Dr. Mr & Mrs. Siegel,

My favorite reader, Brian, recently informed me that you’re moving ahead with construction plans on your obscenely large house near Orlando.  Kudos to you for your perseverance through such difficult times.  You’ve obviously been through a lot and I’m glad to see that you’ll finally get to live in your lavish mansion after all.  While I am happy about your new circumstances, I do have a few questions about why you chose to have ten kitchens in your new home.

For instance, where do you keep your favorite rolling pin?  And, what do you do if you’re making grilled cheese and there are only Kraft singles in the kitchen you’re using?  Do you wander from kitchen to kitchen looking for the good deli cheese?  Or, do you just buy the expensive shit for all ten kitchens just in case you need it?

Are you really going to purchase ten sets of pots and pans?  Ten cutting boards?  Ten sets of silverware?  Ten sets of herbs and spices?  Furthermore, what are you going to do if you need to make eleven dinners at the same time WITH ONLY TEN KITCHENS?

Sorry about that, folks.  Give me a second to gain my composure.  I seem to get a little riled up any time I get an update on the Siegels and their ridiculous plans for the ugliest house in America.  If you watched the Queen of Versailles, you learned that the Siegels had to halt construction on the project.  Fortunately, Unfortunately, the couple’s misery was fairly short-lived.   According to a story from Yahoo, the dynamic duo is at it again…building a house so ridiculously large that they should probably be concerned about going to hell.  So, how big is it?  According to Yahoo, the house has 13 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms, 10 kitchens, two elevators, two movie theaters, a roller rink and a bowling alley.

Swingers Aren’t the Only Ones Who Need Thirteen Bedrooms

Although thirteen bedrooms is a lot, I can see needing that many under the right circumstances.  After all, they do have all kinds of offspring slothing about their giant home.  I could see them hosting parties full of guests and needing spare rooms to accommodate the extra bodies.  However, what are the chances of 23 people needing to pee at the same time?  And, two movie theatres?  Is that really necessary?  What about learning to compromise on a movie that everyone will like?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the Siegels have compromised on much.  According The Queen of Versailles, the Siegel’s “dream home” grew to 90,000 square feet because they kept adding features and rooms that they wanted.  The bigger they dreamed, the bigger the house grew.  Vomit.  I honestly thought this house would never be finished due to the ridiculous sums of money needed to do so.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.   Even worse, we’re probably going to hear this wretched tale of excess for a long time since the house won’t be fully finished until 2015.

Would you want a 90,000 square foot abode?  I personally wouldn’t, and honestly, just reading about it stresses me out.  I can’t imagine how I could organize my belongings in a way that I could ever find anything again.  I also think that a 90,000 square foot home is for people who hate each other.  There, I said it. I would never want that much space between myself and the people I love.

So, what do you guys think?

Versailles: A Tale of Ten Kitchens Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Well Thriftaholics, we’ve got some more life-changing news to announce to you. After 6 1/2 years at my current job and nearly a decade working in and around the funeral industry, I’ve decided to make a career change. When it rains, it pours right?!? Seriously, when we do things here in the Club Thrifty household, we really go all out.

There are lots of things that I enjoyed about the funeral industry. I was extremely lucky in the fact that everywhere I worked treated me very well. I have met a ton of great friends, and I will really miss the people who I have worked with. They are all caring professionals who truly want to make a difference in the lives of grieving people.

Yet, since we started this blog about a year ago, I’ve really grown fond of personal finance. Honestly, the idea to do a frugality/personal finance blog was Holly’s. I’d never had much of an interest in it before besides occasionally toying around with stock market games. However, over the past year I’ve really began loving this niche, which is why I’m excited to say that I’ll be moving to a career in the insurance and financial services industry. One of the things that I’m most excited about is that I will still get to help people, as that is one of the things I loved most about my current job and of the reasons that I got into the funeral industry in the first place.

Holly and I put a lot of thought into this decision. It was a long and very deliberate process. We wanted to make sure that this career change was the best decision for our family over the long run. We weighed the pros and cons, bounced back and forth, and finally decided that we should go for it. Ask me again in a few months if it was the right decision

Throughout my time in the funeral industry, I learned a lot of things. I learned many important business skills and concepts. I learned about hard work and commitment. Coincidentally, everyday I was reminded of the value of having life insurance. (If you don’t have some, get some. Readers in Australia may want to get a funeral plan for Suncorp or some other company.)  I also learned a lot about the things that I want out of a career – and a lot of things that I don’t want. When it came down to it, I realized that what I really wanted was to – essentially – become self-employed.

Trade-offs of Working for Somebody Else

Don’t get me wrong. Working for somebody else certainly has its benefits. Yet, while working for somebody else is certainly the more comfortable route, I found that sometimes comfort comes with some important trade-offs. Some of them are:

Flexibility

Working for somebody else means that you are required to work on their time schedule. You have to be at work when you are scheduled to be there. You may have to work nights, weekends, or even holidays. You have to ask somebody else for time off. In our situation, we often needed to ask off 6-9 months ahead of time just to rearrange schedules for a 4-day weekend. It is nobody’s fault. It is just the nature of the business. However, it became clear to me that we were planning our lives around our jobs rather than planning our job around our life. My new position will provide me with much more flexibility in my schedule. I will be able to set my own hours, take vacation whenever I choose, and I won’t ever have to work overnight again. Of course, this career change means that I don’t get paid when I’m not working, so there is a drawback to that as well.

Income Potential

If you are working for somebody else, your income potential will almost always be limited. I’m certainly not complaining about how I was paid. I made a nice living. However, no matter what, my salary would always be determined at the discretion of my boss. This includes my salary, health insurance benefits, 401 (k) match, and profit-sharing – among other things. Although I am giving up a steady paycheck, I now have the opportunity to be compensated as much or as little as I like depending on how hard I work. While the steady paycheck is appealing, so is the unlimited income potential. Luckily, I also landed with a company that provides a retirement plan and a great group health insurance plan to boot.

Security

At first glance, it would appear that a good job with a steady paycheck is the most secure option. I have to admit, my job felt about as secure as it could get. However, the cold hard truth is that working for somebody else usually just gives you the illusion of security. In fact, my boss had the option of firing me at any time. If you work for a large company, just one of your superiors needs to dislike you and you could be gone. So, really, how secure is that? Working for myself means that I can’t be fired. Sure, building the business is going to take a ton of hard work. It may be a bit of a bumpy ride to get going. But once I have my business  up and running, I really can’t be fired. Sure, a client or two may no longer decide to do business with me – which would be a bummer. However, I can just go out and replace that client. That is true security.

So there are a few of my reasons for deciding to make a career change. What do you guys think? How do you feel about self-employment? Can you think of any other benefits or negatives? Let it out in the comments below!

Why I Decided to Make a Career Change Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

…And now for a little bit of fun! The following is a guest post by Matt Blick. If you are interested in guest posting at Club Thrifty, please see our guest posting guidelines.

If you’ve ever seen a gangster movie, you’ll know that diamond heists are the stuff of legend. However, many film plots don’t even approach the risk, stakes and consequences of real-life diamond robberies.

To pull off a heist, you need more than just George Clooney’s grin: the world’s most famous diamond heists took years of planning and state-of-the-art technology, and many of the gems were never seen again.

Antwerp Diamond Heist

The most colossal modern diamond theft was the Antwerp Diamond Heist of 2003, where a ring of five men got away with $100 million worth of diamond rings, jewelry, gold and assorted gems. They were led by master thief Leonardo Notarbartolo, who became so famous – even after he was caught – that he gave an interview to Wired Magazine about the heist, and it’s now being made into a film.

According to Notarbartolo, he rented a small store in the Antwerp Diamond Centre, posed as a diamond seller himself for months, and then ransacked the Centre’s safety deposit boxes. The thieves bypassed multiple layers of security, including guards, infrared heat detectors, a seismic sensor and magnetic fields – and succeeded. None of the jewels were ever located, and Notarbartolo claims he was hired by a mysterious dealer who’s never been caught.

Graff Diamond Heist

The Graff Diamond Heist of 2009 was less elegant. Two men in disguise held up the British Graff Diamonds store using guns, and stole 43 pieces of jewelry, including engagement rings and necklaces. The ensuing getaway car chase was chaotic, but the gang was caught: they left a mobile phone behind.

Cannes Film Festival Heist

The Cannes Film Festival diamond heists of 2013 are now infamous. Chopard, which sponsors the film festival, had an employee place millions of diamonds in her hotel safe – but when she went out to a party, the safe was cracked and the jewels stolen. The thieves knew exactly when the woman left the hotel and how to crack her safe, leading to suspicions of an inside job. Several days later more jewels were stolen, but thus far no arrests have been made.

The Pink Panthers

If you want glamour, the diamond heists of the international ring of thieves known to police as the Pink Panthers are the stuff of novels. The gang is thought to have been responsible for several robberies, but their most spectacular was in 2008. Several immaculately dressed men (some disguised as women) waltzed into Harry Winston, the world’s most famous diamond ring company, and stole $108 million in watches and jewels, with the help of handguns and excellent knowledge of all the store’s secret safes.

The Italian Job

A heist known as ‘The Italian Job’ was done by drilling, night after night, through the 4 foot wall into the famous Damiani showroom in Milan in February 2008. The thieves then dressed in police uniforms and appeared through the hole, bound and gagged employees and escaped with $200 million in gold and diamonds, never to be seen again. The ironic flaw in their very Hollywood plan? Many of the best pieces were on loan to stars at the Oscars that week.

Museon Museum Heist

But the greatest unsolved heist in history is the 2002 raid on the Museon Museum of Science in The Hague. To this day, not a single clue has been uncovered. The stolen jewels, many of which were priceless historic artefacts, were taken under the eye of 24 hour security and surveillance, in a motion detection zone and behind supposedly unbreakable glass. The jewels are so famous they can’t have been sold on the open market – but unscrupulous private collectors have been known to use less than legal methods to acquire stones.

####

This blog post was written by Matt Blick, director of and content writer for The Diamond Ring Company who has a passion for jewelry and anything that sparkles!

Famous Diamond Heists Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Remember when you were in high school and you had to take a foreign language in order to graduate? Back then, I was probably what you would call the typical American kid. I was concerned about what was going on in my little world, sports, and trying to impress the girls around me. That was about it. I was a good student, and I did well in all of my classes – including Spanish. However, I put in my required two years of study and let (almost) everything I learned slowly seep out of my brain to make room for other important things – like baseball stats.

Hindsight is 20/20

Fast forward a decade and a half, and I really wish that I had continued on with my foreign language education. Why, you ask? Well, first of all it is pretty cool to be able to communicate with others across the world. Secondly, now that I’ve grown up, I’ve discovered that I like to travel. However, traveling to different countries can present some challenges, especially if you don’t speak the language. Knowing the language also helps you understand the culture. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to get back on the horse and learn a few different languages.

I would love to learn several different languages, however I decided that I would start with Spanish. There are a ton of different countries that I would like to travel to that speak Spanish, plus there are a lot of Spanish speakers here in the U.S. Besides that, I still remember some of the basics (including pronunciations), so I thought this would be a great place to start.

Learning Spanish on the Cheap

There are a ton of different resources that are out there – both paid and free – to help people like me learn a different language. Being the cheap ass frugal freak that I am, I decided to start out with the free versions – obvi. First, I checked out our public library and found that they have an online program called “Mango Languages.” This program is especially designed for those who want to be able to speak the language. Holly also pointed me to a new online program called Duolingo. It is pretty sweet. It uses pictures, words, and sounds to help you learn how to both speak and write the language. It even has an android app that Holly downloaded onto her Republic Wireless smartphone.  Since we’re going to travel to Mexico with friends next month, Holly is mainly interested in learning key words like “coffee,” ”vegetarian,” and “bathroom.”  She’s also adamant about learning how to order all of her favorite alcoholic drinks.  (SPOILER ALERT: There are a lot of them)  I’m more interested in learning how to speak conversational Spanish so I’ve decided to try to become as fluent as possible. After only a few days, I already feel relatively comfortable speaking the language. Hablo espanol umpocito!

Anyhoo, let’s get to some of the best posts of the week!

Nick at Pretired.org asks whether he should start monetizing his blog.  Umm…….yeah.

Suburban Finance talks about how you can earn a degree without going into debt.

Mom and Dad Money talked about how a coffee habit can be detrimental.

Jacob at Iheartbudgets wrote something awesome.  I’m too lazy to look up what it was.  You’ll just have to trust me.

Michelle at Making Sense of Cents wrote about her wedding budget.

The Happy Homeowner shared some news about selling her condo.

Luke 1428 wrote about health, wealth, and moments of clarity.

Budget Blonde wrote about how to save for a new car.

We hope that everyone has a bitchin’ weekend.  We’ve got an overnight babysitter on Saturday night so we’re hoping to do something awesome!  How about you?  What are your plans this weekend?

Si, Hablo Espanol…and a Roundup Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Congratulations on getting that undergrad degree! You’ve made it! … but, now what? If you’re like most recent college grads (or if you’re staring down the barrel of your graduation), you’re going to dive into the job market and hope for the best. But what if you don’t get hired right away? You don’t want to have to move home and live in your parents’ basement!

Get Roommates

Get a few roommates. You thought your dorm room days were over but, but it may be cheaper to go in with a few friends on your first apartment. You might feel crowded but it will definitely help you save up some cash for your next place.  To make life easier in a small apartment with a bunch of roommates, have everybody pare down their stuff. Imagine sharing a tiny little apartment in Orlando, FL; why not go in together on a local storage unit for all of those things that you want to keep but can’t fit into your new place?

Learn to Cook

Want to start saving money on food? Learn how to cook. Since you’ve been living on cafeteria slop and fast food for the last few years, it’s understandable that you may not be the best cook at this point. Spend some time watching shows on the cooking channel. Learn to read a recipe. Ask your mom or dad for help. Watch videos on YouTube. Check out recipe books from the library. Learning how to make your own food will save you a ton of money (provided your roommates don’t eat all of your ingredients).

Sell Your Car

If your town or city has public transit (or you can get around easily enough by bicycle), sell your car. Use the money from the sale to pay off any debt you’ve accumulated during your undergrad years and put the rest in savings.   A monthly bus pass costs a lot less than car and insurance payments. Plus, you can use your commute time to read, catch up on news, or daydream. Now that is saving money!

Do Odd Jobs to Supplement Your Income

Your days of baby-sitting, mowing lawns, and pet-sitting, are far from over. In fact, you can use them to either supplement your entry level income or help you stay alive while you’re waiting for that coveted interview. You might also look into methods of earning money part time online.

There are all sorts of things that you can do to make your life cheaper (and more profitable) after you graduate. These are just a few of them. What have been some of your favorite ways to save money (and earn extra money)?

Saving Money Post Grad Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Yes, folks.  You heard it.  I just wrote a check for 3,500 smackaroos…and it wasn’t for anything awesome like a vacation to Aruba or a hot tub for my back deck.  Unfortunately, the $3,500 check I just wrote was the June 15th installment of my personal income taxes.  What’s even worse is that the $3,500 I just paid in is ON TOP of the hundreds of dollars we’ve been withholding from Greg’s paychecks every month.  Have you ever heard the saying “mo’ money, mo’ problems?”  Although I’m only making a moderate salary as a freelancer, I’m still feeling slightly resentful about the money I just paid in.  When I think of how many freelance jobs I did to earn $3,500, my brain actually hurts. That’s a lot of freaking jobs, people!   Becoming self-employed made me feel like a rebel without a cause, but paying income taxes makes me feel like I’m not really the one in charge.  I no longer have a boss, but I’m still a slave to the man…..and I don’t like it at all.

However, I do think that it’s weird that I’ve never felt angry about paying taxes before.  After all, I’ve been paying income taxes for over fifteen years.  And honestly, I hadn’t thought much of it until now.  So, why does writing a check for my taxes feel so different?

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Greg is the one who estimated my tax payment, and he may have shouted some expletives when he figured out how much we had to pay.  Although it stressed us out, he was also able to explain why writing a check for our taxes feel so incredibly different than paying them via payroll deduction.  Greg thinks that paying taxes out of your paycheck is a lot like financing a car.  Since you’re only paying $300 or $400 per month, you don’t have to experience the awful feeling of handing over 20K of your hard-earned cash.  It’s death by a thousand cuts, and it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as paying for a big purchase in one  lump sum.  On the other hand, paying cash hurts.  I remember when we paid off the last $11,000 of Greg’s student loans in one lump sum.  I did it through our online bill pay, and I could barely bring myself hit “submit” even though I knew it was the right thing to do.  It was painful, and maybe that’s how it should be.  Always paying cash for things has taught me to feel the real impact of my spending.  It’s may also be the reason why I’m so incredibly cheap.

With all of that being said, I certainly don’t mind paying taxes.  After all, I enjoy the roads I drive on and the plethora of public services I have access to.  I love the fact that police and firefighters are available 24/7 to save people from peril or their own stupidity.  However, I feel like I’m paying a lot.  Too much, maybe. We’ll just have to see how it works out.

So, how about you?  Raise your hand if you love paying taxes!  How do you feel about paying taxes in a lump sum vs. paying weekly installments?

I Just Wrote a Check for $3,500… Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Joe Saul-Sehy was a financial advisor for 16 years. His new website, Stacking Benjamins, launches today. What’s it like to be financial planner for people from diverse walks of life? Our guest blogger shares some “unique” stories…

What did I hate about being a financial advisor? That’s easy: Neurotic clients who knew nothing about the financial world and didn’t want a teacher…they just wanted someone to blame.

My second favorite question? What did you like best? That’s nearly as easy: I loved the diversity of people who walked into my office every day. One hour I’d be sharing my client’s vacation pictures of India or the Canadian Rockies, and an hour later, I’d be hours away from another client’s retirement, reviewing pension documents.

What I didn’t understand initially (but also why I loved the job) was just how absolutely diverse the job would become. Here are five of my favorite examples:

The Stripper

First of all, let’s get this out of the way: she was extremely attractive, even without makeup. When she walked in, she didn’t want to tell me what she did for a living. In fact, for the first several minutes, she lied about working for some machine shop. When she didn’t know anything about “tier 1, 2 or 3” or the major auto manufacturers in the area I knew it didn’t add up. That’s when she came clean: she worked as a dancer in a club and made uber amounts of money. Mondo money. Mucho money. She’d been wasting every dollar like every other dancer in the club but wanted out. She wanted to get her financial house in order.

A boyfriend came with her. They’d met at the club. He was a complete tool (surprised?), and in discussions with him later, he talked about trying to get his act together. Sadly, as part of this project to find himself, two years after we initially met he joined the army, was shipped out to Afghanistan and was killed in his second week. He and the stripper had already broken up long before. He had been heartbroken by the breakup, but she had moved on.

Her name was Sarah but she went by the stage name Alexa. She slept in every day and felt bad that she had to tan because she missed the sunlight. Most of the time, she said, she felt like a vampire because she finally opened the curtains just a few hours before the sun went down…and then only long enough to get ready for work.

One good story about Sarah and her boyfriend: we were reviewing their budget and trying to clean it up. One $400 line item said “entertainment.”

Me: What’s this, cable?

Sarah: (shifting in her seat) No. It’s just entertainment.

Me: Yeah, but it’s $400 and we might be able to lower that number. Let’s break it apart. What’s in that $400.

Dude: Should we tell him?

Sarah: (withering look to dude)

Me: Tell me what?

Sarah: I told him you’d wonder what that was.

Me: What is it?

Dude: Well….

Sarah: I don’t think….

Me: Is it like every subscription channel on earth plus XM Radio? What is it?

Sarah: It’s pot.

(I’m painfully slow. I shook my head. Clearly I was lost. What in the world was she talking about?)

Sarah: (Slower) It’s pot. We spend $400 a month on weed.

At least they’d budgeted the weed. I’d never seen that before.

The Goat-Hair Collectors

Speaking of pot….

“So, what do you do for a living?” I asked the absolutely bizarre couple sitting across the table from me. They wore Jamaican style afghan caps and he had on a brightly colored rock and roll tee shirt. The guy had an unkempt dark beard and the woman was frail and wore a flowery sun dress. I was sure they made a living following the Grateful Dead.

Boy was I wrong.

I was a new advisor. In those days we’d go into meetings with a trainer who’d been in the business for at least a year or two (VERY experienced). Initially they did all the talking. Later on, I talked and they only interjected when it was clear I was spinning my wheels.

Kelly was a good trainer who knew what she was doing in meetings. She was also absolutely hilarious and loved a good joke.

In this meeting I’d presented Kelly as “an associate” who’d be in the meeting because getting two opinions was better than one. I was pretty good at “the pitch.” Here’s the way it worked: you started by asking about them and their goals and then listening. I knew (from my training) that this was a competitive advantage of good advisors. Most of the hacks talked first, selling a bunch of stuff that the client had no interest in purchasing. First you asked questions and listened, then, when you made your pitch, it was shortened to only the parts clients were interested in hearing.

I still think it was a pretty brilliant approach, and it’s still the reason why I prefer to listen first whenever I’m pitching anything….ever.

Jamaican cap guy: We help make wigs. It’s a living.

I looked at the sheet he’d given me. It was a good, nearly six figure living. “Wow! I’ve never met anyone in the wig industry. How do you make a wig exactly?”

Flowery woman: We don’t make them. We just collect the stuff for them.

I looked up. I could feel the eyes of Kelly, sitting next to me, lift also.

Me: What do you do, go around to barber shops?

Jamaican: No, we go to fields and barns.

Kelly: (not able to control herself) For wigs? BARNS?

Flowery woman: Yeah. We collect goat hair.

Kelly: Not human hair?

Flowery woman: No, goat hair. We have a bunch of different farms we visit and get the goat hair for wigs.

I can’t really remember the rest of the story because Kelly kicked me hard under the table. She was trying hard not to laugh at these people’s career, but even more, she was hoping to make me laugh out loud. I know what you’re thinking. It was rude and I’m still embarrassed that we were acting like 15-year-olds. But the rest of the meeting as we talked, Kelly kept kicking me under the table, trying to get me to laugh.

Believe it or not we didn’t proceed very far with that couple.

The Farmers

I worked with a farming family that everyone in the area knew. Not only did they operate a working farm, but they had this huge retail operation, complete with a retail store, a tractor to ride on and pick your own pumpkin, a corn field maze, and petting zoo. Families and classes made field trips to this place. It was neat. I couldn’t believe they were in my office.

When I asked about their budget, they frowned.

Mrs. Farmer: Budget? We just spend money as we make it. We really don’t make much money.

Me: About how much do you spend?

Mr. Farmer: I play a little golf, especially in Florida.

(Florida? We were in Michigan. Golf? No money?)

Me: Florida? That’s nice.

Mr. Farmer, with a look at Mrs. Farmer: Well, we manage to scrape by and go. The golf is cheap.

Me: How about investments?

Mrs. Farmer: That’s why we’re here.

Mr. Farmer: We don’t have many investments.

Me (thoroughly confused): You have this huge operation at your house. Heck, I’ve taken my kids to your place every year for the last three Halloweens. You don’t have any money?

Mr. Farmer (glancing quickly toward Mrs. Farmer, who is obviously avoiding Mr. Farmer’s glance): You’ve heard the joke about the farmer who wins the Powerball?

Me: No.

Mr. Farmer: He farmed it until the Powerball money was all gone. We lose money every year.

I couldn’t understand it. How did they stay in business?

Oh, did I learn how they stayed in business. Never officially…but I soon realized they were living on hard, cold cash, scraped out of the till! These people made uber-amounts of money! They had cash all over the place! I soon figured out that money magically appeared whenever we needed it. New car? Cash (salesman’s dream). Florida? Cash. That swimming pool behind the house? Cash discount.

I never felt completely comfortable and was glad when they moved away after selling their farm a couple years later.

The IRS Negotiator

How’s this for a cool job?

Me: What do you do?

Client: I interface with the IRS every day for (major car manufacturer). We negotiate on taxes.

Me: Wow! Really? That’s gotta be fun.

Client: It actually is. We get to work in the grey area of the tax code. Most of our discussions end at, “I’m going to have to sue you to find out where the line is here”…so we spend a fair amount of time in court.

Me: With the same people at the IRS?

Client: With the same people. This isn’t like suing your neighbor. There’s no animosity. We’re just asking the court to figure out the line between what we owe and what we don’t.

I couldn’t figure out why in the world this client hired me. They were beyond competent with their money. Heck, I couldn’t figure out why many of my executive clients hired me…until I realized something I’m still proud of: they wanted a competent person in their corner because they didn’t have time. Sure, they had the expertise, but they couldn’t do everything…so they hired me.

The Television Anchor

During the nine years I was at the television station I made friends with many people there, and several of the personalities became clients. What I saw appalled me.

Me: How much is your lease payment for this (big nice car)

Anchor: $950 per month

Me: (cough)

Anchor: I know. They told me I was going to get a deal. I got sold.

Me: Yeah. Let’s get out of it.

Anchor: I’ve already tried. I’ll be upside down on the thing.

Me: That huge payment is mostly interest?

Anchor: Yeah. I was in a hurry. It’s awful. Take a look at my mortgage….

Me: (after reading the contract) Who sold you this thing?

Anchor: My brother-in-law.

Me: He socked it to you good. You have a prepayment penalty and a huge interest rate you can’t get out of.

In short, my anchor client was being used by incompetent family members and friends. Because the anchor was in a hurry but was famous, people agreed to “help” all the time. At some point, the anchor had to trust someone, right? Unfortunately, these “advisors” were cashing in at my new client’s expense. Even after we sorted out their financial situation, I still felt bad when I left financial planning…more than many, these people really needed my help. The IRS agent would do fine on their own. This celebrity? Not so much.

I’d hate to live in that world. You’re busy, making a ton of money, and because you’re a local celebrity you’re a target for every hack around. I started off in television wishing I could be that person and later realized just how miserable an existence this must be. You really do live in a fishbowl. I can’t imagine how film stars keep their sanity.

You Don’t Have It Bad!

I felt lucky to work with people from many, many walks of life. My job was a constantly revolving door of new, interesting situations. I never knew who was going to walk into my office next, and whether we were going to talk about pot, expensive leases, farming, or goat hair.

The next time you think you have something weird going on in your life remember these people…..maybe your stuff isn’t as messed up as you might think!

What’s your craziest money madness story?

An Anchor, a Stripper and a Goat-Hair Collector: The World From Different Points of View Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

These are NOT my legs….but I do sit like this sometimes.

I know, I know.  You’re tired of hearing about it.

Although you may not be particularly interested in how much I like working from home, a girl has got to share, right?  After all, that’s why I have this little blog in the first place.  Quitting my job to work from home was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  So, today I thought I would share the variety of ways that I’m saving money and time by working from my home.  I also want you to know that I do realize that “strategery” is not a real word.  However, I’ve always wanted to use it and I’m my own boss now, bitches!  I can do  that.  So, without further adieu, here are the ways that I’m saving money by working at home:

I’m not driving.  Although we used to carpool to work, I would sometimes drive myself.  It always depended on whether Greg had to work late or I needed to run an errand after work.  Regardless, I’m now down to driving only once or twice a week.  Although we considered selling our second car at one point, I’m now glad that we kept it and it’s serving its purpose well as a low-cost (and amazingly beautiful) second vehicle.  It’s hard to quantify how much I’m saving on gas by working at home.  However, I will say that I haven’t bought gas for my mini-van since April.  I’m almost due for a fill-up and unfortunately gas just jumped to $4.25 per gallon yesterday.  Sigh.  Hopefully prices will go back down a little before I fill up.  A girl can dream, right?

I’m no longer buying fancy clothes.  In fact, I’m wearing my pajamas right now.  It’s pretty disgusting, I know.  But, who cares?  No one is here except for my dog, Pablo the freeloading genius and he hasn’t moved in several hours so I’m pretty sure he’s okay with it.  The shirt I’m wearing has some holes in it so last night Greg strategically moved my shirt around so that my nipple was hanging out of one of them.  (Can I say that here?)  Why?  Because he’s awesome.  That’s why.  If I were a nudist, I could even work completely naked.  Or, I could just choose to go without pants.  How’s that for strategery?

I’m not wearing makeup every day.  And, why should I?  There is simply no reason to get made up to do what I’m doing.  The awesome thing about it is that not wearing makeup or creating a hairstyle saves at least 30 minutes a day.  I now spend that time playing with my kids while Greg gets ready for work.  But, don’t worry folks.  I’m not “letting myself go.”  I’m still wearing makeup on the weekends, and I still take a shower and make myself presentable.

I’m not commuting.  Although I never had a long commute, it still took time.  The drive to work (including dropping off the kids at daycare) took about 15 minutes each way so working from home is saving an additional 30 minutes daily.  I now spend that time working and the result is that I get a lot more done in a lot less time.  In fact, I can typically complete everything I need to do in a 7-8 hour workday.  That probably doesn’t sound like an accomplishment but I used to work 10-14 hours per day.

So, what do you guys think about my work-at-home strategery?  Do you think that working from home is a good money-saving strategy?  Or, should I blog naked to further cut my costs (and laundry)?  Please share by commenting below.

Strategery: How I Save Time and Money Working from Home Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the stock market is up. I mean way up. Up to the clouds up. When I looked at the status of my 401(k) last week, I swear I almost pooped…with joy! I believe my exact words were, “Shazam!”

If you are like me, you are probably feeling like a regular Warren Buffet right about now. I mean, how can you help yourself right? You’ve waded through the tough times, and now all of your patience is paying off in spades! Still, we most of us know what is lurking around the corner – and if we don’t we ought to. Whenever we have a  buck wild, idiot chasing, uber bullish market, we know that there is a mean old bear lurking right around the corner. Here are a few tips to help you keep your wits and about you and avoid that nasty bear attack.

Bear Market Survival Tips

1) Hold Your Ground

So, you’ve got a bear market charging right at you? Have you lost your nerve – or your stool – yet? (Yep, 3 paragraphs – 2 poop jokes! Boom!) One of the best things you can do to combat a bear market is to hold your ground. Rather than getting scared and leaving the marketplace, project strength. A great way to do this is to invest for the long-term. This mindset helps to eliminate the fear caused by market fluctuations. So, hold your ground and we’ll clean up the brown underwear later. (Make that 3.)

2) Project Strength

Now that you’ve decided to hold your ground, it is also important to project strength. A bear market will eat you alive if you show weakness by turning around and running. Remember, bears are just as scared of you as you are of them. So, stand up to the bear. Waive those arms above your head. Don’t be afraid. When everybody is selling, project your strength and start buying. While it may be frightening, this is the way that real stock market winners make their money. You’ll find great deals that can make you a ton of money when the bulls return. Ride the market out and slap that fear across its lily-white face.

3) Move Slowly and Don’t Panic

When it comes to investing, fear is a killer. If you are invested in the markets, you are bound to see a bear market eventually. When you see a bear market approaching, the most important thing is that you do not panic. This is so important that I am going to repeat it: DO NOT PANIC. Take a deep breath, make well-informed decisions, and remember that when the bulls will eventually be back to rescue you. If absolutely necessary, as a last resort, you may slowly retreat into the high ground of a tree financial safe haven.

4) Plan for the Encounter

Along with long-term investing, planning for the eventual bear market encounter can help you avoid a total panic meltdown. Calmly and rationally planning a set asset allocation can be the key to surviving a bear attack. Before you find yourself in the middle of a bear attack, sit down and diversify your investments according to your tolerance for risk and your planned investment timeline. When trouble comes, sticking to this plan can help minimize your losses – as well as keep you from over indulging when the bulls show up for dinner. Remember, bulls and bears both make money. Pigs get slaughtered.

There you have it. Four tips to keep you alive and kicking. It is a wild world out there, and knowing how to react can save your financial life.

Do you have any tips for surviving a bear market encounter? Let ‘em fly in the comments below!

Surviving a Bear Market Encounter in the Wild Club Thrifty - Stop spending. Start living.

Know your business

When looking for the most appropriate business insurance, business owners rarely know where to start. This sad fact often results in the owners being sold expensive insurance packages that are simply unnecessary for the particular type of work in which they engage. There is, of course, a simple solution to this problem. Knowing the types of insurance available and knowing the type of activity in which the business in question engages will help any business owner to pick the right type of insurance for their business. The various types of business insurance are described in the sections below.

General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance is one of the most basic forms of cover available. It protects against any legal claims resulting from accidents resulting in injury, and from claims of negligence on the part of the business owner. If none of the other categories apply, every business should have at least this level of cover.

Product Liability Insurance
This type of insurance covers businesses which manufacture, distribute or retail a product. A customer can claim if a defective product causes them injury, so product liability insurance is required to protect the business against any law suits incurred from such an incident. There is also a variable scale for product liability insurance; those companies which sell dangerous products, like power tools and medical devices, will have a much higher product liability insurance cost than those which sell clothes or stationary, for example. Unless a business handles a product in some way, product liability insurance is unnecessary.

Professional Liability Insurance
If a business provides a service mediated by trained professionals carrying out a job, professional liability insurance is likely necessary. This type of insurance covers against lawsuits resulting from any errors or omissions on the part of the professional staff employed by a business, and may even be required by law for some professions.

Commercial Property Insurance
Depending on the exact conditions of the insurance policy taken out, commercial property insurance can cover a business against any damage to the fabric of a building itself, as well as providing cover against the items inside the property and making provisions for lost income as a result of damage to this property. There are two forms of commercial property insurance policy: all-risk policies and peril-specific policies. All-risk policies cover a broad list of conditions and are often more expensive than peril-specific policies, which are taken out in case of a specific threat which is higher because of the location of a business, or the type of work being carried out. Commercial property insurance can be incredibly complex, so it is especially important for any business owner to read and understand the fine terms of the agreement before agreeing to take out a policy.

Home-Based Business Insurance
Home-based business insurance is required in the specific case that a business operates out of the business owner’s home. It is a common misconception that home owner’s insurance policies will cover a business run from within the home, since most policies will not provide cover for loss of income or business related property in the case of an emergency. For this reason, it’s critical that any business owner carefully considers what their home owner’s insurance policy covers, and takes out any extra insurance policies required.

With each type of business comes different risks. The article above should help any business owner assess which type of insurance is most suitable for their business, and allow them to make the appropriate decision as to exactly what package they need to invest in. If you need more information, you can always do an initial search online for reliable insurance providers such as AXA Business for example and read up on their websites before deciding on the right package for you and your company.

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