We finally made it to my home town on Saturday afternoon after several long hours looming about the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. All of our flights were on time, the issue was that they were over-booked. Now, when I hear that, a thought passes my mind that it would be nice to get the money, but then I quickly get over it and happily board the plane. When I start a journey, I'm ready to get to the destination, especially at the beginning of a trip when I'm excited about it. This never happens on the way home! I'm also excited to get from Point A to Point B because I have an almost 2 year old daughter and she can be quite a handful.
Ohhh, but my husband, is very different. He hears that the airline attendants need volunteers and he sees dollar signs like a tiger salivates over raw meat. He had those puppy dog eyes and looked at me and said, $600 is a lot of money. Are you sure you don't want to work something out? After agreeing that we did not want to spend the night, we worked out $200 travel vouchers each, confirmation on the next flight out in about 3 hours, and a cab ride back to my home town. When that flight came up, I was then convinced to take the $300 travel voucher they offered for that flight and the hotel room to spend the night. We were confirmed on the flight out at 10:30 the next morning. Not too shabby, $1000 worth of travel vouchers to spend a few extra hours in Dallas.
At this point, I've forgotten all about the long hours in the airport; we are caught up on sleep. We ended up splurging on beer and a chocolate fudge brownie while we were waiting. It was a nice treat.
Showing posts with label Financial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Financial. Show all posts
Monday, January 08, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
"Your Bay Area Home as Profit Center"
Yesterday, I responded to a post on the MBN Forum. The question was about Net Worth. Do you calculate your real estate equity into your net worth? or not?
I do both. I had such a struggle purchasing this house in SF. that it's important to me to know that this investment is worth something!
According to this article in today's SF Chronicle"Your Bay Area Home as Profit Center", 97 percent of people who sold their house in the Bay Area in November 2006 got more than they paid for it. The article admittedly states that in this number they do not include improvements on the property, nor do they include equity lines of credit. So, this number is a bit unrealistic; however, I still believe that the number is high and that most people are making money when they sell their house.
Also, you can see from the article that with a median holding period of 6 years, the appreciation rate of these homes was 11.1% per year. That's awesome. Looking at it from a more conservative approach, housing only appreciates 3.5 percentage points a year over the rate of inflation (which was 2.7% during the same time period). So, conservatively, my house should "technically" increase at least 6.2% per year. Not too shabby.
I get to live in my house, not pay rent, and still "make" 6.2% in appreciation this year. I can live with that. I have no intention of taking out an equity line (unless, we are in absolute dire circumstances and there is NO OTHER way out.) I finally feel pretty good about this purchase.
To answer the Net Worth Quetion too, I like to look at both numbers, because as long as we are living here, the real estate equity is an intangible number. I like to know that it is available, but not count on it. Our current NW is $454,054 with our RE equity and $209,622 without. Either way you look at it, I'm pretty happy with the number.
What about you? How do you calculate your Net Worth?
I do both. I had such a struggle purchasing this house in SF. that it's important to me to know that this investment is worth something!
According to this article in today's SF Chronicle"Your Bay Area Home as Profit Center", 97 percent of people who sold their house in the Bay Area in November 2006 got more than they paid for it. The article admittedly states that in this number they do not include improvements on the property, nor do they include equity lines of credit. So, this number is a bit unrealistic; however, I still believe that the number is high and that most people are making money when they sell their house.
Also, you can see from the article that with a median holding period of 6 years, the appreciation rate of these homes was 11.1% per year. That's awesome. Looking at it from a more conservative approach, housing only appreciates 3.5 percentage points a year over the rate of inflation (which was 2.7% during the same time period). So, conservatively, my house should "technically" increase at least 6.2% per year. Not too shabby.
I get to live in my house, not pay rent, and still "make" 6.2% in appreciation this year. I can live with that. I have no intention of taking out an equity line (unless, we are in absolute dire circumstances and there is NO OTHER way out.) I finally feel pretty good about this purchase.
To answer the Net Worth Quetion too, I like to look at both numbers, because as long as we are living here, the real estate equity is an intangible number. I like to know that it is available, but not count on it. Our current NW is $454,054 with our RE equity and $209,622 without. Either way you look at it, I'm pretty happy with the number.
What about you? How do you calculate your Net Worth?
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
My Fabulous Financial Life
A few weeks ago Single Ma asked us to describe our fabulous financial life. I participated and submitted this review:
I'm glad that you posed this challenge to me. I started my own blog back in July and was really gung-ho about it. Mostly, I wanted to be held accountable for my financial actions and learn how to save and invest my hard-earned money. I found out quickly enough that keeping up a blog is work and at that point in my life, I couldn't keep up the pace. Nevertheless, I read blogs everyday and continually try to improve my financial life. This past year has been fabulous on several accounts: personally, spiritually, and professionally.
I realize that I have a wonderful life, a great family, a beautiful daughter, a great home, plenty of wholesome food, and more than enough money to buy the things that I need and want in life. I love my job, I love my boss, I love my life. It took me a long, long time to be so happy with this fate. I think that is what comes to us in our 30s. We start to appreciate things, people, events, everything. We slow down. We've defined our character and who we are (or what we want to become.) These things are constantly being fine tuned, but deep down my core values and beliefs are defined. I've grown closer to God. I've devoted myself to understanding my faith. I attend my church regularly, I pray, I read inspiring spiritual stories. I've grown tremendously in 2006.
My financial life has exceled as well. I increased my salary by 57.8% this year, that's over $75K. I'm in sales which is a cyclical process. I've worked smart and hard for 3 years and this year has really paid off. I also understand that this number can fluctuate dramatically; this is sales.
I have reviewed my spending patterns for this year and figured out exactly where my money went: 27.23% taxes, including property tax; 22.86% mortgage payments, including investment property; 11.66% 401k, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 529, E-fund, and Daughter savings account, explanation detailed below; 4.04% medical insurance, flexible spending, auto deduction, legal insurance (for will and trust), dental, Supplemental AD&D insurance, 34.21% all other.
This was in interesting exercise because I learned several things. We remodeled our kitchen and finished up a bathroom remodel this year which cost approximately $50K. We have about $12K in our HSBC account sitting and collecting interest to pay off a no-interest credit card next April. That's a nice chunk of money working for us! The rest of the remodel has been paid off. No fees for opening an equity line and no outstanding debt. My confession is that I've paid about $500 in credit card interest this year. This was one of the lessons learned (and hopefully this faux-pas won't be repeated.) However, I'm not too upset about it because I got bonus points on my credit cards to be cashed in for free flights, and I got to enjoy my kitchen. I could have done it differently, but I didn't. Lesson learned. To sum up: the 34.21% of all other included this remodel and an ~$10K trip to Italy with my family and in-laws. After these two expenses, our all other category drops to 9.34% of the total. That includes groceries and stuff.
Despite what it seems, I am maxing out my 401k. I contributed approximately $12,500 this year which is about the max I can contribute in my company. I am on the verge on not qualifying for a Roth IRA anymore, so I stopped contributing to it a couple of months ago. We may still qualify after deductions for the year, but it will be close. That's a bitter-sweet pill to swallow. I haven't contributed enough into my husband's traditional IRA, and I only have about $2800 in an e-fund. However, the e-fund is still an improvement as I didn't even have one a few months ago. I realize that I want to increase my total savings to 20% of my total financial picture. I missed that goal this year, but think it should be attainable in 2007 because we won't have such huge expenses. I also realized that my percentage of charitable giving was paltry. It was embarrassing really. I strive to increase it to at least 5% of my net income for next year.
I reviewed financial goals that I made back in August 2006. I gave myself 12 months to complete these goals and I'm happily impressed with my progress.
Short-term:
1) pay off credit cards & debt to electrician. DONE
2) restart automatic contribution to Roth, Trad IRA, 529. Half way done. Roth stopped. Traditional IRA, started and then stopped. 529 started and continues.
12 month plan:
1) $10K in HSBC savings for E-fund. $2838.33 in account. Well on my way.
2) Use credit cards wisely and pay off each month. All paid as of Dec16.
3) Max allowed to Roth and Traditional IRAs. Stopped contributing to talk to accountant. Will put max (or as close to) into Traditional IRA after we talk to our accountant in February.
4) Max 401k. Done.
5) $175 to 529 plan for daughter each month. Done
6) Pay down portion of kitchen remodel that was on credit cards $13K. Entire balance is sitting in HSBC account waiting to pay off the no-interest credit card in May 2007.
7) Extra payments to 2nd mortgage for investment property to pay it down quickly. This is the highest interest mortgage payment that we have at 7.5%, but it's only for ~$20K. I've since changed my mind about a portion of this since I spoke to my mentor. I'm going to try to make a couple of extra payments (they are only $200 a month.) to decrease the 30 year payment schedule, but I'm not going to try to have it paid off in the 5 years or so that I had originally planned.
Well, there you have it. The state of my mental and fiscal affairs. I'm working on goals for 2007. Overall, I'm impressed with what I've done. I have plenty of improvement, but I know I'm taking the right steps to increase my savings and decrease our overall spending.
Stating goals, following through on those goals, and constantly learning has become an unstated motto. I'm doing just that. I'm improving my life, trying to help others, and growing financially, mentally, and spiritually. That is, indeed, why I'm FABULOUS!
I'm glad that you posed this challenge to me. I started my own blog back in July and was really gung-ho about it. Mostly, I wanted to be held accountable for my financial actions and learn how to save and invest my hard-earned money. I found out quickly enough that keeping up a blog is work and at that point in my life, I couldn't keep up the pace. Nevertheless, I read blogs everyday and continually try to improve my financial life. This past year has been fabulous on several accounts: personally, spiritually, and professionally.
I realize that I have a wonderful life, a great family, a beautiful daughter, a great home, plenty of wholesome food, and more than enough money to buy the things that I need and want in life. I love my job, I love my boss, I love my life. It took me a long, long time to be so happy with this fate. I think that is what comes to us in our 30s. We start to appreciate things, people, events, everything. We slow down. We've defined our character and who we are (or what we want to become.) These things are constantly being fine tuned, but deep down my core values and beliefs are defined. I've grown closer to God. I've devoted myself to understanding my faith. I attend my church regularly, I pray, I read inspiring spiritual stories. I've grown tremendously in 2006.
My financial life has exceled as well. I increased my salary by 57.8% this year, that's over $75K. I'm in sales which is a cyclical process. I've worked smart and hard for 3 years and this year has really paid off. I also understand that this number can fluctuate dramatically; this is sales.
I have reviewed my spending patterns for this year and figured out exactly where my money went: 27.23% taxes, including property tax; 22.86% mortgage payments, including investment property; 11.66% 401k, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, 529, E-fund, and Daughter savings account, explanation detailed below; 4.04% medical insurance, flexible spending, auto deduction, legal insurance (for will and trust), dental, Supplemental AD&D insurance, 34.21% all other.
This was in interesting exercise because I learned several things. We remodeled our kitchen and finished up a bathroom remodel this year which cost approximately $50K. We have about $12K in our HSBC account sitting and collecting interest to pay off a no-interest credit card next April. That's a nice chunk of money working for us! The rest of the remodel has been paid off. No fees for opening an equity line and no outstanding debt. My confession is that I've paid about $500 in credit card interest this year. This was one of the lessons learned (and hopefully this faux-pas won't be repeated.) However, I'm not too upset about it because I got bonus points on my credit cards to be cashed in for free flights, and I got to enjoy my kitchen. I could have done it differently, but I didn't. Lesson learned. To sum up: the 34.21% of all other included this remodel and an ~$10K trip to Italy with my family and in-laws. After these two expenses, our all other category drops to 9.34% of the total. That includes groceries and stuff.
Despite what it seems, I am maxing out my 401k. I contributed approximately $12,500 this year which is about the max I can contribute in my company. I am on the verge on not qualifying for a Roth IRA anymore, so I stopped contributing to it a couple of months ago. We may still qualify after deductions for the year, but it will be close. That's a bitter-sweet pill to swallow. I haven't contributed enough into my husband's traditional IRA, and I only have about $2800 in an e-fund. However, the e-fund is still an improvement as I didn't even have one a few months ago. I realize that I want to increase my total savings to 20% of my total financial picture. I missed that goal this year, but think it should be attainable in 2007 because we won't have such huge expenses. I also realized that my percentage of charitable giving was paltry. It was embarrassing really. I strive to increase it to at least 5% of my net income for next year.
I reviewed financial goals that I made back in August 2006. I gave myself 12 months to complete these goals and I'm happily impressed with my progress.
Short-term:
1) pay off credit cards & debt to electrician. DONE
2) restart automatic contribution to Roth, Trad IRA, 529. Half way done. Roth stopped. Traditional IRA, started and then stopped. 529 started and continues.
12 month plan:
1) $10K in HSBC savings for E-fund. $2838.33 in account. Well on my way.
2) Use credit cards wisely and pay off each month. All paid as of Dec16.
3) Max allowed to Roth and Traditional IRAs. Stopped contributing to talk to accountant. Will put max (or as close to) into Traditional IRA after we talk to our accountant in February.
4) Max 401k. Done.
5) $175 to 529 plan for daughter each month. Done
6) Pay down portion of kitchen remodel that was on credit cards $13K. Entire balance is sitting in HSBC account waiting to pay off the no-interest credit card in May 2007.
7) Extra payments to 2nd mortgage for investment property to pay it down quickly. This is the highest interest mortgage payment that we have at 7.5%, but it's only for ~$20K. I've since changed my mind about a portion of this since I spoke to my mentor. I'm going to try to make a couple of extra payments (they are only $200 a month.) to decrease the 30 year payment schedule, but I'm not going to try to have it paid off in the 5 years or so that I had originally planned.
Well, there you have it. The state of my mental and fiscal affairs. I'm working on goals for 2007. Overall, I'm impressed with what I've done. I have plenty of improvement, but I know I'm taking the right steps to increase my savings and decrease our overall spending.
Stating goals, following through on those goals, and constantly learning has become an unstated motto. I'm doing just that. I'm improving my life, trying to help others, and growing financially, mentally, and spiritually. That is, indeed, why I'm FABULOUS!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Financial Goals for 2007
I've revamped my financial goals from July 17th.
Here is the updated list:
*Savings
1) Save $10,000 in HSBC E-fund. $2838.33 already there. 28% complete. $7161.67 left to go.
2) Save 5% of gross sales to 401(k) plan. (This is approximately the maximum I can save per year per IRS regulationsh.)
3) Save maximum allowed for tax purposes to Traditional IRA. If we qualify, max-out Roth IRA.
4) Save $150 per month to daughter's 529 plan and $25 in her HSBC account.
* Increase Net Worth to $275K (not counting Real Estate equity).
* Tithe 5% of net income. We will equally distribute in 3 areas.
a) church
b) St. Anthony's Dining Room (to feed the homeless and underpriveledged)
c) varies: friends who ask for money for the Leukemia & Lymphona Society, Project Inform, American Heart Association, Friends of the Urban Forest, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
* Open brokerage account after E-fund is financed completely. My uncle highly recommends buyandhold.com, so I'll check into that company first.
* Track spending for 1st 3 months and come up with a reasonable budget. Purchase budgeting software if needed. I'm terrible with following a budget, probably because I don't know how. This year I will tackle this one and become proficient!
* Read a Quicken book to optimize all of my options in Quicken.
* Buy a safe for important personal property.
* Videotape all possessions. Burn a DVD of the tape and place one in our safe and give one to each of our parents for safe keeping. (Both of our parents live out of state.)
* Eliminate personal property insurance on my wedding ring and another ring.
* Review life insurance. Purchase new term-life insurance if we need it.
* Look into placing our Louisiana investment property into our Living Trust. (We got wills and a Revocable Living Trust for our property in San Francisco this year.)
* Keep up my blog.
Here is the updated list:
*Savings
1) Save $10,000 in HSBC E-fund. $2838.33 already there. 28% complete. $7161.67 left to go.
2) Save 5% of gross sales to 401(k) plan. (This is approximately the maximum I can save per year per IRS regulationsh.)
3) Save maximum allowed for tax purposes to Traditional IRA. If we qualify, max-out Roth IRA.
4) Save $150 per month to daughter's 529 plan and $25 in her HSBC account.
* Increase Net Worth to $275K (not counting Real Estate equity).
* Tithe 5% of net income. We will equally distribute in 3 areas.
a) church
b) St. Anthony's Dining Room (to feed the homeless and underpriveledged)
c) varies: friends who ask for money for the Leukemia & Lymphona Society, Project Inform, American Heart Association, Friends of the Urban Forest, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
* Open brokerage account after E-fund is financed completely. My uncle highly recommends buyandhold.com, so I'll check into that company first.
* Track spending for 1st 3 months and come up with a reasonable budget. Purchase budgeting software if needed. I'm terrible with following a budget, probably because I don't know how. This year I will tackle this one and become proficient!
* Read a Quicken book to optimize all of my options in Quicken.
* Buy a safe for important personal property.
* Videotape all possessions. Burn a DVD of the tape and place one in our safe and give one to each of our parents for safe keeping. (Both of our parents live out of state.)
* Eliminate personal property insurance on my wedding ring and another ring.
* Review life insurance. Purchase new term-life insurance if we need it.
* Look into placing our Louisiana investment property into our Living Trust. (We got wills and a Revocable Living Trust for our property in San Francisco this year.)
* Keep up my blog.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Prosper.com or Zopa.com
Ok, so I can't really stay away from reading blogs. I've had too much happen in my life in the past couple of months. Maybe I'll elaborate later.
What I really want to know is if anyone out there has used Prosper.com to lend out money? Have you made money? What's your experience? What do you think?
I think it's intriguing.
What I really want to know is if anyone out there has used Prosper.com to lend out money? Have you made money? What's your experience? What do you think?
I think it's intriguing.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Another goof up
I am ususally the most diligent, up-to-date organized person. However, lately, I've done some major goof ups when it comes to my finances. I wrote about one the other day, and now I must confess to another.
I was booking my flight to Louisiana in January to visit my family. I don't know what I was thinking, but I put the wrong dates. I confirmed, reconfirmed, pressed the button of no return and then when I was reading the confirmation email 5 minutes later, I realized that I put in the wrong dates! I quickly called my credit card company, the airline, and then finally the online search company where I bought the tickets (cheapoairfare.com). The tickets were already purchased, so the guy in customer service at cheapoairfare.com helped me out. He was VERY kind and helped me get the right dates; however, I still had to pay $140 extra. We had to cancel the previous reservation and book another one and, of course, the other dates had a change in fare, so I had to pay the difference plus a $35 change fee. I hemmed and hawed for about 5 minutes and then just booked the new ticket. $140 was worth an extra 5 days with my family. I just screwed up and it was my own damn fault!! Arrgghh!! When am I going to get my act together?
I pledge to meditate, pray, run, walk or do yoga each day to bring back my sanity!!!
I was booking my flight to Louisiana in January to visit my family. I don't know what I was thinking, but I put the wrong dates. I confirmed, reconfirmed, pressed the button of no return and then when I was reading the confirmation email 5 minutes later, I realized that I put in the wrong dates! I quickly called my credit card company, the airline, and then finally the online search company where I bought the tickets (cheapoairfare.com). The tickets were already purchased, so the guy in customer service at cheapoairfare.com helped me out. He was VERY kind and helped me get the right dates; however, I still had to pay $140 extra. We had to cancel the previous reservation and book another one and, of course, the other dates had a change in fare, so I had to pay the difference plus a $35 change fee. I hemmed and hawed for about 5 minutes and then just booked the new ticket. $140 was worth an extra 5 days with my family. I just screwed up and it was my own damn fault!! Arrgghh!! When am I going to get my act together?
I pledge to meditate, pray, run, walk or do yoga each day to bring back my sanity!!!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
The Truth about Company Cars
First of all, I'm very grateful to have a company car, please don't get me wrong. I love that I pay a small amount (about $700-1000) for the personal use of my company car, but I'm irritated with what I've gotten.
I just got a Chevy Uplander. New 2007 model. It has 4 wheels and a steering wheel and an a/c and a radio...um, that's about it. Oh, yeah, and I got seats with seatbelts too, thanks. I almost forgot. I've been with my company for 9+years. We get cars based on an hierarchical system; therefore, I get a level 3 car. At a level 3 you'd think you'd get something nice! I do drive about 35,000+ miles a year, I want some conveniences. But alas, I digress.
Again, I want to reiterate, I am very happy to have a pretty-much-free car. It drives well. It's fine. But it really has nothing to do with me personally. It's an impersonal decision for the company that affects every single day of my working life:) ahh.
I just got a Chevy Uplander. New 2007 model. It has 4 wheels and a steering wheel and an a/c and a radio...um, that's about it. Oh, yeah, and I got seats with seatbelts too, thanks. I almost forgot. I've been with my company for 9+years. We get cars based on an hierarchical system; therefore, I get a level 3 car. At a level 3 you'd think you'd get something nice! I do drive about 35,000+ miles a year, I want some conveniences. But alas, I digress.
Again, I want to reiterate, I am very happy to have a pretty-much-free car. It drives well. It's fine. But it really has nothing to do with me personally. It's an impersonal decision for the company that affects every single day of my working life:) ahh.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Our handyman---The house Part 2
We have done a tremendous amount of work on this property, ahem, my home. So, when I left off, we had just purchased our house here in San Francisco. This house was in horrible shape when we bought it. It was, what my husband calls, a cosmetic fixer-upper. We got to work right away.
In the two weeks before we moved in, we cleaned and painted the walls and ceilings, resanded the hardwood floors (well, it was done by professionals), and cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms from top to bottom. I even painted the red linoleum on the kitchen floor as a temporary fix until the kitchen remodel. It was crazy dirty. Hello, there were rat-traps throughout the house when they were trying to sell it. Did these people EVER clean here? And, didn't they think that removing the rat-traps might help them sell it? Luckily for us they weren't smart and we weren't scared!
We moved in and continued to work on project after project for 2.5 years. Early in our remodeling days, my husband found this guy to help us out. Well, actually, he was a homeless guy. You know the guy on the street corner with the sign that says "Will work for Food." Well, his sign said something like I've been a carpenter for 18 years. Will work for food. So, my husband, being frugal (well maybe here cheap or psychotic) rolled down the window on his sedan and said, "If you are serious, give me a call. We've got some work that needs to get done." This guy followed through and actually called us. He came over and helped to install a back door to our house. When we moved in the back door was not much more than a piece of plywood on hinges with a hook-and-eye-type of lock. I could have huffed and puffed and blown it down. The homeless guy-turned handyman (HGTH) looked at the project, gave my husband a shopping list, built a new casing and installed the door. It was top-notch, professional, and not so expensive. Of course, we cut a deal with this guy. After he expertly installed this door, we told him we were going to pay him $8 more an hour and continued to give him more projects.
We invited HGTH to stay for dinner, washed some of his clothes, suggested *ahem* he take a shower. A few days into this business relationship he told us that he was a heroin-addict and that he wanted to quit using. OK, we figured there was a reason he was homeless. This professional relationship went on for about a year and then it became a little too personal. We (meaning me) wanted to be his savior. I thought I could help him quit drugs, clean up his life, and help him get settled into a new life. Nope. Although, he said he wanted me to help, he really didn't. So, I severed the personal attachment and again it became strictly professional. There were times that he wouldn't show up for days, most of the time he never showed up on time. It became old quickly. He still did amazing work, but we would get so fed up with his erratic behavior. A couple of Christmas's ago, we got pissed off at him and he with us, and he quit coming. That was for about 6 months. Then he called one day and he came back to work for us. We began that bathroom remodel about a year ago. When HGTH got stuck on some plumbing work, we called in a professional plumber. He got upset. We got upset. Words were exchanged. We ended up firing him again and hired "professional" and licensed folks.
Now, after our bathroom and kitchen remodel, we look back on the work that was done and aren't very happy with the "professional" work. Sure it's ok. The kitchen looks great. But we had to deal with the same bullshit from these other handymen and we paid them about 3 times as much. HGTH could have done the job, probably better, probably with more professionalism, well, lets not get carried away:)
About a week ago, I saw HGTH on the street begging for gas. (He bought a used truck during the time that he worked for us.) I dug deep into my wallet for money, $3 to be exact. I rolled down the window and waved him over. As he took the money, I said, "Hi HGTH". Well, actually, I said his name:) Anyhoo, I said that we had more work for him to do. He asked what it was. I didn't know specifics, but told him to call my husband for details. He said he'd just come by the house later.
He looked pretty rough. I'm sure he was back on the street (or more likely living in his truck.) He still hasn't come over. I'm not sure he will.
In the two weeks before we moved in, we cleaned and painted the walls and ceilings, resanded the hardwood floors (well, it was done by professionals), and cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms from top to bottom. I even painted the red linoleum on the kitchen floor as a temporary fix until the kitchen remodel. It was crazy dirty. Hello, there were rat-traps throughout the house when they were trying to sell it. Did these people EVER clean here? And, didn't they think that removing the rat-traps might help them sell it? Luckily for us they weren't smart and we weren't scared!
We moved in and continued to work on project after project for 2.5 years. Early in our remodeling days, my husband found this guy to help us out. Well, actually, he was a homeless guy. You know the guy on the street corner with the sign that says "Will work for Food." Well, his sign said something like I've been a carpenter for 18 years. Will work for food. So, my husband, being frugal (well maybe here cheap or psychotic) rolled down the window on his sedan and said, "If you are serious, give me a call. We've got some work that needs to get done." This guy followed through and actually called us. He came over and helped to install a back door to our house. When we moved in the back door was not much more than a piece of plywood on hinges with a hook-and-eye-type of lock. I could have huffed and puffed and blown it down. The homeless guy-turned handyman (HGTH) looked at the project, gave my husband a shopping list, built a new casing and installed the door. It was top-notch, professional, and not so expensive. Of course, we cut a deal with this guy. After he expertly installed this door, we told him we were going to pay him $8 more an hour and continued to give him more projects.
We invited HGTH to stay for dinner, washed some of his clothes, suggested *ahem* he take a shower. A few days into this business relationship he told us that he was a heroin-addict and that he wanted to quit using. OK, we figured there was a reason he was homeless. This professional relationship went on for about a year and then it became a little too personal. We (meaning me) wanted to be his savior. I thought I could help him quit drugs, clean up his life, and help him get settled into a new life. Nope. Although, he said he wanted me to help, he really didn't. So, I severed the personal attachment and again it became strictly professional. There were times that he wouldn't show up for days, most of the time he never showed up on time. It became old quickly. He still did amazing work, but we would get so fed up with his erratic behavior. A couple of Christmas's ago, we got pissed off at him and he with us, and he quit coming. That was for about 6 months. Then he called one day and he came back to work for us. We began that bathroom remodel about a year ago. When HGTH got stuck on some plumbing work, we called in a professional plumber. He got upset. We got upset. Words were exchanged. We ended up firing him again and hired "professional" and licensed folks.
Now, after our bathroom and kitchen remodel, we look back on the work that was done and aren't very happy with the "professional" work. Sure it's ok. The kitchen looks great. But we had to deal with the same bullshit from these other handymen and we paid them about 3 times as much. HGTH could have done the job, probably better, probably with more professionalism, well, lets not get carried away:)
About a week ago, I saw HGTH on the street begging for gas. (He bought a used truck during the time that he worked for us.) I dug deep into my wallet for money, $3 to be exact. I rolled down the window and waved him over. As he took the money, I said, "Hi HGTH". Well, actually, I said his name:) Anyhoo, I said that we had more work for him to do. He asked what it was. I didn't know specifics, but told him to call my husband for details. He said he'd just come by the house later.
He looked pretty rough. I'm sure he was back on the street (or more likely living in his truck.) He still hasn't come over. I'm not sure he will.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
What gets me moving in the morning
Not too many years ago, I felt like a slave to money. I couldn't stop obsessing about how much I made, how I was going to pay for college for a child that not only wasn't even conceived but wasn't even thought of, and how I was going to buy a house; I needed more money because more would allow me to live my lifestyle, save for the future and buy a nice home. It's taken me a few years, many journals, and the birth of my daughter to realize that what I need can't be bought with money. I "need" the love, support, and respect of my husband. (I say need but really I mean want. I need oxygen, food. I want a healthy relationship with my spouse. There is a difference.) I need some of the same from my child. I'm blessed beyond belief and that really has nothing to do with money.
Don't get me wrong, money is important to me, very, very important to me. However, it doesn't have a binding effect like it used to. It's a work in progress and a constant struggle to balance out my life, but I've identified my goals, both financial and non-financial, and my values. I try to live my life in alignment with these values and goals: every decision I make takes me back to these two areas.
How did I get here? Well, the long drawn out story will be posted somewhere else. The short story is that I started by journaling a lot about my feelings, I wrote about why I felt the way I did about money, and then I read a lot. I've read many self-help money tomes on how to get my financial life in order. Once you read a few, you get the gist of everyone's message which is to spend less than you make and save a chunk for living your life now and in the future. Sounds simple, but it's oh so hard! The first simple step (besides educating myself) was to track exactly where my money went. How much did I actually make? How much exactly did I spend on health care, groceries, concerts, insurance? I made my husband track just how much he put in parking meters:) (We have a line in our expense chart for parking meters...I know it's crazy, but I really, really needed to know where we were spending our money!) I learned from this monthly snapshot what was important to us and where we were frivolously spending money. Nothing surprised me except that we pay about $700-800 a year for a Harley motorcycle that sits in our garage for a huge chunk of time. (I've since made peace with the fact that this expense exists, but will certainly be one of the first to go if we are ever in a bind.)
Finding out where our money went helped to move me to the next step which is to evaluate our expense reports and make sure what we were spending money on was in alignment with our financial goals and values. Then, I made saving a priority (which I've always done, but I kicked it up a notch.) We've always saved to my 401(k), a traditional IRA, and a Roth IRA, but we didn't have an E-fund set up. So, in addition to those savings vehicles, I established an E-fund with HSBC. Within a few months I've already built it to $4700. It is a rush to see my savings grow, to check how much money 5% interest really brings in. That rush used to be full-filled with shopping, but not anymore.
I'm in a much, much better place in my emotional-financial house since I created a game-plan. I can only make so much money, I can only save so much money, I can only do a finite thing with money. If I lost every penny today, I would still be ok. If my marriage were to dissolve, I'd be ok (albeit, very, very sad, but ok.) I have a wonderfully supportive husband, a gorgeously smart child, and we all have good health and love for one another. Sure, I'd stress out and find a way to rebuild our savings, but I would be ok. What gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing that I make a difference to someone in the world, right now, I make a difference to my family and friends.
I'm going to close with a quote from Liz Perle's book, "Money, a memoir". "As long as I had believed that financial security purchased emotional security, I'd lived a dependent, conditional life. Conditional on the individuals, families, institutions--even fantasises--that I'd invested with the power to take care of me. When I made that quiet contract with cash so long ago, I'd trusted that money would compensate for my emotional needs. As a result, each time one of those sources of security disappointed me or disappeared, I was left in a state of fear." I used to feel this way about money and relationships too. I feel blessed that at the young age of 31 that I know that I don't "need" anything or anyone to be ok. Money doesn't define me or my values or character.
Don't get me wrong, money is important to me, very, very important to me. However, it doesn't have a binding effect like it used to. It's a work in progress and a constant struggle to balance out my life, but I've identified my goals, both financial and non-financial, and my values. I try to live my life in alignment with these values and goals: every decision I make takes me back to these two areas.
How did I get here? Well, the long drawn out story will be posted somewhere else. The short story is that I started by journaling a lot about my feelings, I wrote about why I felt the way I did about money, and then I read a lot. I've read many self-help money tomes on how to get my financial life in order. Once you read a few, you get the gist of everyone's message which is to spend less than you make and save a chunk for living your life now and in the future. Sounds simple, but it's oh so hard! The first simple step (besides educating myself) was to track exactly where my money went. How much did I actually make? How much exactly did I spend on health care, groceries, concerts, insurance? I made my husband track just how much he put in parking meters:) (We have a line in our expense chart for parking meters...I know it's crazy, but I really, really needed to know where we were spending our money!) I learned from this monthly snapshot what was important to us and where we were frivolously spending money. Nothing surprised me except that we pay about $700-800 a year for a Harley motorcycle that sits in our garage for a huge chunk of time. (I've since made peace with the fact that this expense exists, but will certainly be one of the first to go if we are ever in a bind.)
Finding out where our money went helped to move me to the next step which is to evaluate our expense reports and make sure what we were spending money on was in alignment with our financial goals and values. Then, I made saving a priority (which I've always done, but I kicked it up a notch.) We've always saved to my 401(k), a traditional IRA, and a Roth IRA, but we didn't have an E-fund set up. So, in addition to those savings vehicles, I established an E-fund with HSBC. Within a few months I've already built it to $4700. It is a rush to see my savings grow, to check how much money 5% interest really brings in. That rush used to be full-filled with shopping, but not anymore.
I'm in a much, much better place in my emotional-financial house since I created a game-plan. I can only make so much money, I can only save so much money, I can only do a finite thing with money. If I lost every penny today, I would still be ok. If my marriage were to dissolve, I'd be ok (albeit, very, very sad, but ok.) I have a wonderfully supportive husband, a gorgeously smart child, and we all have good health and love for one another. Sure, I'd stress out and find a way to rebuild our savings, but I would be ok. What gets me out of bed in the morning is knowing that I make a difference to someone in the world, right now, I make a difference to my family and friends.
I'm going to close with a quote from Liz Perle's book, "Money, a memoir". "As long as I had believed that financial security purchased emotional security, I'd lived a dependent, conditional life. Conditional on the individuals, families, institutions--even fantasises--that I'd invested with the power to take care of me. When I made that quiet contract with cash so long ago, I'd trusted that money would compensate for my emotional needs. As a result, each time one of those sources of security disappointed me or disappeared, I was left in a state of fear." I used to feel this way about money and relationships too. I feel blessed that at the young age of 31 that I know that I don't "need" anything or anyone to be ok. Money doesn't define me or my values or character.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
"Easy on the Pocketbook, Easy on the Environment"
Reusable Menstrual products. I've wanted to write about this for a few weeks, but couldn't figure out a way to discuss it without getting an "eewww, that's gross!" reaction. The Simple Living Network has an article that eloquently describes the message I wanted to get out. Check it out!
Simple Living Network Newsletter
I've been using the Glad Rag products for several months now and I LOVE them. I can feel good that I'm not adding to a landfill AND more importantly, I feel like I've embraced my cycle. I celebrate my femininity now!
Glad Rags
Ladies, have you thought about this before? What do you think?
Simple Living Network Newsletter
I've been using the Glad Rag products for several months now and I LOVE them. I can feel good that I'm not adding to a landfill AND more importantly, I feel like I've embraced my cycle. I celebrate my femininity now!
Glad Rags
Ladies, have you thought about this before? What do you think?
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