Spondulicks Forever!

I have been spending money like a slightly tipsy sailor on shore leave. Oooh, work pants for interview times, buy! ooh, silk and lace shirts at vintage/second-hand stores for interview times, buy! ooh, clean trenchcoat, buy! Oooh, reflective-striping safety vest so I can scoot at night and save money without half-orphaning my child, buy! Oooh, developer edition of SQL Server 2005 so I can update my skills and command a higher price on the job market, buy! Oooh, cell phone!

Yes, I capitulated. The cell phone redeemed itself within three days. Cellular phone suppliers being what they are, they billed us months before applying our discount -- hubby went for the family plan. However, the phone has already redeemed itself. I was at a part-time job, really just hanging out with my friend who was my client but doing "work-related activities" with her -- GET PAID FOR DOING WHAT YOU LOVE -- when someone called and said "hey, lucrative short-term contract. Can you hustle your butt to such-and-such for a job interview in 40 minutes?" Why yes, I can. I wouldn't have if not for the cellular phone. God bless Yamaha and Sprint PCS!

A friend of mine who got out of debt through working three(!) jobs was clear and then dove in again, although to shallower debt waters. My lifestyle situation (child with slight special needs, husband with slight special needs) can't afford for me to work two jobs. But the costs, they are increasing, and somehow I don't have that anxiety provoking me to travel the path to austerity. Except for having the temperature at home at 63F during the day, and 55F at night, and trying to get by on four gallons of gasoline a week (hey, your grandparents did it!), and having more vegetarian entrees per week. I'm not unconsciously blowing money on needless things, but it does seem I'm really going to town as of late. I think it's because I'm between contracts and I have some time to catch up on postponed necessary spending: for instance, I have not really shopped for work clothes for three years.

My contract ends in a month. I am not ready. I am to have a resume updated and prepped for circulation. I do not believe in myself. The job market is better though, and my job skills have been updated.

My husband and I have been giving our credit card a good workout -- spouse has tix for spending Thanksgiving back home. I approve only because it's been over two years since we've seen them, they are currently too physically incapacitated to fly, spouse's grandmother is frail and in her mid-eighties. I'm not looking forward to having most of my liquid refreshment in-flight choices be: caffeine, alcohol, or high fructose corn syrup carbonated beverages.

Good news: according to a "what income do you need to afford your mortgage" calculator on interest.com, we can apparently manage the mortgage on my husband's income alone.

Also: mortgage is down to $155,997.41. By this time next year, it'll be below $150,000!

My savings strategy is non-existent. Too much "live now, there's no tomorrow." I'd been hoping that interest rates will rise, as Mr. Turk and Mr. Rubino conjectured in a scenario from their book The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It, as the dollar devalues, so I may yield more from taxable savings rather than directly paying off the mortgage, but the Federal Reserve has been cutting interest rates down. Who knows, if interest rates go down to 4.00% or lower for 15-year loans, we may refinance.

Six Smartest Ways to Use a Line of Credit

1. Improve value of the home.
2. Pay off high-interest credit cards.
3. Use it for a rainy-day fund.
4. Buy a second home.
5. Put kid through college.
6. Start a business.

Not liking #4 - #6: obviously these are in descending order of smartness. Sir John Templeton, looking at Boston and California's house prices, advised picking them up at a tenth of their 2004 list values. Only a volcano/earthquake combination, or a biochemical attack would bring our house values down 90%.

Bills paid:
$615 for childcare deposit.
$547 for CC#1
$107 for CC#2
$40.20 for dentist
$24 for natural gas bill
$64 (late) for telephone bill
$138 for water/sewer bill (bimonthly)
$55 for electricity bill (bimonthly)

Bank of Moloch has indicated it may start altering the closing date on the card. I believe that Bank of Moloch and other credit card issuers don't want for us to use their cards. Maybe HELOCs and cheques and debit cards.

FlexCar fees, rates and charges to go up.
Natural gas rates to rise. So now I have to consider: what energy efficient moves can I make that are CHEAPER than paying for the extra energy? Caulking, yes. The energy efficient windows will lower heating costs by 15%, BUT will the windows ever pay for themselves in our lifetime?

The problem with sudden bursts of money is that ideas for spending/saving/investing percolate afterward. IRAs were initially the main focus, then the payments for my son's social communication playgroup will be due, because insurance won't carry them.
Vehicles and trips versus padding the emergency fund and maximizing my Roth IRA contribution and contributing to my son's education fund. Looking at the finances of the school district, I'm considering private school.

Ah, the spouse has revealed to me he reads this. Expect sanitized Erma Bombeckisms now. Soon my son will be reading these too.

Net worth statement is up 1% from last month. Retirement accounts balance are tantalizingly $3000 lower than the mortgage loan balance. The "Car loans" entry is clear. The spike in retirement account balances is almost solely responsible for the increase.

The gotchas: we'll likelily be billed for my kid's social communication therapy (Bleah) because insurance won't cover it. It's not a rehabilitation treatment from a difficult birth and complicated pregnancy: I suspect what he has is genetic.

A wee gotcha: we're shoppin' at BOEING SURPLUS. Tomorrow is the last day for specials on: credenzas, computer tables, chairs with wheels and office tables. Plus a 20% discount for Boeing employees. Using my FlexCar membership to "rent" a pickup truck. Time to remeasure the office's area space.

Next saving trick: yet another computer for the spouse to work on his MCSE. Estimating $850 for that.

Stock bonus still hasn't come. Dammit, and I need new clothes too -- new trenchcoat or raincoat, new blouses, new pants, new tights, earrings...

Link of the Day: From SmartMoney.com,

The best time to buy

I sometimes feel I miss out on coupon fun. Our family doesn't go for much processed food nor fast food anymore. We run to supermarkets for quickie "oh I didn't realize we ran out of..." trips. We don't see coupons for stuff we like -- garlic bread, flour, whipping cream, fresh herbs. I wish I had some evidence and proof that none of the chemicals, additives, preservatives and flavourings in the processed food contributed to diabetes or cancer, and were equally as healthful as the fresh stuff we buy. Then I'd be couponing too.

My starbucks coffee is free so I don't pay attention to the tsktskers who go on about the "latte factor." I have one or two espresso drinks a week, but I also get access to NYT crosswords, so there's some subsidy.

I am reading the simple life -- thoughts on simplicity, frugality, and living well. It's edited by Larry Roth, the same man who wrote the Political Frugality book. Check out this paragraph.

While I was happy I had gotten my start twenty years earlier, I began calculating the price increases I had absorbed. My salary had increased five times, but my housing costs had increased more than eleven times, and a new car was six times what I paid for one in 1971. It occurred to me that Americans could not continue to survive their expenses outrunning their means for much longer.

I totally relate to this. We are not so careful about costs of eating out -- I splurged on saltimbocca, because it'd been at least six months since I had veal -- but I don't colour my hair as much as I used to, we don't have cable, we don't have mobile phones, we don't have two cars. Our stylist has figured out that my spouse has been "cheating on him" going for the $10 haircuts.

Current Balance: $0.00
Last payment amount: $2049.11
Last payment date: 09/13/2006

Happy Days Are Here Again -- Requires RealAudio-compatible plug-in.

To answer fern's question: Insurance for me is $271. Gas for 7200 miles is $420.00

The funny thing is that I saved a few hundred dollars by borrowing @ 2.9% -- had I waited later I would not have had the promotional discount, and my 2005 dollars would have to rise by 3.2% for 2006 dollars.

debtfreeme, I answered your questions in a private message. Thanks for your support and interest.


Yamaha Majesty YP400S. 395cc displacement.
Typical Mileage: 60mpg.
Highway Mileage: 65mpg.
Maximum Speed: 95 mph.
----------------

Childcare deposit: $615 (0% interest -- goal to pay off by November 1, 2006)

Credit card: $649 (6.9% interest -- goal to pay off by October 10, 2006)

Mortgage: $157500.48 (5% interest -- goal to pay off by April 15, 2014)

first rule: do not talk about Seattle Housing Bubble

According to

Northwest Multiple Listing Service's August report, the average single family house price in King County is over $700,000 and the median price is almost $430,000.

I'm guessing then that the average household income is $233,000 or that people bring home a monthly net income of $10208. The median income should be $143,000. But the AmLife.US Economic Distribution Table (scroll to view) shows 2004 incomes to be well in the five-figure set.

Yeah yeah it's gauche of me to bring this up, you're flinching as you read this, but it makes me frickin' weep -- all this time spent learning about how to evaluate stock fundamentals, what bonds are and how they work, how to live within my means, but never how to make sure my salary rises 15% every year to keep up with utilities and housing prices. I guess half of King County is pretty comfortable, financially, so they won't mind if the "impossible" happens and there's a 25-30% drop in real estate prices over the next six years. Some people are estimating steeper drops, like 50-70%.

Is anyone from these cities: Sacramento, Los Angeles, Irvine/Santa Ana/Anaheim, Miami, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco reading this? Please share the state of your locality's housing market.

It could be my lousy math skills that confound me. Twelve - fifteen years ago I was reading personal finance primers that counsel against buying a house priced beyond 2.5 times one's household income. Mortgage interest rates then ranged from 6.65% to 7.49% (source). Rates so far this year are indeed lower, 6.30% to 6.77% (source). Maybe the personal finance primers nowadays are advising to go no further than six times one's household income owing to this INCREDIBLE DROP IN MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES.

Here's the deal: historically houses have appreciated at the rate of inflation plus 0.4%. Either we're in a big housing bubble, because house prices zoomed up from 2003 onward, like 15% year over year appreciation, which I once believed could only be done by high-flying tech stocks (but not sustainably over five years), or the silent and deadly hyperinflation era is here and no one is talking about it.

Somehow people are getting the $$ for these pricey houses. After all, price is determined by supply and demand. Many $$$ chasing few houses leads prices to escalate. But wait! Why are homebuilder stocks like Beazer, Toll Brothers, and Hovnanian trading at or below book value? They should be raking it in like ExxonMobil!

Let's see, inflation adjusted wages for the state of Washington dropped 8.1% from 2001-2005.

Seattle is sixth in the nation in Option adjustable rate mortgages, plus a recession is looming. Economists are predicting October 2006, although some, following retail industry data, say it's already here.

Yes, I'm sure that we will be spared. [b]

I read today that my natural gas utility will raise its delivery and usage rates by 10% October 1. I am now seriously considering a solar-powered hot water heater. To you people south of the 40th parallel, I say do not scoff. My grey-skies PNW environment is actually a good area for solar energy. Germany is closer to the Arctic Circle, and it's one of the world leaders in use of solar energy.

The photovoltaic panels, it is reasoned, will not return our investment until 2046 -- our electrical use is pretty cheap, about $40/month on average. Whereas, if natural gas costs rise at 10% per year, we'll have payback for the heater within five years. The minimum HELOC charge would be $15.06 -- pretty affordable.

Actually I am jumping the gun about the subject title. I will be free and clear of that scooter debt in two weeks. I do recognize I have some abnormal queasiness about debt, what I post in concern about my peers is of course a projection of my own fiscal anxieties, but like many other people I can rationalize with the best of them.

Debt is personally acceptable if:
the interest rate paid on the debt is lower than the savings rate or the rate of increase on a necessity (utilities, for example).

it's cheaper than paying full price for an item.

it's incurred for an appreciating asset.

1. Unexpected ouch: forgot that the deposit for the new preschool was $910, not $100 that I paid 6/22. Put down $205 on 9/1, and paid the $910 that was due.
It'll still be cheaper than the other daycare, but by $50 overall thanks to the steep deposit.

2. I e-mailed someone who has a Post Carbon online group, he said the #1 thing I should do to prepare for peak oil is get out of debt. Ugh. Is borrowing for solar panels and big rain cisterns and filtration systems acceptable? If I could with certainty project the rising utility costs at 13% year over year I would say borrowing is certainly worthwhile. If one could reap a Return on Investment within five years for home improvements, borrowing at a competitive interest rate could be beneficial.

3. I was a bad girl and researched some DRiPs. I found some fairly recent directories in the Business Reference section of a Regional Library, so that pleased me. Some I may consider further research on for the family:
JNJ, COF, HDI, BUD, WTR, TGT, MDT, BNI, UNP, CHD, HCN.

4. I decluttered my papers: shoving the business/record types in one folder, and the recipes in another. Then I commenced with some merry shredding.

5. I am freaked/wistful that my son will attend Kindergarten next year. Where does the time go? I hope he fares well in his new environment.

I went to

oneshare.com and purchased one share of Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) for my child's birthday. I printed out an announcement and gave it to him. He has birthday on the brain. Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) is nice too, but there's a Burlington Northern railway a few miles west of us, by the beach, and I wanted something my son could see and identify.
I could also put Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Microsoft (NASD:MSFT) in his Coverdell plan too, as he identifies those company logos readily. Union Pacific will have to wait until Christmas.

When I told my husband what I had done (it was pricey! fees, shipping, framing, gift wrap, commission!) he said "maybe I should start buying railroad stock, with peak oil to deal with." Yes! A possible convert! We can discuss DRPs (thanks for the moneypaper.com idea, baselle) and Sharebuilder.com!



I quipped, "yes, we can be the Monopoly family. I bought Water Works (the WaterShares Exchange Traded Fund PHO), you and the boy can buy the railroads, and I'll look into another utility and maybe some Kinder Morgan Partners and commercial real estate trusts."

Beyond Coupons: Ways to Save

Knowing the best sales -- how do I do this when I don't listen to commercial radio, nor read the newspaper? A local supermarket e-mails me its flyer every two weeks. Now that I'm on a CSA, I rarely drop more than $30 on a supermarket trip.

Other Things I should do

keep track of expenditures
buy in bulk @ Costco
save for home improvements
keep a price book
grow my own herbs
caulk around windows and doors
upgrade the insulation in the attic
deepclean the @#$%ing house
shop for meat at farmer's markets
try for no-spend days
plan a batch-cooking day
follow a low-cost food plan
read up on year-round gardening
chart the family net worth
make my own lunch at night
soak beans before I go to bed
plan my menus for a week

More Ideas

Keep a list on the fridge of items I want that cost over $50
Collect digital photos of items for sale and post them with item descriptions on expo.live.com, eBay and craigslist.org
Buy a rainbarrel

So, uh embarrassed and tugging at the collar here...

I had no @$#!ing idea that Uncle Sam would be sending me a cheque for $2192.59 USD. I wasn't here on savingadvice.com in March/April 2006, when I was frantically adding up W-4s, deducting my university extension course tuition, and itemizing, bulking up the envelope with schedule after schedule... trying to whittle what we owed down to under 10% of what was due, or else we'd be slammed with a penalty. Three times I worked on our 1040, with the sigh of "okay, next time we get an accountant to do this."

And we have a check for $2192.59?!

Well, it totally looks like I'll be covered for the scooter payment due September 28.

One month to go until my scooter APR resets to 12.99%. I am keenly aware that my predicament is mellower and smaller-scale than the predicament of people (including ACCOUNTANTS, and DOCTORS) who bought too much house on an adjustable rate mortgage. Why is $4300 + ($7400 x 0.1299) such a big deal to me?

I could live on everything in our pantry, except for bread, cereal, eggs and milk for a month.

I have $5000 in savings.
$3400 is coming our way probably within a month, but perhaps later. I'm not counting on that $3400 to save me, but I'll receive half of that "someday." $930 is coming to us within two weeks.

Crash-saving: utility bills come bimonthly -- not sure I'll save much by washing in cold and drip-drying.

Is cutting down on food the best/only way to crash-save? What are other ways?
I can get away until September 14 for paying late on my mortgage, but I don't know how that'll help matters.

Don't want to borrow from friends. My friends will likely not see this as an emergency worth covering, even if I could give them 0.5% interest (6% annualized) for a thirty-day loan.

How about selling books and CDs? Crib? Wedding dress? Premiere issue of Wired Magazine? I may have to go with a 6.9% cash advance from my credit card (from the credit union, not the infernal Moloch that is Bank of America) to transfer payments ($2000 @ 0.069 < $7400 @ 0.1299).

After three years, we are trotting out our goods at vastly marked down prices. I reaped thirty-seven dollars and seventy-five cents.

This is not a sale at my yard. I would have done things differently: computer printed signs, tables, wider distribution of signs and publication (little nickel, newspaper -- bring in the non-computer folk).

I may send things to another yard sale happening next weekend. Or I might sell items on craigslist or eBay or amazon.com. They are mostly books. Lots of my CDs went, which is good. I had feared that my tastes were too wacky/extreme/dated. Nobody has purchased my Chaplin stuff. :-(
or is it C|:-=X?

Bought Barilla pasta at a dollar a pound, saving $4.75 at the store.

Gas bill: $19.06 for the month. YEAH! Consumption down by a third from last year. YEAH!

I want to adopt the pantry challenge -- we have not bought meat in two weeks! We have beans, rice, grains, and fresh vegetables.

Checked my net worth. Zillow's decreased the value of my home by $5K but big deal.

My child's birthday is one week after the 2.9% APR scooter promotion ends. I can't deny him a birthday, but I can postpone a party.

How often do you slough your possessions/have yard sales?

After this concludes, if I don't get an e-mail for the address/date and time of the next sale, I may trade my books in for credit at a book reseller.

I do load it on myself, don't I.

I was in Instant Message chat with a Newfoundland pal. She and I want to visit Los Angeles, primarily Hollywood, next year. I want to meet her: I've been writing to her for over twelve years. I also want to eat at Musso and Frank, and to try out for "Jeopardy!", and to see Catalina. Even my son, not yet five, says he wants to go to Hollywood.

I've got a lot of living to do! I haven't been to CA since 1996, and I want to go soon before gas gets prohibitively expensive. It's $1829.00 for a family bedroom round trip by Amtrak, + $300 food. 3300 miles * $4.19/gallon @ 25 miles per gallon= $553.08 + $300 food + 650 hotel + $410 car rental = $1903.08, and that doesn't include the stay and food and admissions in Hollywood. $74 fewer dollars to ride the train.

It was our anniversary yesterday. Twelve years: silk. So I point out to the hubby some WinterSilks aviator scarves: maybe I can wear one when I scoot in the winter. Me, I buy him silk pyjamas: he has never had them, and I find men very attractive in them.

We also ate out. With the kid.

Motorcycle insurance: $224.
2006-7 Children's Theatre subscription (boy likes musicals and stage presentations): $204
Annual Zoo membership renewal: $90
Gift for boy's playmate: $15
Cards: $10
Helmet Halo (so drivers can see me at night): $15
Replacement blinds for bedroom: $35
Flexcar charge: $138 (for $40 annual driver fee, and taxes)

I guess the nice thing is that I have the cash to pay for these, being semi-frugal.

Husband still has not filled in Dependent Care Spending Account Reimbursement Form. Maybe it's just me who thinks $930 would be great to have to pay down the scooter. I wish that weren't so. It would be so lovely to have a spouse that was equally as concerned about saving money as I am, if not more. Obviously I am not miserly when it comes to my son and husband.

My spouse has not had silk pyjamas before, and my son does seem to enjoy live musical theatre. I feel I should encourage my boy's tastes and talents, and three performances over seven months isn't exactly overkill.

These are new "extravagances" for me. I have been cutting back in groceries: no meat for over a month now. We take the kid to playgrounds and farms and the zoo for cheap entertainment, and occasional museum exhibits -- no big spending on XBox or Nintendo. He is too sophisticated for the "just give him a cardboard box" ploy: yesterday he wanted to play SCRABBLE.

Minor as this is, I did get a 10% discount on the Helmet Halo. It was going to be 5%, but I mentioned to the salesclerk that a certain coworker of his (and I named her) traditionally gives me 10%, which is true. I will keep going to this motorcycle parts and accessories place for the discounts and the promotions: Women's Brunch and Fair.
Few motorcycle shops cater to women the way this one does.

because, as mentioned on a forum here, they will change the terms and conditions agreement of the contract at will and repeatedly,

I am considering applying for the Discover Platinum Gas Visa and ditching the MBNA Platinum Plus card I've had for seven years but haven't used for four.

MBNA reduced the grace period to 20 days.
According to a Website, Discover still has 25 days, plus a 0% balance transfer introductory rate for 12 months. Plus 5% rewards for using the card for gas. I could get a whopping fifty cents back at the gas pump!

MBNA switched to American Express from Visa. Why, I don't know. I think one has to pay the American Express off in full every month, right? So what good would those convenience cheques with the 0% offer for nine months do me?

Then again, Discover's CEO didn't die, leave his idiot son in charge, who then made so many deleterious changes and bad decisions that the company's profits went down by 94% so that it was engulfed by Bank of America either.

I checked bankrate.com and whoa! 20 day grace periods are now the rule, not the exception!

The MAD TV recurring segment cracks me up every time.

I feel more peaceful, oddly, knowing that if I have problems achieving those goals I'm supposed to have achieved, then there are millions of people in my boat. It's not a little liferaft, it's the Queen Mary.

Considering the nation's saving rate, I think anyone who earns the median income or lower and manages to increase her net worth year after year, home equity excluded, is doing a great job.

Anyone who sacrifices a dear toy or hobby or reduction of luxury expense (mine is eating out) for the ability to afford more later or live better should be congratulated and applauded.

I've noticed I haven't given myself any victories. I need to give myself a chance at winning. Get the resume overhauled -- circulate it. Sell the books and CDs and things. I try too much in one day, or one week.

I attended a seminar on Rainwater Catchment. From a

1998 article: "Considering the cost of water in King County may double in the next decade, a UW experiment in catching and reusing rainwater could be a harbinger of good things to come."

It's the candyass, anxious self dreaming up lurid scenarios of getting gouged for necessities (energy, healthcare) that scavenges for ways to either prevent or offset rising energy costs or ways to invest cash to survive those rising costs.

Sixty-six months ago I switched from oil to natural gas: $6400 outlay (including a gas line installation) -- I think now we've seen it pay for itself. We thought seven-eight years at first, but thanks to rising oil prices... (yes, I know natural gas is going up too, but we have a more efficient heating system)

This would involve getting into debt, like the electricity wiring to enable telecommuting, but we have to think about the possibilities:
* is it worthwhile to make an energy change that pays off 10 to 15 years from now? (one could roll the costs of a rainwater catchment system into the selling price of the house)
* how to space the home improvements for minimum pocketbook pain
* how large and sophisticated a system to get

We thought we were so smart getting a Fisher & Paykel energy efficient washer, and a Niagara low-flow flapperless toilet. Then I learned what the Germans have.

I can say, though, that we're saving $35/month in water bills. So the toilet paid for itself in four months, and the washer takes 20 months for it to pay for itself.

We've been thinking about rainbarrels, and indeed the Lord and Master might be buying some before he takes off tomorrow for his weekend. But after last night, I'm thinking larger scale.

Found my mom's 1 oz. gold Canadian coin (turned into a brooch). Now I can honestly say I own gold.

There should be some good kinds of debt other than education and mortgage: is home improvement one of them.

And it's okay to scale down expectations of being able to pay for everything all at once with cash. What matter are investment and prevention. I can't be perfect, but it doesn't get me anywhere to dream that Americans are perfect.

Because if Americans are perfectly attempting to save for retirement and rainy days and education and investing for energy reduction and healthcare prevention, and yet there's the stagnant wages and the negative savings rate, that can only mean the country is going down the toilet. Stay the course indeed.

So I'll imperfectly manage to increase my net worth. That might be the only realistic option open to me right now. Anything above that might be woolgathering.

1. Do my job well.
-- um.
2. Learn skills to take to the next job.
-- Slowly, but starting. August.

3. Network for next job.
-- This month for sure!

1. Keep track of every penny that comes into the house.
2. Keep track of every penny that leaves the house.
3. Record a monthly budget.
-- I designed a budget, at least.

Well, I did #1. #2 I was lax with. #3.

Some victories -- I found my TreasuryDirect sheet with my account number. I'd like to thank the spirit of Charles Chaplin for that: I was putting a book my child and I were looking at (Walter Kerr's The Silent Clowns) back when I saw the stray sheet of paper. Also found I had $325 in a stock account somewhere. I have a stock account with seventeen cents in it too. woowoo!

1. Shop for car/motorcycle/home insurance.
-- I got a discount on my car insurance.

2. Get estimates for wiring.
-- I called an electrician. I need to call him again so he can come over and give an estimate.

3. Assemble 15-30 recipes for next month from "thrifty" sources.
-- I photocopied from Cheap. Fast. Good! and Jane Brody's Seafood Cookbook.

4. Try to work over 35 hrs/week.
-- this didn't work out so well.

5. Start researching -- buying stuff for brother
-- this I did. This relationship is so lopsided: he's asking me for favours and paying me to do stuff because he's overseas. Is there anything I want where he is? No.

My liabilities are $989 lower than last month, and $3482 lower than June. Assets are up $14000 since June. I have to remind myself of this because the cash we have in our account is $400 after childcare and mortgage are accounted for.
I wonder where the money went then I remember: I paid off $1300 principal, and $700 interest.

My spouse swears he faxed in reimbursement applications for June and July child care, but I have not seen any checks in the mail. The balance he has in there is around $800 by now. If he got it out, he could have a fine time this weekend. He'll be riding a train, staying at a hotel. How can I not let him have his fun, when I have had daytrips to the Kitsap Peninsula and to Mount Rainier?

Mortgage will be paid off by June 1, 2023.
One week to go until the stock proceeds come.

Who was it, Amy Dacyczyn? Jerrold Mundis?, who said "don't compare your financial situation to others. What matters is how your financial situation is compared to what it was, and what it will be." I need to always remember that. My financial situation is better, but as the housing prices deflate nationwide, and a recession takes a bite out of my retirement goodie basket, I can't count on it always being this great. Steeling myself for 20% depreciation in retirement balance, and 10% in home -- why? we've actually made some energy improvements: a new furnace, natural gas rather than oil, double-paned, argon-filled energy efficient windows, newer energy efficient applicances, and also, 20% depreciation in home price leaves a price that is commensurate with inflation: it takes 1.208 times as many 1999 dollars to buy our house that would supposedly not ever have appreciated. As houses appreciate maybe 1% beyond inflation, and my area is being revitalized by the city, plus is one of the few affordable places left in the city, I can't see 20% depreciation for the house. No. 10%.

An important truth Amy Dacyczyn revealed was that her thriftiness and creative frugality came from her and her husband's desire to have a 2200 square foot house and six children. In other words, they designed their life a certain way and recognized and made the tradeoffs required to live that way the best they could. She and her husband weren't always thrifty, and they didn't always make perfect financial decisions.

This admission gladdened my heart and inspired me.

What do I want? Not six children. I don't need a 2200 square foot house. Certainly a house is very important to me, psychologically. My parents didn't ever own homes that they BOUGHT themselves, and I moved eight times in as many years -- yeah, that totally contributes to stability.

Some people want to live their lives so they can pay for annual trips to see their parents, or travel around the world, or become a race car driver. Some want to play Scrabble all around the world. Me, I want a paid off home and to be able to pay for things I want/need in cash. In short, I want security. I need to always remember my idea of security differs from others' ideas.

For instance, I tend to assume that because I am so insecure about my finances, that I'm doing very poorly compared to the rest of the country. After all, if I'm uncomfortable about my scooter debt -- actually it's not so much that, it's that I have been very lax about paying off the scooter debt because of unforeseen expenses along the way -- and others are comfortable about their vehicular leases and car loans, and the under $2000 credit card debt most credit cardholders w/balances have (the AVERAGE is $8600+, but over 50% of folk have balances much less than that), then they either know things I don't, or they have backup plans I don't.

Seven years ago we didn't quite make the 20% downpayment required for a house, but at the time my parent was dying, so I was VERY emotionally insecure. My security went into the house.

So people are now making zero money down, interest-only, adjustable rate mortgages twice as large as what we made seven years ago. That demonstrates either financial confidence ("our wages will always rise, even though historically there was even a FIFTEEN-year era of stagnant wages") or financial hysteria ("omg I am 25 and I do not have a house or condo of my own! if I do not buy right this minute the prices will go up forever and I will be so out of luck! omg! the panic! I can't see myself being 30 and renting! yi!").

I have a retirement fund, and some illiquid assets, including the inflated home equity all the other homeowners except those in Miami, Las Vegas and Phoenix currently have. That's not enough for my security. I have job skills, some wits, and health. That's not enough for my security. I have a spouse with a steady job. That's not enough for my security. The huge run ups in consumer and governmental spending do nothing for my emotional security.

What will be enough for my security? Why isn't it enough for me that I can pay my credit card balances in full at the end of the month and my net worth grows on average per month? Why do I feel I need the liquid cash to pay for six things that could go wrong all at once?

I don't know quite why the vibe here on savingadvice.com is more mellow, cooperative and positive compared to another board I won't mention. But it is. Maybe it's because the chorus are people going through the same thing -- they want to save money, and trading tips to help them achieve their goals is the currency here. That, to me, is what makes savingadvice.com great.

I do like that single parents with a heavy financial burden aren't reprimanded by members of the opposite sex who haven't even started a family and have no idea of the costs and energy involved here. Why does it seem to be the opposite sex who want to punish the parent verbally?

Maybe I am just blind to the wonderful feeling it must be to be lonely, smug and superior, but how does it help a single mom to be kicked by anonymous strangers for decisions she's made and is trying to provide for? Why can't these jerks just not be jerks and provide constructive ideas and advice?

What is it about some members of the American public that makes them the arbiters or judges of how many children other people should have? If I have one it's not enough, I am told, by childless people and people helped by their rich fathers-in-law to purchase apartment complexes for real estate, I need another. Where is the offer to pay for another? What if I feel only like having the number of children I can afford and remain middle-class?

These single parents are facing an uphill climb as expenses squeeze the budgets of any family earning under 1.6 times the median income. How is semi-anonymous Internet abuse going to help them?

I know compassion is learned, not innate. I keep thinking these people who have never been laughed at or criticized for wearing the same clothes every day because of a limited wardrobe, or have never had too many grilled cheese or fried bologna sandwiches because of reduced food budgets, who've never had gambling, alcoholic unemployed smoking parents giving them and the other parents emotional abuse should really shut their traps and skip the bullying and useless lectures.

If someone is scraping: there are six billion people on the planet. Three billion of them likely live in worse conditions than even a full-time working/part-time studying parent of four is. SOMEONE has got to have some good advice for that parent. That parent is WORKING and STRUGGLING and SACRIFICING so as NOT to be on public assistance and to BECOME a consumer that can help keep the economy afloat!

And the parent should be able to read that advice and profit from its use without recriminations from people who've never walked a mile in his or her shoes.

Which is why I like and appreciate the quality of content on savingadvice.com and the personal finance forums.

I have one more year to go. Every year is a cinch further in my girdle. Except, we pray, this September, when we actually can look forward to a REDUCTION because we're transferring the boy.

Daycare is close to twice the tuition cost of our local university. When I read these personal finance "save your way to wealth" books I never encounter anyone telling me that daycare is expensive, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Instead there's advice like "the one earning the lower salary should stay home with the kids."

$58K + $56K. "Gee 56K, you should stay home with the kid so we can save $11800 after tax, as opposed to earning 33K after daycare costs."

Post-tax, I estimate the share that my loving and generous husband will bestow upon me for honourable stewardship will be $1850.

As with most folk, I have many options for the share proceeds, but the proceeds won't completely cover all of them.

The no-brainer solution would be to apply half to the scooter debt and half to the Roth IRA.

The risky-frisky solution would be to buy at least one ounce of gold, and divide the rest between scooter and Roth IRA.

Aw, what the hell, let's go risky-frisky.

Mortgage Payoff Scheme
$56031.71 of principal will be paid over the next ninety months, leaving me to come up with $101473.29 principal.

I will use: 25% cash, 25% stock, and 50% bonds. I can buy five-year TIPS at auctions in April and October through a broker, bank, or dealer. So that is a good plan until October 2008. AFter that, maybe just I-Bonds.

Ever read many online recommendations for a book, to the point where you pick it up, and your expectations exceed the value you receive from it?

I like Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps to Get Out of Debt. I like the concept of Financial Peace. I like the debt snowball plan. I believe that they work. Sell all your crap to get the consumer debt on the road to gonesville -- makes total sense to me.

Those are the only three things I like about his Total Money Makeover. It's true that you can't go into debt if you don't borrow. It's true that with an emergency fund crises are merely inconveniences.

If DR wanted a larger audience, he'd have skinned the TMM down to eight pages of pure financial golden wisdom. However, by padding it with cruft to justify hardcover binding and $2X.XX price tag he dilutes his message and limits his audience. The letters he chooses to share are from white families who live in areas where $120,000 single-family residences in decent neighbourhoods can still be bought. I did not read anything about $950/month daycare costs. I did not see pictures of families with Samoan, Nepali, Laotian, Caribbean, African-American, or Hispanic descent.

I looked at the Windermere.com real estate site. 5163 matches for homes for sale from $125,000 to $200,000, two+ bedrooms, one+ bathroom, 800 sq ft to 1120 sq ft. I allowed for manufactured and multi-family properties, and year built ranged from 1906 to 2005.

When I reduced the range to Washington state, the number of properties fell to 1630. When I reduced the range to Seattle, I had zero results. If you have a $150,000 mortgage on a three bedroom SFR in Seattle, you're not in over your head, you're floating, buoyantly, on a sea of equity.

DR also skirts around white-collar crime. He refutes the "wrong-headed" sects who settle for financial mediocrity. A Christian's duty is to create wealth to be used for the glory of God. If we believe it is morally wrong to be wealthy, then the only rich people will be pimps and drug dealers.

There is a difference between wealth and living below your means. If you give a good portion of your disposable income to social justice, and use it to heal the sick, counsel the incarcerated, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, you're giving glory to God. Is it giving glory to God when one hands over money to white collar criminals who oppress the poor and try to depress the standard of living of many as they nourish the elite in the way of "investment?" Or who suck up to the state for tax breaks? Can you tell the difference between someone who merely pays lip service to helping the poor and oppressed so s/he can get elected and someone whose humble and direct actions speak for themselves? If by aiding the poor directly you reduce the number of people in prison, or in the hospital, or at food banks aren't you investing in your community? The money that would otherwise be spent could be invested for the betterment of all, rather than guns and gated communities and planned subdivisions to make sure society's smelly rejects are as far from us as possible.

Pimps are people who profit from the prostitution of other people. Prostitutes have their self-esteems and their freedoms crushed by literally "working for the man." Drug dealers offer empty promises and addictive substances -- they enslave their customers. The borrower is always a slave to the lender. Ramsey gets that quote right, and uses it often, but he overlooks the many, many instances of corporate misconduct, the growing disparity between stagnant workers' wages and rising executive salaries and perks.

I tried investing to grow my income. However, I looked only at balance sheets and growth, rather than the values and purpose of the companies. Imagine my surprise when, time and time again, my companies with the stellar 10-K and 10-Q documents had "misstated earnings," taken charges, or had been met with class action suits by stockholders. Who's behind buying up smaller banks and credit card companies who have your business, then turning around and squeezing people with rising net worths and improving credit ratings with fees and penalties that used to be levied against the financially irresponsible and overwhelmed? Bigger banks. Who's charging 10% or greater premium increases annually against you, who may be actually claimfree, because you either spent most of your life without requiring credit, or have yet to spend most of the rest of your life? Insurance companies.

And if he hadn't overlooked those instances, I wonder if Sean Hannity and Bill Frist would have given Ramsey his backjacket blurbs.

I don't need to be hoarding money that can go to the poor. I can adjust my expectations of security in this life and my outlook, decide there are more important things to do with my life than partake in class envy or feed the tapeworm economy, such as work for social justice and community reinvestment for the betterment of all. Helping the poor is a Gospel imperative, addressed with vigour to all Christians, who are never allowed to pass by their neighbour who has been stricken with misfortune (cf. Luke 10,33-35). So why give to entities that, through offshoring and outsourcing of jobs, and stagnation of wages, seek to create more of the poor within our own borders?

And if I decide to achieve financial peace through being debtfree, and to commit greater quantities of disposable income to social justice, alleviating poverty, feeding the hungry and ministering to the sick, Dave Ramsey's baby steps to get out of debt are all I need. I don't need propaganda aimed at the Farm Belt zipcodes.

It was some laughs for a little while, but then my bill came in, and uh, there is not enough value here to compromise my savings goals. Also, my spouse looked at my bill and said "geez, for sure I can get you a better deal through my employer." So yeah. Bye bye wireless.

Go to wireless website. Click 'choose a plan'
Enter zip code

200 Anytime Minutes for $29.99
Monthly rate $29.99

Look at bill.
$30.99
plus taxes

No. Why does my bill have to be different from what is advertised on the Website?

Tell wireless plan provider -- "Don't send me MBNA credit card solicitations or I will return your phone."

Receive canned response -- "we used to partner with Fleet, but they were bought by MBNA, and our contract is still being honored."

I wanted to read "okay we will not send you MBNA credit card solicitations because we want to keep your business."

No.

Why do wireless plan providers need a credit card? I'm not giving to agencies that partner with MBNA. Uh-uh. Ixnay.

On the plus side, I saved $60.00 in water consumption this year over the same billing period last year.

NOTE:
The paragraphs below were copied from The Motley Fool. Someone else other than I wrote it. That's as much attribution I can muster right now, so know that this is not (intentional) plagiarism.

Demographically speaking, the American middle class is responsible for the largest portion of discretionary spending and should therefore face the greatest decline in living standards. There are many poor, but their ability to decrease consumption without dying is minimal. The wealthy consume a great deal more, but their numbers are few and raising taxes isn't likely to slow their consumption much. Dividing the economic pie is a political game and there is little doubt that wealthy Republican supporters have been spared much of the pain as their people have been in control in Washington.

Meanwhile, working class and poor Americans have been taking on a disproportionate share of the pain as rising expenditures for heating, transportation, housing and debt service have cut into already tight budgets. Going forward, there is likely to be much more pain to share (especially from rising energy costs) and political change is possible if there is enough outrage over declining living standards for middle and working class families. Whether or not the political focus shifts to providing a better safety net for the poor while raising taxes on the wealthy, the continuing Middle Class Squeeze will be necessary to reduce American consumption to ecologically and financially sustainable levels.

Implications for investors
Going forward, there are certain sectors that should be avoided by prudent investors. While the broader indices have remained remarkably stable, many retail stocks have been declining since late July 2005 as retail sales have been disappointing and consumer confidence has fallen off a cliff. Service sector companies and jobs in particular are at risk because they are most dependent on discretionary spending. Housing and financial stocks have also begun breaking down and are vulnerable to bigger declines as trends accelerate, especially homebuilders and mortgage lenders who profited by taking on high levels of leverage and risk during the boom. Public utilities are vulnerable as energy costs rise if the political will shifts to shielding consumers form rising energy costs as it did in California during that state's recent energy crunch.

Lastly, most bond investments should not be considered 100% safe. Municipal bonds in particular are vulnerable as many local governments have gotten themselves deeper and deeper in debt. Even US treasuries should not be considered as the national debt has reached a point where it may be politically impossible for the government to pay it off. Not all middle class Americans have been over-consuming as badly as the average citizen, and many have saved up diligently for retirement. In recent months Asian stocks in particular have done well, and a steady shift in consumption from the US to the countries who've financed the trade gap likely means that this is an early stage of a much larger trend. It is imperative that middle class investors be aware of the evolving trends so that their retirement portfolios can provide a cushion against the ongoing Middle Class squeeze.

So is the middle class aware they've been spending too much?

Is the middle class in its entirety the 95% of Americans who think they are (incomes ranging from $20K -> $140K)?

Which will bring down the economy faster: the middle class reining (not reigning, that is synonymous with ruling) its expeditures or the current rate of government spending?

Do the middle class intentionally elect politicians and parties to give them the discretionary spending paddling and SQUEEZE ("really, I squeeze you out of love") because they secretly hate themselves?

Is 95% of the US population really the middle class? Would 95% of the US population be able to effect legislative change? What % of the middle class enjoys being squeezed?

Do people who believe in making indebtedness as excruciating as possible also believe that should also apply to the federal government when it's indebted to foreign interests?

Also, a look at July 10, 2006's G.19 Release of Consumer Credit Outstanding (billions of dollars) from the Federal Reserve indicates that total consumer credit is up to 2.1616 trillion dollars. Finance companies hold 43% more obligations than they did in 2001, commercial banks 25% and credit unions 23%.

For major types of revolving credit, all noteholders have increased the amount due to them.

For nonrevolving debt, finance companies are holding fewer securities.

Another item: whereas the overall public aren't going into debt for plasma TV screens and iPods, the Department of Homeland Security and other border protec....

http://www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/housedebt/default.htm


The financial obligations ratio (FOR) adds automobile lease payments, rental payments on tenant-occupied property, homeowners' insurance, and property tax payments to the debt service ratio.

2006 first quarter indicates a 11.41 ratio for mortgage, and 6.18 ratio for consumer debt and automobile leases.

That's not terrible. If you're a renter, then count on 24.33% of your disposable income to be your financial obligations ratio.

NOTE: The 2006 Q1 release incorporates data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances and the March 2005 Current Population Survey.

So the rising % of interest-only loans has not yet been factored in. Where I live, last year, 38% of recent home mortgages were interest-only loans. The national average percentage of mortgages that were interest-only loans is 19.1%. I suppose these people are just temporarily playing house in Seattle -- good for a short time, but lethal if they're still in the home after awhile.

People tell me that nobody buys a home at 2.5 - 3 times a household income anymore. Is that true? I thought everybody did that. I know not everyone puts 20% down -- I don't know anyone who bought the same time I did who managed to do that, at least not without the help of Mumsie and Daddy-dear.

Mortgage: $157,505.85
Scooter: $ 4,692.21
Credit C: $ 88.15
------------------------
$162,286.21

Scooter: $5183 -- overestimated how much I paid blush. Mailed payment for $518.30 to motorcycle company.

Mortgage: $158002.28 -- mortgage now due.

Credit card: $686.83 -- some of this is from buying clothes and mailing nutritional supplements for my brother (he owes me $110 for those, plus $120 for other expenses). $266.00 accounts for ten weeks' worth of vegetables from our CSA.

I tweak out at the silliest, mildest things. I saw where two acquaintances demonstrated much more financial cojones than I have, recently taking out $380,000 mortgages. The median price for a home here is $410K, and neither of these acquaintances is a first-time home borrower. Sure, they're thirty-year mortgages, and with windfalls and bonuses there's bound to be some prepayment. But they're not freaking out. I would be.

Things are tight for us because I don't earn a whole lot of money and the boy's therapy eats up our $. Our mortgage is due in just under seventeen years -- almost half of a regular term! Eventually I'll get full-time pay, eventually day care will be a past memory. Eventually my scoot will be paid off.

So my debt is $163872.11. Ish kabibble.
Maybe it's not the end of the world to be carrying a balance. There are people who always pay their balances in full, and people who always carry a balance. How big is the percentage of people who make occasional cashflow slippages, or have emergencies that outstrip their funds? $165000 is my ceiling though.

That Green Energy Fund I got a prospectus for: WGGFX. Expense ratio is 1.45%. I'm getting out of my blue chips.
Enough blue and red, in with gold and green! BRSIX looks good too.

The problems are my impatience and anxiety. Yes, there are reasons for fear, but how much of the fear is justified, and how much of it is from living in a society I don't understand?

July 5th was a no-spend day.

$2500 -- how would you divide this among a Roth IRA, emergency fund, and scooter payment?

We went strawberry picking yesterday. We did blow $ on gas, but we saved 75% picking our own organic strawberries, and I accomplished one of my 101 tasks in 1001 days.

My son made me proud.
I asked him: "Do you want to be my personal assistant? You can remind me of things that need to be done, or help me do them. I will pay you and you can spend your money on toys and at Cafe Racer."

"Spending money is not appropriate. We must save our money," he responded.

Not even five years old.

Spent $32.01 on food -- 40% of that was meat: chicken thighs and breasts, 60% was on fixings for the upcoming barbecues this week. With any luck we'll take home leftovers and eat well for a week.

I found a great newsletter in my local library: Bottom Line Secrets, featuring tips from experts -- the editorial board includes Sheldon Jacobs, Dean Ornish, Alexandra Armstrong, and other names I recognize -- on health, wealth, safety, pretty much anything you need to make your life better. I've already learned about a socially progressive mutual fund CRAIX, tax liens as a form of investment, and exchange traded funds. Here's the

Website.

It's a skinny newsletter but it's 100% subscriber-financed. No advertising!

My PC is futzed -- hubby suspects it's the toggle switch. I had accepted some updates, and rather than restart the machine I thought I'd save electricity and shut it down. I'll be saving even more electricity.

I made a budget for the month. I'm in a quandary about some extra cash we'll be receiving -- not enough to pay off the scooter, sadly, but enough to pay half of it.

I also found a nifty loan payoff calculator at office.microsoft.com! It's an Excel spreadsheet, and I can use either incremental payments or sudden extra payments in a column to play with various payoff scenarios. Go to office.microsoft.com and search for "loan payoff Excel." The template will be in the result set.

Scooter: $5183.22
Mortgage:$158002.28
Credit Card:$417.81

I borrowed the Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns Coming Generational Storm book, an oldie book by Shel Horowitz about how to Penny Pinch and yet live royally, and Jeff Schnepper's Tax Guide for 2006. I wish I could tap into my intuition as far as investment goes, but I really need to decently research my options first. I'm thinking about an ETF for water, and a mutual fund that invests in companies offering palliatives and solutions for energy, global warming, and water ills.

So in a moment of weakness I agreed to a two-year cellular phone contract with a special offer. Free phone, $30.00/month. I don't like cell phones at all, but maybe it's their users I disapprove of:

"HI! I'M WALKING DOWN THE STREET SOUNDING SCHIZOPHRENIC, LIKE I TALK TO MYSELF!"

"I HAVE TO SHOUT OUT MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND TELL YOU ABOUT MY SISTER'S GAMBLING PROBLEM AND YEAST INFECTION IN FRONT OF PEOPLE ON A CROWDED BUS!"

"I AM TOO CHEAP FOR A HANDSFREE OPTION SO I WILL CRADLE MY PHONE WITH ONE HAND AND HOLD MY CIGARETTE WITH ANOTHER WHILE I KNOCK DOWN A MOTORCYCLIST AS I CLUMSILY MAKE TOO WIDE A TURN IN A VEHICLE TOO LARGE FOR ME TO COMPETENTLY CONTROL!"

"I'M HAVING A FATHER'S DAY DINNER OUT WITH MY FAMILY -- LET ME INTERRUPT THE FESTIVITIES TO FIELD THIS VERY IMPORTANT BUSINESS CALL."

I'm pretty sure I can use a cellphone without turning into one of those idjits... er, fine upstanding citizens.

But it's not going to save me any money! One guy at the motorcycle service shop sneered at me because I couldn't name a number where I'd be reached during the day -- I wanted to go shopping and conduct errands and taking the bus hither and thither would be too long. Two middle-aged men already mock me for not having a phone. I figure now that I have my own wheels I should have a phone so I can call someone in case of emergency. But then I'd need a pocket phone book in my purse too. Or recruiters can talk to me when I'm running errands and I have a better shot of getting jobs.

I have a trial period of thirty days. I get thirty whole minutes in those thirty days. I dunno... Send it back?

My challenge for July: (feel free to participate here)
Find thirty-one ways to cut $30.00 of expenditures.

Entertainment expenses have gone up: a DVD or video at our rental place of choice is now $4.00, but we can have it for a week. Wednesdays are two-for-one days though.

Fun link!

Grandfather Economic Report

This is a collection of easy-to-understand picture-reports to increase awareness of certain threats to the economic future & freedom of families and their children, compared to the past - - on family income, debt, savings, government spending, education quality, social security, regulations, taxes, inflation, energy, foreign trade and exchange, voter turnout, trust, national security, and health care.

Sixty-two percent of Americans report that they are saving and/or investing. However, more than 40 percent of all Americans save less than five percent of their annual household income. Sixteen percent save between 5 and 10 percent. Only nine percent save more than 20 percent of their annual income. - Jean Sherman Chatzky or is it Jean Chatzky Sherman?

There are a host of other goal-oriented bloggers who've seen fit to make their debt paydowns public, and I commend each one of them. I do my level best to keep up with as many as I can. Because I've been where they are. By making their debts, their goals, and their actions public, they've turned vague "ought-tos" into unmistakable, concrete targets. They're asking for an audience. They're asking for accountability. This goes against pretty much everything our society preaches regarding money and debt. And by gosh, it takes bigtime courage.
Making Your Debt Known

I owe $162610.85. There. I'm out with my debt. It would make me feel better if other Seattle families would admit to me they're feeling pinched, but they're not. I meet with single people once a month to talk about our debt and the progress and setbacks we've had. Maybe the Seattle families manage money better than I do.

How much am I paying off each month? $900 in principal, $700 in interest.

I think the Seattle families could help each other. Costco coshopping. Progressive dinners. Batch cooking. Bartering. It's outside my comfort zone to ask people if they're interested in these things, but maybe I should be brave, huh? Maybe not assume everyone has the stock option fairy or the trust fund god giving them six-digit wealth.

Maybe I'll do a bad thing and use the 3.99% convenience cheques to extend my low interest loan on the scooter -- to be paid off by April 2007. And put my money where the return will be greater -- like CDs or bonds or Fording Coal or gold.

Brother giving me $600.00 for his expenses (shopping, research). Yay.

10 Steps out of Credit Card Debt

Ooh, a clearly unreachable goal-- own the house outright by ...
SUMMARY MESSAGE
Families should not wait for government bureaucrats & politicians to 'save them' or 'set it right again' - they must take their own individual responsibility to develop actions to reduce their own consumption and invest more of their own productive time in high-quality education and savings, while maximizing their own assets free & clear of any debt. In other words, families must face the reality of certain national trends - - or suffer consequences.

Why? The legislators you elect know nothing but to drive up debt. Don't leave your Cadillac to be handled by a person who's worked only at demolition derbies.