Aereo: A Review

For a few months, my husband and I have discussed cutting our satellite. We were motivated by several factors.

First, it was expensive. We signed a 2 year contract, and the first year, we got a great deal, but after that, our rate sky rocketed, and every month as we looked at our budget, it just seemed like an extravagant expense. In the end, it was a luxury, and one that we felt we could live without.

Second, we found that we were beginning to watch too much t.v. T.V. became what we did. We used it as an excuse not to go out or be active. Also, it was a filler for other things. We found that we would come home, chat for a few minutes, then sit down watch t.v. and stay on the couch until bed. 

Third, we realized that we were watching such a small selection of channels, and we didn't need to pay for such a large package. 

Finally, it dawned on us that the majority of the things we wanted to see we could find online for free. Most channels have app's and they show so much of their content on those app's and we could seek out the content there. 

Between our computer, our iPads, our iPhones and our Apple TV, we are geared up enough to make due without traditional media outlets. 

We knew we wanted some type of traditional t.v., and initially we thought of purchasing an antenna, but after talking with some employees at Best Buy, we discovered Aereo. 

Aereo is a subscription based source for local t.v. that is available online. It works just like Netflix. There is a monthly fee of $8.00 with no contract. It provides about 40 channels, including all the major local networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. There are also quite a few random channels that we will never utilize, but are there none the less. (Unless my husband decided to start collecting weird porcelain dolls, we are probably never going to watch it).  We are able to watch Aereo on up to 2 devices at the same time. So if he is watching a soccer game on Saturday morning, I can still watch the news from our computer at the same time. Plus, with the Apple TV, we are able to use AirPlay and stream the feed onto our t.v. The other great feature is that it also has a DVR, so you are able to record shows just like you can with a traditional DVR or Tivo. 

Between our two subscriptions, Netflix and Aereo,we pay less than $16.00 a month for everything. Given what we were paying before, that is almost a 90% savings. 

At this juncture, we are happy with our choice and very happy with the savings we have found. 

This may not be a forever solution, and one day may go back to traditional cable or satellite, but right now, this is really working for us. 

Anyone else out there use Aereo? What do you pay for cable each month?

A Pinterest Success

Hey gang. It's been a few weeks.

Moving on from my radio silence........

I have not blogged much these past few weeks because I have been traveling, doing some home improvement projects, and taking care of some really serious business like watching all the seasons of Pretty Little Liars on Netflix. I am totally hooked, and am dying to find out who A is. Don't tell me if you know.

One major mile stone that we have reached during the 1st quarter of the year....I have finally had a Pinterest success! Well, not so much me, but P.

I saw this pinned this ages ago, and I thought it was beautiful.

I showed it to P sauce and asked him to make one for me. So he did.

First, we went to Home Depot to look at 5 panel doors, and they were pretty expensive, and we didn't want to spend that much money on the project. After doing some research, we found a scrap yard on the South side of Dallas, and we stopped by one early Saturday morning. We asked if they had any doors on sight, and the guy running the shop laughed. He said, "Yea, we have about 3,000."

Awesome.

After door hunting, and some negotiations, we were able to get this beauty for $45.00

As you can see, we may have gone a bit overboard an purchased a few doors. Now, we are those weird people in the neighborhood with a lot of doors.

At one point P suggested hanging them around the house like art. I suggested we not do that.

That door had 8 layers of paint on there, all different colors. We went through containers and containers of stripper, trying to remove all the old gunk. It took days to work through each layer, peeling and scraping one area at a time.

After getting all of the main layers off, it was time to start working on the panels and in the corners. The detail work.

At this point, one of us got bored and stopped working on the door. I'll give you a hint, there was a certain handsome gentleman working on the door way past midnight one night to finish, while the other gentlewoman was snuggling with the dogs, passed out on the couch.

Finally, we got the door stripped, sanded, and ready to paint.

The real delay started here. P left the color selection up to me, and for some reason I was dead set on teal. Even though teal goes with nothing in our room, I wanted teal. I bought teal, painted a portion teal, hated the teal, and declared that this thing would never be finished.

A little about me, I don't do well when I have a lot of options. Have you ever looked at paint samples? There are around 86,000 colors to choose from, and each is slightly different from the next. And once you chose the color you have to choose the finish, gloss, high gloss, matte.....Are you going to distress it. You know who was distressed, me.

Lots of really tough first world problems I was facing.

Finally, I was able to move from my paint induced paralyzed state, I chose a color from the 18 sample bottles I purchased from the Home Depot. (I wish I was inflating this number.)

I picked, I painted, and here is what we were left with.

Our lovely headboard.

Please excuse the sloppily made bed.

Thanks to Pinterest and P, I think it looks awesome!!!

Any Pinterest successes recently?

The Case for Cash

When you see this sign, what do you think of? I used to think "My happy place," "My favorite store," or according to my husband, "My Mother Ship."

Now, when I see that sign, I wonder if my account information was stolen or if there was an attempted hacking on my bank account which is connected to my debit card in the recent data breech. I think about the time I spent canceling our debit cards, and the waiting to get a new ones. I think about how angry I am that I cannot trust my favorite store with my financial information. 

I think the same thing when each time I drive by these stores. 

Ultimately, the fact that these major stores, with droves of IT professionals and supposedly "secure checkout" were unable to protect the privacy and identity of millions of people around the globe makes me mad, nervous, and angry. We put our trust into the stores and institutions to protect us and our information. Unfortunately, they haven't. I hope that these stores, and others have put more safeguards in place to protect their customers, but I know that no matter how high the gate, someone will be able to find a way around. 

All of these occurrences, just reaffirm our decision to use predominantly cash in our every day purchases. Each month, we use cash for our groceries, dry cleaning, gas, entertainment, home goods, and dog supplies. Increasingly, I have come to realize that my husband and I are a bit "out there" and that financially speaking, we live on the fringes of the American society. 

For me, every time I hear of a data breech, it makes me want to push further and further away from the "normal" way of handling our finances. Yes, carrying around cash can be dangerous, but I think we have seen its no more dangerous than having your entire account wiped out, and your social security number being used to make fraudulent purchases. I would rather lose $500.00 in cash, than lose my identity to some hacker.

When it comes to cash or card, for me, I will chose cash, every time. I cannot eliminate the risk of having my information stolen, that is nearly impossible in the world we live in. But, I can reduce the amount of time my information is thrown out there, and I have to believe that will reduce my exposure to these criminals.

Cash or card, how do you roll?

Its the Principal of the matter

A few weeks ago,  P was paying our energy bill and noticed something odd, a minimum usage charge.

Looking over it, I started to get a bit frustrated, because P and I are vigilant about turing off lights when we leave a room, running the washer and dryer during off peak hours, and using our heat and a/c sparingly. We have even talked about installing solar panels on our home in order to produce our own electricity, and then sell it back to the energy company.

I ended up calling the energy company 2 times the next day, and both times, the customer service representatives were extremely rude and completely unhelpful.  When I asked for an explanation for the charge, I was told that it was only $9.95, which was not much money, so I should just deal with it.

True, $9.95 is not much money, but for me, its the principal of the matter. The fact is that we work really hard, and will even be a bit uncomfortable in order to save energy. We will bundle up in the winter under blankets and jackets, and in the summer, we keep it warmer than we like in order to save energy.

The 2nd customer service rep I spoke with told me to "use more energy so we don't have to pay that charge."

After speaking with these reps, I was more and more frustrated. It baffles me that we would be charged a fee for using too little energy, and that it is almost like being penalized for being good stewards of our resources.

The bottom line, yes, the charge is minimal, yet it does not encourage me to save, conserve, and reduce my consumption. In fact, I am charged a fee for doing so.

Luckily for us, we live in a state that deregulated energy, so P and I are shopping the market and looking for a plan with a better rate, and a company that encourages and rewards its clients for reducing consumption.

Do you read the fine print on any of your bills? Or, do you do like I normally do and just pay them without looking to closely?

Top 13%

I received a pretty cool email earlier this week from my one of my favorite stores---CVS.

In 2013, I was in the top 13% of all savers in the nation who shopped at CVS.
Their calculations do not take into account all the manufacture coupons I used at the store as well.

The price of EVERYTHING is rising, and the only way I know how to stay under budget is by utilizing coupons when I shop.

For us, $755.22 is a lot of money, and we have managed to build an impressive stockpile by combining sales and specials with store and manufacture coupons.

Currently, our stockpile has at least 2 years worth of hair care, razors, cleaning products, laundry detergent, dental care, and make up.  We have about a 3 month supply of paper products on hand right now.

For most people, I think they have a misunderstanding of the couponing process, and those who coupon. There seem to be two different stereotypes: Extreme Couponing and Grandma Couponing.

Extreme Couponing: Thanks to the TLC show, Extreme Couponing, many people think that when utilizing coupons, you have to buy 90 packs of hot dog weiners at a time,100 bottles of Ragu, and must dumpster dive to get enough coupons.

False. Most people who coupon, do not go to this extreme. I have never, nor do I have any plans to dumpster dive for coupon flyer's or buy 100 bottles of mustard. That's just insane.

Grandma Couponing: The shopper is haggling with the cashier over .30C off a box of Wheat Things, and the process takes 10 minutes, the line backs up, and while everyone is waiting for a manager, people in line are starting to grumble.

Both of these are not how I coupon. On average, I can walk into Target, and buy a cart full of groceries, personal care items, clothes, electronics, and books, and manage to save around 35-45% and the process to scan my coupons takes about a minute and a half.

I have posted a guide to couponing in the past, and I would be happy to do a refresher if y'all want. The best part is, it really takes me less than an hour a week to plan, and then I shop during the week. It is easy, I promise!

(If you want to see how much I save throughout the year, click on the savings tab at the top.)

Are you a couponer?

Hitting the Brakes

These past few months, I have been researching real estate. I have been looking at home/condos/apartments for sale in our area. I have been researching the cost to build an apartment over the garage to rent out. I have been watching a ton of HGTV (Scientific, I know).

I have been so ready to hit the gas and move forward. I want to move forward, dive into the real estate market, and make some money. I know that real estate has a great return on investment. I know that you can make money on real estate. I know that there are opportunities out there for people with money to invest. 

But, I have also known that if we were to invest in real estate, it would mean taking out a loan. And, I would be lying if I said, I had not at least considered it. 

Did you notice what is missing from above? How about the We.

See, these were plans I was drawing up in my head. I was ready to take my knowledge, my research, and move forward in my direction.

It was not until one day as we were driving around looking at houses, that P said "Babe, I feel like we are going 40 mph, and thats a good speed for us, but it seems like we are suddenly trying to go 70, and I am not sure we are ready for that speed."

That kind of took the wind out of my sails, but it was something I needed to hear. We have been walking along the Dave Ramsey baby steps, and things are going really well. We are on Step 6, paying off the house early.  The great thing about the Dave Ramsey baby steps is that they are small, attainable goals. The negative side to the Dave Ramsey baby steps is that they are small, and often slow moving. 

It really comes down to being content where we are. We ARE doing the right things financially. We ARE moving at a great speed. We ARE making progress on our goals. We ARE living frugally. There are so many things I want for us, but we believe that you have to walk before you can run, and we believe in a set of principals that teach us that "the borrower is slave to the lender." Proverbs 22:7

We worked really hard to get out of debt, to build our emergency fund, and to pay cash for everything we own. The only debt we have is the mortgage, and we are working really hard to knock it out in a few years. 

For me, I really need to look at where we are and where we came from. I need to realize that its a process, and we are working hard to build a strong foundation for tomorrow, and the many tomorrows after that. In finance, some people gamble, and win big, and many others gamble and lose their pants. They play a high risk game, and for every winner there are a dozen losers who wish they would have done it differently. The way we handle our money is not right for everyone, and I am ok with that. I also need to be accepting of where we are, its the tortoise that wins the race. 

That man of mine is wise, and a great partner for me. He listens, lets me dream, lets me fantasize, but then will bring me back to reality.

Have you ever made a risky financial move? How did you fare?

Keeping my mouth shut

Sometimes its really hard to sit by and listen and watch others make mistakes. Especially when its in  an area that you know a lot about. Can I get an AMEN from the crowd?

Last week, one of the guys that works for me needed help with some paperwork. He needed to take a loan against his 401K. I helped him with the paperwork, and explained what some things meant. In my head, I was thinking "NO NO NO NO NO NO" don't do this. But, I kept my mouth shut, and didn't say a word.

Today, he came into my office super happy and excited. He explained that the reason for his good mood was that the money he took out from his 401K had already come in, and he was so happy because he didn't think he would get it for a few weeks.  He told me he was planning to give some money to his mom, some to his son, but he was really excited because now that he had the money, he would take his wife to the fair this weekend. My hands were in my lap, and I smiled and said "Well, I am happy for you, and I hope you have fun!" All the while, my fingers were digging into my thighs, as I cringed inside. Yes, the State Fair of Texas is going on right now, but I don't think it is a big deal, but apparently others do.

Not everyone wants to hear about Dave Ramsey this, and his plan says that. Sometimes I can be a know it all (or a lot of the time depending on who you ask) but he is making a huge mistake in my eyes. I wanted to badly to tell him, to lecture him, and to set him straight according to the path that I think is correct.

Damn.

Judgmental witch, table for 1.

My path, my way, my thoughts, my views, my my my.

Sometimes, the best thing we can do is love others and show joy and excitement to them when they need it. To realize we don't have all the facts, and to understand sometimes we are not invited into the conversation. Sometimes we don't get to the be the teacher, advisor, or all knowing wizard. Sometimes, people choose their own paths. And, sometimes, its best to keep your mouth shut.

What would you have done?

What would happen to the US economy if we all got our financial house in order? , th

Last week, I harnessed the power of twitter, and tweeted Dave Ramsey. I know not everyone follows his plan, but P and I do. For us, it makes sense to save money, dump debt, and give to others. His plan is simple, easy to follow, and there is a clear ordered progression.

While 95% of what he does is focused on personal finance, he is knowledgeable in all areas of economics and has a finance degree, and understands complex economic and financial issues.

Given that we are in a fragile economic climate and given that our government and those charged with running it are acting like children, it seems as if we are on the edge of a cliff.

The question I posed was this: How would it affect the US economy if every family was debt-free?

The answer came in 2 parts:

Answer 1: If everyone were to dump all of their debt by the end of the year, the economy would collapse. So much of our economy right now is based on debt, that if we rid ourselves of it immediately, we would be in trouble.

BUT, its a big BUT, Answer 2 was very different.

Answer 2: If everyone began dumping debt now, and took a slow systematic approach, and in a 10 year period we weaned ourselves off of borrowing, the financial picture would look drastically different that it does today.

First, if over the next few years, we stopped using the credit card, and began to rid ourselves of the consumer debt, something drastic would happen---the middle class would begin to explode with wealth. When we are no longer sending payments + interest to credit card companies and are instead putting that money into investments and savings vehicles, our wealth and net worths would increase, drastically.

Additionally, he pointed out, that as people dump debt and amass wealth, they actually spend more once they are out of debt, rather than less, because they have more money to spend.

The consequence of this happening would be that certain sectors of the economy would either have to change or disappear. Credit card companies would either go out of business, or they would need to change their business and offer debit, rather than credit cards. Then, and one of the most beneficial consequences is that predatory lending companies would shut down. No more pay day loan companies that charge 36% interest on a 200.00 loan.

Second, once we rid ourselves of the consumer debt, and began to break our dependence on things like student loans, car loans, and mortgages, and pay cash for these things, the rate at which we amass wealth would rise exponentially. Studies have shown, that many of the wealthiest Americans, are now, and have always been overly generous givers. Imagine if the middle class was able to give 10% of their money to churches, missions, and charities. We, the people could help make poverty disappear, because as we begin to accumulate more wealth, we also begin to give more, because we have fewer payments. The private sector is much more capable and efficient at running operations and systems, because they have to be accountable. Think about this, if you found out that a charity you donated to had been misusing funds and not working towards its mission statement, you would STOP giving to them, and find another avenue to give to. That means that we really could and would see a decline in poverty.

This in turn, would begin to lift up the lower class, and would in effect begin to end the cyclical nature of the welfare system. The welfare system in our country is set up in such a way that it makes people dependent upon the government, and almost prohibits them from seeking out other wealth building avenues. If the private sector began to give in a big way, in the way that we should, we could eliminate the need for welfare, and begin to help raise each other up on our own, without having to depend on the government. This would allow us to shrink the size of government, and reduce the scope of their work. THEN, as we need them less, we would begin to take back control of our government and they would no longer wield power over us; we could then transition power back to where it belongs, the people.

Also, so much of the financial market is based on consumer confidence, that we have these major peaks and valleys. By creating a more stable and sustainable economy, we could begin to rid ourselves of the extremes and create a more stable financial market, which again, would lead to the building of wealth.

In the end, even Dave admitted that he does not think this is likely to happen, because we are going to continue to make poor choices, and behave in ways that make us vulnerable. It may be a pipe dream, but its a pipe dream worth shooting for.

It breaks my heart to see so many of us struggling. We live in the richest country this world has ever seen. We have the ability to make money, grow our wealth, and create opportunity for ourselves and for others.

I am passionate about personal finance, and financial coaching, If you need help understanding some of  Dave's thoughts or principals, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me. I am not paid by Dave Ramsey to say these things, I have seen what his plan can do, and how it can change lives and family trees because it did for us.

My obsessions

These past few weeks, I have become obsessed with one topic, real estate. I told you about my idea a few weeks ago.

This dream, this desire to diversify our financies is like an itch I cannot scratch. I think about it all the time. I am doing more and more research on properties, and I keep getting more and more excited. 

There is one obstacle standing in our way, its kind of a big one.....MONEY.

Specifically, our mortgage. We are Dave Ramsey followers to the max. We drank the Koolaid. We are on board, on the Dave train, and are following the baby steps. 

We are at the point where our only remaining debt is our home. We are trying to pay this sucker off early. We want out from underneight this load. 

We are making bimonthly payments, and an additional payment at the end of the month once we reconcile our account.

Our mortgage is still in the mid six digits. XXX,XXX. Thats a lot of digits. But still, I WANT THIS SUCKER GONE!

I even went so far as to buy a cheap frame, and hang it in P's closet so that every time we open the doors, we see it hanging in the closet every day. Written with a dry erase marker that I swiped from the office, written in my messy handwriting, I track our mortgage balance. I have been updating the frame 3x a month. Each time our mortgage goes through and with every additional payment I update it.

I have been playing with a lot of scenarios on some online calculators. I have been looking at refinancing to a 15 year, 20 year, with lower interest rates. I have been playing with additional payment calculators seeing how much time and interest we will save. I have probably run 100 different scenarios, just manipulating the numbers in as many different ways as possible. 

The other factor that is pushing me is listening to the Dave Ramsey show. At least once a day a couple that is our age, making the typical money gets to brag about having their home paid off. They are so happy and excited, and Dave is so excited, and I want to be one of those couples. I asked P if we could go to Nashville to Financial Peace Plaza to scream we are debt free when we pay off our house. He said yes, but reminded me that it will be a few years. 

Every time I hear someone pay off their house, I get tears in my eyes. I get so excited for them, and they push me even harder to squeeze a bit harder, to coupon a little bit more, to eat in another night, to really go for it. 

The thought of owing nothing, to being completely free gives me chills. In this economic environment, where our politicians, our elected leaders are monkeying around with our money, with our future scares me. And, it makes me angry. Both sides are out of control. They are messing with our lives. I want to do as much as I can to make sure we are secure, and take as much control and influence of our lives out of the hands of the government. 

I'm psyched, I'm obsessed, and I'm ready to get this done. 

How are you doing on your debt pay down? Anyone out there have the mortgage paid off?

The Emergency Fund Comes in Handy

Tuesday night I had event after work and didn’t get home until 8:00. It was hot. I looked around our messy living room, dropped my stuff then went to turn on the a/c. Right then, P came out of the bedroom with a pretty ominous look on his face. I paused about 3 steps away from the thermostat and said “What?”

He told me he arrived home about an hour before, went to turn on the A/C, and heard it make some weird noise. He went outside just in time to see our compressor explode and spray black oil on the yard.

He had been on the phone calling around to have someone come out look at the unit, and give us a quote to fix it. While waiting, we started talking about possible scenarios, and the most extreme was that we would need to replace the entire unit and ducking in the house, which would run about $6,000. That was a number that I did not want to hear.

The a/c guy (someone who works for P’s company) came by, looked at the situation and gave us the low down.

He could:

A.Fix the compressor

B. Install an entire new unit.

Bottom line, nothing could be done Tuesday night, so we got to spend the night in our home, in Texas, in the middle of summer, with no A/C.

 I was super excited when I checked the weather and saw that at 8:00 PM it was still 98 degrees outside. Being the cheap couple we are, we decided not to stay in a hotel room, but sleep in our house. We had all the fans on, and slept on top of the comforter. Neither of us slept well. When I woke up in a puddle of sweat on Wednesday morning, I jumped out of bed to go to the gym just so I could be in the A/C. I was quite depressed when I walked outside to find it was cooler outside than in our house.

To fix and install the compressor with labor would run around 400.00+labor, and the total would come to around 800.00. Or, he could install a new unit for around 600+labor, which would run us around $1,200-1,300. He pointed out that there was already a modification on the a/c to help it start every time. Apparently, someone who owned the house previously had problems with the a/c unit and chose to fix it with a cheap option. By the way, this was not something that was brought up in our home inspection last year when you bought the home.

The other kick in the gut---our home warranty expired 30 days ago. We bought our home in June of 2012, and as part of our negotiations, the sellers paid for a 1 year home warranty that we could renew if we chose. We chose not to renew because we have heard some pretty bad things about home warranty companies, and we prefer to self insure in these situations.

In the end, we decided to get a new unit. It came with a manufacturers warranty, it would be a new energy efficient unit, and would last for at least 10 years.

Yes, we just dropped a whole bunch of money we were not expecting to, but we didn’t have to go into debt. The emergency fund transformed a potentially stressful situation, into an inconvenience. We don’t like having to dip into our savings, but this is what it is there for. It is to help in an emergency.  

I am just so grateful to be married to a husband who values fiscal responsibility, and places a premium on systematic savings and planning.

Have you had to dip into your e-fund lately? What for?

Rental Property Dreamin'

 

Something dangerous happens when P and I watch House Hunters, we start fantasizing and dreaming about homes. We spend hours discussing what we would do to our home, how we want to remodel it, change it, and we have even gotten into arguments about the remodel. It looks a little something like this:

P: I think we should replace all the appliances with stainless steel

Me: I hate stainless steel

P: They look good, and will help with resale value, why do you hate them?

Me: Because they get dirty and show smudges

P: That’s it? That’s not a big deal

Me: It’s a big deal when you are the one cleaning it.

Then we realize we are arguing about a remodel of our home that is not currently happening, nor do we have any plans to remodel our house in the next few years, and decide to stop fighting about a fantasy!

Lately however, our focus has shifted a bit, and we are now thinking about rental properties. We save money each month, invest in the stock market, but we really want to diversify, and we know that nothing offers a return like real estate. We both work in commercial real estate, but have little knowledge of residential real estate. Even though they are both real estate, they are vastly different beasts, and there is very little carry over from one to the other.

Our goal right now is to dream, and acquire knowledge. I am actually getting my real estate license this year, and my company is paying for it, so that will be a great place to start gathering knowledge. We have been bouncing back as to whether we would like to buy a home in our area as a rental, or if we would look to buying and renting a vacation condo somewhere that is within driving distance. I really like the idea of buying a condo on the beach, so that it could serve two purposes. First, it would be a great vacation destination for us, and secondly, it would bring in additional income. We want something that is within driving distance 4-5 hours away so that if needed, we could drive there and back in a weekend. We also want do have it within driving distance because we know we would be more likely to visit more often. Our ideal condo would have 2 bedrooms, but we could do a 1 bedroom, with a sleeper sofa, and a nook for bunk beds, so that we could sleep 6, with 2 baths.

I have done some analysis, and in our state condo rentals on the coast rent from between 125.00-300.00 per night, depending upon the season. While the Texas beaches are not the most beautiful in the world, they are still beaches. Plus, the area we have been talking about has world renowned fishing year round. The other attraction to the area we are looking at is the fact that we have family located within 20 minutes, and we know they would be willing to help with the condo in a pinch.

Expected expenses for a vacation condo:

Mortgage

Cleaning Fee

Maintenance Fee(a contingency for repairs and replacement of items)

HOA Fee

Taxes

Condo Attractions:

Onsite management

Onsite cleaning services

Security

Pools

Play areas

Advertising—the condo building has its own advertising website, which we could pay a fee to be listed

Management- for a fee, we could pay a condo management to do full service management, and they would get a percentage of the earnings.

Anyone out there have rental property? What are we overlooking? What are we forgetting about? I know that a rental property is hard work, but right now, it is looking like an exciting and attractive option. What do you guys think?

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Here in Dallas, are the streets paved with Gold?

I work in an industry that is inextricably linked to the economy. I work in commercial real estate, and we are an industry that see's growth right away, and an industry that feels the pinch right away as businesses both expand and contract.

My company is huge, and is a major player in the market, and we keep a close eye on the economic health of the small markets and nation as a whole. We have offices all over the country, as well as the globe. Recently,  at a conference I was seated near a gentleman that is on officer in one the professional organizations I belong to. His name was Stan, and one night during dinner, Stan and I had a really interesting chat. Stan travels the globe as a consultant, advisor, and industry advocate. This conference was filled with Commercial Real Estate Professionals from around the globe, and he had a chance to visit with many of them.

During our conversation, Stan said, "I have been to Dallas many times in the past few years, and I have to tell you, down there, the streets are paved with gold." I looked at him for a moment, and realized, in some ways he was correct. In general, Texas has weathered the recent recession well, particularly Dallas and Houston. As many cities across America were struggling, most cities in Texas were growing in both population and industry.

I say this in light of the recovering economy because we have not felt the effects of the recession down here. In many places, foreclosures were running rampant, people were looking for work, but here, nothing really changed. Most companies tightened their belts, and are doing more with fewer people, but we have come through the worst of it unscathed.

There are more than 300 families moving to the Dallas area every week. The housing market is HOT right now, and homes are being snatched up quickly. (Home prices rose 12% in one year) The rental market has a low inventory because of the influx of population, and those prices are starting to rise. There are new developments going up all over the city. I would say that on any given day, I meet at least 1 person who has lived in the area for less than 2 years, myself included.

I hate that I work in an industry that can grow and contract over night based upon policies of men and women in Washington. I have been thinking about it for a while, but I really want to pursue some side hustle work, and freelancing so that I can "write my own ticket." I want to ensure that in the next recession, no matter where I live, I can survive, and thrive.


I write this not to boast about my state, but to pose the question of, how is your city, county, or state doing? How are you faring now that the economy is starting to improve and show signs of life?  Given the recent recession, have you done anything to improve your personal economy? Have you had to tap into your emergency fund, or been able to save and increase it?

Challenge Extended, Challenge Accepted; Money Wise.

P and I have fallen into a bad habit these past few months. We have been eating out WAY too often.  We have indeed gone over budget Every. Single. Month. We have been on the envelope system these past few years, and eating out is one of our cash categories. At the end of our money, not month,rather than suck it up, and cook at home, we have gotten out the debit card, paid for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and went on our merry way without considering the consequences.

Dave Ramsey says it all the time “You work way to hard, and make too much money, to feel this broke.” We have not spent ourselves into financial ruin, but we have noticed that we have become a bit lazy, and rely on eating out much more than we should. We also never go for one big fancy meal out, we tend to nickel and dime ourselves. We go to Subway, Chick Fil A, or Chipotle all the time. It’s the 10-15 dollar range where we really do the damage to our budget. 

I think part of the problem is that P and I never really “go out.” We don’t hit up the clubs, or go to bars, so eating out becomes our entertainment. When we hang out with friends, we usually go out to eat at a local casual restaurant. Our lifestyle is so laid back, that we don’t feel we need or even want to go to fancy or pricey restaurants.

The other problem with eat out so much is the amount of food wasted, and its been a lot lately. We don’t eat out because there is no food in the house, we eat out because we have to cook the food in the house. We cleaned up our diet back in January, and we don’t have many processed foods in the house very often.  Eating cleanly is helpful, but its also time consuming. Sometimes, I just don’t feel like cooking. P has been really great because he makes us breakfast nearly every morning, but it’s the lunch and dinner that are the hardest. We are trying to eat according to Paleo, so we don’t keep breads and pastas in the house, so its hard to find a “quick” meal.

I am frustrated with myself, because I KNOW what to do, I just DON’T do it! We really have no one to blame but ourselves. ARG! I need to get back on the meal planning bandwagon, as well as the shopping list.

This weekend, P and I decided that we are not going to eat out for the rest of this month. We just need to quit, reign our spending on food in, and be disciplined.

How are you doing? How's your food budget this month? Where do you go over budget?

Financial Guilt

I will come right out and say it.

Financially, this is the best P and I have ever done.  These past two years, we have been blessed to do very well financially, and are on track to do even better this year. None of this financial success has come easy. Its come with lots of hours, lots of weekend work, and lots of sacrifice. We are doing so well in large part to P's job. My job is salaried, and my steady income covers most of the basics. P pulls in a small salary, but the majority of what we have brought in has come from commissions that P brings in. He works very hard. I think he has worked only 40 hours a week once in the past two years. He works long hours, and he works hard, but he has been rewarded for his hard work.

Because of our hard work, we have been able to buy a home, take a vacation, give to others, and save every single month.

Should I feel bad about our financial success in light of all the suffering around me?

In this economy, there are a lot of people out of work. There are so many people under employed. In some areas of the country, the economy seems to be stuck in 1st gear, while in others, like where we are in Texas, it seems to be in the fast lane.

For some reason these days, it appears to me that we have started to villainize success. We have started to shame those who are doing well financially. The media, and some sections of the mass culture appear to frown upon financial success. Businesses are critcized for making money. The wealthy have been ostracized for their wealth.

Why are so many Americans willing and quick to criticize and blame those who have been successful financially? Why do we blame those who have made smart financial decisions?

I don't believe wealth is a bad thing. I don't believe that being a good steward of our finances is wrong. We fought to get out of debt, we scraped together an emergency fund, and we are working to pay our home of quickly. We both have smart phones, but our companies pay for those. Every vacation we have taken has been on the cheap. The most expensive meals we have eaten have come from mid range restaurants. We live in a very modest home in a blue collar neighborhood. We borrowed only 1/2 of what we were approved for. Our computer is 5 years old. The fanciest thing is my closet is from Banana Republic. We rely on coupons to stay under budget every single week.

We did not take part in the excesses that abounded prior to this recession. We did not participate in that culture of buying more than you can afford, on credit. In fact, we went in the opposite direction. We cut up the credit cards, paid off the student loans, and learned to live frugally, while so many others around us partied like there would be no day of reckoning.

We did not escape this recession unscathed. There was a job loss for P when his company shut down. We moved out of our home, lived in 4 different places for 2 months, including an extended stay hotel. P worked as a laborer for a farmer for months while he was looking for a job. Nothing was beneath us. We both knew how to sacrifice when necessary.

Now that we have come out on the other side of this recession and have been seeing success, we are given a message that success is wrong, that success is bad, and that the only way we can be successful in this economy is at the expense of others.

How have you been faring during this recession? Have you heard those same messages?  Do you think Americans have criticized financial success?

Growing grass, just not the smoking kind

 

Just call P and I the Yard Dawgs, whoof whoof.

 

For the second weekend in a row, P and I have been out in the back yard working out buns off.

 

This little patch of land has been the bane of my existence since we moved into our house last summer. This patch of our yard is ugly, dirty, and every time it rains, the dirt spreads to our driveway. We also have two dogs who seem to revel in that area of our yard, especially when it rains, or right after I mop the kitchen floor.

 

P and I decided we were going to do something about it this past weekend.

 

For less than $100.00 and a lot of sweat equity, we transformed this part of the yard.

Dirty Dirt Dirty

We were fortunate that we decided to plant the grass on a day when a major rainstorm was moving through town. It took about four hours total to buy the grass, pick up some compost/manure mixture, and lay the grass. Those four hours flew.

We finished up the last 1/2 of the project in the rain, but we didn't care. We wanted it done, and we wanted it to look good, and I think it does!

While P was finishing up the final touches, I reworked the stone garden around the base of the tree, and I think it looks so much better than it did before.

The best part of all these projects that P and I are doing is that its money we have been setting aside all year long. Each month we budget some money to our house fund or improvements and projects.

It is so much fun to do work at a home that is yours. We lived in an apartment for two years, and we always talked about how much fun it would be to work on our own home, to do improvements and to fix the house just the way we wanted.

How was your weekend?

The Money Stash

I have always been a saver. A big one. When I was younger, and my parents gave me an allowance, (something I am trying to convince them they should still do) I would take my money and save it.I found a way to not spend any money. Well, I found a way to not spend my money. 

At some point, I went beyond simply saving, and I started stashing money away in weird places. Remember those stuffed animals with little battery packs it the back to make their eyes light up or make them talk in those creepy voices? Yea, I can't believe they sold so many of them. Looking back, I cannot believe they didn't give me nightmares. 

Did I have a point?

Hi my name is Molly. I am a creeper and I  want to play with your children.  

Right. 

The zipper pouch where the batteries were held. I used to keep cash in there. I also used to hide cash behind picture frames. When I moved out, and my parents suddenly had money because they stopped bank rolling my life style, they had money to slap up some new paint on the walls, and get rid of my hand print pictures, and buy some nice and classy art from galleries, Ross, Marshalls, or TJ Maxx. As they were taking the homemade art off the wall, they found money that I had hidden at some point. 

I continued this as I grew and landed my first jobs. Every time I baby sat, waited tables, worked in the mall, coached soccer camps, and started my first big girl job as a teacher, I continued to pull out a couple of bucks and stash them away.

I never thought this was weird, until I got married. P didn't find out about my stash until one day he was searching for something and stumbled upon my money wad, in my underwear drawer. He was shocked, and thought it was insane. For months, he kept telling me to spend the money. Every time I wanted something, he would say "you have the cash, buy it for yourself." HA! Wrong, I will save and save and save. 

Today, I currently have two money stashes. A larger one, that I keep in my fire box, and a smaller one that I keep with my undies. When I want to shop, or buy something special, I go to my stash and get the money. 

So if you are planning on coming to our house to rob us, don't, because I have my eye on some boots that I just might have to dig into the stash for. 

What about you, do you have a money stash?

What would you do with 50K?

What would you if you received a one time gift of $ 50,000?

I don't know where I came up with this amount of money, but for some reason this morning while I was at work, I just thought, what would I do with that money? Would it radically change my life, my world, or my financial situation? Probably not.

It is early in the year, and we are all still working hard at our resolutions, and dreaming a little. Here is what I would do.

Give 5,000 to the church or to a ministry that I really believe in.

I would invest 25,000 in my retirement

I would put 10,000 towards our home

I would put the last 10,000 towards a killer vacation for P and I. P works long crazy hours, and I know he would love nothing more than to take a totally crazy wild adventure trip.

So I spent that money really quickly. Well, at least in my head.

 

What would you do with $50,000?

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Christmas with Cash

I am done Christmas shopping!! Well, almost. I have maybe one or two more presents to buy, but that is it. Otherwise I am done done done done.

 This year, P and I saved money through out the year, and by October, we had saved up enough cash to pay  for our all of our gifts. It is funny that this year, I have come in under budget on each gift I purchased. I was able to use coupons, get some deals, and score some sales. Plus, it really does hurt when you fork over the cold hard cash. While I was out shopping, I debated each gift. I think because I did not swipe my debit card, it became so much more real to me.

I do have to admit one thing. This year has been a lot easier because for Christmas this year, P and I are giving each other a ski trip in February. So rather than give gifts to unwrap, we are just putting the money we would spend on each other into our vacation account.


One thing I would like to point out is the absence of our Christmas tree. We have two dogs and they are very well behaved. There is one problem, the white one, Bear, tends to urinate on plants until they die. Outside or in, he makes it his goal to kill any living thing he can.

We had a fern, and every time he went outside he urinated on it. A few weeks ago, we picked out a tree, had decorations in our basket at the store, and P looked at me and said, "We cannot put a living plant inside. Bear will have a field day." So no tree, no decorations for us this year.

How are you doing on your Christmas shopping?

Losing My Way

I have to confess something to you, and its something serious, not a Friday funny. Financially, I have lost my way. You know how I listen to Dave Ramsey everyday right? You know how I talk about Dave all the time? I know his principals, I know his teachings to a T, but I have not followed them at all. These past few months, I have gone off the deep end financially. I have spent so much money on so many items. I have fallen hard into the big deep whole of consumerism.

Its funny, because it just kind of snuck up on me. All this spending started with a treat here, a splurge there,  another one off. Each time I would tell myself, just this one time. Each time I would tell myself, this is it, no more splurging. I would tell myself once I have this, I wont want anything else. Once I buy this for our house, it will be complete. I kept giving into the lie. I kept looking for stuff to fill me up when I was bored, mad, happy, excited,or sad.  I kept shopping. All of the money was unbudgeted. 

Do you know the feeling I am talking about? The lie that we hear in our heads of "If I just had _______, then everything would be complete." What do you fill in the blank with? 

These past few months kind of feel like death by a thousand cuts. I have not purchased one thing that has been super extra extravagant, it has been a lot of small trips. I think I have swiped my debt card at Target 100 times in the past 3 months. I am serious about that. 

All this time, as I spent too much money, I always felt bad about it, and I told myself this was the last time. But, it was never the last time. As someone who prides herself on discipline, it is something that I have been severely lacking for the past few months. 

It all stopped yesterday. P was totaling up our receipts from August to see what we spent, and he couldn't even finish because we had swiped our card so many times. There were so many random purchases that he could not tell what they were for. Last night P lovingly confronted me and we had a great discussion about our finances. 

I just got caught in that consumerist hamster wheel. All the money is coming in, but we were not making much progress because of our spending. Now, it was not all me. We ate out a lot, and bought things when we were together, but I defiantly led the pack. I didn't say no to much, and I was so flippant about money. Honestly, it felt like I was about 3 steps left of center. I could see and feel where I needed to be. I could see where my old frugal self had been, but I kept spending and I ignored that voice in my head that told me what I was doing was wrong. 

We are not in financial ruin, nor are we hurting at all, I hope that is clear. But, for very disciplined couple, this has been a spendy summer. I had to make 2 purchases today, a train ticket for the month, and a stop at the bank to pull our fun money. I am handing my debit card over to P for the week. I have our envelopes for food or gas, but we don't need anything. I am putting a freeze on spending this week. 

Honestly, it feels good to get "caught." It feels good to be honest. It felt good to be confronted. 

As I sit here and look around, I see how much I have. I don't need to buy anything else right now. I am content. I have found my way.

What could you fill in the blank with? Are you giving in or holding strong?

Joining the Cult

So this happened this weekend. We ended up biting the bullet and making the purchase. A store here in town was having a monster sale, so we talked about it all we long, looked at our finances, and decided to do it.

Our current computer is dying a slow and painful death. The speakers hardly work, it takes at least five minutes to turn on, and takes for ever to load a web page. We have already spent a couple hundred bucks on  anti viruses over the years, we had it taken in, and got it cleaned up, and still no noticeable difference. In the end, its something we knew we were going to have to purchase, and with the sale, it just seemed like the right time.

In addition, we are getting wifi tomorrow. For the past four years, we have been paying a big chunk of change for a satellite card, but that too has gotten pretty slow also. So starting tomorrow we will have wifi, which will save us some money each month.

Do you guys have a p.c. or a mac? Why did you choose what you did? Any tips on using a mac? We have the ipad, and that is the only experience I have with an apple product.