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March 11, 2010, at 6:37 pm 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! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to MD over at Studenomics for inviting me to guest post!
Feel free to take a look at “How to Buy a Car – What You Need to Know so You Don’t Get Ripped Off” to see my take on the car buying experience.
I have been working with finance managers for car dealerships for about 5 years, so this is experience talking. Please feel free to contact me with specific questions since one blog post is not enough to fit everything in that I have learned. 
Thanks again to MD!
March 11, 2010, at 7:00 am
One of my much-appreciated commenters, MikeS, emailed me this CNN article, “Stop Squandering My Inheritance!”
Quick summary: If you want to preserve your inheritance, shower your elderly parents with time and attention.
Really?! Parents actually appreciate being talked to? Say it ain’t so!
Okay, I’m dropping the sarcasm stick, but I did find this article extremely amusing for the following reasons:
1. If you don’t want to feel like a gold digger, then don’t be one! It’s your parents’ money. Period. Back off. Unless their sanity is actually in question, buzz off bucko! Save for your own retirement and treat an inheritance like I’d treat social security…it would be nice but mostly unexpected.
2. I can’t believe actual money was spent on a study to prove that parents rather leave money for loved ones than kids that ignore them…does anybody see a break through here?
3. If you do have actual worries, I think you should approach your parents respectfully. They may tell you to suck it up and buzz off, but that is their perogative.
4. Visiting and talking to your parents JUST because they are about to die seems very wrong.
I hope my parents have tons of fun with their money. My only wishes are that they stay healthy for as long as possible, die late in life, and leave enough money to follow through on their final wishes. They raised three very intelligent, willful, and stubborn children. We will be fine.
What do you think? Did you see this article in a different light?
March 10, 2010, at 7:00 am
I responded to a very interesting post at Darwin’s Finance last month. Darwin was thinking about which expenses were unnecessary and could easily be cut in an emergency. I quickly listed off what my husband and I talked about, but I’ve changed my mind a little over the last few weeks. Here was my original list but I’ve crossed out the two things that would only be cut if we were in dire need:
- Gas $40 – No more driving to work.
- Mortgage Overpayment $160 – We would only pay the $740 due instead of the $900 we’ve been paying.
- Massage Envy Membership $49 – My husband loves it but agrees it would go first.
- Vacation Account $250 – That’s how much we put in a month to take a couple of annual vacations.
- Eating out $100 – We’ve only eat out a couple of times a week now and would cut that out. Last year it was 4-6 times a week, but we started cooking mainly at home in 2010.
- Entertainment Expenses $50 – We don’t go to the movies or participate in many paid activities, so that’s as much as we could cut. We’d still hang with friends, have potlucks, and board game though.
- “Fun” Money Allowance $150 – We each get $75 to just spend every month.
- Biweekly Maid Service $90 – I love Jacquie and would invite her over for dinner, but we would have to cut this cost.
- Newspaper subscription $6.50 – We pay $19.50 for 13 weeks of the Houston Chronicle…I use the coupons but we don’t need them. I’ll buy more from Angel Food Ministries.
- Groceries $100 – We could cut back to $300 or less a month if we needed to.
That’s all we could cut and still be happy. That adds up to $995.50 and includes cutting back on our extra mortgage principal payments.
If we were about to starve, I’d stop contributing up to matching in my 401k and stop maxing out our Roth IRA to save $575 a month.
We could probably get rid of cable, internet, and our cell phones for a total of $160 a month…but it would be hard to get a job without the internet and a cell phone and I don’t want to live with my husband if he doesn’t have cable.
I realized we would need the internet and cell phones more than ever since job hunting would be freaking hard without them. I also came to the conclusion that we need cable or Netflix or we’d go nuts.
Finally, I decided we wouldn’t let go of our housekeeper, Jacquie, unless we really were close to losing everything. We are one of her few remaining jobs due to this absolutely wonderful economy…I’d literally be taking food from her mouth. I just couldn’t do that unless we were in real trouble. So Jacquie, if you ever read this, thank you so much!
I loved Darwin’s idea for this post! It helped me prioritize even more than I usually do.
What would/could you cut? What would be really hard to give up?
March 9, 2010, at 11:34 pm
Okay, I don’t usually read celebrity crud, but there was this article on my homepage staring me in the face.
Lindsay Lohan is suing Etrade for a really funny commercial (the Milkaholic Baby one) because they used her first name! Not just suing, but suing for $100 Million Dollars!!! She thinks that Lindsay is in the same category as Oprah, Cher, and Madonna. Yeah right! And she thinks her pain and suffering for this commercial is worth $100 Million. My head is going to explode.
Wow, just wow. I like that Superbowl commercial and I never once thought it had anything to do with her.
I wasn’t a fan before and now I will actively avoid whatever she’s associated with…what does she do now, movies or music?
March 9, 2010, at 7:00 am
Hubby and I have one life goal – to be happy. That led us to our main financial goal – early retirement.
We are not those people who define themselves through their career. We don’t think retirement would be boring. We have no problem thinking of ways to fill in our spare time.
A happy retirement to us is when we can do what we want with our day without worrying if we can afford it. Luckily, the things we want are cheap, so this is attainable.
Hubby wants to watch tv, board game, video game, participate in Curling, continue being a sports official, vacation, and play Magic: The Gathering till the wee hours of the morning.
I want to hang out with friends even more, have more potlucks, have more movie nights, take a few vacations a year, volunteer even more with dogs, deliver food for Meals on Wheels, and get involved in a couple of hiking groups.
And these are just the ideas we can spout off in a few minutes…talk with us for an hour or two and you’d be amazed what we could come up with to fill those “lonely” days…ahhhh…
To get back to it, hubby will be eligible for his full pension at age 52, so that is our target retirement year. Based on our current and planned savings and our current and planned expenses, we have a very realistic chance at reaching this goal.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to fit in as much as we can of our fun stuff and try to enjoy our jobs as much as possible. You never know what life is going to throw you, right? Might as well live like there’s no tomorrow and save like there will be many…
What are your goals? Do they keep you motivated in the mean-time?
March 8, 2010, at 7:00 am
As a few of my last posts mentioned, my husband and I get $75 each every month for “fun” money and $100 to use jointly for date nights or other shared entertainment expenses. Coming up with this system actually took us a few years.
The idea of an “allowance” was a turn off in our early twenties. We thought we were frugal enough that we would just naturally choose not to spend much. That lasted for a while until I realized that I wouldn’t allow myself to buy anything and I resented my husband’s big purchases. I’d buy gifts for others, but I kept putting off everything I really wanted (like a pair of discounted Crocs for $30 or even a new pair of $15 jeans). Then I’d see hubby spend $100 on Magic: The Gathering and feel like the world was ending.
I think I was somewhere between a nag and an outright b…well, you know. That’s when my husband insisted on a new system and I whole-heartedly agreed.
We decided that we’d get allotted “fun” money and I’d stop critiquing those purchases. We chose a total of $250 a month since it would work based on our current spending and that $100 of it should be put aside since we go out together frequently and didn’t want to handle a silly “who’s paying” situation.
Since then, I’ve developed a healthy addiction to Shirt Woot and a slightly annoying addiction to ABC Distributing…I never knew how much I craved cheap junk…seriously, I have to watch myself. I still don’t come anywhere near my $75 limit, but I don’t freak out anymore when I decide to splurge a bit (like my $35 work Crocs or my $11-$16 funny shirts).
My hubby saves up for a few months, spends it all, and starts over. It seems to keep him happy although I know he wishes he had more than $75 to work with…maybe after one of us gets a raise.
I try much harder to accept his 60,000 MtG card collection and I’m even supportive of his new obsession with Curling.
All I can say is allowances aren’t just for kids anymore…which is ironic since I never had one then either.
What system do you use? How do you successfully budget in the fun? LOL…shameless plug…
March 5, 2010, at 7:00 am
I might hear about this from both sides (pro-pet and anti-pet people), but I consider our pet expenses “fun” money.
Pets, specifically our two adopted dogs, are a necessary “luxury” expense for me. I don’t need them for any medical reasons – in fact, I believe they have turned me into a Claritin addict. We aren’t depressed without them. They aren’t making us any money at all and cost a pretty penny.
BUT, I love being able to come home and watch our dogs do silly things or have them on the couch with me…one keeping me company and the other keeping my feet warm. Most recently, watching them play has made me laugh until my side hurt. But, they are definitely an extra expense for us and are budgeted as such.
Our 12 year old dachshund mutt was a rescue from the Houston SPCA – $75 up front (years ago) plus a $45 vet visit 4 years ago. We also had her teeth cleaned for $150.
Our 7 year old Pug was adopted from PugHearts: Houston Pug Rescue – $200 up front (last year) plus a few vet visits in the last year. He had bad teeth, a removeable tumor, and some kind of strange allergy problem. This all cost about $750 and I’ve only had him a year. Yes, I’d get him again anyway, but I’m really glad we budgeted for crud like this.
For both dogs, flea preventative is about $150 a year, heartworm preventative is about $80 a year, shots are about $50 a year, a vet visit is a minimum of $65, and food is about $400 a year (Blue Buffalo since the Pug may have food allergies…we’ll see if this helps in the next month).
There are cheaper options (like feeding them Nutro Max instead), but this gives you an idea. We have spent about $3000 in 5 years and we’re lucky compared to other pet owners I have talked to.
In short, if you want a dog, I would aim for at least $1000 a year per dog. I believe they are totally worth it. I will probably always own at least one or two dogs at any given time. All I can say is, “Yay for discretionary spending!”
Do you have pets? Do you think they’re worth it?
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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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