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March 17, 2010, at 6:00 am If you're new to BFS, please subscribe to my RSS feed. It shows me a vote of support and keeps me motivated to keep your attention. If you have any questions or comments for me, please contact me and I'll get back to you asap. Thanks for visiting! I saw this article on Yahoo that made me cringe – people making more than I will ever see in my life and throwing it all away. It makes my stomach hurt.
Here’s a quick run down on how much each of these pro athlete have tossed away:
- Evander Holyfield – $250 million earned and he is now flat broke.
- Lenny Dykstra – he is currently $30 million in debt.
- Latrell Sprewell – $96 million earned and he is now broke.
- John Daly – he gambled away $50 to $60 million dollars.
- Jack Clark – earnings and debt were not listed, but he’s bankrupt after buying luxury cars. Now he’ll need emergency loans.
- Mike Tyson – he filed bankruptcy after wasting $350 million to $400 millions dollars. Maybe he’s the perfect candidate for personal loans, lol.
Does anybody else feel my pain? I could live very happily on 1%- 5% of what these people tossed away like used diapers. Ugh.
Okay, I’m depressed…let’s talk about what we would have done with that kind of money instead. 
If we had $250 million, my husband and I would plan out the house of our dreams and pay for it in cash. It wouldn’t be too big since mansions intimidate me, but it would definitely have a big game room. We’d also pay off our cars and sell our current home. I might hire a driving service once in a while since I hate driving, but I don’t think I’d buy a big, expensive car. We’d also have a weekly maid service instead of biweekly and I’d never have to groom the dogs again. My husband would probably pay to have a Curling stadium built for the Houston Curling Club and be in every weekly league. Yes, they’d still have to pay dues for the ice, but probably half of what they pay now – that would be used to cover the utilities. We’d take some vacations and I’d still want to volunteer with dogs and for Meals on Wheels. I’d also still blog.
Hmmm…that would still leave us with about $250 million since all that could be done with the INTEREST ALONE. Argh!!!
What about you? What would you do with $250 million? Do you also want to slap these people upside the head?
March 16, 2010, at 6:00 am
According to this article on Yahoo, the IRS is currently holding $1.3 billion in unclaimed refunds from 2006.
Apparently, 1.4 million people didn’t file their 2006 tax returns even though they were owed money. Even if they didn’t owe the IRS, didn’t they think the IRS might owe them? And this seems to happen every year.
Anyway, if you didn’t file in 2006, I’d check it out by April 15…that’s when the 3 year window closes and the money gets to stay with the IRS. The article suggests downloading a 2006 Form 1040 (or 2007 or 2008) from this site if you think some of this money may be yours.
Sadly, I know this money isn’t ours since we have filed returns since 2001…maybe one of my lucky readers forgot to file one of those years?
I understand if you too are wondering why someone would blow that off, but hey, maybe they were really busy that year…maybe they rather get unsecured personal loans or no credit check loans.
Sorry for the overall snarkiness…it’s a combination of frustration with laziness and jealousy since I’m not getting to pry some of my money back.
March 15, 2010, at 6:11 pm
Please feel free to take a look at this week’s Twenty Something Finances Carnival, Toby Edition. Budgeting in the Fun Stuff made the list with General Steps to Financial Stability. Thanks Keith!
March 15, 2010, at 11:41 am
Budgeting in the Fun Stuff made the Carnival list with How We Chose to Budget in the Fun Stuff. Yay!
Check out the rest of the Carnival if you have a chance…it seems thorough to say the least!
March 15, 2010, at 6:00 am
MikeS was kind enough to bring this CNN Money article to my attention last week (thanks again, MikeS). In short, 1153 workers and retirees were surveyed and 43% of them had less than $10,000 saved up for retirement – not including their house or pension.
When I started reading, I was ready to be frustrated that so many have so little for their own retirement. By the end of the article, I still felt that way but not because of these survey results. Call me whatever, but a home and a pension count towards retirement, right?
Then I saw this little poll on the side of an article I was reading on Yahoo…it whacked me in the face pretty hard since almost 10,000 people had responded with how much they contribute to a retirement account:
- 31% are saving 1-6%
- 18% are saving 7-10%
- 8% are saving 11-15%
- 8% are saving more than 15%
- AND 34% aren’t contributing to a retirement account at all
About a third of the respondents aren’t contributing to a retirement account at all!!! I understand that not everybody has access to a 401k or an equivalent, but I interpret this to mean that they aren’t contributing to any kind of IRA or retirement savings account either…that’s just insane to me.
Are you saving for retirement?
As I’ve posted before, our main financial goal is early retirement, so we are really dedicated (aka gazelle-intense…lol…that always makes me laugh and look around for predators).
Even if people don’t want to leave their jobs, I do hope that most people over the age of 30 will start funding their own retirement. I would hate to know that I’d have to work until I die even if I wanted to…the difference between having choices and not having choices is gigantic to me.
What’s your take on all this? What did you think about the article?
March 14, 2010, at 11:43 am
A poll has been added to the right of the screen. What color background would you prefer for Budgeting in the Fun Stuff?
Currently it’s obviously black with white writing. I also have the options of white with black writing, blue (like denim or medium blue) with white writing, and ochre (like a light ivy green) with black writing.
The poll ends next Sunday (March 21st) at 11:59 PM CST. The background will be set to the winning choice by Monday evening and left in place for at least a couple of weeks to see how it goes over with everyone.
What’s your vote?
March 12, 2010, at 7:00 am
Potlucks are my favorite group activity – they’re fun and CHEAP!
Hubby and I got involved with a board gaming group that meets up once a month at different homes for board gaming and FOOD. We hosted a few and I’ve fell in love with the whole thing. Here’s how we break it down:
The host provides the main dish and sends E-vites to all the members of the group with the info and main dish idea. All the members that plan to come RSVP and post their idea for a side dish that they’ll bring unless they have no idea. This usually eliminates duplicate dishes. When the day of the party arrives, all the host has to do is make gaming room in their house and clear a space for everybody’s food. Easy, fun, and so yummy!
Here’s a quick example from a potluck we hosted a couple of months ago.
We provided chili, rice, and iced tea. Our friends brought the rest of the fixings (shredded cheese, fritos, cups, ice, dessert, and random appetizers). Everybody had a great time and we gamed until 2am. It cost us about $15 and our guests spent anywhere from $3 to $10 on their contributions. We all had a great time and nobody paid an arm and a leg for the evening.
What about you? Do you enjoy potlucks or do you have alternate ideas?
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DISCLAIMER I am not a professional or a financial advisor. BFS posts are informational opinions only. Please make your own financial decisions based on personal research or see a financial advisor.
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