Archive for April, 2010

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MoneyReasons Weekly Cache 2010, April 25

April 25th, 2010

Weekly Cache – 2010, April 25

Random Thoughts:

First, I’m glad to see that Chasing Prosperity is back into action!!!  Her blog is a good one, and I’m happy to see that she is back.

This week has been filled with great articles from the Yakezie group, so I’m am going to list mostly them in my Top post for my week selection, with the exception of the blogger Kris who blogs at everydaytipsandthoughts.com/.

My Favorite Top 10 PF Blogger Posts For The Week:

Monevator.com..:  Goldman Sachs: Yesterday a giant squid. Tomorrow calamari? - Great article about Goldman Sachs.  Personally I think that the US government is going to go on a “witch hunt” and GS might be the tip of the iceberg, read this article and see if you agree!  This was a week of homeruns from the Monevator, so check out his other articles too!

Little House in the Valley…:  The Big Three: What I would have liked to have known before I was 18…Part 1 - This is advice I would also like to have told to me when I was 18.  Little House, had a lot of homeruns this week too!  I enjoy many of her other articles.

Young And Thrifty..:  The Financial Cleanse- Get Rid of Junk - Y&T does a great breakdown of Craigslist vs Ebay vs Consignment shops as to which is the best for each type of merchandise!  This is a 3 part series, with each new part a bit better than the previous!  I which I had that kind of skill, usually my 1st post has the most punch, then fizzles out by the last post in a series. 

Couple Money…:  2010 Couple Goal: Improving Our Diet - Elle and her husband are maximizing their fitness!  She has a few posts about diet and fitness.  I find it really appealing that Elle and her husband are doing the activities as a team!   With her post on exercising, she describes a cheap but effective workout.

Eliminate the Muda…: Frugal Family Fun - I really liked this post!  It’s a great idea for the entire street to have a blast with!  This post is like a family movie night on steroids!!!

Free From Broke…:  Frugality Doesn’t Mean You Have To Deprive Yourself - I strongly agree with the post by Craig and actually do most of what he suggests!  I have recently realized that to a small degree, I’ve deprived myself to a small extent as FFB describes!  Read about this and ways to be frugal and still maximize enjoyment!

Money Funk…:  Earth Day: Camping is Fun - This article actually has me looking forward for summer to come more quickly, just so I can take my kids camping!!!

Darwin’s Finance…:  The Hidden Cost of Staying Home with the Kids - Great take on some of the hidden costs of a mom or dad becoming a stay at home parent!

Single Guy Money…:  What Happened to Personal Responsibility? - Single Guy is definitely the voice of reason and logic in this article he created.  While not everybody wants to hear his message, it rings true. 

EveryDayThoughtsAndTips…:  Did You Know Your Shower Can Make You Sick?? - Interesting story about Shower heard harvesting bacteria, and what you could potentially do about it.

Special Post Mention

Financial Samurai…:  You’re Rejected! How I Use Rejection To Motivate Me Every Single Day - This is such a powerful highly inspirational post, I think that I had to bring it out of the old archive bin at Sam’s site!!!

My Favorite Post from Money Reasons This Week:

Picking The Perfect Location to Raise Your Family is my favorite post from my site for the week.  I think it could benefit anyone looking to either buy their first house, or more to a larger house to start a family. 

Closing Thoughts:

I have my tax refund back, so I’ll be planning for my next steps with respect to my finances in the coming weeks. 

-MR

8 comments »

Posted in Weekly Review

Why Spending A Little Money At All Ages Is Okay

April 24th, 2010

Being frugal for me comes naturally because of the way my parents and grandparents raised me!  I really do pinch my pennies so that they scream like the audience watching a “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie.

But not spending money when you are young is also a great waste (but of life instead of money)!  When you are a teenager, it’s good to go out on fun dates and spend money to hang with your buddies!  After you get a job and start a family, those opportunities become very rare (with dating no long a healthy option).  So make the best of it now, you might not get another chance.

So what am I recommending?  I would do the following:

  • Contribute a certain amount to your 401(k) and savings/brokerage accounts.
  • Cap the amount that you will spend on entertainment per month.
  • Make sure you at least have $1,000 in savings in a bank.

www.zordane.com does a great post called: It Is Good To Spend More!  I think he captures the younger crowd concerns especially well with his article.

For me personally, I think in the past, I saved too much money.  I’m sure I missed opportunites that I would have take while I was a bit younger (teens and 20s…).  Now, I’m playing catch up!

I think at every age, people should spend a little bit to enjoy life!

For more information, please follow the folling links:

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 1 of 2 &

Spending More Money For a Better Life, Part 2 of 2

-MR

7 comments »

Posted in Entertainment

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Can Your Financial Body Fix Itself Naturally?

April 23rd, 2010

Be Financially Fix

I was complaining about my weight to a friend at work today, and he said something that stopped me in my tracks.  He said that he started working out a hour a day, and that this enabled his body to fix itself! 

I never really thought of my body as being sick, but what he said makes incredible sense!  After all, when I’m heavy, I’m more slow, get tired more often and have a tendency to take it easy, this is similar to the behavior I exhibit when I have a cold. 

So in the financial realm, spending (coughing) to excessively on unnecessary stuff and being in debt because of it, is like being sick!  When you are in debt, you eventually can’t do as much because you have your debt acting like a parasite sucking your money away… 

So what would the prescription steps to help your financial body fix itself? 

  1. Recognize that you are sick!  Do you constantly carry a high balance on your credit card (in total)?  Personally, if I carried a $2,000 balance, I would consider that as being sick, if you are higher than that… well…
  2. Go on a financially healthy diet.  Review the things you are buying and your expenses, then cut out the unnecessary ones.
  3. Exercise!  Find ways to make money (side jobs, etc) or play an even better defense by being even more frugal than typical!

If you do all three steps above, your financial body should be able to naturally fix itself.  I personally track my progress in a net worth spreadsheet much like I would journal my weight loss progress. 

Remember being healthy and fix is a life long endeavor, just like your financial fitness! 

-MR

10 comments »

Posted in lifestyle, Planning

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Team Lessons Learned From School Projects, and Family Fun

April 22nd, 2010

Can you learn from your family?

When I was in grade school as a kid, I always hated doing school projects!  I thought they were stupid, and often time, I’d wait until the last moment to do them.  I always pulled it together in time, but with a lot of stress and the paint still dripping on the project… 

Now my son is at the age where he needs to do the school projects, but this time it’s different.  Instead of him doing it alone, both my wife and I help too.  He still had to do the writing part, but we all brainstormed the creative part.  The creative element was that we need to create a “Creature in a can“, which basically is a container made to look like the animal my son got stuck with, which was an amazon tree frog. 

Amazingly, we all came up with ideas that built on each others.  The end result was an amazing looking piece of art!  While it might be overkill for a 4th grade project, it’s something that our family will remember as a great team building experience!  I may even keep the project after he is done with it at school and put it in my office as a reminder of a great family time! 

So what I lesson I learned from this school project was: 

  • Doing a project with people you love can be fun!
  • With a team of like-minded people, it’s possible to create an end result that is better than any individual idea.
  • Amazingly attractive results can be accomplished with basically trash, and a little bit of wire and glue!
  • When working with a good team, cleverly innovative ideas can spring to life!

Since my 4th grader is my oldest, this is all new for me.  I’m kind of excited for the next experience with either my son or daughter! 

Have you ever learned something from doing something that you though would be a negative experience?  Not only was it positive for me, but I also think as a family we built some great family confidence! 

If you have young kids, I hope you experience as much fun! 

Best wishes, 

- MR

6 comments »

Posted in Family

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Picking The Perfect Location to Raise Your Family

April 21st, 2010

It took us months to decided where we wanted to buy our first house. 

It’s a decision that’s not to be taken lightly, especially if you have kids or are planning on doing so soon.

After walking through countless houses is various counties, we decided to build in a small community that is a lot like the one I grew up in as a kid, except a little better.

Our decision for our house location was based on the free demographic information, with which I payed especially close attention to the following criteria:

  • School System Rating (our is excellent)
  • Average income (we wanted to fit in, not too rich and not too poor)
  • Average house size and appreciation in value from previous years (nobody wants to be in a declining community)
  • Crime Rate (obvious…)
  • Amenities (Parks, Rec Centers, etc)
  • Taxes

After a lot of searching, we found the location where we now live at.  It had the perfect amount of families with children in the neighborhood, a small park that was a street over, it’s very close to junior high and high school, and we were able to walk to the Recreation Center to swim outdoors in the summer… 

It was a great pick, and we were both very proud of our decision.

Now some of you may be wondering why I was concerned about average income and average house price.  Well, this was because I didn’t want to be one of the poorest family in an expensive community.  Plus, such a community tends to have high taxes anyway…  Nor did I want to be the other extreme (crime might be higher in a such a location)…  I was going for the goldilocks position (just perfect)! 

What was your location criteria when you were house shopping? 

If you are shopping now, I hope this post can give you something to think about other than just looking for a pretty house!

-MR

14 comments »

Posted in Family

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