Money Reasons

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Archive for September, 2010

Things To Do In The Fall

September 9th, 2010

I decided to create a ”Things to Do in the Fall” list much like I did with my summer list which was posted as: My Summer Fun Things To Do List. The first day of Autumn/Fall officially starts on 9/22/2010, so it’s literally just a few weeks away!

As with my Summer list, if any readers care to enter things that are different from my “Things To Do In The Fall” list in the comment section below, I’ll add them below my list in a different color and then add the blogger’s site somewhere near the end of this post, basically in a similar way I did with my summer list version.

List of Things to Do In the Fall:

Football Game Parties: This year, my son and I are going to have a few family fall football parties to enjoy!
One Last Attempt to Camp: We didn’t get camp out in summer because it was too hot. It’s hard to go camping now because of all the activies the kids are in…
Campfires in our Backyard: Yes, we’ll do this just like we did this past summer, but with sweaters on!
Soccer Games Galore: With both kids in soccer, my wife and I get to enjoy a lot of games… Recently, we attended a soccer tournament, that I enjoyed more than I thought I would.
Listening to Crinkly Leaves Blowing on Trees in the Wind: This is something that I have grown to appreciate! When it’s twilight or even a little past dusk, I like to sit out on our porch and listen and watch the leaves blowing in the cool Autumn wind. Usually I’ll be drinking a brown bottled beverage, and just chilling with my dog (she’s a female chocolate lab).
Trick-or-Treat: My son is starting to outgrow this event, but luckily, my daughter is still into it.
Halloween Parties: For the past view years my neighbor has hosted great Halloween parties (I called them the Joneses), but now since they have moved to a much bigger house, this will probably not happen this year. But there are other people to party with, so we’ll see.
Haunted Hayrides: I think my kids are old enough to try this now… We’ll see if I can convince them to try this or not.
Leaf Collecting: My daughter loves to collect colored leaves in the fall. She is such an amazing kid!!!
Jumping in Big Piles of Leaves: Not for me, I know that leaves on the ground are dirty, but my kids still enjoy it. We make them take a bath afterwards…
Driving to See the Sites: We like to drive out in the country when the leaves go through their stages of color change! We also like to go out and check certain areas that are known for dressing up their house for Halloween. It’s a great time, that hopefully the kids will appreciate the drive this year.
Fall Festivals: Apple Cider and fun times!
Visit to a Winery: Is there anything cooler than going to a winery sitting out on the deck with a sweater one, just chilling your significant other (and kids in our case)?

Reader Additional Tips:

Nicole:
- Visting the cities, festivals and fairs
Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
- Outdoor excercising
- Long walks in the parks (and the check out the new dog park)
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving Feasts
Invest It Wisely
- Apple picking
Wealth Informatics
- Apple & pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving
- Fall colors drive (especially in Vermont)
Barb Friedberg
- Take some week-end business/pleasure trips
- Enjoy the changing leaves-and that includes of course long walks
Sandy L
- Driving around and hiking up a mountain is always at the top of the list.
- Apple pies and hayrides are a close second!

What cool fun things this fall are you planning to do? Any special traditions?

-MR

22 comments »

Posted in Environment, lifestyle

Tags: Fall Fun Halloween Things to do winery visits

5 Positive Changes with Structured Settlement Payouts

September 8th, 2010

The following guest post is provided by Jason who is associated with J.G. Wentworth ,and he identifies the positives that can be associated with a Structured Settlement Payouts.

I’ve never received a structured settlement payout before, and it’s something that I would want to speak to professionals about before jumping into since I don’t have the experience that I think would be needed. That said, I can definitely see the positives that Jason identifies below. These positives make the option a worthwhile consideration!

And so without further ado, the following words from Jason’s (my words will be in the color green):

Perhaps your structured settlement has been used in the past as a modest source of monthly income. Or maybe you’ve just inherited a rather large structured settlement. Either way, financial life for you and your family is set to change for the positive (and definitely grow for the positive too) when turning your structured settlement into a large lump-sum payout. Reputable structured settlement companies will keep the process running smoothly, leaving you free to dream about your financial improvements.

Here are five positive changes that await your future:

A chance for a new start. Whether you decide to buy a house or pay for college tuition, selling a structured settlement for a lump-sum payment is nothing short than an opportunity to make a dream come true. If using the cash to pay off a large amount of debt, think about how good it will feel to have a clean financial slate – something many Americans burdened by the economic downturn would love to have.

Day-to-day financial life improves. A structured settlement payout can be used to pay off debt that may have mounted due to an unforeseen accident. Or use the lump-sum buyout to start a business or even put a child (or two) through college. Knowing where the funding will come from for life’s major financial milestones no longer has to place an impact your daily budget decisions or struggles.

Savvy money management skills develop. Deciding to use a structured settlement buyout to make a down payment on a house leads you to a new and improved financial arena that includes learning about growing property equity. If you are purchasing a second home, you have the opportunity to take on the roll of a landlord and collect monthly income through rental fees.

MR here; For me personally, the landlord option sounds like something I would pursue if I were to receive a structured settlement payout!

Watch your investment grow. Once you’ve wisely invested your structured settlement buyout into a house, business or education, the best part of your next task is to watch your investment grow. If funding a child through college, your structured settlement payout produces a degree. If paying off debt, you can use cash that was once tied up in credit card or medical bill payments for retirement investments.

New forms of return are on the horizon. A structured settlement payout really is a creative way to invest a large lump-sum of money. A business starts to produce a profit. A recent college graduate lands a great job. When selling a structured settlement, it is important to remember this one big financial investment leads to many smaller others that will help your payout grow in ways you never imagined.

I think Jason has done a wonderful job pointing out the benefits of receiving a Structured Settlement Payout!

Thanks Jason!

4 comments »

Posted in Payouts

Tags: structured settlement payouts

Billionaires Should Spend Their Money!

September 7th, 2010

I noticed an article on yahoo today called 7 Spending Tips From Frugal Billionaires in which the article goes on to talk about how many Billionaires are frugal too. The article was a good one with a good message, which basically states that if billionaire are frugal shouldn’t we non-billionaires be frugal too?

I’m not disputing the message of the article, but I think Billionaires should spend their money instead of being frugal and hording their cash like a Scrooge!

IMO, when Billionaires act frugal and keep their money tight, that keeps the money from the hands of the middle class people! This means the money supply is constricted, and then not as many people purchase goods which in turn slows down the economy.

Now you might think that when Billionaires spend money, they buy expensive things like yachts, personal jets and other such luxuries. And this is true, but even when Billionaires spend money on luxury good, that money pays workers that build or create those luxury goods. Then those workers spend money on ordinary goods, and once again money flows freely again.

So, while I believe in being frugal, I don’t think it’s such a great idea for a billionaire (or high-end millionaires) to do so. These extremely rich folks should enjoy life a bit more instead of being so frugal.

Recently, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates went around and convinced over 40 Billionaires (and near Billionaires) to give over half of their money to charity. While that’s an admirable goal, I think some of the money would have been better served helping the economy by them spending some of it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that these billionaires are giving their money away to charity!!! But, I know that during the recession, I actually spend more of my money, and I’m not a millionaire…, yet. Of course, I didn’t go into debt when I was spending more money during the recession.

An outstanding example of a frugal billionaire hurting their local economy would be the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. Carlos Slim is a mexican, and very frugal. But if he were to buy more things from mexican business, wouldn’t that help the mexican economy? I know that mexico has complex and not easily solved business issues, but every little bit counts…

What do you think of frugal Billionaires hording their money?

MR

20 comments »

Posted in Social Class

Tags: Billionaires Spend Cheap Billionaires Frugal Billionaires

How To Save Money By Cost Control

September 6th, 2010

How to Save Money by Cost Control is a discovery process. One of my debt free goals was to save money with great passion since I’m part of the Million Dollar Club!

After I became totally debt free by paying off my mortgage, this past February, I was very excited about being able to sock away an extra $1,500 a month into savings and investments. I imagined myself every quarter of this year, plopping almost $5,000 into a balanced mutual fund or ETF.

So how much extra money have I saved up for investing? nada, nil… nothing at all. Now, I knew that I would have an adjustment period at the beginning, that would stun my initial investing plan, but I didn’t see it lasting this long!

I’ve learned that Cost Control, is the new root of my saving problems. You see, when you have more money in your checkbook, it’s easier to justify getting the more expensive or quicker product.

Here are examples where my cost control wasn’t in place:

My old Lawnmower (Mean Green) was finally forced out of action (I’ll blog in greater detail about Mean Green some other time). But instead of looking at Craigslist for one or buying a cheap model from Lowes, I went out and bought a new Toro self-propelled (variable speed) lawnmower!

My new lawnmower (called Red) is spectacular! I love it, but I also spent about $375.00 dollars on it. To me this seems a bit pricey!

In the days when I still had a mortgage, I would have went out and bought a cheaper model, or bought a used lawnmower. In fact, my boss offered to sell me a cheap used lawnboy as a replacement… But I declined.

I’m sure if I put my mind and efforts to it, I could have found a lawnmower for at least half the price.
Car problems. My wife’s car was experiencing a car problem. So what did I do? I call my favorite mechanic and asked him to get it in today and fix it. My mechanic is great, so that was exactly when he did, but it cost me $450 dollars. Now you might be thinking what is so bad about this? Well, we have a few friends that are auto mechanics. We could have waited and had one of our buddies look at the car and fix it for a lot cheaper! After the fact, my one buddy told me that he could have cleaned the part and that might have made it work. He said he would have done it for free. So I paid a premium to get it fixed that day! It would have taken my friend at least 5 or so days to get to it.
Changing the oil on the car. I haven’t done this in years! It’s easy enough to do, but I always convince myself that it’s not work the time and energy (and perhaps it’s not). Some people may say, yeah but what about the cost of oil disposal… Well, you can drive your old used oil to any Walmart car service department and they will take it off of your hands for free! It’s possible to created a paper funnel and pour the oil into a plastic 1 gallon milk container, then put the plastic cap on to keep the fumes contained. I have used the milk jug trick for the oil changes I did performed on my old lawnmower and snow thrower.

If you stay focused and realize that you are wasting money by doing such as I have above… You can save money by using more focused cost control!

Have you every mode impromptu decisions that you knew weren’t the best, but because you had the money to do them, you did them anyway?

-MR

14 comments »

Posted in Costs

Tags: cost control hidden costs saving money

Money Weekly Cache 2010, Sept 5 – Soccer Fun

September 5th, 2010

Weekly Thoughts:

This Labor Day weekend, our big plans are to attend my son’s soccer tournament this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At first I wasn’t excited, it was just a typical part of the routine. Then I realize how special these moments are! This is our time to be there for our son, watching him do what he loves.

I was sitting out on the sidelines, looking at the surrounding trees leaves fluttering in the gentle wind, when it hit me! I was going to have a great time! And so far I have!

If you have kids, realize that these are cheap forms of entertainment that could build your child’s confidence.

My Favorite Reads of the Week:

Well Heeled Blog: The Thin Line Between Minimalist & Moocher - Well Heeled makes an excellent point this article!

Everyday Tips and Thoughts: Heavy Drinkers Expected to Live Longer Than Non-Drinkers? – We all know that a glass of wine once a day is good for us… But Kris takes it a step further! Read this eye-opening article!

Financial Samurai: Spending Too Much Money And Course Correcting - Sam talks about feeling a bit guilty about spending more than he hoped for the last three months! This week he had a lot of funny and entertaining posts! You might want to check Sam’s entire week out!

Free Money Finance: Big Difference Between Average and Median Net Worths - FMF make a great point about Average vs Median Net Worths. Big Whales like Mr Buffett and Mr. Gates skews the Average number to such a degree that it’s no longer a good representation of the real average middle class folks.

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff: Fit in a Fun Friday – Daydreaming About $500 - This was a very fun post! I really did start to imagine what I would do with an extra $500… and it was surprisingly a lot. I wonder if I’m depriving myself?

Young and Thrifty: 6 Tips for Buying Organic On the Cheap - Young does a very impressive writeup on buy organic as cheaply as possible.

Bucksome Boomer: What’s the Definition of Needs? - Kay Lynn discusses why people view what are needs and what are wants differently!

Monevator: 101 ways to save money - This is a great list of tips and ideas! Very comprehensively done, and very spot on! This English blogger always produces quality material!

Little House in the Valley: Ten Signs You’re Not Prepared for Retirement - Humorous, but also hits hard at home. Very funny while making a great point!