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April 24, 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! My Weekly Favorites
Blog Carnivals that Featured BFS
Thanks to all these carnival hosts! I appreciate all the time you spent on the process. It made my week to be chosen!
Carnival hosts, If BFS is in a blog carnival that you are running, please email me the link so it can be added to this weekly list. Thanks!
Guest Posts on BFS
I didn’t have any guest posts this week, but if you would like to submit a guest post to BFS, please shoot me an idea or the actual post. I’d also appreciate a one or two sentence introduction for the piece. I’ll get back to you quickly and will give you as much advance notice as possible on its posting date.
Other Info
- Jackie at Money Crush is also hosting a $100 Contest until May 12th in honor of the debt snowball app she created. Please take a look!
Feel free to email me if you have any suggestions. I’d love to add a few more blogs to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts or contests.
As always, thanks to all the bloggers that teach me something new every day. Thanks to all my commenters for making this blog the community I want it to be. Thanks to all my lurkers too. I hope everybody is enjoying this as much as I am!
April 23, 2010, at 6:00 am
My husband suggested this post and the idea caught my fancy. We skimp on a lot if there is a viable alternative EXCEPT the following:
Name Brands We Buy Regularly
- Nature’s Own Honey Wheat (hubby was right, this is good bread)
- Kroger Brand Brownies (taste better to us than the name brands)
- Kroger Brand Real Mayo or Hellman’s (Miracle Whip makes me gag)
- Kellogg’s Poptarts (my morning crack)
- General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios (my other morning crack)
- Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats (my I’m-not-eating-lunch-for-a-while option)
- Dr. Pepper or Cherry Coca-Cola cans (yeah, yeah, I know. I wait for the 4 packs for $10 sales at Kroger and stock up…we try to keep the habit to a pack or less every three weeks)
- Charmin Toilet Paper (hubby scoffs at Scott’s…this is soft, but it’s only tp)
- Tide for regular clothes (hubby swears it’s better…I’ve decided this is a battle I’ll forfeit)
- Oxyclean for grass and mud stains from sports officiating (it does work and saves freaking expensive reffing gear)
- French’s Mustard (this is totally my hubby…I cannot taste a difference to save my life, but again, I choose to forfeit)
- Wolfbrand Chili with no beans for hot dogs (smells like wet dog food, but it gets my hubby to eat hot dogs at home sometimes)
- Foo-foo dog food like Nutro and allergy free stuff for the Pug (I have to have a dog food that’s first ingredient is a meat or I feel taken advantage of)
Other Items We Have Splurged On
- Tempurpedic mattress (my husband hasn’t had back pain since we got one a year ago…I think it’s too hot during the summer months)
- Dream Fit Sheets (they fit and don’t come off when we toss around at night…plus they have lasted us 5 years already, which is good since they cost about $100 a set)
- Miche Bag (I love the magnetic shells and I never have to move my stuff to a new purse)
- Crocs (they aren’t all clown shoes anymore and feel great…you can also find big discounts online like my $60 leather work Crocs for $35 on Ebay)
There are probably a few more things I can’t think of right now, but you get the point. There are some things we have become loyal to…gladly we didn’t discover these addictions until we could afford them, but I sort of wish I never tasted the difference between $1 bread and Nature’s Own Honey Wheat…
What about you? Any favorite brands? Anything you refuse to skimp on?
April 22, 2010, at 6:00 am
According to this issue of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, 69% of eligible workers participate in their 401k plans in 2010. That means almost a third of eligible employees aren’t contributing anything at all.
Even if we take into account that some of these plans do not match contributions, millions of people are passing up free money!
This post is not to tell you the normal rules (don’t take out loans on your 401k, don’t cash your 401k out when you switch jobs, contribute as much of the $16,500 a year as possible, etc).
This post is to yell at everyone who is ignoring free money.
For the sake of all that is sacred to you, contribute the maximum that will be matched by your company. That is free money that is part of your benefit package. Not taking advantage of that is like handing back a paycheck and saying “no thanks”.
Don’t whine that you’ll miss that percentage of your paycheck…you won’t. I never notice the 6% that’s missing from mine. Unless you are truly starving, this is necessary.
I know that my readers probably already do this. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir.
BUT, if you are one of the eligible workers that aren’t snatching up your free money, I triple dog dare you to sign up today. Really, go do it now. Thanks. 
April 21, 2010, at 6:00 am
I hit on the main ways of diagnosing your financial health in this past post. I’m going to use Wednesdays to go further in depth on each point since I truly believe that financial health leads to less stress and happier lives.
I covered the first point, Spend Less Than You Earn, last week. The second point was to have a solid emergency fund. This means that you need liquid reserves in order to cover unexpected circumstances. Job loss is the most frequently mentioned reason for emergency funds that I have read so far.
Start a Separate Account
I’d suggest starting a separate account for your emergency fund so you’ll be less likely to use the money if it’s away from your normal accounts. We recently chose to keep our emergency money at Smarty Pig since they currently have a 2.01% interest rate while ING is only at 1.1%. I sometimes forget about our emergency fund account for weeks at a time. It usually only pops into my head to check on it when I’m updating our monthly net worth.
If you don’t like the idea of a separate account, I’ve also seen recommendations for starting a CD ladder, investing in a money market account, or buying bonds. I personally would try a CD ladder instead of one main account once you have a couple of months of expenses saved up and CD’s are paying more than the Smarty Pig basic rate since you should get a higher return for tying up your money.
Set Up an Automatic Deposit into this New Account
We automate almost everything in our fiscal lives to reduce the probability of human error and to take some emotion out of financial decisions. If you automatically contribute to this separate emergency fund account, you won’t be able to “forget” and it will be less of a hassle. Start small if this idea scares you. Simply contributing $50 a month is a start. Once you realize that you really aren’t missing that $50, raise it to $100. Before too long, you’ll be happy with your contribution level and can put the thinking aside.
Choose a Target Amount
Now that you have started an account, you can sit down and figure out how much you are aiming for overall. Almost everyone agrees that you will need at least 3 months of living expenses saved up to breath easy. Most people also have raised that goal to 6 months to a year in these unstable economic times. I personally suggest saving as much as you need to not worry.
My husband and I only have 3-4 months of expenses set aside right now, but we are raising that to 6 months by the end of this year since that is the new average time that it takes to find a job if you are laid off from your old one. Some of my readers suggest having 9 months to a full year set aside. It’s definitely a personal decision that needs to be based on your circumstances.
How many incomes does your family live on? How stable is your job? How much would you be able to cut from your budget if you lost your job? Do you have kids depending on you as well? These questions can help you decide what you’d like to save for your peace of mind.
Save Consistently Until You Reach Your Goal
This part will come naturally if you are automatically contributing to your new account. Your biggest worry once you hit your goal will hopefully be what to do with your monthly contribution after that. Believe me, that would be a great problem to have.
What do you think? Do you have an Emergency Fund? What amount are you aiming for or already have set aside?
April 20, 2010, at 6:00 am
This article at PC World, Skeptical Shopper: Can Your Online Life Ruin Your Credit, brings up something I hadn’t thought of before. Apparently, credit issuers are starting to judge a person based on their online community.
This worries me a little since I’m not picky on who I “friend” on Facebook. I also don’t run a credit check on my friends…I’m sure most of them would come back with major issues. My only saving grace is that I do not actually participate in online social networks much at all. I get emailed when someone sends me a direct message…that’s about as techy as I get.
I also wonder how intelligent this kind of credit check makes the banks. Obviously, not all of my friends and family are going to be in the same financial boat as myself. Wouldn’t it be weird to find that someone only surrounds themselves with people exactly like themselves?
Also, does having my own financial blog count in my favor? If you lose so many points for a “deadbeat” friend, can you earn them back by posting fiscally responsible blogs?
Okay, now I’m just getting silly, but I think that creditors who use this method are pretty silly too.
How would you fare if you were judged based on your online social network? My “Excellent” rating would fall a level or two…
April 19, 2010, at 6:00 am
Yahoo had this article about the 12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership that reminded me of the many times I had to take a deep breath when we were buying our home. Here’s a quick summary of their list:
1. Home inspection – $300 or more
2. Pest Inspection – $50-$200
3. Appraisal Fees – $350-$400
4. Closing Costs – 2%-3% of the mortgage loan amount
5. Moving Expenses – Variable
6. Furniture – Variable
7. Property Taxes and Homeowners Insurance – $3000 or more and 0.5%-1% of the loan respectively
8. Supplemental Insurance – $240 a year
9. Homeowners Association/Condo Fees – Variable but could be more than $1200 a year
10. Utilities – Variable
11. Ongoing Maintenance – Variable
12. Repairs – Variable
Here’s how we have fared so far:
1. Home inspection – $200
2. Pest Inspection – $50
3. Appraisal Fees – $250
4. Closing Costs – 2.2% mortgage loan amount or about $2000 total since we had a $91,200 mortgage.
5. Moving Expenses – $400 since we packed our stuff and hired a company to simply bring the boxes and furniture to our new house.
6. Furniture – So far we still use family hand-me-downs for almost everything, but we did spend $6000 last year for a new bedroom set and Tempurpedic mattress.
7. Property Taxes and Homeowners Insurance – $2200 and 0.9% of the loan respectively…again, we have lower costs than a bunch of people around us since we bought a very nice foreclosure for $114,000 and put 20% down.
8. Supplemental Insurance – $260 for flood insurance in the Houston area.
9. Homeowners Association/Condo Fees – None since we’re not part of a homeowners association.
10. Utilities – $80-$180 for electricity and $30 for water…we don’t have a gas line or a home phone line.
11. Ongoing Maintenance – We pay about $2000 a year between our yard guy, housekeeper, and miscellaneous costs like cleaning supplies.
12. Repairs – So far, we’ve only paid about $300 for repairs in 3 years ($100 for an A/C compressor, $150 for a water heater problem, and about $50 for supplies for minor problems on a toilet and guest bathtub). We have an account that is building up while we wait for something big to break.
In short, there are a bunch of expenses that kind of sneak up on you when you buy and live in your own home. I haven’t even mentioned the extras like a home security system. My husband and I were aware of these costs before we started the whole process, but it’s still not the easiest pill to swallow.
We’ve kept our costs lower than the other homeowners that we know by buying an affordable, newer house that is in great condition and by handling minor issues ourselves. We’d save even more if we handled our own lawn care and chores, but where’s the fun in that?
How do your home costs look? Did you expect them or were they a pretty rude shock?
April 18, 2010, at 6:00 am
BFS is a member of the Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge! My ranking last week was 966,708. Now it is 624,347! Nice!
The ultimate goal is to be in the top 200,000. I’m giving weekly rank updates in order to track our progress. Not too shabby for a blog that started at 8,531,858 when it joined the challenge in March 2010…
I would like to sincerely thank all of my readers and the members of the Yakezie Challenge. Obviously, this would be impossible without all of you.
In case you didn’t know, Alexa traffic rankings are determined by the numbers of hits a site gets by people with the Alexa toolbar. If you want to be part of this ranking community, you can download the Alexa toolbar here.
If you are a Yakezie member and don’t see yourself on my member list, please send me an email or leave a comment here to be added, thanks!
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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.
Also, there are paid links on this site. There is no obligation on your part to purchase any products advertised on this website.
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