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The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-17

Misc

  • @Elle_CM Natalie's raid looked like it was filmed with a strobe light. Lame CGI in reply to Elle_CM #
  • I want to get a toto portable bidet and a roomba. Combine them and I'll have outsourced some of the least tasteful parts of my day. #
  • RT @freefrombroke: RT @moneybeagle: New Blog Post: Money Hacks Carnival #115 http://goo.gl/fb/AqhWf #
  • TED.com: The neurons that shaped civilization. http://su.pr/2Qv4Ay #
  • Last night, fell in the driveway: twisted ankle and skinned knee. Today, fell down the stairs: bruise makes sitting hurt. Bad morning. #
  • RT @FrugalDad: And to moms, please be more selective about the creeps you let around your child. Takes a special guy to be a dad to another' #
  • First Rule of Blogging: Don't let real life get in the way. Epic fail 2 Fridays in a row. But the garage sale is going well. #

What’s in it for me?

Finance, Parenting

Fez (video game)
Image via Wikipedia

Lately my son has been in full-on greed mode. It seems like every time I talk to him he asks me to give him something buy him something, do something.

“Dad, can you buy me a Yu-Gi-Oh card?”

“Dad, can you buy me a videogame?”

“Dad, can I get this?”

“Dad, can I get that?”

That is really kind of obnoxious. My response has turned into “What’s in it for me?”

Really, he’s constantly asking for stuff and he’s trying to provide no value back.  What kind of lesson would I be teaching him by handing him everything he’s asking for?  So, I’ve decided to make him come up with a value proposition: “What’s in it for me?”

Now, when he asks me to buy him a video game, I ask what’s in it for me.

Sometimes, he comes back with “Well nothing, you just love me.” That is garbage.  I’m not going to buy him stuff just as because I love him and teach them that you can buy someone’s affection or that you should be paying for someone’s affection.

Other times he comes back with “If you buy me video game, I will clean all of the poop out of the backyard.” (We have a dog.  I’m not messy.) That seems like a much better deal.

Other times, he reminds me that I owe him back-allowance.  That one’s a given.  If I owe him more than whatever he is asking for, he’s going to get it.

Sometimes, he’ll say that he willing to do a bunch of extra chores or something, but he is learning that he needs to trade value for value instead of assuming that every whim he’s got is going to be indulged by me just because I’m his parent and I’ve been generous in the past.

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Changing Our Situation

Finance

In September 2005, I bought my car, a Chrysler Pacifica.  I got it on a loan.   Two months later–seven years ago this month–I was told I’d be laid off at the end of the year.

Two weeks ago, we bought a Chevy Tahoe with a loan.   Last Monday, my wife was permanently laid off after 12 years with her company.   She was told that, if her department opened back up, she’d be welcome to reapply for her job and start as a new employee.

Car loans mean layoffs at my house.

Last Tuesday, I got a formal offer for a new job.  I accepted.

I am now a full month away from knowing exactly what my semi-monthly paychecks will be.  My wife is getting her final paycheck later this week, which will include a week of severance pay.

For the first time in a number of years, I don’t know what my income looks like.   I don’t have a clear long-term picture or a good short-term picture.

I’m not worried.

For the first time in my life, I’m not living paycheck-to-paycheck.  Having a couple of pay periods act wonky isn’t going to hurt.   Yes, we are going to cut back, but we can manage for a few months without worry.  We aren’t going to sweat over putting food on the table.

That is an incredible feeling.

 

Payday Loans Suck

Finance

shark boy poster
Image by vonglee via Flickr

A few weeks ago, I was approached about placing ads on this site.  I was excited when I read the email.  It came from a real domain, didn’t involve any Nigerian princes or wire transfers for overpayments.

Over the course of the email conversation, it was determined that, for a fee, I would place some links in a few archived posts.  It would just be links to improve search engine ranking, without being an eyesore for my current readers.  I don’t have a problem with that.  The intrusiveness is similar to Chitika ads, which are only visible to search traffic.  It’s a nice way to advertise: monetization without alienation.

Then I saw the links.  I was being offered money to promote payday loans.

Payday loans offer to loan you–for example–$100 for the low(snort) price of just $25.  That’s not bad.  Only 25%.  I know some credit cards that aren’t that good.  The catch is that the loan is due in full in 2 weeks.  That gives it an APR(Annual Percentage Rate) of 650%.  That’s not so good.

When you payback the loan, your paycheck is pre-spent by whatever you borrowed, plus the pound of flesh fee and you are that much more likely to need their services again, digging you even deeper.

It’s not like the target demographic is terribly affluent.  These are people who not only can’t make ends meet, but also can’t acquire traditional credit.  They are left paying this insulting fee.

I consider payday lending companies to be immoral, unethical and generally, more than a bit dishonest.  These are the people who give decent, hardworking capitalists a bad name.  I’d rather go to a mob loan shark.  He’s at least honest about what he is.

They got shot down.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making money.  I also enjoy the money I make here.

But not at the expense of my soul or my integrity.

Net Worth Update – January 2014

Misc

This may be the most boring type of post I write, but it’s important to me to track my net worth so I can see my progress.  We are sliding smoothly from debt payoff mode to wealth building mode.

Our highlights right now are nothing to speak of.  We did let our credit card grow a little bit over the last couple of months, but paid it off completely at the end of December.  It grew mostly as a matter of not paying attention while we were doing our holiday shopping and dealing with some car repairs.

That’s it.  We haven’t remodeled our bathrooms yet, but we have the money sitting in a savings account, waiting for the contractor.  We haven’t bought a pony yet, but we did decide that a hobby farm wouldn’t be the right move for us.  We’ll be boarding the pony instead of moving, at least for the foreseeable future.

Our net worth is up $13,000 since September.  Our savings are up and our retirement accounts are down because there are two inherited IRAs that we need to slowly cash out and convert to regular IRAs.

Net Worth Jan 2014

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-12

Misc