Life is full of change.

Change Can Be On A Grand Scale

This happened to me when I planned on being a hugely successful career-woman, but ended up turning to mush when my oldest child was born.  Once I held my son for the first time, work didn’t matter anymore.  I just wanted to spend time with him, and not with a computer.  It took some time, but we eventually saved enough money so that we could live off of just one income and I could stay home with the kids.  When I was a student, I would have never predicted that I would eventually become a stay-at-home mom, but that is exactly what I was for many years.  (I now just work part time from home.)  I now just look back at my ‘evolution’ and just laugh.    I am grateful I am a parent for many reasons, but one thing that is interesting is that I got to see a side of me that I didn’t even know existed.

Change Can Also Be On A Small Scale

An example of this is my current mindset with saving and spending.

Life has been crazy this year for a variety of reasons.  Things I used to worry about like saving the absolute most I could at the grocery store have slid way to the bottom of my list of concerns.  Instead, I just want my family to eat.  We have eaten out way too much this year, but it was almost a matter of necessity.  Things have settled down, but my need to scrimp and save as much as I can at the store has decreased dramatically.  Instead, I am more focused on buying the foods I want my family to eat, even if the items are not on sale.  Yes, putting full-price things in the grocery cart still makes me cringe somewhat, but my attitude toward money has relaxed a little.

Overall, I am still a very frugal person at heart, and I can almost guarantee that I will rarely spend full price on clothes or most other items, unless I am completely desperate.  (Like I probably will be when I need to find a dress for my son’s graduation.)   Even though I am spending a little more at the grocery store, buying full priced food at the grocery is still probably cheaper and healthier than if our family of five ate out.  (That is the justification I use when shopping now.)

The Overall Lesson

Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow.    If you can no longer keep up with what you were doing previously, don’t beat yourself up about it.  Life is busy and isn’t always easy, and sometimes, you just have to do what you can to get by.  Don’t make things harder by being frustrated or disappointed in yourself.  Do the best you can and move on!

The following is a guest post from Jenna at Adaptu.com:

Money looks a little different in the summer.  Between day camps and extra trips to the ice cream truck, your budget is probably going to vary a little from the September-May routine.  Taking time to create a budget specifically designed for summer can save you big once the final school bell rings.

Step 1: What’s going to stay the same?

Make creating a budget easier by first determining which of your monthly expenses will not be affected by summer vacation.  For example, your mortgage payment won’t go down just because your kids are at camp.

Step 2: Determine the budget busters

Between prime vacation season and special outings to the water park, it’s no surprise that many families see their entertainment spending increase significantly in the summertime.  Get a good calendar thrown together before you start allocating money to your entertainment budget.

Hint: While the amusement park is always fun, it’s also expensive.  Summer is filled with low-cost or free activities.  Picnics, free days at the zoo or museum, theater in the park—start your event calendar by looking at what will cost you nothing.  (From Kris:  my expenses go way up in the summer for the very reasons mentioned above.  Buying annual passes to places you may go to frequently can say you a lot of money.  For example, if I buy an annual pass at the zoo, it covers admission all year along with free parking.)

Another area where you should prepare your budget?  Transportation. Especially gas. Chances are you’ll be shuttling kids to and from camps, the beach and friends’ houses a lot more than you were in the spring.  Combine all that time in the car with rising gas prices, and you’re budget is bound to feel a little squeezed if you don’t plan ahead.

Hint: Carpool.

Step 3: Seek summer savings

Not everything costs you more between June and August.  If you pay for your child to eat lunch at school every day, you’re most likely paying a premium.  Making that same PB&J at home will save you a pretty penny.  And, if your kids go to sleep away camp — your grocery bill is sure to shrink (even more if you have teenagers).

Hint: On top of automatic summer savings, take advantage of farmers markets where you can get fresh food often times at a fraction of grocery stores.

Remember, while your cable bill may be constant, not all utilities are created equal.  If you don’t consider AC a necessity, be comfortable cutting back on your utility budget.

Hint: There are lots of ways to cut back on cooling costs. Apply coating to your windows to keep heat out, close blinds when you’re not at home, and use fans before turning on the AC.

Step 4: Set your budget and breathe easy

As the warm weather starts coming in, take some time to update your budget accordingly.  Utilize online tools like Adaptu to keep your budget updated automatically.  Make sure you check in to see how you’re doing, but don’t forget that it’s summer — take time to relax and have fun.

Hint: Once you have mapped out your budget for the summer, make sure you will have a positive cash flow.  That is, make sure you are making more money than you are spending.  Once you know you’re saving enough money, go enjoy summer!

Recently, I wrote about the house in my neighborhood that was on the market as a ‘short sale’, and shared my frustration that people who can fully afford their mortgage payments are allowed to just abandon their homes.

When I wrote about this house previously, it had originally been offered ‘for sale’ normally at $299,000.  Over the course of  less than 6 months, it became a bank owned property and the price had dropped to $238,000.  Shortly after that, the house did indeed sell, but for $208,000.

I recognize that most of you do not know where I live or have an understanding of housing prices in my area, but a 2800 square foot house in a city with an excellent school district selling for $208,000 is an incredible bargain (for the buyer). Of course, this sale will kill the comparables in our neighborhood, and my home’s assessment did go down dramatically.  I have no way of knowing how much this short sale affected my assessment, but I assume it had at least some impact.  Since we are not moving anytime soon, it only helps my tax situation.  However, for those that plan on moving, this house being sold at such a bargain-basement price can not be good news.

For Some, A Great Deal Is Still Not Enough

The other day, our new neighbor was outside doing some yard work.  Thankfully, they have been spending a lot of time fixing up the inside of the house, and they are now tackling the outside.  The house never had much curb appeal even when it was occupied, but after sitting all those months, the outside of the house is a mess.

While talking with the new homeowner, he was very frustrated- he was almost disgusted with the state of the yard.  I empathized with the guy, but then I thought “well what did these new homeowners expect?”.  This house was purchased at such a low price because it needed work inside and looked rather unkempt on the outside.  You can’t expect to get a deal on something and then then be frustrated when it is not perfect.

This conversation took me back to my point in another previous post where I figured that if banks (or whoever owns a property) put just a little bit of money into a house (and yard) that is for sale, the payback would be more than worth it.  Had a landscaper spent five hundred dollars just sprucing up the yard and made some minor changes to the outside, how much would the sale price of the home increased?  I am guessing by quite a bit more than 500 dollars.

The Lesson When Buying and Selling:

Next time you are selling ANYTHING, make sure it shines.  Do not let emotions rule you decisions, but use your common sense and possibly involve a third party to get an impartial opinion.  If you are looking to buy something, consider items that have cosmetic problems and appear to be undervalued for that very reason!

Greetings!

Sorry for my hiatus of late.  I didn’t mean to be gone so long.  Life just got a little crazy and I needed to tend to some other things.

So, I think I will share just some miscellaneous thoughts that have been going through my head over the last few weeks- it has been difficult keeping such deep thoughts to myself!

1. Where did this school year go?  My oldest son just returned from his senior trip- it feels like September was just yesterday!  In no time at all, I will be packing up the car and driving my son off to college.  I don’t think I am ready for that, but it is only 4 months away!
2. Why is it that we got such fabulous weather in March, but every baseball or soccer game I watch in April is miserably cold?  Don’t get me wrong, I loved our incredibly short winter.  I think I just got spoiled.
3. Speaking of the weather, will any of the strawberries plants in my garden (that already have flowers) actually bear fruit?  Or, will all this frost ruin the growing process?  Thoughts?
4. In all my craziness, I forgot to start my tomatoes indoors- grrr!!
5. The only good thing about time passing so fast is that the election will be over in no time at all.  Who do you predict will win?
6. How come when a TV show is shown ‘live’, it looks so incredibly different?  I watched the live ’30 Rock’ episode (rerun), and it just seemed like a cheap production.  Must be because they can use multiple camera angles when it is taped?   I don’t know, it just seems like the image is cheap or something when it is shown live.
7. Do we really need laugh tracks anymore?
8. I wish I wasn’t allergic to flowers.  I would love to display some nice flowers in the kitchen.
9. You can spend a LOT of money on eating out when you don’t have time to cook.  My credit card bill for last month is SCARY!
10. The best time to give up a habit is when you are distracted by something else.

Got a thought to share?

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor.  I am only sharing my own experience, and also some information that I found while researching elevated white blood cell counts.  

Once a year, many people go to the doctor’s office for a physical.  Usually, when the physical is set up, the patient is told not to eat before the appointment because the doctor will order blood work that requires fasting.

But has anyone ever told you not to exercise?

I know I haven’t been told, and but I found out on my own that you should not.

Did You Know Exercise Can Affect Blood Counts?

My physical was scheduled for 11:00 a.m.  I had physical therapy that day, but didn’t think twice about going to PT before my doctor’s appointment.  My typical physical therapy session involves at least 60 minutes of pretty heavy exercising, including the elliptical, light jogging, a lot of strength training, and some other cardio exercises.  In other words, it isn’t like a stroll in the park.  I went straight from therapy to my appointment, and proceeded to have my exam and blood work done.

The next day, I picked up my blood test results, and two variables were high that have never been elevated before- my white blood cell count (WBC) was 11.8  and my neutrophil count was 9.6.  The doctor’s office called and said it was probably just a transient event, but the doctor wanted me retested in two weeks.

Great, now I had to worry about what raised my WBC count.  I didn’t feel sick at all, so I didn’t know what caused the increase.

So, I turned to the internet, which can make your head spin, but also provide some good information.

In my reading, I came across study after study that showed the affects of exercise on white blood cell counts, specifically neutrophils.  Ironically, exercise can also skew results of cholesterol and  glucose tests.  I know my doctor is  adamant the patient does not eat at least 12 hours before a cholesterol test, but I know I personally had never been warned not to exercise.  It makes total sense though, but I had never thought about it before.

Results From the Retest:

After two weeks, I had my blood test redone.  I made sure I did not do any exercise the previous 24 hours.  My results came back with a WBC of 8.6 and Neutrophils of 5.2, both completely normal.   Of course, I will never know if the reason the counts were elevated in the first place was solely attributed to exercise.  However, in the future, I think I will just be on the safe side and make sure I take it easy before I have any blood work done.  As a matter of fact, it is recommended that to get the most accurate blood test results, patients should not exercise for 24 hours before a blood draw.   So, take that advice as an excuse to take a day off and relax before your next physical appointment.

My blood is boiling….

I have read many stories of people that take advantage of the system and scam their way through life.  However, the story I describe below takes parasitism to a new level:

Unemployed Michigan resident Amanda Clayton has been receiving $200 per month in food assistance through the state’s Bridge Card program.   That’s OK, I know Michigan is not enjoying a booming economy and that many people are struggling.  I certainly don’t want anyone to starve.   However, Clayton’s economic status literally changed overnight when she went and won the lottery.  It wasn’t a huge payout, just a million dollars.  She chose to have it distributed as a lump sum, so her actual payout was cut by about half.

So, when Clayton suddenly had $500k to live off of, the food assistance stopped, right?

Nope.

I can’t say I really blame the state for still issuing a Bridge Card to Clayton.  Without a mechanism in place, it would be very difficult to track lottery winners to those receiving public assistance.  (That may soon end though as legislation is being proposed that requires the Michigan State Lottery to report anyone who wins over $1000 to the Department of Human Services.)  Plus, logic would tell you that someone receiving such assistance would stop the payments themselves.   What I found appalling was a quote from Amanda Clayton herself.  When asked if she felt she had a ‘right’ to still receive public assistance, her reply was this:

“I feel that it’s OK because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay. I have two houses.”

Oh my gosh.

What is so appalling is the absolute lack of wanting to come off of public assistance.  I know people from previous generations that took welfare only because they had absolutely no choice, and they did everything they could to get off of public assistance.  Where has that pride gone?  So doing what is right really doesn’t matter, doing what you can get away with it what is important now?

Not to mention, why does she have two houses?  Maybe some of that money should be put toward education or whatever it would take to make her more employable instead of buying houses?

To make matters worse, when asked at the end of the interview if she plans on continuing to use her Bridge Card until the state wisens up and cuts her off, she replied “Yes”.

After the story broke, the Department of Human Services did actually end payments to Clayton.  I can sleep easier at night now knowing that my tax dollars are not going to pay for Clayton’s food bill anymore, and that my money can hopefully go toward helping someone that really needs it.

To read the full article, including an interview with Amanda Clayton, click here.

What would you do in Amanda Clayton’s situation?  Would you still use your state-issued Bridge Card if you just received half a million dollars?   Do you feel it is just the state’s fault and she was free to use whatever money was sent her way?

Disclaimer:  Keep in mind while you read this post that I am referring to people that can afford their mortgage payments, they just don’t like that their homes are underwater, so they choose to walk away.

In a previous post, I discussed a home in our neighborhood that was basically abandoned by the previous owners.  (They up and moved out of state, leaving the home to languish.  They were not in any financial distress by any means.)

In a nutshell, the home was put on the market in August of 2011 for $299,000 and when I last looked about 6 weeks ago, it was being offered as a short sale for $235,000.  I then noticed a lot of activity going on at the house, and I found out the house did indeed sell in February of 2012- for $208,000.

Yikes.

I have to say, that sale price is not good for anyone that is putting their house up for sale in the neighborhood, or wants to refinance.

At this point, I do not know if the new owners plan on staying in the house or flipping it.  For the sake of home prices, I hope it is a flip so that a new sale price can go on the record.

Strategic Defaults Do NOT Just Affect The Bank And The Homeowner

Now, I know that a lot of people feel that ‘strategically defaulting’ is perfectly A-OK because a mortgage is an agreement between a homeowner and the lending financial institution.  When the bank loans money, they assume a certain level of risk.  If a homeowner decides to walk away (or in the case of my neighbor, run away) from their mortgage commitment, the bank has to suck it up because no contract is air tight and risk free.

However, as a homeowner, I don’t want to have to suck it up when I can’t refinance because my home’s value is now too low because of the ridiculous price this home sold at.  (In reality, I don’t need to refinance, I already did that.)

I wonder though.  These strategic defaulters justify their actions by pinning it on it just being a broken contract between themselves and the bank.  Well, there are a lot of other people involved too, the defaulters just don’t see it.  What would be great is if each person that defaulted was forced to go to the closing of every house in the neighborhood that was affected by their bargain-basement priced home.  There could be an original sale price based on factors that do not include the defaulter’s home.  Then another price could be assigned factoring in the low price of the defaulter’s home.  I would like the defaulters to sit and face those sellers and see how much money they are truly costing other people.

Anyway, I don’t plan on moving or refinancing, so my neighbor’s house will not impact me.  However, I feel bad for all the people in the neighborhood that it will affect, and it makes me angry.

(Keep in mind, I do recognize there are two parts to the equation.  For every unhappy seller, there is a very happy buyer, which very well could justify the defaulter’s actions.  However, I think it would be very difficult to watch your (former) neighbors lose money.)

What do you think?  Do you think it is easier for people to walk away from their mortgage because they don’t actually SEE the financial impact on the neighborhood?  

Here in Michigan, our presidential primary is coming up this Tuesday (2/28/2012).

All I can say is, I will be so glad when it is over.

Every single day, several times a day, I get a phone call from “Private Name, Private Number”.  At first I answered thinking “oh, I wonder who is trying to get a hold of me”.  After hearing the same recorded message over and over, I think  ”my gosh Mitt, please find something else to do besides call me”.

Of course, it isn’t really Mitt Romney calling me, but some recorded voice of “Amy”, who wants me to vote for Mitt.  I still pick up the phone because I know that Amy is persistent, and I just hope she will move on if it shows I actually picked up the phone that day.

Actually, I am still undecided on who I will be voting for this week.  However, I can tell you that Amy would not be swaying me one way or the other.  (If anything I would be tempted to go anti-Romney just because I am sick of these calls.  However, I know I have to vote for who I think is the best candidate and not let short-term frustration affect my decision.)

Now that have gotten that vent out of the way, it is time to inform all you readers of some great posts that I have read recently!

101 Centavos talks about just getting out there and walking.  Meaning, it is more important that you get out and do something instead of trying to pressure yourself to go ‘all out’ at the risk of giving up too soon.

Biz of Life shares a video (that I believe is a spoof) about how Brit Doris is saved from Lazy Cow Disease.

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff hosts a guest post from her mother-in-law, Mrs. Veranda.  Everyone should be so lucky as to have a great relationship like Crystal and her mother-in-law have.  Also, check out the new blog started out by Mrs. Veranda , which is cleverly titled Out on the Veranda.

Debt Free by 30 discusses how she spends at the grocery store.  It isn’t about going with bargain brands and using a thousand coupons.  It is more about indulgences, and she also gives some info on the chemicals on produce.  (Too bad I love so many of the fruits on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list!)

Financial Samurai ponders whether employers should be running credit checks.  There is also a side discussion about his friend Tom that may be ditching his mortgage.  (I think Tom must be taking advice from my neighbor…)

First Gen American uses her neighborhood shoe cobbler named George.  We too go to a cobbler for my husband’s work shoes when the soles start to wear.  Cobbler Tony does a great job, and I recommend more people repair their shoes/clothes as opposed to just tossing them.

Financial God writes about how the frugal are disliked.  I want to take it a step further and say the rich are disliked too, whether frugal or not.  There seems to be a lot of resentment in the world these days for people that pay their bills and still have some money left over.  Make sure you stop by and check out this great new site!

Len Penzo hosts a post from wonderful Aunt Doris- who teaches us about the two fingered salute!

Little House In the Valley talks about the rising cost of gas and shares how she is out riding her bike.  I am so jealous, and I cannot wait to get out riding my bike again.

KrantCents continues his Success series, featuring the Letter F.  I couldn’t agree more with this post.

Money Crashers helps us stave off illness by suggesting ways to boost our immune system.  Looks like sugar is the bad guy yet again!

Money Reasons did something very creative.  He solicited the opinions from readers on how extra money would improve their lives and make them happier.  It is really fun to read what others would do with extra cash.

Moneycone sings the praises of taking out a 30 year mortgage but paying it down within 15 years.  (As opposed to just taking out a 15 year mortgage.)  What do you think?

Personal Finance By the Book shares how he uses his hobbies/interests to make some side money.  Maybe this post will inspire you to do the same?

Retire By 40 has a great mortgage rate of 4.25%.  Should he pay extra on his mortgage or no?  Thoughts??  From my perspective, I would probably still pay it down because debt drives me crazy.  However, I know many would probably disagree with me.

Single Mom, Rich Mom has a great post to help people try to find contract or freelance work. She has a lot of experience in this area, and provides a wealth of knowledge!

Tie the Money Knot wants people to stop judging stay at home dads and wants the idea to be embraced.  I totally agree actually, I think a mom or dad can be a great stay at home parent.  Make sure you check out this post and others as this is a great new blog!

Watson Inc has a very inspirational post encouraging readers to chase their dreams.  Shawn also provides some steps to take in order to find success in reaching a dream or a goal.  One very important tip:  Have a positive attitude!

Wealth Informatics talks about what holds people back from making a change or quitting, especially when it comes to their job.

Well-Heeled Blog asks how people  know when they are financially ready to have kids.  My take?  You can’t know for sure because different circumstances may require a greater financial commitment.  However for us, the answer was…when we were pregnant.

Ironically, the phone rang while I was finishing up this post and it was Rick Santorum!

Have a great week!

When I first started working at the age of 23, retirement seemed like something that old people did.  I started contributing to a 401k plan with my first paycheck, but retirement seemed so far off that I didn’t put much thought into it.  I didn’t really have a goal of retiring early, I just figured my husband and I would retire at 65 like most people seemed to do.

I am now 21 years into my ‘career’ (working at the same darn job off and on all those years) and working until the age of 65 does not seem very appealing.  However, even though we have diligently saved for retirement each year, our portfolio has not experienced the typical returns that ‘experts’ say you should expect on average each year.

A recent article on Yahoo Finance discussed Five Expenses Keeping You From Retiring.  I went through these expenses and looked at how our personal situation would be affected.

1. Stock Market Drop.  This obviously affected many people.  It hurt portfolios and people also lost jobs and experienced salary reductions/stagnation.  The stock market drop wasn’t all bad though.  It did allow us to buy stock at lower levels.
2. Boomerang Kids.  This refers to kids leaving the nest, and then flying right back in due to unemployment or student loan debt.  My kids are still in high school, so this obviously does not apply to us.  However, the article did state that the average cost to raise a child to 18 is $226,920 (so glad that counted that extra twenty bucks) in the United States.  We have 3 kids, so obviously this expense affects our retirement.  Add what we pay for private school into the equation, and kids definitely play a huge role in how long we will have to work.  However, they are worth every penny we spend on them and more, even if it means I have to work until I am 95 years old.
3. Divorce.  We are not divorced, and don’t ever plan to be.  However, I have seen how divorce can absolutely ruin the finances of couples that were previously very financially stable.
4. Lifestyle Changes.  The article discusses changes such as taking on a new expensive hobby, or a experiencing a medical problem.   My hobby would definitely be travel, which I can see would be costly.  Being able to afford to travel will definitely add years onto our work life.  Regarding medical issues, life is unpredictable, so we just plan to try and save enough to help cover medical expenses.  It is very hard to know what that amount would be though.  On the flip side, our ‘lifestyle’ will change when our  kids are all done with college (they start rolling off the payroll when we are 48), and our house will be paid off around the same time.  So, assuming our kids don’t boomerang back, our expenses will drop considerably at that point.  This will allow us to save a lot more than we do now, and that money will be put toward ‘earlier’ retirement.
5. Poor Planning.  We always planned to save for retirement, and we did.  We didn’t plan for poor stock market performance though, and we did end up traveling and spending on some things that we didn’t plan to spend on.  However, we found that spending the money while the kids were still home was worth delaying retirement somewhat, so no regrets there.  Not sure that falls under poor planning as much as just ‘living’ and learning what is important to you along the way.

Last year, I started watching the television show “Dance Moms” with my teenage daughter.

For those of you who have never watched the show, the gist of it is this:  Abby Lee Miller is the owner and instructor at the very successful “Abby Lee Dance Company” in Pennsylvania.  Now, Abby is not what you would call the loving-nurturing type.  She is more the “suck it up and don’t cry when I berate you” type.  Whatever.  I know some people that watch the show can’t imagine that instructors like Abby exist.  Well,I am here to tell you that they do, at least in the world of soccer.  So, Abby doesn’t really surprise me too much, unfortunately.

Now, I know nothing about the world of dance, but from what I have seen, Abby gets results!  Many probably do not agree with her teaching style, but Abby prides herself on creating ‘employable’ dancers.  (Broadway employable that is…)  So, even though the moms on the show whine constantly about how Abby makes their daughters cry, they go back for more week after week, most likely with the hopes that their daughter will become a professional (Broadway) dancer.

Again, I have seen some pretty horrible, ego-maniacal coaches  through the years, and many parents take their kids back to the same coach even though their kids are miserable.  So, the fact these parents complain incessantly yet still keep going back for more does not surprise me.  What does surprise me is what these families go through for dance.

No Competition Is Too Far Away When It Comes To Dance!

Each week, it seems this competitive dance team is headed to a new destination, many of which require traveling by plane.  Last season, the girls had all flown to some far away state to compete.  At the end of the competition, Abby surprised them all with the announcement that she had scheduled them to compete in California the next week.  (AND there would be a special surprise!)  I was dumbfounded.  I can’t imagine how much it must cost to arrange last minute flights like that at the whim of a dance teacher.  There isn’t any choice in the matter either, you must go.

Then, this season, the dance team was all set to compete in New York to compete when guess what?  The competition was canceled at the last minute.  Instead of taking the week off, Abby got on the horn and arranged for the girls to compete in Texas.  Time to hop on a plane and fly across the country on a moment’s notice so you can dance on…a gym floor.  (If I am going to upend my life and spend a bunch of money to travel to a competition, I at least would want my child to dance on a safe surface.)

How Do These Families Do It?

There is no way my family could accommodate this level of competition.  Not only would it be a huge money drain, but what do you do with the other kids in the house?  I just learned during an episode last week that one of the moms has a 2 year old at home.  I have no idea who watches this kid because this mom is always at the dance studio because it is expected that moms sit and watch each practice.  As a matter of fact, one mom is often the subject of scrutiny because she is not always at the studio because she has a job.

Keep in mind, I am not judging these families at all, to each his own.  I am just curious if any readers out there have had similar experiences as what is depicted in “Dance Moms”.  If you were ever a serious dancer/gymnast/etc as a kid, was it worth the time, effort, and money?  Are you glad you did it?