Live Real, Now

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

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-29

Misc

My Credit Cards

Finance

This announcement is a bit premature, but not everything that’s premature has to end in an evening of disappointment.

At the beginning of the year, I transferred the balance of my last credit card onto two different cards, each with a 0% interest rate.   One card got a $4,000 transfer and the other got $13,850.  The approximately $415 in fees I paid for the transfer saved me nearly $1500 in interest this year.

The card that got the big balance is the card we use for a lot of our daily spending.    On my statement dated 2/18/2012, the balance on the this card was $14,865.23.  At the same time, the smaller card had a balance of $3,925.09, for a total of $18,790.32.  When I started my debt-murder journey in April 2009, it had peaked at just under $30,000.

When my payments clear later today, that balance will be gone.

That is nearly $19,000 paid down in 8 months.

Now, the inheritance we picked up did accelerate our repayment a bit, but only by a few months.

Starting from $90,394.70 in April 2009, we have paid down $63,746.70, leaving $26,648.00 on our mortgage.

I’m more than a little excited, which–as usual–is the cause for the prematurity.

New goal: pay off the mortgage in 2013.

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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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The Friday Tax

Finance

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.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-12

Misc