- @ScottATaylor Thanks for following me. in reply to ScottATaylor #
- RT @ChristianPF: 5 Tips For Dealing With Your Medical Debt http://su.pr/2cxS1e #
- Dining Out vs Cooking In: http://su.pr/3JsGoG #
- RT: @BudgetsAreSexy: Be Proud of Your Emergency Fund! http://tinyurl.com/yhjo88l ($1,000 is better than $0.00) #
- [Read more…] about Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-12
The Friday Tax
I’ve been at the doctor’s office every time my kids have been scheduled to get shots. I let them know what to expect before the shot, hold their legs still during, and comfort them after. It’s not pleasant, but it is a bonding experience. It builds trust. My kids know that if I tell them something won’t hurt, it won’t, because I tell them when it will. Unpleasantness is never a surprise. Somehow, this policy hasn’t led to a fear of the doctor. They always know what to expect and how tough I’m expecting them to be, so they don’t worry.
Last Friday, it was time for the unpleasant duty. Both of the girls had checkups and one was due for shots. I took the afternoon off to meet my wife and kids at the clinic.
It was a beautiful day. It was warm, the sun was shining, and traffic was light. The windows were down and music was playing; it was an almost perfect start to the weekend.
Did I mention I have a lead foot?
“No, honey, I don’t think we need to buy that” certainly loses some of it’s effect shortly after “Uh, honey? I just paid the voluntary driving-too-fast tax.”
For days, I heard, “Well, I wasn’t the one who got a speeding ticket!” This sounds like nagging, but it’s not. I am normally the one issuing reminders about spending and saving. This time, it was her turn. It’s not my job to hold her accountable. It’s our job–jointly–to hold each other accountable. If I mess up–and I did–she is perfectly within her rights to hold me feet to the fire. I certainly don’t hesitate when the roles are reversed.
I haven’t had a ticket in almost 12 years, so this isn’t a habitual problem. It is an expense that should have been avoided.
Now, I’ve got to take a day off of work and go to court to try to keep it off of my record, so it won’t affect my insurance rates. That means court costs on top of the fine.
Monetary weakness or a lapse in judgment can derail goals. We haven’t destroyed our budget for the month, but it’s not an insignificant amount of money. I try figure enough padding into our budget that this isn’t painful, but it is money that could have been “snowflaked” onto our debt. It could have meant another $150 in the vacation fund. That is disappointing.
It’s time to establish the habit of driving the speed limit.
Update: This post has been included in the Money Hacks Carnival.
Insurance
On Tuesday, a potential customer took my business partner and I out for sushi.
The sushi bar was fun. There was a little canal going around the bar. The canal had little boats. The boats had little plates. The plates had sushi. Lots and lots of sushi. When you wanted something, you just reached out and took it.
Yum.
My only complaint with the place is the width of the chairs. If you’re going to use narrow chairs, you really shouldn’t choose chairs with armrests.
Between the narrow chairs, the armrests, and my fat butt, my cell phone got knocked off of my belt.
Crap.
I normally check my money clip, car keys, pocket knife, and cell phone every time I stand up, but didn’t this time.
I noticed it was missing 15 miles later.
Of course, when I called, no one answered my phone.
The restaurant hadn’t seen my phone.
When we went back to retrace our steps, my phone was nowhere to be found. Some busboy got a nice tip that night.
Now, I don’t carry insurance on my cell phone. I still have every cell phone I’ve ever owned, in working condition. Well, minus one, now. At $5/month, that has saved me more than $1000 over the years.
Of course, it’s a bit painful this week.
Thankfully, I sock a bit of money away every month to cover things that break. It’s my warranty fund. That, combined with a good(hopefully) find on eBay, means that losing my phone, while irritating, isn’t going to break my budget. It won’t actually touch my budget in any way.
On a side note, a parking ramp with a flat, “all night” charge and a lost ticket fee makes me angry.
The Value of Hiding Money From Your Spouse
I have a confession, but it’s probably not going to be a big shocker if you read the title of this post.
I hide money from my wife.
Some of you just started screaming at your monitor that I’m a horrible person.
That’s cool.
You’re wrong, but the fact that I got that reaction out of you makes me smile.
Ok, I might be a little bit horrible, but not because I hide money.
My wife has an admitted shopping problem. If she thinks we’re broke, she shops less. That’s a win and allows me to save up for our long-term goals and provide for our financial security.
I don’t lie about it. If she asks how we’re doing, I tell her. At least in general terms.
But I didn’t tell her about my annual bonus, until we had a bunch of car repairs come up that would have swamped our emergency fund.
I also haven’t told her about the cash I’ve been stockpiling.
A couple of years ago, the power went out here for four days. It wasn’t just our house, it was 75% of everything within 5 miles of our house.
When the power came on in some places after a day or two, the phone lines were still down, which meant gas stations couldn’t process credit cards.
Quick, look in your wallet and tell me how much cash you have on you….
Most people live on their credit or debit cards.
Could you buy food or water if your plastic was gone?
I could that week, but not for long, so I started taking the cash payments from my side hustle and putting it aside. I’d come home, give my wife a little cash, keep a little cash for myself, and put at least 80% of it away. I absolutely refuse to touch that money for anything.
Part of the “set it aside and forget about” means not revealing its existence. It would be too easy to dip into it to pay the pizza guy or when we go to Rennfest.
So I don’t talk about, and it gets to sit all by itself in the safe, comfy and warm. It’s my security blanket, and nobody gets to touch my binky.
Saturday Roundup – The OMG It’s Busy Edition
- Image via Wikipedia
Last Saturday, my 3-year-old rode in her second horse show. She got third place out of 4, which is pretty good for her second show.
Halloween is well under way here. Normally, I get everything set up the last weekend of September, but we went out of town that weekend to visit my sick Grandma, so things are behind schedule. Now, I’m trying to finish decorating my yard in the evenings, between work and sunset. That really cuts into blogging time.
Today, my two oldest kids are having a birthday party together. October is a crazy-busy month.
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The best posts of the week:
Every blogger needs a WordPress cheatsheet, right?
$93 of generosity turned into $100,000 of charity. It’s an inspiring story about how the little things add up. What a way to make a difference!
The debt-settlement meany-butt-jerkfaces have to obey an entire new set of laws to keep them from lying to their customers.
I love precious metals. The only gold I own is on my ring finger, but I’ve got a small stack of silver in the house. There’s just something about a gold or silver coin that makes me want to fondle it.
Finally, a list of the carnivals I’ve participated in:
Last week:
20 Lazy Ways to Save Money was in the Carnival of Money Stories.
3 Reasons You Hate Your Budget was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance.
The Magic Toilet was included in the Festival of Frugality. I love my magic toilet.
This week:
Halloween Decorations Ain’t Cheap was picked up by the Carnival of Personal Finance.
Thrifty Sucks was included in the Carnival of Money Stories.
If I missed anyone, please let me know. Thanks for including me!
Time Management, Part II
I have horrible time management skills.
Part of the reason is that I take on a lot of projects.
Part of the reason is that I’m easily distra…ooh, shiny!
And part of the reason is that I’m a terrible procrastinator. On second thought, that’s not quite true. I’m actually a very good procrastinator. It’s a skill I’ve built up quite well.
Stephen Covey tells a story–one I’ve always heard applied to personal finance–called The Big Rocks of Life.
One day this expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration I’m sure those students will never forget. After I share it with you, you’ll never forget it either.
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.
Then he smiled and asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?”
“No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!”
“No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.”
The original point to the story is just as relevant as the personal finance lessons associated with it. If you let your life fill up with the little crap that doesn’t matter, you won’t have time for the important things.
At work, I have 4-5 major projects I’m working on. Some of these are behind schedule. I get interrupted sometimes twenty times per day. Each one of those interruptions kills my concentration; it wrecks my groove. By the time I’m back on track, 20 minutes have passed and I’m getting interrupted again.
No wonder I don’t seem to get anything done.
If I close my door and ignore my email, the little rocks usually don’t fill up my day, allowing me to concentrate on the high-value projects. That’s not always possible, and my coworkers get upset when I throw rocks at them for interrupting me, but it does help me get things done.
Now, I just need to focus on the big things and let the little rocks slide. No twitter, no internet forums, no coworker interruptions. Then we’ll see how productive I can be.
What are your “little rocks”? How do you avoid getting bogged down?
