- RT @mymoneyshrugged: The government breaks your leg, and hands you a crutch saying "see without me, you couldn't walk." #
- @bargainr What weeks do you need a FoF host for? in reply to bargainr #
- Awesome tagline: The coolest you'll look pooping your pants. Yay, @Huggies! #
- A textbook is not the real world. Not all business management professors understand marketing. #
- RT @thegoodhuman: Walden on work "spending best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy (cont) http://tl.gd/2gugo6 #
Saturday Roundup
I just noticed this didn’t post on time.
There are a few ways to get more out of this site.
Live Real, Now by email. You get a choice between having all of the posts delivered to your inbox, or just occasional updates and deals. Both options get my Budget Lessons, free of charge.
RSS subscription. You can have every post delivered to your favorite newsreader.
Twitter. I’m @LiveRealNow. You can get my snark and pseudo-wisdom 140 characters at a time. Ooh!
Facebook. Everybody has a fan page, right?
Now, for the part you’ve all been waiting for…
This week’s roundup:
It’s time to buy school supplies again. Don’t let it break the bank.
Chewbacca on a squirrel, fighting Nazis.
A pizza peel with a conveyor belt. The pinnacle of pizza-making awesomeness.
Have you ever looked into the psychology of a restaurant menu?
Carnivals I’ve participated in:
Carnival of Personal Finance #267 at Beating Broke posted A Budget Isn’t Enough.
Wealth Informatics hosted the Festival of Frugality and posted Payday Loans Suck.
Canajun Finances hosted the Best of Money Carnival and posted Life Altering Lessons I Learned From My Debt.
Quality Time – The Best Way to Enjoy Time With Your Kids
- Image via Wikipedia
It’s hard to know your kids.
We live in a world of constant distraction. Working full time, chasing the kids to whatever activities they’re enrolled in, play-dates, and other commitments all conspire to chase you away from the one thing that truly matters: your family. It’s not enough to be merely present, you have to be engaged.
How can you carve some time out of your hectic schedule to spend time that your kids will never forget?
We play a lot of games in my family and we start far younger than the recommended ages on any of the games we own. I taught my oldest kid to play chess when he was 4 and he caught on well enough to teach his grandmother within a few months. If a game doesn’t require reading, the recommended age is complete fiction. A two-year-old can count, so Sorry! is a good game. 5-year-olds can add, so Monopoly is a good choice that reinforces math skills.
To keep it fun, we have a few generic rules for playing games.
1. We play for blood. Nobody gets to win a game without earning it. It took my son 5 years to beat me in a game of chess. Two years later, he’s still bragging about it.
2. Losers don’t cry. Sportsmanship is important. It’s no fun to play with someone who throws a tantrum for losing. My son’s friends learned that lesson in a hurry.
3. If you’re not a good winner, you won’t play the next game. We talk a little smack when we play, but it’s only in fun. When someone gets mean, their gaming privileges get suspended.
4. The TV is off. We don’t need more distractions. No TV, no texting, no phone, no nothing. Game time is about family time, not about letting the outside world in. Guard this time with your life. I even hesitate to bring in other friends.
5. Video games don’t count. You get far less interaction when you’re staring at a screen. The goal is to have a good conversation while you’re playing and really get to know your family. You can’t do that when the only words coming out of your mouth are “Ack! Zombie Nazis! Shoot him!”
Board games and card games are relatively inexpensive. Settlers of Catan costs less than a trip to the movies. The games don’t wear out quickly, though we are on our third copy of Phase 10. For the price and the time, you don’t have any excuses.
How do you spend time with your kids?
Top 7 Reasons To Trade Forex Over Other Financial Instruments
This is a guest post provided by ForexTraders.com
The foreign exchange market has literally exploded over the last 10 years. Before the 1990’s, the only players allowed to speculate in the forex market were banks, large hedge funds, and very wealthy individuals. The reason was simple. The minimum contract size was usually $100,000 and it ranged up to $1,000,000; therefore, most traders simply could not afford to trade in the market. The advance of technology and internet changed that. Today, traders can open an account with as little as $100 and begin trading in the spot fx market. This change has caused traders around the world to rush into the market and the Bank of International Settlements now estimates that average daily turnover in the fx market is around $4 trillion! Let’s examine a few of the top reasons why the fx market is drawing so many traders.
Leverage
In the United States, traders that engage in fx trading can leverage 50:1. Leverage was much higher in recent years, but government regulations have now capped leverage at 50:1 effective late October. This means that a forex trader can control a position of $50,000 with only $1,000 on deposit with his broker. Leverage is definitely a two-edged sword that can help a trader garner very quick and substantial profits, but it can also lead to debilitating losses and should therefore be used with caution.
Liquidity
The huge amount of volume that is present in the forex market each day makes it basically impossible for any single financial institution or even group of market participants to manipulate price movements. It also makes it much easier for large traders to enter and exit the market without trading against themselves, which is a common problem in the stock and commodity markets.
24 Hour Market
The forex market is a loosely connected network of international banks; therefore, the market never closes from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon. Liquidity simply flows from financial center to financial center as time zones open and close business operations for the day. This is a huge advantage for small, retail traders because those who still have full-time jobs can trade at night.
Small Initial Account Size
Traders can open accounts with as little as $1 at some brokers, and then trade positions where each 1 point movement is equivalent to $0.01 (in the U.S. this would be lower since the leverages are capped at 1:50). This will obviously never get a trader rich, but it does allow traders a very low risk entrance into the market. Traders generally need $20,000 in order to day trade the stock market. This very low account size at an online forex broker is a big draw for many traders.
Long Trends
The currency market tends to develop very clear, long trends. It is not uncommon for specific currencies to head in the same direction for 5+ years. Of course, there are many dramatic price swings that make real-time trading difficult and challenging, but a quick look at longer-term currency price charts makes it clear that currencies develop strong trends.
Macro Economics
The currency market is very big picture-based. This means there are not a million and one little things that a trader has to track as is common in other financial markets. Currencies react to major macroeconomic developments around the world. Seasoned fx professionals argue that this makes the job of economic analysis much different in the currency market.
Continued Growth and Volatility
The foreign exchange market is expected to continue to grow in coming years, and volatility is expected to remain quite strong as the world continues to move toward a more globalized economy. As globalization continues to change the world economy, investor interest in currencies will most likely continue to grow steadily.
Jason’s commentary: I’ve never looked into forex trading, mostly because I’m not in the “invest & grow rich” stage of my financial life. Have you invested in the forex market?
How have you improved your situation today?
Every day, in some small way, it’s important to do something to improve your situation. Whether it’s paying down debt, researching inexpensive alternatives to your existing expenses, or something as simple as hugging your spouse or playing games with your kids.
Educate
I was once told that every day, you either get smarter, or you get dumber. Don’t do the latter. Never pass up an opportunity to educate yourself. Make the day good for you.
- Read a book. There are hundreds of personal finance books available. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover is a great place to start.
- Read a blog. Once again, lack of choice is not a problem here. There are thousands of choices. My favorites are in my sidebar, to the left.
- Find a mentor. Failing that, get a PF-Buddy. Find someone you can call when you need the moral support to make an appropriate or difficult financial decision.
- Take a class. Whether it’s a personal finance class, or some other way of improving yourself, do it. Many cities offer affordable community education classes. Ad Hoc college courses are another option.
Elucidate
It’s incredibly important to understand your situation. If you don’t know where you are, how can you control where you’re going?
- Examine your finances. I heartily recommend Quicken to track your finances, but Mint is a great place to see where your money has gone.
- Know your debt. It’s important to know your debt. Own it. Know your fees and your rates. Know every cent you owe. Get a spreadsheet or a notebook and write it all down. Keep it updated. Mint is great for this. I update my debt-sheet monthly.
- Know your spending. This is another plug for Mint. There’s no better way to see where your money has gone in the past. I use Quicken for the present and future, Mint for the past and snapshots.
- Find your waste. Do you have the cheapest plans that meet your needs for television, internet, phone service? Do you have AAA and roadside assistance through your insurance company?
- Talk to your spouse. Discuss your finances. Make sure everyone is on the same page and there are no surprises or hidden bills. Plan together.
- Eliminate problems early. If you see a problem, eliminate it before it gets out of control. The earlier you identify a problem, the easier it is to eliminate.
- Family meeting. Get the family together so everyone can participate, even the children. Young eyes sometimes have a clarity that a lifetime of habits has clouded. If your kids understand the concept of money, they are old enough to participate and even help. Brainstorming means that no idea is a bad idea. It may not be implemented, but everything is worth hearing.
Eradicate
What’s left? Eliminate baggage. Kill your bills. If you’re paying for something you don’t want or need, get rid of it!
- Unnecessary items. Do you have an extra cell phone or an insured motorcycle in the garage? Time to cancel.
- Unused items. Do you really use the movie package in your cable bill? Are you saving money with Netflix, or would Redbox be a better option?
- Forgotten bills. Did you sign up for an identity protection scheme or an appliance repair plan for an appliance that no longer exists? Cancel!
- Fees. What fees are you paying? Do you have an annual fee for your credit card or minimum balance fees at your bank? Find new institutions. Loyalty to your bank may be costing you money.
Unused or unnecessary bills are nothing but unhappiness generators. They don’t provide value so trim the waste and get rid of what you don’t need.
30 Day Project – January
This month, I have two 30 Day Projects.
My first project is to start waking up at 5am. This will add an extra 90 minutes to my day, which will give me time to manage all of my other 30 day projects. I’ll be able to wake up to a quiet house, walk the dog, eat breakfast and not start every day in a rush to get out of the house. Today was my exception. After watching 2010 arrive, I didn’t get up early.
The second project is to start reading to my children every night before bed. We read to the kids often, but not every day. That’s going to change. We are also working on breaking the girls of the family bed. If I can read them to sleep each night, it will help. Good, educational family time that makes it easier to sleep every night.
These are both habits I want to keep long after the month is up.
