a pretty nasty work period that finally came to an end with her employer terminating her when she found out she had severe Carpal-Tunnel issues with both arms. Instead of even telling her that there was an option for long-term disability, they terminated her...after 14.5 years. She was also having a difficult time with a lady who is the de facto second in command...but #1 in raw evilness. This health issue was just an excuse to off her. Mom knows it, they know it...heck her dogs know it. Well it looks like there is a good chance they are going to settle for a decent amount. Not live off of it forever sort of money, but a good couple of years money.

Money was already tough. Mom likes to spend and believes if they have credit, they have money...Now you know how I learned my awesome money management skills. After earlier saying how it was tough right now (and yes we did strongly offer, BTW before I get the hate mail) she said at dinner that if they get the settlement they are going on another cruise...WHAT?

I said..."Why don't you pay off your Credit Cards and save the rest so you don't end up eating cat food!" (Silence - With Eye Daggers)

Not knowing when to stop..."You guys really need to get your expenses under control...I am happy to help" (Silence - With Double Death Eye Daggers...)

"We'll be fine" (Ice forms over all nearby lakes and streams)

See the point was, not that the message was bad...just the timing. With all of this being raw it wasn't the time. Later and alone would have been better and not as embarrassing to her. it is all pride on her side, but I get it, I got it before I said it. If you want to help you have to know when...and when not to.

Best of the Week that Was!

2008-03-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Traveling put a real hamper on my posting this week, but it was still a pretty interesting week. This was a really interesting finance week with the Fed cutting a full point over the week, Bear Stearns going under and Economists trying to get a feel fro where the bottom is gonna be. Add to that stimulus checks getting ready to be sent out, an Early Easter and we have the makings of a wild March!

On to the Best of the Week:

My Open Wallet - Madame X is always a great read, but this week she gave us a peak inside her 401K. Great read as she, like most of us is very down at the moment. SOme great advice from her readers.
Mrs Micah - A fun article about a recent bout with Stuffitis...Been battling it myself as my zeal is wanning too!
BankerGirl - A neat post on changing jobs and what you find out when you do! Review time at our place so it is interesting.
Fiscal Musings - For all of you March Madness Fans, Fiscal did a great post tying finacila ideas to sports!
Paid it Down - Sharon posted a fun collection of Eater Themed Cartoons...Worth the quick look!

Most Read Post of the Week:

$22,000 Cat - Can't go wrong with Cats and Money :)

That all for me...Rest of the day hanging with Family and finishing my staff reviews (urgh...).

See ya Monday!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Financial Market Mess

2008-03-22T05:42:00.000-07:00

Leading Economists are saying the we are not only in a recession now, but probably a severe one. Most had earlier believed that this would worst case be like 2001. A drop an economic time that felt like a recession, the a nice bounce back once the economy shock off the doldrums.

Now with Bear Stearns and continued market turmoil they are convinced that this is not going to be swept under the rug quite so quickly this time.

From the report:

No less an authority than former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan wrote this week that "the current financial crisis in the U.S. is likely to be judged as the most wrenching" since the end of World War II.

Other noted economists are also sounding alarms. Harvard professor Martin Feldstein, the former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research, said recently he believes the country is now in a recession and it could be a severe one.

What got people's attention was how quickly Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth largest investment bank, could go from a stock market value of about $3.5 billion when the market closed on March 14 to being sold at the bargain-basement price of about $236 million two days later.

"We can't afford to stagger from one day to the next without knowing what large financial institution might be the next to go down the tubes because of a lack of liquidity. That is way too dangerous a game," said Lyle Gramley, a former Fed board member who is now an economist with the Stanford Financial Group. "It is possible that we could be entering the worst recession of the post World War II period. The threat is certainly there."

I was just looking late this afternoon, even with Fed Rates at 2%, 30-year Jumbo loans are still at 7%+! This makes it tough to refinance in a time where at least that market should be moving.

Some have said for awhile that 740 is the new FICO-08 720. In other words, even those that can now make there payments and would like to get in a more tradition loan structure can't due to tightening at the banks. There is a fine line between a small night-night drink and a fire house in your mouth. They have just well over tightened. You can't blame them given that the Bear went under in less than 2 weeks!

One of the rallying cries had been that rates will reset on those with ARM tied loans and they needed to move, but given that those rates are dropping is only those that are trying to do the right thing are getting punished.

It reminds me of the old joke about a group of folk on a plane and the Captain comes on the intercom and says, I have good news and I have bad news." The bad news is...we are hopelessly helplessly lost...but the good thing is with this tail wind we are way ahead of schedule!"

Finally Back! - Be Prepared!

2008-03-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Yeah! I am home! And I learned a bit of something about being prepared!

It was supposed to be a quick 3-day trip. You know, Carry -On Luggage only. In and out! Didn't work out that way days kept being added while I was out and I ended up being on the road all week.

It is really tough keeping up on a blog while traveling so I started to try and write ahead, but then the trip kept getting extended...vicious circle!

While I was out on a trip to our subsidiary, I was sent to corperate in order to make a presentation to our CEO on a new program I started...one on one (plus my Boss in attendance) for a 1.5 hour meeting. It is pretty rare to get 30 minutes of his time much less over an hour so it was great that he thought enough of the program to block out the time.

Here are the couple great lessons from the trip:

Winner's Want the Ball - If you have a chance to present or show off an accomplishment, take advantage of it. I had the call where my Boss could have pitched it and I could have come home. No one would have thought the worse for it. But I wanted my face associated with the program. If the the program fails it is my fault, but if it works it is my credit. Risk=Reward
Know your Stuff - 1.5 hour is a nice way to say grilling about each point and had I thought through this and that. He brought up great angles I hadn't considered, but I could answer 99% of his questions quickly. I studied and knew my material
Prepare - I went over my presentation...oh...47,000 times :) And guess what, 5-minutes before the meeting my Boss changed the order of the presentation to better match how the CEO liked to review programs. This was great as he knew the audience, but since we didn't have time to discuss it, I had to flip the page to see what was next! But...I knew the material well enough that I could roll with it and it came off better!

Results:

I have lots of follow-up to do, but we got great comments from everyone, and the potential of expanding the program faster! On top of it, as a bit of a surprise we got tickets for the NCAA tournament and saw a game last night (UCLA and MSVU)!

Take the risk...you're worth it!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Even Gold Gets Less...Golden

2008-03-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sure your 401k is down, stocks are on a roller coaster, savings rates are getting whacked, but at least you will always have gold right?

That yellow metal has been on a roll as the dollar tanks. Not a big shock as it has always been a hedge against currency movement.

However, Gold has been in a bit of too much of a tear. Gold recently busted the $1000 per ounce record level, not seen adjusted highs since the early 1980's. But gold fell nearly $100 an ounce back to the $950 level. The real question is there even support there as many investors feel gold could correct back to the $850 sort of level.

As this increase has been 100% investor driven, and gold is priced in dollars world round, it is easy to see why some are taking the money and running. After a housing bubble an Internet bubble and an Ice cream bubble (OK I made that up) investors want to lock in profits...on something.

From the Report:

With lower mortgage resets, the upcoming elections - which tend to boost the dollar - and the coming seasonal lull for gold, Nadler sees gold slipping to around $650 to $750 in the summer.
"That represents a good equilibrium level for gold, as jewelers will be able to sell gold again," he said. Still, some analysts think Wednesday's selloff is largely a hiccup - a temporary reaction by speculative buyers to changes in the economic climate, which can dramatically impact on the price of gold.

"When you are operating in a heavily overbought market, corrections like the one we're seeing today are very easy to have," said Nicoals Kavalis, a senior analyst at precious metals consultancy GFMS.

So is the dollar finally on track? With all of these rate cuts that would be amazing, but perhaps America's Housing induced cold has been caught by our friends over the pond.

$22,000 Cat!

2008-03-19T05:21:00.000-07:00

Meet Timmy, the $22,000 Cat! OK, his name isn't Timmy, at least I don't know if it is Timmy. But if I bought a $22,000 Cat that's what I would call him...

Actually, that is a pretty boring name for a Cat that costs more then my last car. Heck I couldn't even ride Timmy to work. I think he is too small. Actually by pound he is REALLY expensive. You would think for $22,000 that he would grow big long teeth like the cats in 10,000BC and you could ride him.

Wait got it...I shall name him Lord Kitty von Timmy...that's better....

OK...what the heck am I talking about. Apparently a special cat breeder has come up with a special hybrid Cat that is so special that you can get it (if you are lucky) for the bargain price of $22,000. Yes I have typed that about 45 times now in this post as I still can't believe it.

This is exactly why some people Hate America. People around the world work for a dollar a day, and we have designer cats.

Then I started thinking...what are my $22,000 cats? My "must have" Broad band Internet? My "saw-sharpening" Golf? Whining that I didn't get upgraded on my recent flight?

Point is we are lucky to live in a country where our toughest decision is what to eat for lunch rather than IF we eat today.

Personal Finance QuickTake: Uncle Ben's Nice

2008-03-18T13:21:00.001-07:00

Uncle Ben's Nice to the market with a 3/4 point reduction in the Federal Rate, down to 2.25%.

This is the sixth cut in the Fed Rate and now at 2.25% reaches a low from 2004.

From the report:

However, there has been opposition inside the Fed to the aggressive moves. The latest rate cut came on an 8-2 vote with two members of the Federal Open Market Committee dissenting. Both Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas regional Fed bank, and Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia regional Fed bank, voted against the rate cut, arguing they would have preferred less aggressive action.

In explaining its actions, the Fed said that it was having to navigate a difficult policy environment that included sluggish economic activity and rising inflation pressures. The Fed statement said that "the outlook for economic activity has weakened further" but that "inflation has been elevated" with some signs that expectations of future inflation pressures are rising, a dangerous sign for the Fed.

But the Fed signaled that it stood ready to cut rates further if necessary, saying that "downside risks to growth remain." Bernanke and other Fed officials have said in recent comments that they view the threat of economic weakness as a bigger risk at the moment than inflation given the risks to financial markets.

"Financial markets remain under considerable stress and the tightening of credit conditions and the deepening of the housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters," the Fed said in its statement.

Seems like some of the Fed Governors are getting nervous about the affect on inflation and feeling that the action is getting a bit aggressive, especially since the Stimulus checks are still 6-8 weeks away.

What...Me Worry?

(Photo from AP)

Personal Finance QuickTake: Big Cut Tuesday

2008-03-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Big cut Tuesday? The pressure is mounting. How aggressive? Caught between a rock and a hard place.

They have already cut rates this week on Sunday but are expected to cut cut rates Tuesday, perhaps even up to a point.

From the report:

With the quick collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns, fears are mounting about whether other financial companies may fall. Many believe the country has already sunk into recession and all the problems — if not contained — will deepen and prolong the pain.

"The Fed is on high alert — something you don't see but once every quarter century; maybe, in this case, since the Great Depression. This is a very unusual period," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

That's because the Fed is having to fight multiple battles at the same time: a housing collapse, a severe credit crunch and Wall Street turmoil that threatens the stability of the entire U.S. financial system. All those problems feed on each other, creating a vicious cycle that can be hard for the Fed and other Washington policymakers to break. The weight of those troubles is like a millstone on the ailing economy.

"Now the issue is fighting the deeper recession," said Brian Bethune, economist at Global Insight. "It has kind of moved to another level. The fires are spreading," he said.

To limit the damage, Bernanke and his colleagues may ratchet down a key interest rate, now at 3 percent, by as much as a full percentage point, to 2 percent, which would put that rate at the lowest it has been since late 2004. Because that rate affects a wide range of rates charged to millions of consumer and businesses, it is the Fed's most potent tool for reviving economic activity.

I don't know if it is the dawning of a depression, but it seems that the Government, nor many others have a feel how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The real concern is to over-correct or to blow-out inflation. But if this is the beginning of the issue and not the beginning of the end, we are using a bunch of our ammunition right away. The question is that would be be running this fast if it wasn't an election year?

Personal Finance QuickTake: RIP Bear Sterns

2008-03-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

According to a report from AP, Four Days after saying the company was OK, Bear Stearns will sell out to JPMorgan-Chase for the bargain price of $2 per share, or $236 Million.

This is a stunning reversal for Bear Stearns, that will at least save them from bankruptcy, as the Mortgage Liquidity crisis gets its first well-known victim.

The Fed jumped in already and not only approved the buyout, but also guaranteed $30 Billion of Bear's assets, essentially making the buyout risk free for JPMorgan. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it will guarantee all business — such as trading and investment banking — until Bear Stearns' shareholders approve the deal, which is expected to be completed during the second quarter. The acquisition includes Bear Stearns' midtown Manhattan headquarters.

JPMorgan's acquisition of Bear Stearns represents roughly 1 percent of what the investment bank was worth just 16 days ago. It marked a 93.3 percent discount to Bear Stearns' market capitalization as of Friday, and roughly a 98.8 percent discount to its book value as of Feb. 29

No word on Bear Stearns 14,000 employees or if the brand that survived the Great Depression and World War II would continue. They were considered to be the most leveraged major bank out there and based on the last weeks news, basically went into a death spiral.

At almost the same time as the deal for control of Bear Stearns was announced, the Federal Reserve said it approved a cut in its lending rate to banks to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent and created another lending facility for big investment banks. The central bank's official meeting is on Tuesday. Before the emergency move to lower the discount rate, which is the rate at which banks lend each other money, the Fed was widely expected to again cut its headline rate by as much as a full point to 2 percent.

This doesn't feel like the end of this. Maybe the beginning of the end, but not beginning.

Career Key: Frustration vs Reality

2008-03-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Ever have that, "If they don't see my value I should leave!" feeling? One of the toughest times in a career or job is when expectation level doesn't remotely meet reality. These, to paraphrase, "are the the times that try men's careers!"

I am there now.

It is coming up on bonus payout time, I know what my payout could have been. We revamped many of the programs under my direction this year leading to over $1M in increases. I also laid the groundwork for new programs now launching that will generate $6-10MM per year...for a long time.

Based on all criteria I had a pretty good year...too bad it is for naught.

At a staff meeting this week we were told the bitter truth. That since the company had a poor year, (due to operational issues, not sales) bonuses would be small, or non-existent. And it would be based on the discretion of Executive management on the amount. Frankly, based on that I really don't know if I will get a bonus! But if I do it will probably 10% of what it could have been. Given that 20%+ of my pay is bonus, that hurts. Not eating moldy bread tragic, just a major bummer.

I am actually not surprised as the company, which in all other facets is pretty great BTW, puts lip-service to MBO Bonuses but the followup is poor. We had agreed upon MBOs (Manage by Objective) targets laid out and agreed to, to our Boss a year ago. They were never signed off on by the Executive team.

I am OK with saying that we had are having a poor year and bonuses will be tied first and foremost to OI (Operating Income). However this was discussed and determined that this year would be different and we would truly run the MBO program as intended; in other words hit your goals and you will be good to go.

Add to this frustration my review is 120-days late and won't be delivered until April. I will be retro-ed the amount, but given that there are already hints that; "I really already make more than the other Directors" I am not expecting much.

So what to do:

Quit - Not with somewhere else to go. I am always networking though and have options
Do Nothing - Passively going through a career taking only whats given will cost you thousand over the course of a career.
Talk to the Top - Go to the CEO and complain. Uh...career suicide!

OK, Trek fans, sounds like a "Kobayashi Maru" test huh? For non-Trekers, this is a no-win test. It is to gauge your ability to get the best outcome even though you are gonna lose. Only one person to beat the test is old Captain Kirk. How...he changed the rules.

I did a bit of that too. here is what I have done to "win the situation" or at least get the best possible result:

Before I came, back to the company I investigated how the "MBO Structure" had been working. Most expressed indifference at best. Basically I knew I couldn't rely on it, so I didn't and tried to get my salary as high as possible.
I have NO plans for my raise. IF it comes in it will go right to my debt Snowball. I'll never see and spend it.
I am logging all of these wins too! If someone asks for a resume I have a freshly pressed one ready to go.
I don't let it get me down...at least to my Boss. I am Captain positive. I am sure he did everything he could (which he did) and I won't d anything to make him look bad.
I try to get mine other ways. I talked to him about promotion, project bonuses or anything else to get those funds back.

End of the day, you can't control how you are dealt with, just with how you prepare for it and react to it!

Our Fourth RSS Contest Winner!

2008-03-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

Our Fourth RSS Contest Winner was picked last night. I once again used Random.org to give me a number to determine the second winner of The FruitfulTime TaskManager Software.

The software selected Laura L Victor!

I haven't heard back yet Laura so I could give you a a link to their Blog or site, But Congratulations!

Thanks To everyone Who Entered and FruitfulTime TaskManager Software for being our sponsor!

Best of the Week; End of an Era

2008-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Our Final winner in our RSS Contest had been notified and I hope to name and get a quote from them for my mid-day update. I would like to personally thank everyone that signed up for my RSS feed during the contest. We doubled our readership from 27 to over 54! It has been really fun to be a part of this contest, none of which would have been available without the fine folks at FruitfulTime and their great TaskManager Software! Thank you all very much.

Crazy week here, but without further suspense - The Best of the Week on the Web:

Fiscal Musings - A great piece on some hidden tax savings that could save you big money as these are easy to forget. This blog is just a must read if you like to her from someone starting out in life with their priorities set and headed in a great direction!
The Digerati Life - Featured a great article on helping to protect yourself from identity theft! Great practical advice!
BankerGirl - A neat piece on blogging for the love of it or for profit...or both!
Get Rich Slowly - JD has been on a tear lately with some really great post. Included is this piece on why we buy things!
Simplicity In Kansas - A really interesting piece on his "experiment" trying to stay healthy this winter. Impressive results...not a shock as most things things he attempts are pretty successful!

My Most Read Post of the Week:

Save 50% When You Dine Out - Not even close. This was the post that the Consumerist picked up....still going wild and it proves that you just never know!

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money Milestones:

3,804 Visitors in one Day! - Nearly 10x my previous High!
Over 19,000 Page Views
Over 10,800 Total Visitors
Over 56 Subscribers!
Coverage by The Consumerist has delivered 5,500 visitors. Thank You all very much!

Crazy week. Records fell. Computer broke.

Thanks all for tuning in. Next week I am traveling so I will be using Blogger in Draft to schedule some posts out, but I will answer your comments as soon as I can!

One More Chance to Win our RSS Contest!

2008-03-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

A Couple of hours left!! We will be picking our last winner for our FruitfulTime TaskManager RSS Contest!

Just sign up, or stay signed up, for our Email RSS feed (make sure to verify the email!) and at 10PM PST tonight I will use a Random List generator to pick one of those subscribers as a winner!

Stories delivered directly to you AND a chance to win free software?! 2 minutes of your time for a chance to win Free Software?

Here is the Software description:
FruitfulTime TaskManager is a to do list software that helps you to organise yourself. It allows you to input your tasks, split them in subtasks, keep track of notes, contacts, files and WebPages related to a particular task. FruitfulTime TaskManager also allows you to set due dates and assign reminders to accordingly. This will make sure that you will never miss a deadline again. FruitfulTime TaskManager is the best to do list software that can help you get things done and beat procrastination as recommended in this free procrastination ebook.

Get signed up now! Just sign up HERE!

I will email the winner tonight and let them know they have won. I will also give you a free plug for your website or Blog!

Best of Luck!

Movies are a Budget Weakness

2008-03-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Summer Movie Season is a hard budget time for me. But I am a movie junkie. Have been since I was a little kid. Every other kid wanted their birthday party at Chucky Cheese or any Pizza place. Not me, I always wanted to go to the movies.

I was lucky to grow up near one of the best movie palaces outside of New York and Los Angeles; Indian Hills in Omaha. Unfortunately, it is gone now but it was one of the few Cinerama theaters outside of a big city. It is where I saw Star Wars for the first time, had my real first date, and the last time I was in Omaha, I took my Mom out to a dinner and a movie as I was now a big time music school attendee and future Rock Star :)

The reason for the nostalgia trip is the Summer movie Season is coming up and I will have to stretch my entertainment budget by cutting other things as much as possible to see all of the ones we want to go to!

Here are a couple No-Brainer way to Save Money if you are a Movie Fan:

Matinees - Simple I know but the difference in price can be $3-5 per ticket for a family of five that means at least $10 saved (two are still kid tickets). Sunday afternoon is a great time to see a movie and it seems like most are timed to let you make it right from church :)
Wait two weeks - This is a tough one for me as I have the patience or a knat sometimes, but often movies are going to discount theaters quicker as they go to DVD quicker.
Don't get nickled and dimed! - Snack bar is the killer. Often costs more than the movie! They will try to up sell you to a uber-jumbo size on all, but it is rare that you will eat a four-bushel barrel of corn! right size...or get the bigger size and share. Get the large w/the refill if you are all going to share.

Three pretty easy ways to save some money so you can go more often!

How about you? Any tips to share? Looking forward to anything cool?

Dead Home Computer Update - Ninja Bill o' Doom

2008-03-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

"Aaargh!"

I am not a Pirate, I don't play one on TV, but you would not know that based on my language lately...no not blue I have little kids. But a lot of Aargh! has been heard.

Basically as I said before my hard drive drove off a cliff. Not a mechanical issue but a Windows Partition issue. Luckily, I found a great tech minutes from my house. A guy just out of college running his own business. He picked up the computer at the house Tueday and is (hopefully) delivering it back tonight. After exhaustive effort on his part, he was able to save my data (yeah!) but not my programs (boo!) as Windows had to be 100% ripped out and reloaded and new partitions set.

So, if you are still reading you might be saying to yourself...NEXT Blog! But actually I am discussing this as it taught and reinforced some lessons for me that I wanted to share...

Lessons Learnt (Hopefully!):

Back up the data on your hard drive...and not just to another area on your hard drive! Even though mine was saved, I still have to go back and update from the last time I saved. I know someone will comment...duh!...well fine, use me as the example of Gufus vs Gallant!
Keep your program discs handy! - I now need to go try and dig out all of the discs for my programs...yeah right! Some are handy others aren't and it is gonna cost me money.
Give a small business a chance - Normally if we were in SLC I would have taken this to Best Buy to have them fix it. They have been great, if not expensive! Finding this new business has been great a good guy that I have already began to tout to my friends! On top of it he quoted me 2 hour bench time when he started, this has now had more than 20! However, he is sticking to his initial quote, which mean, in my eyes, he is honest. I will use him again.
Major inconvenience vs Life - Although I was really bummed by this happening, and I will take precautions it doesn't again. It really isn't the end of the world. We all have an amazing ability to blow small stuff large!
Have an Emergency Fund! - This is the quintessential Ninja Bill. It popped out from nowhere and will cost a few hundred with new software. I would rather not spend it, but I have it! And it isn't going on my Credit Card. An Emergency Fund is the single most important thing you can do to ensure financial growth and success IMHO.

It looks like I have a big weekend project!

(Cartoon from Acclaim Images)

Personal Finance QuickTake: Congress Sets the Stage for a $683MM Tax Increase

2008-03-14T04:53:00.000-07:00

Congress set the stage for a massive $683 Million tax increase for next year. Basically this is a 100% roll back of all of the Bush Tax cuts that are set to expire as he leaves office.

Each Presidential candidate interrupted their campaigns in order to vote on this important declaration. The declaration is a non-binding document that does however declare intent in order to begin the planning of future budgets. Final vote on the actual budget will be for the new congress that is elected in November.

These cuts would be backed by large domestic increases in spending, while still returning government ledgers to black within five years. In other words...tax and spend.

In today's vote John McCain voted to keep the current tax structure in place while both Senators Obama and Clinton voted in favor of the repeal. This is sure to be a hot button issues with Democrats and Republicans alike as the country is already experiencing cost increases in most day-to-day items.

Also up for vote today was a one year moratorium on "pork barrel" spending. This is the practice of adding additional spending bills to another bill. This practice is a Congress favorite way to spend money as it means positive good bills have to be vetoed in their entirety as the President cannot line item veto portion of a bill. It is all or nothing. This practice has led to projects such as the infamous "Bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. This bill was unfortunately crushed, and realistically never had a chance.

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you just cannot continue to spend more than you bring in. Ultimately it leads to two tough decisions; cut spending or raise taxes. McCain's tax cuts would require deep cut to spending, while the Democrats promise spending that would enlarge the deficit or require too-large tax increases.

As the country's economic issues worsen we need everyone rowing the same way. This will mean that we cannot do everything, and that we will need to live below our means to pay back the deficit. If we don't we are dooming our children to ever-lowering standards. of living.

71% of Economists Say We Are In A Recession

2008-03-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Fully 71% of 51 Economists of surveyed agreed the US economy has slid into recession according to Wall Street Journals online edition today.

Retail sales fell a pointed .6% in February as consumer spending tumbled. Consumers continue to grapple with high fuel prices, bad home value information and shrinking 401Ks due to market issues.

This is a big turnaround from just 5 weeks ago. 20 surveyed felt the economy would actually go backwards for the year and that unemployment would rise to 5.5%

The turnaround in opinion can be traced to the recent employment report that showed a loss of 63,000 jobs for the month. The second month in a row with negative job growth.

A better phrase is probably "recessionary" as the textbook definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of GNP (Gross National Product) decline. However, I prefer the "Poor Richard" definition. "A Recession is when your friend loses his job, a depression is when you do!"

Unless some stability to home and gas prices (although in different directions!) can be found the public psychology is going to get tighter which could accelerate the slowdown. It is going to be a tough Election round in the US. As the sign said..."It's the Economy, Stupid!"

My Blogs first 90 Days

2008-03-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 10th was the 90-day anniversary of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money. I was originally planning to post this Monday night, but then my computer died so it has been hit or miss time-wise. I really want to write this post to the person starting out (which I still am!) who is thinking about starting their own blog or just started and might be frustrated.

I started the blog for a couple of reasons. One, We were just starting to get serious about getting our finances in order and the advice and stories of others from the Blogsphere was very helpful in showing us we weren't alone in the good fight. Second, I have always enjoyed writing and wondered if it was something I could do as a wider shared project.

A couple key things that I learned so far, for those starting out (otherwise known as things I wish I knew when starting!):

It is way harder then it looks! - Knocking out approximately 50,000 words over 90-days is like writing a book in that amount of time...albeit with a horrible plot and ever changing characters!
You never know what post are going to click - I have written posts that I thought would get people talking and...crickets! Others like the Restaurant Guide took off (due to someone featuring it). So don't toss any idea. It could be the thing that takes you to another traffic plateau!
Don't get wrapped too deep in the numbers - Visitors at first have a very interesting traffic pattern. Stare at the numbers too much and you'll lose sight of what you are doing for the long term.
Learning to accept some folks just don't like you - I have pretty thick skin, but I saw myself getting wound-up over something someone would say...even though I don't know them, they don't know me, and we probably never will. It just doesn't matter.
You get to meet more great people then you could imagine! - Some people have bent over backwards to provide tips, information and links to expose this blog to their readers. It is very kind and the top thing that I am enjoying about doing this!

Top People to Thank:

Brightside of Debt - Great conversational writer that was one of the first that I read!
Madame X - My Open Wallet - First Googled "Personal Finance Blog" and found her first! She provided linking to her blogrole to a very new blog which really help people find LLPM.
ShoeMoney and John Chow - Two great blogs about the business of blogging and how to structure your site. Both have provided link back here through there comment sections which has really helped traffic.
Fiscal Musings - Great writer that puts out nothing but top-level work and a great cross-promotional friend
Mrs M and Catherine L - Both showing how important it is to go out and comment on others blogs and get the post rolling! (Even though they don't link to me in their blogroll :) )

Cool Milestones from the first 90-days:

Over 10,000 Visitors! (Half of them this week from The Consumerist!)
3,872 Visitors in One Day!
Over 18,000 Page Views
Over 50 Subscribers
3 Mentions on msn MoneyBlog
1 Feature on msn MoneyBlog
1 Mention on WSJ.online
1 Mention on Reuters Online
Featured on The Consumerist

I truly never thought I would get that many readers ever, much less nearly 4,000 in one day. The milestones aren't there to brag, but to let you know you can do it to. I can be frustrating when you first have those days with 5 or 10 visitors, it will pick up! Just keep writing.

You have all been so kind in sharing so many great comments over the last 168 posts! I look forward to the next 90 days and beyond. Thank you all so much!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Carl Icahn

2008-03-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

Carl Icahn is a pretty interesting guy. Along with Henry Kravis of KKR, he was one of the most feared names in Industry. The shear mention that Carl Icahn was "on the phone to talk to you", would scare most CEOs into writing him a check to go away!

60 Minutes had a great piece on him and how he makes his money, and as one of the Top 20 richest people on the planet, he does know a thing or two about how to make money. He might not make companies cower with just a call anymore, but he does know how to rattle his sabre.

Icahn was one of a handful of Corporate Raiders that bought up companies with little or no cash, loaded the company with debt and would then spin then off or tear them apart. Think Gordon Gekko from the movie "Wall Street". Icahn's famous takeover of TWA in 1985 is the stuff of legends. But the Airline was stabilized and saved, at least for a time, but a lot of people were put out of work.

He is now known more as a Board of Directors worst nightmare. In an era of huge CEO pay packages Carl has the audacity to ask if they are worth it! And if doesn't get the answer he wants he isn't afraid to try and replace the Board themselves.

His recent fight with TimeWarner about their disastrous merger with AOL is a great example. He disagreed with the direction of the company, tried to force CEO Dick Parson to sell or spin off large portions of the company, and even though he lost got the stock moving enough to still make $300 Million in the process.

Like him, hate him or don't understand him, he is still fascinating and offers a great glimpse into what happens backstage at some of the largest companies in the world. And bigger isn't necessarily smarter!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Stock Market Loves the Fed

2008-03-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Stock Market jumped 416 points today based on the Federal Reserve move to improve liquidity to the market. This is the largest gain for the market since July 2002.

This $200 Billion flu shot, gives liquidity to an area that companies have been to afraid to buy or allow to use as backing for other loans; Mortgage backed securities. This will develop a market for those securities that have seen constant write-down, as even good performing portfolios have been painted with this tainted brush.

This International Fund, backed by the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank aims to put a floor over the bottomless pit that had drained markets over 500 point in the last 3 days. Based on the large increases today, Wall Street believes that they did just that.

These Central Banks are hoping that these moves prove more effective then rate cuts, which have been only temporary bandages.

From the Yahoo Report:

"It's not just a rate cut. I think it's a very creative way to do financing," said Anthony Conroy, managing director and head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group. "It shows the Fed is willing to do things that are a little out-of-the-box to shore up credit issues. I really think they went to the heart of the issue."

The latest step by the central banks was seen as a direct lifeline to investment banks, which previously couldn't borrow beyond already established Fed liquidity plans. The plan basically allows Wall Street's biggest institutions to put up troubled assets as collateral for loans, use the new capital to make money in the market, and then pay back the loan up to 28 days later.

Though eventually banks would be forced to take the troubled mortgage-backed debt back on their books, the plan still takes short-term pressure off them. Many of these banks will release first-quarter earnings reports next week.

Hopefully this puts a stopgap into place so the market can break out of this death cycle. The constant write-down of these debts has put many small and medium banks on the edge of Bankruptcy. As the report states this is only a 28 day cooling off, as this is how long they would have to repay the bridge loans, but it might be the break needed to re-establish liquidity.

One of the issues has been that even though the Fed has cut rates, mortgages and other credit vehicles haven't lowered as much as there just isn't a lot of money available to loan, even for the good customers. This had led to a viscous circle, where you can't even refinance to take advantage of the lower rates so the rates keep going lower to help the economy.

Only time will tell...Funny, that Zombie movie is called "28 Days Later!"

Are Oil Hedge Funds to Blame?

2008-03-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

The US is very shortly staring at $4 per gallon gas in its near future. Oil was at $108 a barrel today and given that those are 55 gallon barrels that is nearly $2 per gallon...for crude oil! The $1 Trillion Question is, Why?

What has changed in 24 months in order to send oil from $50 to over $100? Is it demand? Nope, demand is rising 10%+ and will probably slow down to very low growth due to consumers driving less. Has OPEC turned off the spicket? Nope. There have been fluxes, but for the most part...no. Iraq and Venezuela have been an issue, but not enough to cut supply by half. Which is what it would take to double the price (at least in a linear fashion). This report from WTRG shows more great slides to review for yourself.

From the report:

The U.S. petroleum industry's price has been heavily regulated through production or price controls throughout much of the twentieth century. In the post World War II era U.S. oil prices at the wellhead averaged $24.20 per barrel adjusted for inflation to 2006 dollars. In the absence of price controls the U.S. price would have tracked the world price averaging $26.16. Over the same post war period the median for the domestic and the adjusted world price of crude oil was $18.53 in 2006 prices. That means that only fifty percent of the time from 1947 to 2006 have oil prices exceeded $18.53 per barrel.

Until the March 28, 2000 adoption of the $22-$28 price band for the OPEC basket of crude, oil prices only exceeded $24.00 per barrel in response to war or conflict in the Middle East. With limited spare production capacity OPEC abandoned its price band in 2005 and was powerless to stem a surge in oil prices which was reminiscent of the late 1970s.

I was puzzled, why the super rise then? Then I ran across another, bit older article from Fortune about Oil Traders and Oil Hedge Funds. While this article is a bit out of date it really lays out where the groundwork for this bubble has come from. Oil Hedge Funds. Talk about printing money for the last three years!

It works like this: I think oil is gonna rise, so I buy a "future contract" for oil at x date at x price. The fellow I am buying the future is betting the other way. So let's say I think oils going to go to $125 by Christmas (Gosh I hope not, but as an illustration) I would put a bid out to get the lowest possible price for that December 2008 oil. Timmy thinks it is going to $115, so he is happy as punch to sell me all the oil I want for $125! So he takes my bid at $125...It is now December. Oil is at $150! I get to buy it at $125 and Timmy is selling it to me at that price, even though the market is $25 higher now. So I made $25 per barrel!

The only issue is that you do not have to hold it all the way to December. If the market looks like it is going against him Timmy can sell the contract off, probably at a loss, but better than it could have been.

When this is out of control it can become a real Ponzi Scheme, in Biblical terms you rob Paul to pay Peter. Exactly like what was going on with housing. The problem with a Ponzi Scheme is that you eventually run out of suckers and it crashes!

Which is exactly why OPEC doesn't want to jack production (even if they could) way up. They all expect a big crash. Irrational Exuberance, to quote Mr. Greenspan.

While the housing market (the other Ponzi Scheme) is to blame as well, oil touches every budget point, for everyone and I believe our biggest true inflation issue. They government could step in and freeze oil prices, but that would kill any reason for the oil companies to reinvest, which leads to higher future prices.

A crash is coming. And I hope it won't be too late!

Welcome All Visitors from The Consumerist!

2008-03-11T08:58:00.001-07:00

Woke up this AM to an insane amount of visitors!

I would like to Welcome all of theose visiting from The Consumerist, a personal favorite of mine as well. It was trully an honor to be mentioned.

If you like what you read, sign up for my RSS feed! and have it delivered directectly to you free every day!

Once again...Welcome!

Banks to Bust says Billionaire

2008-03-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

CNBC had a great interview with Billionaire Wilbur Ross, CEO of WL Ross and Co. In the interview Mr Ross the question I have been asking; With all of these bad loans going on, why haven't we seen more bank closings?

His answer: a very simple, "We Will." "I think that's going to be the next wave, and coupled with problems in the commercial real estate market; I think they'll be the next bubbles that burst."

He was also asked about risk to big banks. ""I think that the big banks won't fail in the sense that they will go to zero and depositors would lose money," Ross replied. "I think the Fed and other regulators will make things happen. I think it's the medium-sized banks, and particularly some of those that got overextended with the subprime and other kind of mortgage debt. I think those are the ones that had the serious mismatch, making 20- and 30-year loans based on 90-day deposits."

This matched what the Federal Reserve Chair Bernanke told a Senate committee in late February. He believe those small banks that took flyers on higher returns on medium and high risk loans are at risk.

There are more and more reports about people walking away from their mortgages and in a report last night it was said that 28% of those in default aren't even talking to their banks. Given that the banks need another house like a hole in their head, this is the best time to work with your mortgage company if you are having issues.

The bigger problem is that that consumers aren't there to bail out the economy this time, and even those in good or better shape are spending less to prep for harsher conditions instead.

Major Computer Crash! - Doh!

2008-03-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

We got back from dinner at my mom's house last night and blammo...my computer is dead! on my wife's right now but, in the words of a pirate..."Aaargh!"

I'll be back up by this afternoon (hopefully!)

Racer X

Our Third of Four RSS Contest Winners!

2008-03-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our third RSS Contest Winner was picked last night. I once again used Random.org to give me a number to determine the second winner of The FruitfulTime TaskManager Software.

The software selected JayMSluyter!

I haven't heard back yet from JayM so I could give you a a link to their Blog! But Congratualtions!

Remember there is one more chance to win the contest, next week at the same time I will pick the next winner. Just register for my Email RSS Feed, or stay registered! I look forward to picking your name next!

Best of the Week, Winners and Milestones

2008-03-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Just Picked and Notified our third winner in the RSS Sign-up Contest. Hope to give a link and a quote during the mid-day update. Remember all you have to do is sign-up for the RSS feed HERE or on the main page, verify the email...and that's it! You are entered. If you are already on the list you are entered in to next weeks final drawing as well!

Great week for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money as we hit new milestones, increased readership and had great traffic. It was a great week for some of my favorite blogs as well. so without any further ado...

The Best Of the Web for the Week:

Brightside of Debt - This one is me trying to rally folk to go there and comment on the linked post! - Brightside is considering stopping her blogg as her Hubby found out about itand she's feeling guilty. I know so many of my readers read her blog. Go to this post and let her know how great her blog is and how you want her to stay!!!
Iowa Hippie Chick -This is about her Financial Epiphany, but really it is about much more. One of the best written, most touching posts I have read in a long time. She is a favorite of mine for a reason!
Finwikian - This new Personal Finance Wiki (pfWiki) was pulled together by Mrs Micah and could become a great repository for some great collected Finance knowledge!
Hustler Money Blog - More then one single post Hustler does an amazing job compiling all of the current Credit card deals. I personally would rather chop them up, but if you are gonna have one, get the best deal!
Plonkee - A great post and mini-Carnival that goes into great depth and explanation of Dave Ramsey's Baby' Steps. Great stuff...as usual!

My Most Read Post of the Week:

LifeLock = Life Crock? - A look at the successful program. Is is really a good Value? Detective X takes a look! :)

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money Milestones:

369 Visitors in one Day! - Biggest day ever by far (Feb 28th), due to msn MoneyBlog story
Over 11,500 Page Views
Over 4700 Total Visitors
Over 50 Subscribers!
Achieved PageRank with Google! PR2...bigger and better to come!

Thanks to all for being great supporters! I hope to be worthy!

Time For a Third Winner - Is it You?

2008-03-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

It's nearly time! We will be picking our third out of four total winners for our FruitfulTime TaskManager RSS Contest!

All you have to do is sign up, or stay signed up, for our Email RSS feed and at 10PM PST tonight I will use a Random List generator to pick one of those subscribers as a winner!

As easy as pie! 2 minutes of your time for a chance to win Free Software?

Here is the Software description:

FruitfulTime TaskManager is a to do list software that helps you to organise yourself. It allows you to input your tasks, split them in subtasks, keep track of notes, contacts, files and WebPages related to a particular task. FruitfulTime TaskManager also allows you to set due dates and assign reminders to accordingly. This will make sure that you will never miss a deadline again. FruitfulTime TaskManager is the best to do list software that can help you get things done and beat procrastination as recommended in this free procrastination ebook.

Get signed up now! Just sign up HERE!

I will email the winner tonight and let them know they have won. I will also give you a free plug for your website or Blog!

Also, There is a great Carnival of Ethics and Personal Finance going on right now. Tons of great articles all in one handy Blog!

Best of Luck!

Is Suze Orman's Advice Too Basic?

2008-03-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

First let me say I believe Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman have brought more people to consider their personal finances than most other financial writers. Orman has additionally brought more women into thinking more about their finances and take control of their financial futures. However, every time I see her (which, to be fair is not that much) something troubles me.

Her advise is often very simplistic.

I watched the show awhile ago and there was a segment on the show called "Can I afford It?" No offence to the people that called in, but it was like a bad SNL skit.

Caller: Suze...Can I afford a Plasma TV?
Suze: Tell me, do you have any cash on hand for Emergencies?
Caller: No...
Suze: Any Retirement savings
Caller: Yeah I have $2500 in my 401K
Suze: How old are you?
Caller: 50
Suze: I wouldn't...get some bonds right away...

That was totally made up but it isn't that far off the calls received. It isn't her problem who calls in, but the way real radio or TV works is that they feed the callers and queue them...some someone tosses her some real softballs...at least when I watched.

Her tips that I have read out on the web were pretty pedestrian as well.

Don't Eat Lunch out
Search your closet for lost money
Use Self-Serve pumps at gas stations

They might as well also include:

Don't put your money in a pile and burn it
Don't eat dirt
Don't try All of the get rich quick schemes...its not fair to others that want to get rich too...

Love to hear you opinion, am I being too hard on her based on the few shows I have seen? Is one of her books a must read? Let us all know!

Nothing wrong with simple, just simplistic! It really comes down to this: If you want to create wealth first you need to spend less than you make. Period. Then topics like Budget, Emergency Fund, 401K, debt management and investing should be reviewed in depth.

Personal Finance QuickTake:Yahoo + AOL - Microsoft Fight Round III

2008-03-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

According to a report from AP today, Yahoo has found another delaying tactic to keep Microsoft at bay. By delaying their Annual Shareholders Meeting, Microsoft no longer has until March 14th to nominate a new board of directors for shareholder vote.

Yahoo continues to use this time to try and either find a white knight, someone they prefer to swing in, to buy them, or find another business merger partner in order to go it alone.

On the White Knight side, Yahoo is apparently still negotiating with NewsCorp's myspace for an online hookup. This would fill-in each others needs nicely as myspace and other sites are becoming a key way to share and search for information. NewsCorp has made it clear that online is a major on-going concern for the company.

On the merger side apparently Yahoo is talking with TimeWarners AOL. Speculation that a bought Yahoo would drive up the value of an AOL and allow TimeWarner to finally dump this anchor (my words...but maybe their's too) has been running rampant. Outside shareholders have begged TimeWarner to do something with AOL, as they have moved away from their subscription based model. This really seems like the worst of both world's to me. I would think they both need stronger partners not grab on to weaker ones.

Regardless, Round III is on, it will be interesting to see Microsoft's next move, as well as how this all shakes out. regardless of what happens, it is going to be well different a year from now!

LifeLock = Life Crock?

2008-03-07T05:40:00.000-08:00

I was reading some of my favorite blogs and I came across a post about how the blogger had just signed up for LifeLock and they were very happy to have their credit protected for $198/year for the family. Now, I applaud taking extra measures to protect yourself, and I had heard the radio ads so I was interested in what this was all about.

But after I read the post, and then checked out their website I was concerned.

Here is there 5 point plan from their website:

Here is what LifeLock Offers You

Proactive Identity Theft Protection
Reduce Junk Mail
Reduce Credit Card Offers
$1 Million Service Guarantee
Only $10 per Month

The only problem with that is that is a free service that the credit bureaus offer. People can easily place a fraud alert on their own account, for free, by calling Experian at 1-888-397-3742. A Fraud Alert blocks your name being rented to Credit Card Companies which reduce the junk mail, the proactive protection is LifeLock working with Experian to set the free lock.

So what you get, is the $1 million insurance policy. $198 for $1MM in protection isn't crazy, but like a bad potato the deeper I peeled the more rotten this looked to me...

It must work the CEO gives out his Social Security Number!

Well sort of, this protects you from someone opening a regular credit card at a bank as they all use the big clearing houses like Experian. Actually after the ads hit CEO Todd Davis WAS hit with identity theft as this Phoenix New Times piece explains further. He found out when a collection agency contacted him about a $500 loan he took out and didn't pay on, surprising him as he never took out the loan!

Other disturbing things came up as well. Apparently the Founder of LifeLock Robert J Maynard's story of starting LifeLock didn't check out either. He was arrested because of HIS own gambling debts not due to identity theft, in fact his own father accused Mr. Maynard of committing Identity theft...on him!

After that story hit in May, Mr Maynard resigned from LifeLock and is no longer involved in the company.

So how did the Identity Theft work out for the current CEO Todd Davis? It did get resolved...the company hired an outside firm to fix it!

Too many warning bells for me. Run Forrest!

Detective Racer X...out :)

Homeowner Equity Lowest Since End of WWII

2008-03-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

The amount of equity Americans have in their homes fell below 50% for the first time since 1945, according to an AP Report on Yahoo. That was the first year the Fed began to track that data.

Per the report:

Home equity, which is equal to the percentage of a home's market value minus mortgage-related debt, has steadily decreased even as home prices jumped earlier this decade due to a surge in cash-out refinances, home equity loans and lines of credit and an increase in 100 percent or more home financing. Economists expect this figure to drop even further as declining home prices eat into the value of most Americans' single largest asset.

The threat of so-called "mortgage walkers," or homeowners who can afford their payments but decide not to pay, also increases as home values depreciate and equity diminishes. Banks and credit-rating agencies already are seeing early evidence of this. On Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested lenders reduce loan amounts to provide relief to beleaguered homeowners.

While I'll be happy to take a reduction on the principle owed on my house, it feels like we are setting ourselves up for more issues in the future. "If I can't pay in the future, why can't I get help then too?" will be the call. The process that the government worked with lenders on to get people over to fixed rate loans was byzantine at best. A real system like that, but works makes more sense to me. If you cut the amount I owe and then the rate flips and I still can't afford it, all it did was to catch a write-off.

At the same time this is really starting to punish those that do want to pay. As all of the houses hit the market, on foreclosure, the overall property value goes down. So even if some one bought a house with 20% down and a 15-year loan, now the house is below the 80% threshold. Does he need PMI now?

A big mess, we need a cleanup on aisle two...stat.

(Photo from AP)

Forbes Richest List Out - Big Changes

2008-03-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

The Annual Forbes List of the World's Richest is out and there have been some big changes. First off, for the first time in 13 years, Bill Gates is not Number 1! He is replaced by a fellow Omaha native, Warren Buffett (Go Huskers! :) )

Mr. Buffett watched his fortune jump $10 Billion in 2007, to reach $62 Billion. Berkshire Hathaway continues to be the company to beat for long term investment prowess. His friend and List buddy Bill Gates saw his fortune jump $2 Billion to $58B, not good enough to even hold on to #2.

Gates slipped to number three behind Mexican Telecon Kingpin, Carlos Slim Helú, who has seen his fortune double to $60B in just two years. An amazing financial run.

Mr. Helú is part of a growing International trend to the list. Four of the Ten Top Billionaires are from India. In comparison, two years ago, 10 of the Top 20 were from the US, now only four are. The US still leads in total number of billionaires with 42% coming from our shores.

However, Russia becomes the number two country overtaking Germany as the new minted Russian capitalists rush the poll. Karl Marx RPM meter now reads 7200RPM :).

The other interesting stat was how many younger people were on the list. 50 of the 1125 billionaires were under 40! The youngest? Would you be surprise if they were from an Internet company?

It is Mark Zuckerberg from facebook. He just made it based on the current guesstimate valuation of the Social Site, but then again he is already 23 and past his prime ;).

Anyway it is an interesting read. So many different ways that people hit the list. Stocks, Internet, Real Estate, and everything else under the sun.

Me? Not quite yet. Maybe next year. In fact I am going to go see if I can cut my entertainment budget a bit more just to make sure.

A Great New Personal Finance Wiki

2008-03-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Continuing my thoughts with the Wonderful World of Wiki's (tm); The talented Mrs Micah has used her knowledge to launch The Finwikian - Your Two Cents.

Wikis are a wonderful thing it is a great way to share interesting information between interested parties. From a companies wiki on tracking software bugs, all the way up and through the uber-est Wiki of all...Wikipedia.

This one will grow over time, especially if you participate, but already there is a wealth (or at least wealth building) store of information there.

Especially great is a listing of over 125 great Personal finance blogs that shows who runs it, how often it is updated and links to all. We are included as well!

I wholeheartedly endorse and thank her for her effort, and encourage you to visit, then Ctrl+D!

I Can't Afford to be Trusting

2008-03-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

First let me say...I love Wikipedia. I like to go up there each day and learn something new. Whether it is telling you it is Lei Feng Day In China (w00t!), in 1770 American's pelted British Soldiers with snowballs and that led to 5 dead or even that the Euro hit an all-time high today.

Sure I know the jokes about the inaccuracies (and here is a good one!): How do you know what 40% of Wikipedia's Facts are lies?...You take out the 60% that are blatant lies and it is what's left over :) (joke!)

Hey, but I love the goal of trying to contain all of the collected knowledge together in one place! Just for the betterment of mankind.

Well, allegedly the betterment of one kind. Jimmy Wells. Apparently, again, there are alleged incidences of improprieties with expenses, including a $13,000 Steak Dinner! This a bit after finding out that the Wikipedia Foundation had hired a Convicted Felon as their Chief Operating Officer (COO).

It is also in the same report that Wells changed his own listing multiple times (against the Wikipedia rules) to wash over personal issues or even remove the involvement of the Co-Founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger.

So what's the deal-i-o with the post and how, other that just being interesting, doe it have to do with you.

I don't want to always be a sceptic about everything. I want to believe in the overall goodness of my fellow man, but in the words of Ronald Reagan..."Trust, but Verify!"

Wikipedia has been having a cash crunch and a cash drive (at least that is my interpretation of the countless foundation buttons on the site. I was feeling a bit guilty about using that site every day, not not contributing. So I planned tomorrow to do so and ran across the USA Today article I linked to.

I am not telling you to not contribute to Wikipedia, just that I won't until this stuff gets fixed, otherwise I would feel pick pocketed the next time I saw something like this news.

Whatever charity or organization that you want to support, dig in...even if they have a big name it doesn't mean everything is roses! Neither of us can afford to be trusting, without verifying!

Two Great Carnivals to See

2008-03-04T13:40:00.001-08:00

A quick post, because today is crazy busy!!!

Two great must-see Carnivals are going on. The ever popular Carnival of Personal Finance is being held at Baglady! There is a really interesting slant on this one, probably a carnival if seen in real-life that would scare kids! But its on the net so it can't hurt you!

Next, the Carnival of Debt Management is running at Credit Card low-down. These are laways jam-packed full of goodness, and this one is no exception.

As a blogger these are really great way to let others see your great work!

Back off to crazy-town!

Aligning Goals with Reality

2008-03-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

Well we are two months into the New Year. Still early, yet 1/6th done. Trends are appearing. The rush and promise of the New Year feels quaint, while new visions of tax rebate check...sorry stimulus checks, dance in your heads. The big question is how is it going? Especially Budget and Goal-wise.

I firmly believe a good plan executed is far superior to an excellent plan in a drawer, but even better is the adequate plan that fully recognizes that the battle plan needs to be fluid. I like to do a look every two months at my goals to see if they are still on track, are achievable and even make sense given whatever has gone on.

This is so important for your finacial goals and budgets. Did you really think you would spend $14 a month on eating out when you had been spending $100? And now you are spending $125, because you also cut the grocery money in half!

So time to breakout the old checkbook and write yourself a check...a reality check. Grab two months worth of data, one month is too short due to ninja bills that can creep up, and do a line by line check of the budget. Check reality vs actual, then rebalance. Once that is done take a whack at your annual goals. Does the reality check mean your a bit behind, if you can catch up do, if not reset! Perhaps you are that rare bird that under-estimated where you would be right now. Sorry no points for lay-ups...push it out!

The idea is to have goals the stretch you but don't break you! Celebrate your wins analyze your losses to see where next time you can improve. Do this and you will be amazed at what you can do!

How are has your first 1/6th gone? Need to readjust?

Personal Finance QuickTake: The World According to Ram

2008-03-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ram Charan is one of the leading experts in the world today in advising businesses. Frankly, he is in the rarified Air with Buffett and Drucker IMHO. He isn't boisterous, he isn't a Hacksaw sort of guy, he isn't a guru. He IS someone that lets you see past where your focus usually is.

As you can see I am a big fan. Yahoo ran a series with Ram called "What Every Company Should Know." Given that most reading this run a blog, which IS a business if you have ads up!

I really how Ram breaks down topics that feel huge to great bite-sized morsels that you can really learn from. My favorite in the series was, "The Basics of Money Making" where Ram takes you through all what is takes to make money. And really whether you are a business or an individual, there are great lessons here.

Read and Enjoy!

The Active Veil Of Consumerism

2008-03-03T05:02:00.000-08:00

We have a family budget meeting at the end of every month. For February we discussed the good progress we made, when a question came up from our middle child, our 10-year old daughter.

"If we have $2000 in our Emergency Fund and $3000 saved on taxes, that $5000, right?" "Why can't we use some of that to go to the mall like we used to?"

After some chuckles I noticed that others were thinking along the same lines...and probably me too. See when we would get money in before we would allocate some of it for "fun." We would buy something on our list that we had all agreed we wanted. New TV, DVD player, etc.. But not this time.

What we were all feeling was the break from the past.

Before we would "celebrate" our wins more. We would look forward to bonus as it meant a second Christmas, albeit with more expensive gifts! Although this was an illusion...what I call the active veil of consumerism. Sure we had debt, check out the Pinball machine. No retirement, Trip to Vegas. But every grain of sand in the hourglass was working against us. Every spend, pay-off, spend cycle got larger! The Power of Compounding was our Enemy...

That is why with our Success Map firmly in hand we had planned out what we were going to do with this Tax Refund...and it was going to be boring. No Ice Cream, no Pony rides, just put it into E*Trade for our 2008 Property Tax bill.

And that is what we said to her...how doing that in the past, while fun at the time, gave us the debt we are paying off now. And how every dollar we save or use towards paying off that debt gets us closer to our Freedom Goal.

Her reaction: "Ok, that makes sense, but I still like the mall though!"

Our Second of Four Winners...

2008-03-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

A bit past 10PM last night used Random.org to give me a number to determine the second winner of The FruitfulTime TaskManager Software.

The software selected Funny About Money!

I haven't heard back yet from Funny so I could give you a a link to their Blog! But Congratualtions none the less!

Remember there are two more chances to win the contest, next week at the same time I will pick the next winner, Just register for my Email RSS Feed, or stay registered! I look forward to picking your name next!

February's Top Traffic Drivers and Commenters!

2008-03-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

We are 2/12th through the year already! Before we March into the new month, it is a great time to recognize those that have help my blog the most in February. We saw a bunch of milestones hit and a couple crushed!

First I want to recognize those that sent the most traffic to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Money in February.

Top Traffic Drivers in February:

The traffic drivers are really important, because without them no one would see the blog! However, once they are here it is important the they feel they can jump in and comment. That were the next group come in...The Top Commenters for February! Thanks for starting and joining in the conversations!

Top Commenters For February:

Thank you all for commenting and hope to see even more in March!

Last, But Definitely not least...

The Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money MVP (Most Valuable Player) - February:

Iowa Hippie Chick ! Hard to pick just one, but Dawn was incredibly supportive this month (as usual) with both calling us out on her great blog, commenting on this one AND Picking us as one of her Favorites on Technorati! I can't thank you enough Dawn!!!

Can't wait to see your Blog listed here next month!

Second Winner Picked Tonight - You Can Still Win!

2008-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hey all! We will be picking our second out of four winner for our FruitfulTime TaskManager RSS Contest!

All you have to do is sign up, or stay signed up, for our Email RSS feed and at 10PM PST tonight I will use a Random List generator to pick one of those subscribers as a winner!

Easy Breezy!

Here is the Software description:

Sign-up now, Get your friends to sign up HERE!

I will email the winner tonight and let them know they have won. I will also give you a free plug for your website or Blog!

Best of Luck!

February Financial Month in Review

2008-03-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

End of a longer then usual February, and pretty good progress this month. Not too many Ninja Bills, out side of taxes but still OK there. We got our high yield E*Trade Savings Account (currently 4.1%) going and we have now funded half of our 2008 Property Taxes already!

Here are some highlights:

Net Worth Increased $5019 - Huge Increase! $3000 was from Tax Return, rest from debt reduction. Take that out and still a good month!
Debt Reduction of $1692! - Included over $500 off of Credit Card Debt!
Tax Return - Direct to our E*Trade Complete Savings Account. Not one Dime spent. This is a big deal here as we always "talked" ourselves into a little here a little there.

Went to dinner and a movie to celebrate last night (used our allowance! Not Breaking any rules! Semi-Pro!) and we both commented how far we have come over the last few months. We are really trying to move forward on these goals and look forward to completing Baby Step #2 - The Elimination of Consumer debt.

Points to work on:

Focusing on the Negative - Let the whole Tax Refund debacle get us under for awhile. Bounced back after refocus on progress
Time Management - Not allocating enough time to certain areas. Work is very heavy right now with a launch of a major project. Lots of late nights...Need to remember to breathe sometimes!

Goals:

Pay Off StateFarm CC - $2836.22 - Down to $2369 or $470 Less! Will be close to under $2K this month!
Pay Off Car - $4594.87 - Down to $4033, $561 less than the beginning of the year!
Pay Off CC CitiBank Platinum - $8989.16 - Now $8806, $183 less than the beginning of the year. Not the snowball debt, yet still making progress.
Pay off all CC Debt - Getting closer everyday!
Save 100% 2008 Property Taxes - $5000 - $3000 Saved in E*Trade Account. Saving $225 per month toward goal moving forward.
Keep Snowball 100% Intact - Still growing! $308.43 Is the Current. Once StateFarm is paid off, it will be $654.72!
No CC Use - For the Fifth month! Getting close to the 1/2 year mark!
Increase Average FICO-Score to 720- No real change this month. Equifax moved from 716 to 715. Average over all three is 698.7.
Stick to Cash Budget System - Gas is the only issue as the cheapest gas station makes it a pain to pay with cash. Paid with debit twice, but then removed cash from envelope.
Net Worth increased by $20,000 - $5019 movement means $6156 movement for the first 1/6th of the year...Real Progress!

Baby Step Progress:

Baby Step #2 - Paid $16,143 so far, or 23.43% done! Lot of progress!

Overall great month. Still no word on my review, but I do know that I will be retro-ed for any amount back to my due date. It is all going to the snowball, but it would be great to push the accelerator even more.

That's It! 2 down, 10 to go!

(Photo from Calendar available from Amazon)

Being a Target - "College the Poor Kids" Way Follow-up

2008-02-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

All I can say is wow! Today my traffic exploded to where at 9am this morning I had my biggest day ever all ready!

This is all due to the coverage by msn's MoneyBlog on my piece "College the Poor Kids Way." It obviously stirred up strong emotions as I thought it might.

First off, regardless of your opinion thanks for visiting! I really appreciate anyone who has clicked over to see more about the blog and perhaps read a bit more. If you like what you are reading, or just what to be notified to when I might annoy you again, sign up for my RSS Feed. It is free, and if you signup using your email account you could win FruitfulTime TaskManager software with a MSRP value of $50!

Now for a quick follow-up to the posting:

Some background on me, as some believe this is driven by my background:

Paid for College 100% by myself, but lived with family (Aunt and Uncle). So no room and board costs
Parents couldn't afford support other then moral, which was great!
Worked at minimum wage jobs in LA - Pizza place, Music Stores etc..
Wife did same
$150k/yr+ Income - Not a brag, just some said it couldn't be done if you paid your own way
Just turned 39...so not a late baby boomer that doesn't care
Don't drive an expensive car
Nice house, but we can afford it. Bought our first house at 35.
Support our kids, play with them, at every game, every ballet show. Made decision 6 years ago that wife would stay at home to offer even more support to them
Kids aren't brats...most of the time :)

I think that answers most of the questions asked.

There was a ton of great input given and great arguments made on both sides of the table on whether or not kids should pay their own way through College or not. There was, for me, great middle ground pitches made on partial pay, tying it to grades, only paying for classes of an appropriate major (ie no Klingon 301!). Regardless of your personal decision, I say, do what's right for you and your kids. Even if you want to pay 100%

One thing to consider for those that were pretty adamant that I was Hitler Jr w/Cheese for not paying 100%: Where does the chain break? College only? I can make your same case for a down payment on a house. And beyond...

Even with this dip in home costs it is very tough to buy a house on a decent starting salary, say $40K in a decent sized city. A $200K house would need a $40k deposit (to be at 20%). Maybe I should do that for the kids? I want them in good housing and living at the level that they did with us. It would be even more if I wanted them to be in a bigger house more like where they live now. Not even taking about furnishing it either.

What about when they are starting subsidizing a bit of their salary? Johnny is only gonna make $40k to start, which is tough. I could supplement another $20k and make it easier on them to not get loaded into debt.

I know this thinking loses people with each step, but at some point kids have to start living their life and not just be an extension of us. Is that point 18, 22, 30?? Not sure, but it probably is different for each kid.

As I said before; Thanks for visiting and come back often!

(picture from fotosearch)

Is Grandma Coming to Live with Us?

2008-02-29T05:54:00.000-08:00

As more baby boomers retire there are going to be some parents that are not going to be in the position of just being able to make it. Starting late with 401k's, higher then expected health costs and frankly, longer life will add to this phenomenon.

This is the flip side of the coin of kids waiting longer to leave. We may end up living with our parents, between homes over half out life! Don't get me wrong, I love my Mom and Mother-in-law, but I could end up with both!

Personally this is not a burden I want to put on my children. And to be fair it would be child...singular, it is always one that is the go to person, either due to closeness geographically or responsibility. level.

Are we ready to become multi-generational home dwellers like many other countries?

My opinion is that, I think a lot of this will be avoided as people work longer and live better then previous generations. 100 becomes the new 80. People are vibrant and sharp, because they have to be. I also believe that the baby boomer are too independent to migrate this way in droves.

How about you? Do you see yourself becoming your parents...parents? If so are you preparing for this now via budgeting, or as part of your retirement plan?

(photo from freakingNews.com)

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money Featured on msn's Smart Spending

2008-02-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Last night Karen Datko over at msn's moneyBlog picked up our story, "College the Poor Kids Way." She wrote a great story about the piece and today traffic is amazing! (At least for me!)

Thanks so much Karen!

Sphere picked up our story about the impending Fed Rate cuts from yesterday's Personal Finance QuickTake: Another Rate Cut Coming!

Thank you Sphere!

Last, But definitely not least; Reuters picked up "Tax Carnival #30" that we were involved in

And one P.S to Add...Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Money just got PageRank as well! It is just PR2 to start, but hey, gotta start somewhere and it looks like today is going to be a record day!

What Fight Club Can Teach You About Personal Finance

2008-02-28T05:36:00.000-08:00

OK...I know I broke the first rule, but given that my last post was accused of being a "fantasy" I thought...I will go with that. It's one of those random acts of Silliness.

I really like everything Chuck Palahniuk writes, but Fight Club is such a great visual by David Fincher, that it transcends for a lot o' folk my age. What a lot of people don't get is that the story is a great allegory for Consumerism and Commercialism. Frankly...a whole bunch of ism's, but we'll focus on the first two.

The narrator of the story is a never named character that is an insomniac, at least at the beginning. As the movie shows, and as someone who has lived through that hell, you live in a daze. Not really awake not really asleep. However you really believe at times that you discover some universal truths...

I am jack's list of things to learn:

I am not my things - He is only free once his things are destroyed. I don't advocate this...other that your credit cards
Don't have a house full of condiments and no food - Condiments are designed to Enhance the flavor of food, not to be food. The same holds true with DVD players, Plasma TVs and *Gasp* the Internet. These things are to enhance your life not to be the center of it. Otherwise known as "Stuffitis."
Follow your Passion - Don't blackmail your Boss to do it, but...
You won't be free unless you have no debt - You don't need to wipe out the data centers for all of the credit card companies. Break your debt chains as soon as you can.
You have the control - At the end he has the control not Tyler. You just have to choose to have that power.

I know this because Tyler knows this...

OK...a bit inside, but watching it again the Commercialism allegory really hits home. Probably because I am writing multiple posts about personal finance and budgeting multiple times a day. You start to see better with the sunglasses on sometimes :) .

Personal Finance QuickTake: Another Rate Cut Coming

2008-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled to Congress on Wednesday that the Fed is ready to again cut rates to help jump start the economy according to an AP story.

The Fed is in the unenviable position to get the economy moving while not fanning the flames of inflation, which is already showing its ugly head. Bernanke is fighting an uphill battle against home mortgage and general credit issues in the market. But the economy is the top concern, over inflation fears. He pledged to adjust a key interest rate and help the economy, which many fear is on the verge of a recession, if not already in one.

"The economic situation has become distinctly less favorable" since the summer, the Fed chief told lawmakers. The country should prepare for "sluggish economic activity in the near term," he went on to say. Concern continues to grow for a new period of stagnation, where inflation grows stronger while the overall economy is weak.

The Fed is prepared to lower rates again to bolster economic growth, Bernanke said. The Fed "will act in a timely manner as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks," he said, sticking closely to assurances he offered earlier this month.

Bernanke said at some point this year, the Fed will need to "assess whether the stance of monetary policy is properly calibrated" to foster the Fed's objectives of price stability "in an environment of downside risks to growth." Bernanke said he was hopeful that previous rate reductions and the $168 billion economic aid plan of tax rebates for people and tax breaks for business would energize the economy in the second half of 2008.

"Should high rates of overall inflation persist," Bernanke said, "the possibility also exists that inflation expectations could become less well-anchored." If people think inflation is escalating, they will act in ways that could make things even worse, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, if oil prices continue to skyrocket this year, it would be "hard to maintain low inflation," Bernanke acknowledged.

What this means for us:

Most believe that the Fed will cut rates in March and in April hoping to get the economy in good strides when the economic stimulus plan hits. If consumers are still worried, larger numbers then planned for would save or paydown debt with the funds instead of spending them in the general economic. This would minimize the overall impact.

Ten Financial Lessons Every Kid Should Know

2008-02-27T05:45:00.000-08:00

I am the proud parent of three growing independent-thinking kids. No not the ones pictured, although I picked the pic 'cause it reminded me of me in High School. My parents did a lot of things right bringing up my brother and me. I wouldn't be where I am without them, especially my Mom, believing in me.

However today the one thing I look back on and wish I had a better understanding of personal finance when I was younger. Today, I understand why; my Mom was just trying to make ends meet, and given my award winning personality from 13-17 I probably wouldn't of listened, because I was lucky...I already knew everything.

Our kids though will leave the house with these lessons understood and hopefully better prepared then I was.

Ten Personal Finance Things Every Kid Should Know:

You Can be a Millionaire - If you start right away save $10K for 5 years, NEVER add to it again, get 8% average ROI, in 40 years you will have over $1 Million. Its not sexy, but it is math

Tomorrow Gets Here Fast - The Power of Compounding is your best buddy and worst enemy. Start the same exercise 10 years later? You've blown nearly $500K! Do it now, do it every year and you can achieve wealth unlike anyone ever in our families history.

Spend Less then you Make - A debt never earned is a life lived without debt chains

NEVER buy a Depreciating Asset on Credit - And don't ask your Dad why he bought a Corvette when your Mom was 6 months pregnant :)

Use Cash When you Can - It isn't old fashioned, and it will ensure #3 is a reality!

Have a Success Plan - This is a plan this is always changing and at least 3 steps ahead. Never get to a space that makes you say "Now What?"

Own your Things, Don't let them Own You - Life is too short to pay for a meal for four years! Do you really need the Pool Table or do you want it. Know cold Needs, Wants and Desires. Address them in that order!

Know how to Balance a Checkbook, Without using Quicken! - I still do pen/paper as well as MS Money, and I have found errors both ways. Often from the banks side. But I knew when the bank messed up, and I got my money back. I wonder how many people miss those charges. Learn the basic terminology of money and don't be afraid to ask questions! The only dumb questions are the ones never asked!

Only do Something you Love Doing, Regardless of the Pay - Even if it means not making as much money as someone else. Fifty years of hateful toil isn't worth it. And many who don't follow their love spend the extra to feel better anyway!

Never Accept Less than what you Deserve - Whether it is a deal that wasn't handled right, or a job that isn't working out, in a positive way, you have to ask for what you want, you just might get it!

There are many more, but just think how much better off many of us would be debt-wise if we internalized these lessons! I know I would be in better shape. And isn't that what parenting is all about?

When Even the Rich Runaway...

2008-02-26T12:48:00.001-08:00

Even the working rich are worried according to Forbes. "Housing has imploded, the market's a yo-yo, recession's in the air. And the 'working rich' are learning to do without." This according to Russ Alan Prince, president of a private wealth-research firm and author of the book The Middle-Class Millionaire.

Princes research points out that 78% of the Working Rich, identified as those with $1MM-$10MM in Net Worth and still working for a living, consider themselves "very or extremely concerned about their ability to maintain their current financial position." Furthermore he believes 21% of them are already reducing spending.

Compared to the first half of 2007, the last six months saw a 20% drop in Luxury spending. According to a source in the report, "Luxury consumers have never expressed such a dismal view of their financial status." This is a compounding issue for the economy as the Working Rich are known networkers. In other words they talk to one another before purchasing, which if sentiment is down can lead to a vicious circle of reduced spending. The spending is transitioning into higher perceived value items, felt to be less frivolous.

This is a big indicator the economy is in trouble as this group has been a leading indicator of things to come. Great time to make sure that your debt, budgeting and money management is firmly in place!

BTW - Broke Grad Student is running the current Carnival of Personal Finance with a great spin on the topic! Take a look!

The spending is a mixed bag of information though. Hi tech gagets continue to sell well, but Jewelry is down. Luxury car are stable, but sports cars are slowing.

Save 50% When You Dine Out

2008-02-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

As I start to pull together our information for February I am struck by something. Our Dining Out amount, when it is just us two, has really fallen, frankly in half for an average meal. This has allowed us to have, pretty frequently, left over funds in that Envelope!

For us, and probably anyone married with three kids, we often eat out to escape. It is nice to have adult time together. It is frankly nice to not order food through a Clown's Mouth when we do it either! :) We are both foodies, and Mrs. X is an amazing cook so we would good well made food. Unfortunately this can equal expensive (at least to us) and can leave buyer's remorse on the tongue!, not to mention in the past, the credit card!

Guide to Save 50% when doing the Full Dining Experience:

Drinks - This is a restaurants profit center. If we are gonna have a drink, we will have one at home with our...($12 Savings)

Homemade Appetizer - We plan out those dining nights and there is a great little Harry and David store here that has amazing appetizers (Stuffed Bacon Brie! mmm) that just has to be heated up. I will pick it up on the way home the night before, Mrs. X pops it in at the right time and with the drink above and we are half way through dinner before we leave! ($8 Saving w/purchase)

Specials - Restaurants try specials to see if new things work at that location OR if you are in a quaint getaway, just because they want to! It is a great way to try new stuff and save money! ($10-$20 savings)

Dinner Drinks - We are water-ers now (tap please! love the planet), but we will have a glass of wine. Often they will have a good wine by the glass, especially at a small restaurant, or...Bring your own. Most will charge you a cork fee, but that is nothing compared to 1.5-3x markup! ($10-$30 savings)

Pay Cash - Unless you like doing dishes you will stay to budget! (Priceless!)

Dessert - Have it, but not at the restaurant! Find a great little bakery and pickup some neat little deserts there. Or even go for Ice Cream together! A third the price of having it at dinner! ($10 savings)

Babysitting - Your reduced time out saves money. This is one I give you 100% walk away from if the weather is good go take a walk together, or go to the park and breathe! (skip the savings and take the lady for a walk, bub!)

This is still an extravagant night, but she is worth it! But if you can do the whole night for $50-$60 instead of $100-$120 you can enjoy it at the time with no post-traumatic credit disorder and protect your budget at the same time!

Personal Finance QuickTake: Visa IPO

2008-02-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

Visa is set to launch an IPO (Initial Public Offering) before the end of March according to the AP. Based on the initial numbers this may be the largest IPO ever. The offering is expected to raise $19 Billion , if it does it would signal to Wall Street that the market is back up and running.

Visa's IPO will have little initial affect on its customers, but the banks that issue the cards are expected to share a $10 Billion windfall. This influx of cash could keep banks from raising rates or cutting back on consumer credit lines.

Both MasterCard and Visa are not banks nor lenders, they are transaction processors that get paid fees by the issuing banks. This is different from American Express or Discover that offer and back the banks themselves.

Visa is the largest US processor of these transactions with over 50% market share. Last year Visa processed 44 Billion transactions, or $3.2 Trillion Dollars, nearly double MasterCard. Visa will be the last major credit card provider to go public as MasterCard and Discover went public last year.

What this Means:

Visa gets paid for the transaction we place whether or not we pay them off the next day or not. But 44 Billion transactions? That is 7 transactions for every man, women and child on the planet! $3.2 Trillion equals $533 for every man, women and child on the planet! And these numbers are only Visa. Add in MasterCard, Discover, American Express...

This is really amazing! This is an industry that is really younger than 50 years old! Sadly this is a very scary amount of transactions and debt that we as a people are ringing up. At some point it becomes overwhelming and could lead to massive amounts of bankruptcies and people not saving for their futures.

Are we moving to a non-currency world? Are you breaking your debt chains or adding to them?