- I miss electricity. #
- @prosperousfool Do you still need a dropbox referral? in reply to prosperousfool #
- @prosperousfool Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTE1Mjk2OTU5 in reply to prosperousfool #
- Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: Electricity is the bee's knees, the wasp's nipples and lots of other insect erogenous zones. #
- @prosperousfool Throw in a Truecrypt partition and the PortableApps launcher and it gets really neat. in reply to prosperousfool #
- @prosperousfool Universal accessibility. I put an encrypted partition on it so any receipts or credit card info or login info would be safe in reply to prosperousfool #
- RT @untemplater: RT @jenny_blake: Deep thought of the day: "How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." -Wayne Dyer #quote #
- @FARNOOSH So what's happening to the one good show on SOAPNet? in reply to FARNOOSH #
- RT @flexo: RT @mainstr: 1 million Americans have been swindled in an elaborate credit card scam and they may not know http://bit.ly/cr8DNK #
3 Questions to Ask in a Spending Crisis
- Image by ExecGifts via Flickr
Having a well-funded emergency fund is one of the foundation blocks for almost every saving or debt-repayment plan. The theory is that you’ll be better able to weather a financial storm if you don’t have to raid your budget or beat on your credit card every time an unexpected expense rears its ugly head. The number varies based on your pundit and your stage of life, but generally ranges from $1000 to 8 months of your expenses. The money needs to go in a liquid account, so it can be accessed when necessary, but it needs to be completely ignored otherwise. What good is an emergency fund that has been spent?
Now that you have your emergency fund, you are set, right? But what happens when something comes up? When is it okay to spend that money? Emergencies can take so many forms: medical emergencies, car repairs, accidents, a good sale. Wait. What was the last one? What actually constitutes an emergency that is worth shredding your security blanket?
Here are three questions to ask yourself before you spend that money:
- Is the expense necessary? If it’s a voluntary expense, you should create a savings goal and wait to buy it until you can actually afford it. Emergency funds are meant for emergencies, not whims. A good sale is never an emergency.
- Is it important? When my motorcycle breaks down, it gets parked until I can afford to pay for the repairs. When my car breaks down, I need to get it fixed so I can get the kids to daycare and myself to work.
- Is it urgent? Is this an expense that can be postponed until next month, when you have a chance to sell something you don’t need, or rearrange some items in your budget to “find” the necessary cash? If it doesn’t need to be paid right now, it may be best to put it off. In the case of medical bills, you can usually get on a payment plan with no penalties, if you ask. That can change an expensive obligation to a manageable monthly bill.
Your emergency fund should only be used on things that are important, necessary, and urgent. Anything else should get postponed until you can afford to pay it using your on-budget expense items. As the wise man once said: “Lack of planning does not constitute an emergency.” Of course, if you are in a financially stable situation and willing to take a small risk for a short time, eliminating an entire debt item to save the interest can be the right decision.
What would you be willing to spend your emergency fund on?
8 painless ways to save money
I saw this list on US News and thought I’d give my take on it.
- Get healthy. They are right. It is cheaper to be healthy…in the long run. Short-term, eating crap food is cheaper and obesity doesn’t get expensive until you are older. But remember, long-term planning is important. I intend to enjoy my old age, so I am working on losing weight and exercising. Fat and lazy is easy, but it won’t be in 50 years.
- Rethink your auto insurance. I don’t have an argument here. When I established my initial emergency fund, I set my deductibles to match it. We regularly review our policies to make sure they match what we need.
- Improve your credit scores. I don’t know what they were thinking with this one. If you’ve got lousy credit, it’s hardly painless to improve it. Digging out of a pit of debt hurts.
- Invest on the cheap. This is another one that’s hard to argue with. Low-fee funds are, by definition, cheaper. Will you get a better return on a fund with higher fees? It’s worth checking the historical return to see if the fee is justified.
- Think triple play. They recommend bundling your internet, TV, and phone. It is cheaper, but I don’t recommend it. I don’t like putting all of my eggs in one basket. If the cable goes down, or the the power goes out, I’d still like to be able to make a phone call, if I have to. My landline is independently powered, and I always make sure there is a corded phone plugged in somewhere. My basic landline only runs $35/month, so a bundle won’t save anything for me, anyway.
- Go prepaid with your cell phone. I have a coworker who pays, on average, $5/month for his cell phone. I use mine far more than he does. If you don’t talk much and don’t use data or texting, this can work out well for you.
- Shop online. I do shop online for a lot. I even buy my toilet paper online. For some things, I prefer to shop locally. When a store owner gets to know you, he can get you some fantastic deals, and give you advice that can save you a ton of money.
- Get cash back. I have a couple of decent cash-back credit cards, but I won’t use them. Until all of our credit card debt is paid, I won’t consider making regular use of any form of credit. Your mileage may vary, but that’s the condition I had to set on myself to make our debt plan work.
How many of these ideas do you use?
Best of Money Carnival #68
Today, it is my privilege to host the 68th Best of Money Carnival. I’ve hosted a few carnivals over the last 10 months, but winnowing the choices from 60 to 10 is quite possibly the most difficult I’ve had to do. There were lots of excellent posts this week. Next time, I’ll have to make my job easier by soliciting bribes. I am always on the lookout for a new income stream.
Without further ado, here is the best of the best:
10. Mike Piper presents Do You Have an Investment Backup Plan? posted at Oblivious Investor. What would you do if your investment portfolio suddenly tanks?
9. Tim Chen presents Calm Down, the Poor Are Not Paying for the Rewards of the Rich posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch. I always get a little bit irritated when people accuse the “rich” of only being rich at the expense of the poor. After all, the richest 20% of the U.S. includes household incomes of just $90,000. If you think that’s a lot, remember that $25,000 still puts you in the richest 10% wordwide.
8. FMF presents How to Pick a Great Mutual Fund posted at Free Money Finance. What’s more important, cost or performance?
7. Madison DuPaix presents Marriage Tax Penalty Returns in 2011 posted at My Dollar Plan. This is another example of the flaws in the “tax the rich” policies. When we lose the “tax cuts on the rich”, almost everyone will pay more taxes.
6. Silicon Valley Blogger presents How College Students Can Save Money posted at The Digerati Life. If I knew then what I know now….
5. Kristina presents A DINK Sandwich posted at DINKS Finance. Life gets easier when you can find a simple yet reliable set of rules to cover most situations.
4. freefrombroke presents It’s Still A Good Idea To Buy A House In This Economy posted at Free From Broke. I was lucky enough to buy my house shortly before the bubble grew. If we would have waited, I’d still be renting.
3. PT presents Credit Card Default: 7 Things You Should Know posted at PT Money. If you are working your way into debt, it’s good to know the what’s in store for you.
2. Joe Plemon presents Three New Car Purchases to Steer Away From posted at Personal Finance By The Book. I’m a few months away from my last car payment. Ever. These are more reasons to avoid a new car.
And finally, the best of the best of the best, sir:
1. Craig Ford presents Make Money Blogging | A Guide for Beginners on How to Make Money Online posted at Money Help For Christians. As I was compiling this list, I kept getting distracted here. I’d reread a section, follow the links, and find I had lost an hour. Read this post.
If you want to be included in the next Best of Money Carnival, don’t forget to submit your best post and follow the guidelines. Next week, it will be hosted by Green Panda Treehouse.
20 Lazy Ways to Save Money
- Image by Paul Vivier via Flickr
Investopedia ran a post on 20 lazy ways to save money. I thought it was worth sharing my take on the post.
1. Schedule automatic payments. I do this obsessively. I run all of my regular payments through my bank’s online bill-pay. I think there are 2 bills that get paid manually; 1 is a quarterly payment, the other is due annually.
2. Eat your groceries. According to the post, Americans–on average–throw away 15% of the groceries they buy. I totally believe that. We don’t throw away that much, but it’s still too much. It tends to be the fresh vegetables, which we eat as side dishes instead of the main course. We need to switch that mindset, both to use the vegetable efficiently and to eat healthier.
3. Bundle services. I refuse. I hate the idea of having a single point of failure for multiple systems. If the power goes out, I lose my cable, but I keep the phone. If, for some reason, I can’t pay my phone bill, I don’t lose my internet connection. I like keeping these things separated.
4. Pay off credit card. Hardly a lazy process, but otherwise…duh!
5. Mark your calendar. I use my Google Calendar as obsessively as I use automatic payments. I put in reminders, grocery lists, or anything else I need to know at a specific time.
6. File your taxes on time. I just helped a friend dig out of this mess. I pay as soon as all of my paperwork is delivered. The IRS doesn’t give up and they have leverage, including garnishment and even jail.
7. Roll it over. When you change jobs, take your 401k with you. Don’t leave it behind like a series of red-headed stepchildren. It’s too easy to lose track of the accounts. Don’t cash it out! I made that mistake once and lost far too much to taxes. A rollover doesn’t count against your 401k contribution limits.
8. Switch credit cards. If you can a good balance transfer offer that’s followed by a better interest rate than you currently have, use it. But don’t forget to pay attention to the transfer fees. Do the math. If it costs you $500 to transfer the money, how much interest do you have to save to make it worthwhile?
9. Use your privileges. If you have a AAA membership, use it. It gives you a discount on hotels, oil changes, car rentals, and more. Read the paperwork. Former military gets a ton of random discounts, too. Ask.
10. Rent instead of buy. Renting can save you money over buying, if it’s something you’ll only use once, but borrowing is free.
11. Buy instead of rent. Rent-a-center is a ripoff, but they can’t even legally operate here. If you’re going to use something regularly, buy it.
12. Ask. I love to call up every company I give money to and ask if there’s a way I can give them less. Outside of chain stores and restaurants I almost always ask for a lower price.
13. Just say no. Extended warranties are generally a waste of money. However, if I can’t afford to replace the item, I do get the warranty. On my car, I brought it in for a full inspection and repair a few weeks before the warranty ran out and made all of that money back. We are slowly building a warranty fund to replace the need for any future extended warranties.
14. Have the awkward conversation. We tried giving gift-giving the axe, but nobody enjoyed that. Now, we cap the gifts at $20 and do a round-robin type of gift. $40 for gifts keeps 10 adults happy.
15. Eat at home. Generally, I can cook almost anything better at home, but I really do enjoy eating out and trying new restaurants. We just keep it from being a regular expense.
16. Balance your checkbook. What a waste of time! With automatic payments and cash for all of the discretionary budget items, I balance the checkbook once a month.
17. Stick with your bank. Either use your own bank’s ATM network, or use a bank that refunds ATM fees. I only take out cash on the first of the month, for the entire month and I do that with a teller, so this is never an issue for us.
18. Use your TV. Cable movie packages instead of a video membership? Really? That’s a horrible idea.
19. Quit those bad habits. I quite smoking, saving $200 a month. I don’t drink much and I’m working on fixing my eating habits. Vices are fun, and this is certainly not a fun way to save money.
20. Forget the pet. There is no way this would fly at my house. we have 5 cats, 2 gerbils, and a dog. Our renter has 2 pythons. We’re a flippin’ zoo and honestly, mess and cost aside, we all like it that way.
How do you stand on these ideas?
Shaving for Real
- Image via Wikipedia
When you look at a safety razor, you see the mostly-unguarded blade. When you look in the mirror, you see your throat and you see this blade–by definition, razor-sharp–and you realize that you are about to put a knife to your own throat. Why?
Because shaving sucks.
For my 18th birthday, I received 2 Mach3 razors. I used them for more than 10 years. It certainly beat disposable Bics, but not by much.
I liked it, but only because I didn’t have anything good to compare it to.
I’ve start using an old-fashioned safety razor. Now, I can shave smoother and with less irritation than I ever could with a modern razor and it only takes a few extra minutes.
Why would you want to abandon modern technology to put a blade against your jugular?
Modernization isn’t always an improvement. There is something about reaching back in time a couple of generations and doing things, not only the way they used to be done, but the way they should be done. It’s the same feeling I get handling an old rifle or sitting in an antique car.
A real shave is 15 minutes of peace and focus. Lock the kids out of the bathroom and focus on the task at hand. The concentration will usually give you a chance to forget about the rest of the world for just a few minutes. This is pure meditation.
As a benefit, when you’re done, you feel refreshed and well-groomed. It feels good to take care of yourself.
What do you need to shave like a real man?
Start slow and ease your way into it. Put a cup in the bathroom. If you shave with a modern razor, the easiest way to improve your shave is to use hot water. Put your shaving cream in the cup and add a bit of hot water. Mix that up and use it to shave. The hot foam will do wonders for your skin and the closeness of your shave. I did that and immediately start trolling antique stores looking for a good, cheap shaving brush.
A brush makes applying your shaving cream a small pleasure. Spreading the hot foam on your face with a brush gets in on all sides of each hair, softening it for the razor. Ideally, you want a badger-hair brush, but I’ve been perfectly happy with boar hair. I found one at an antique store for $5.
Shortly after acquiring my antique shaving brush, I decided to go even older-school and upgraded to an old-fashioned safety razor. I took my life, and my life-blood, in my own hands to shave for real. I went with a Merkur 23C Long Handle Safety Razor. It’s a basic razor with a longer handle, because I have large hands and long fingers. Don’t worry about getting an adjustable razor. There’s no point. It cost $29 at West Coast Shaving*.
You will need blades for the razor. West Coast Shaving sells a variety pack of 45 blades for $15. Try them all and stick with the one that works best for your facial hair. I tend to change blades every 4-5 shaves. More than that, and they get a bit dull and make me bleed. I try to avoid bleeding.
Now that you’ve got a brush, a razor, and blades, it’s time to get rid of the worthless can of shaving foam. Shaving soap works much better. You can get 3 discs of Col. Conk’s soap for $15, and they will last 6 months each, easily. They are almost exactly the same diameter as a regular coffee cup, so guess what? Just drop it in your cup.
That’s everything you need to shave for just $65, and of that only the blades and soap are recurring costs. Your razor and brush will last forever. I figure it costs me about $1 per month to shave, now.
How do you avoid killing yourself while getting ready for work?
It’s all a matter of technique.
- Dampen your cheeks with hot water to soften the hair. I prefer to shave immediately after I shower.
- Run hot water over your brush. Get it thoroughly soaked, then shake off the excess water. You want it hot and wet, but not dripping.
- Briskly brush the soap disk until the brush picks up as much soap as it can. It may or may not form a lather in the cup.
- Put the brush on your face and whisk it around. I use a quick circular motion to build up a lather on my cheeks. This works the hot soap into each hair. Keep brushing it onto your face until it forms peaks.
- Pick up your razor. I run it under some hot water, just so the cold metal isn’t a shock after the hot foam. From here, you need your full attention on what you are doing.
- Shave.
When you are shaving there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Take your time.
- Never, ever, ever, ever turn the blade while it is in contact with your face. You will bleed. Once the blade touches your face, it goes in a straight line.
- Keep the edge of the blade as close to parallel with your face as possible.
- The goal is hair reduction, not removal.
I make 4 passes when I shave. First, I shave from the top down. Next, from the back towards my nose and mouth. Then, from the front to the back. Finally, I shave against the grain from the bottom to the top. This results in a closer shave than anything I’ve ever had with a modern razor.
When I think I’m done, I dip my fingers in some warm water and run them around my face, in all possible directions, to see if I missed a spot.
When the hair is gone, wipe of the remaining cream and splash cold water every place the razor touched. This closes the pores and will help prevent infections and razor bumps.
The last step is aftershave. Aftershave disinfects your face. It also prevents infections and makes you stink nice.
There you have it: the secret to a baby-butt-smooth shave and 10-20 minutes of masculine meditation. If you are looking for a present for someone, you could do a lot worse than a real razor set.
*I have absolutely no affiliation with WCS. I am just very happy with the service and the product.
