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Archive for May, 2010

My Summer Fun Things To Do List

May 26th, 2010

I thought it would be fun to create a summer “to do” list. While I may or may not do all of them, it would be nice to attempt to… Just to complete the list, I’m going to add contributions from the comments below, but in a different color that black.

Horseback riding – My daughter has been asking for this one!
Swimming – My In-Laws moved into a house that had a above ground pool. We’ve already been over once, and the kids had a ball (even though it was cold).
Movies - Especially “The Last Airbender”
Slip and Slide/Sprinklers – Water fun to key cool in the summer.
Biking – At hilton head, and in parks where we live.
Go-Cart Racing – We go to such a site that’s close to where we live.
Golf – My son and I will do this at least once a month or more.
Put-Put Golf – The entire family enjoys this.
Waverunning – We enjoy this with friends every year.
Boating – An old friend has one of these and the family goes out with them often.
Water Skiing/Wakeboarding/Tubing – With the friend with the boat, the family does this too.
Hilton Head – Yes, we will go down to the Island again this year.
Amusement Parks – We will go to at least 2 amusement parks this year.
Mini-biking – I would really like to have my son drive one of these this year. But I’m not sure where to get access to one.
Weekend Vacation – We’ll at least have a few of these.
Cabin Vacation – We enjoyed this last year, so we will do this again.
Tennis – This is such great exercise.
Guitar Playing – Wish I know how to play…
Hiking up in Lake Tahoe – a ton of hiking!!!
Myrtle Beach and Smoky Mountains – Sounds like a great combination!
Lake Huron a few days each summer – as it is only about 70 miles away, and free.
Science museums – That sounds interesting!
Zoos- We love the Zoo!!!
Super-soaker and water balloon fights
Badminton – I haven’t done this in a long time.
Four-square in our driveway – Sounds like a fun game
Go to Traverse City in the summer for a long weekend
Swimming in chilly Lake Michigan – Hmmm, that does sounds cold!
Caribbean cruise – 7 day… very nice!!!
Curling Bonspiels – I have no idea what this is , but it sounds fun!
Las Vegas – this sounds like a great trip!
Brazos Bend Park – I’ll have to google this too, sounds interesting!

Different colored Item above match the contributors in the same color below (these are pulled from the comments section below):

What exciting and cool activities do you plan on doing this summer?

If they are different from my list above, I’ll add them and a link to your site.

-MR

13 comments »

Posted in Entertainment

Tags: summer fun summer fun list summer things to do

We Have It Easy, Remembering Debtor's Prison

May 25th, 2010

Debtor's Prison

Prior to the middle 19th Century, people that were in debt didn’t have the luxury of Bankruptcy! The debtors that couldn’t pay their debt went to prison!

Most of the history of Debtor’s Prison was from Europe, but the United States had Debtor’s Prisons too. It wasn’t until 1833 that the US Federal government and most states abolished Federal Imprisonment for Debtors. Even some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence went to Debtor’s prison.

The famous author Charles Dickens’s dad went to debtor’s prison in England for a period of time. In his works, we find reference to such prisons.

In Medieval Europe, both men and women were locked up together in a single large cell, until their families paid their debt. The prisoners often died of disease contacted from other debt prisoners. Conditions included starvation and abuses from other prisoners.

The irony (IMHO), is that the debtor goes to prison until his family can pay off his debt and get him out. But (and here’s the irony), to get out of debtor’s prison, the debtor would have to somehow pay to get out, but he was in prison?!? So how can someone in prison work to earn money to pay for his way out of prison?

While most countries have done away with debtor’s prison, China (not including Hong Kong where imprisoned debtor’s is still common), in 2008 had imprisoned the first mainland prison sentence for unpaid debts. In fact, it’s possible to be imprisoned for life by not paying the debt incurred with “malicious intent“.

I was surprised to hear that China didn’t have a debtor’s prison originally, but now has one…

7 comments »

Posted in debt

Tags: debtor's prison

Lemons to Lemonade – Lessons Learned From A Broken Lawnmower

May 24th, 2010

Well, I pulled the cord on my lawnmower and broke it yet again. I’ve mentioned problems with my lawnmower in the past. I’ve always been able to fix it at a fair price, but now it’s breaking down more frequently.

The engine is smoking slightly, the deck is rusting, the seals are leaking, the wheels are shot (bearings lost a long time ago). I’m really thinging about buying a new lawnmower… but next year!

Why next year?

Because it’s a challenge, but with a twist! If a repair cost more than $20.00 then from this point on, I’m scrapping this lawnmower and going to buy a new one!

Why I’m not scrapping it now is because I’ve learned too much from the lawnmower to do that! I’ve fixed (or had it fixed) numerous times, I’ve taken the mower apart and thought through my problems. I’ve see all of my neighbors experience problems with theirs, with the end result having them buying new ones. I get a strange sense of pride just because mine is still being used, while theirs is in a landfill somewhere (probably leaking oil). I’m also proud because it’s the green thing to do!

So I’ll tinker with my lawnmower one more year… It’s hard to get rid of “Mean Green“, since I’ve leaned a lot about fixing things through him. While he has been a source of frustration, he’s also been a confidence builder. In our “buy and throw it away” world, rarely do we get opportunities to get your hands dirty and learn about things we don’t know.

I could choose to break down and buy a new one, but I think “Mean Green” has one more year left!

I wonder if anyone else have a tool or vehicle that they are having a hard time parting with?

-MR

9 comments »

Posted in Environment, Frugality

Tags: Fixing Lawnmower Making Tools last

MoneyReasons Weekly Cache 2010, May 23 Iron Man

May 22nd, 2010

Weekly Cache – 2010, May 23

Random Thoughts:

Iron Man II was a much better movie than I expected… usually a sequel isn’t that good.

The character of Tony Stark (Iron Man), is very interesting. If you think about it, he is the typical depiction of the super rich individual that we see in Hollywood movies like “The Great Gatby“. I suppose, once you get to a certain level of wealth, the depiction can be real and sustainable. A real Life example of Tony Stark would be Larry Ellison (Oracle’s CEO). Larry is narcissistic and a spendthrift. He has a yacht that he races (He won a few American Cup titles), he has the fancy cars, a private jet, and a monstrously big house.

If I were super rich, I think my spending habits would be more than Mr. Buffett, but much less than Mr. Ellison.

My Favorite Top 5 PF Blogger Posts For The Week:

PlantingDollars: The 12 Hour Workweek - Interesting way to think about employment, and why you should be able to save more money.

PlantingDollars: Thoughts on Walking Away From Your Home Mortgage - Why you shouldn’t walk away from your mortgage… even if your house has lost it’s value.

EveryDayTipsAndThoughts: Tips for Traveling With Kids - Great travelling with kids tips, and even some great purchasing ideas!

MoneyFunk: Low Interest Savings Rates: Beating the Odds - Interesting alternative way to pay off your mortgage early and without pain! Very interesting approach!

Monevator: Video: The end of oil - Monevator provided some great economic and well researched information, over time, I’m finding that I agree more and more with his opinions and ideas. Thanks for sharing this great video!

My Favorite Post from Money Reasons This Week:

If I had a higher net worth, I’d be more app to go to events I describe in “NASCAR Is Too Expensive For Me“. Even if I didn’t enjoy them, it would still be worth going to at least once. Who knows, maybe I would even enjoy a few of them.

Carnivals I’m part of:

Yakezie Credit Card Information Carnival

Closing Thoughts:

Even if a person was financial independent, they still couldn’t live like Larry Ellison. Larry’s level of wealth is beyond my comprehension…

Oh, for the record, I don’t think I’d like the lifestyle of Mr. Ellison. I’m more of a low-keyed guy like Mr. Buffett (well as low-keyed as a celebrity can be…)

-MR

2 comments »

Posted in Weekly Review

Tags: Is Larry Ellison Tony Stark Larry Ellison is Iron Man

Iron Man II Was Great But It Cost Us $50.00

May 22nd, 2010

Last night we had a great time when we went and saw Iron Man II. I thought it was well done and overall was a great movie!

But calculating the cost, it ran over $50.00 for the entire experience. Here’s a break down of the costs:

tickets (2 adults, 2 kids): $30
Popcorn, drinks and candy: $15
gas driving to the supreme theater: $5

Now contrast the cost of going to the theater vs our typical movie watching experience:

DVD from Library: (free)
Popcorn and Candy: $2.00
Gas: (lol, supplied for free by the dog)

So $50.00 vs $2.00… hmmm…

Of course with the $2.00 route, we have to wait a month or 2 to see that movie but for a savings of $48.00… I think it’s worth it.

Another great route is via Netflix. You pay a set amount a month and can get 1 or 2 movies shipped to you a week. And if you use their online download services, the deal is even better (I believe it’s unlimited downloads). This is another great way to go, but this is pretty common knowledge now… Red Box is another great route, but I haven’t tried that yet.

The idea of Red Box is that you go to a box that looks like a vending machine outside of popular stores, and pay $1.00 for a video for 1 night’s worth of view, then you return it the next day. Although, this may seem cheaper than Netflix, I’m not so sure about that. After all, it really depends on how far the Red Box machine is from your house… The gas prices add up more than people think!

It was still nice to go to a quality theater once or twice a year, if the movie is a great one!

-MR

13 comments »

Posted in Entertainment

Tags: cheap movie viewing Iron Man II Movie cost