Yearly Archives: 2009

Working on Christmas Eve

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Wow, this Christmas went really quick for me. I didn’t even get all the presents I wanted to get my kids. Subconsciously I think I’m still reeling from the cost of our 7 day Disney vacation.

I’ll be at work tomorrow, so I thought the following pic is appropriate (I’m on-call Christmas Day! yay :():

Office Christmas Tree

Office Christmas Tree

I’m unfortunate in the fact that my wife’s family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. My family celebrates it Christmas day. So it’s a real rush to get everything accomplished in time.

I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas, and a Happy Holiday!

Frugal Idea: How I Take Money From My Kids!

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Taking Money from my kids

Taking Money from my kids

I’ve mentioned in the past how my kids get a weekly allowance based on their ages (son, age 9 = $9, daughter, age 6 = $6).  It’s been an inconvenience getting their allowance money to the bank.  It’s never been a fun task (unlike counting the money in their piggy banks!). 

So now I’ve decided just to take their money, and then transfer money from my personal bank to their UTMA brokerage accounts.  UTMA stand for (Uniform Transfers To Minors Act), and it’s a mechanism that will allow a minor to have an account in their name, but controlled by an adult.

 

I have a Schwab brokerage account, and two Schwab UTMA brokerage accounts (one for each child).  I also have my primary bank link to my brokerage account so I can do transfers between my bank and my Schwab account. 

Since starting my Lunch Experiment, I have reduce my spending by typically over $40 a week!  I no longer have to withdrawal as much money from my bank!!!  Now I take their allowance money, and then transfer the exact amount of allowance money out of my bank account to my Schwab account, then to their UTMA accounts (whew!). 

I know what you are thinking… This sounds like a hassle, and well if I did it weekly, it would be.  However, I only do this once every 3 to 4 months.  This makes the task very bearable!

Now for the green icing on the cake! :

  • I no longer drive to the my son and daughter’s banks to deposit their allowance money!!
  • I don’t withdrawal money out of my banks as much, since I just take their money.
  • This was a chore that use to take over an hour, but now only takes 5 minutes!
  • I’ve effectively reduced my carbon footprint, by cutting out the “out of the way” drive!
  • My kids get a better rate of return, since I invest their money in a diverisified portfolio of stocks.
  • I feel like I’ve created an opportunity for them to make more money this way… It’s a good feeling!

Little things like this add up, and in this case, in multiple way!  This is another win-win for us! 

Do you have any small but clever ideas that make your life better or enable you to save a little money, that you’d like to share?

 

 

 

 

UPDATE:  A reader asked me how difficult it was to setup the Schwab UTMA accounts for my kids, because they didn’t see any UTMA reference on the account types.  Well that’s because it’s called a “Custodial Account” at the Schwab website and semi-hidden under the category “College Savings”.   Below are the steps that I followed to get to the Custodial Account application:

  • Go to www.schwab.com (Open a browser and type that text in).
  • Click on “Open an Account” in the brownish? bar.
  • Next click the white tab that is labeled “See all Account types“
  • Next under College Saving (I’m not sure why the have it there…), on the right click “Custodial Accounts“
  • Under the “Apply Now” text, choose one of the 2 options.
  • I think it’s best to click the mail the application to you (This is a good way to do it!, after all what’s the rush?)
  • If you choose to “Download the Application“, then…
  • If you read the form, it states that this account doesn’t necessarily have to be used for educational purposes.
  • Fill out as much of the form as you feel comfortable with (I choose not to  fill out any of it, I printed it out in first, then filled it out for security reasons, but I a wee bit paranoid).
  • Mail it to the address that was on the screen.  And then wait a week or so…
  • Okay, so it was a bit more complex than I remember.  Once it up and attached correctly, it’s sweet!

Inventions That I’d Like to See – Solar Trains

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When thinking of solar power, I always try to think of large flat area for the solar panels to sit and make electricity.  I personally think my place of employment should have car port type structures out in the parking lot, with solar panels on top of them.  This way it would be a win-win, in that they get a structure to put the solar panels on.  And we would get protection from the snow.  Not to mention the excellent PR relationship.

Speaking of large areas, a space a train use is a perfect fit.  The chain of cars, that a train pulls is a perfect length for solar panel to ride on.   I figure, they would still have to be diesel for at least to get the train moving, but after the train reaches a certain speed, then the power from the solar panels may be enough to handled the steady drive speed.

I’ve seen designs where the trains would  go thru a carport like structure with the solar panels attached to the top of the roof.

Solar Trains

Solar Trains

If solar trains every become economical, the solar portion would be a painted coating that’s painted on the covering or a system like First Solar’s could be mounted.

Anyway, I think that’s would be a great use of solar electric systems.  Plus you may not wouldn’t need any battery storage element…  If fact, maybe the system could even be used as a source of power for an electrical company.  If you think about it, many possibilities exists. The solar panels of today are not like the Jimmy Carter era solar panels!  Today the panel are getting very close to competing with fossil fuels on a cost basis (in Carter’s era, the solar panel back then were not even close).  It should be an exciting time in the next few years, with wind and solar starting to be noticed more and more.

Wealth Tip #2: Working Both Harder and Smarter Can Make You Wealthy

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I have a wealthy friend who while working through college, became wealthy by eventually buying out a partner in the company where he worked at.  This was a risky but very successful move for him.

My friend (let’s call him Jay) was studying to be a mechanical engineer.  Jay comes from a family of 7 kids, and money was always tight for his parents so he had to pay his own way.  Every year, Jay had to work during college and during the summer.  He went through a few different temporary jobs, but the last one was with a small construction company.  At first, he worked as a construction worker, but eventually the owners of the company realized he was a smart kid and really good with numbers (plus he had people skills to boot).  So they hired him as an estimator/bidder for construction jobs.  He thrived at this, it was a great fit for him!

Jay graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, but never used it.  Instead he got lucky, one of the partners of the construction company decided to retire.  They offer Jay an opportunity to buy the retiring partner out (of course, the other partner retired very wealthy).  Jay, being a fresh out of school graduate, didn’t have the money, but said yes to the proposition (they worked out payment plan for him).

For the next 10 years, I didn’t see Jay much, he was constantly working, over 60+ hours a week (although we still kept in touch with an occasional game of tennis,  he also played in a basketball league).

Today, he’s a multimillionaire.  He still works long hours than most of us, but not over 60 anymore.

The point of this post, is that it’s still possible to get ahead with hard work and living a modest, frugal life.  Take Jay for example:

  • Jay never owned a luxury car,
  • his house is a little more expensive than mine (by  around $35,000 to $50,000 dollars more),
  • he does a lot of DIY projects (I’ve seen him even install a new kitchen fluorescent lamp).
  • You would think that since Jay is a multimillionaire, he’d hire people to do this yard work… but the doesn’t…  Every week during the summer, you’ll see him mowing 2 acres of his 10 acre property on his lawnmower.  You might be wondering why does he only mow 2 acres?  Well, he leases the other 8 acres to a local farmer.
  • Jay still works over 50 hours a week, but by choice now (or maybe even habit).
  • Jay still does the bidding and many other functions now.  He works very hard maximizing his return.

You might think that Jay is fortunate that he got lucky and was at the right time at the right place.  Yes, this is true, but I bet most young graduates would have passed on the offer (I know I would have).  Open your eyes to the possibilities around you.  You never know what may present itself through hard work and making smart decisions.

Jay, got a head because no matter where he worked, he gave it his all in a friendly likable manner (part of working intelligently)!

Do you have any personal successes stories to share, where you had to busting your butt to get ahead?  That’s what it takes sometimes!