Living for today - Planning for Tomorrow
I was browsing through my “Personal Finance†folder on my computer a couple of days ago and stumbled upon an old copy of my master budget/net worth spreadsheet from about 4 years ago. I’ve always enjoyed looking back at old copies of our finances because it reminds me of how far we’ve come. As I looked over the numbers on the spreadsheet, one number really
I was sitting around one day when I started wondering how much my property taxes cost me each day. I had absolutely no idea, although I knew that I pay over $4000 a year in property taxes. After a quick check, I found I’m actually paying $4450 in property taxes each year. Ugh. So, what does that work out to per day? $12.19. Double ugh.
As I’ve said many times in the past, I’m a HUGE believer in credit unions. Today I was considering tying up some of my cash in a short term CD. I logged on to my credit union and checked their rates, only to be very disappointed. Here’s what I found for a CD less than $50,000 (min $1000): 6-11 month CD: .65% 12-17 month CD:
About a week ago I was driving my 2000 Toyota Tacoma truck with my seven year old daughter riding shotgun. We were heading over to my mom’s house for a short visit, which required us to drive across a valley, up a pretty steep, long hill and then along the Puget Sound for a bit. As we started up the long hill my truck started
Seems like kind of a harsh question to ask, but I think it’s a necessary one. A number of years ago my wife and I purchased a $100,000 term life insurance policy on me. My rationale was that we were young and didn’t have much debt and that was enough to get my wife back on her feet after dealing with my death. Fast forward
Check out this fascinating collection of color photographs of people during the last years of the Great Depression. It’s really fascinating to see how people lived back then and then compare that to how people are living today. The color adds such a punch to each of the pictures. http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/
As I often do, I found myself standing in the front yard talking to a friend of mine while I was watering the lawn. He’s 51 years old and has been working at the same company for 20+ years. A few weeks ago, he told me that he’s going to have to start driving a lot farther to work each day due to the company
In a sign that the economy isn’t exactly rosy, I’m starting to see more and more impromptu garage sales. Actually, I think I should call them impromptu sales instead because I’ve seen a couple variations. Yes, I’ve seen your standard, run of the mill, garage sales but they seem to have a different “feel†to them. Instead of seeing various knick knacks out in the
ING Investment Broker, Rhonda Breard, appeared to have it all. She owned 3 luxury homes and 27 cars, trucks, boats and RV’s. She even had her own Infomercials titled, “Help Me Rhondaâ€. Unfortunately for all the investors, it was all a scam. Rhonda stole over $11 million over at least 10 years. Now she’s facing upwards of 8 years in jail. She cites the need
The New York Times has an article about Alexandra Jarrin. Alexandra has spent the last couple years on unemployment. She exhausted her benefits and now is struggling to make it day to day. She has a college degree and was working on her masters but ultimately lost her job as “Director of client services†in March of 2008. It’s always quite interesting to read about
