Since I’m off in Nashville this week, some of my incredible Bloggers Helping Bloggers participants have agreed to fill in for me. Today’s post is from one of our mentors, Jeff Rose who is a certified financial planner and an Iraqi combat veteran. He runs the blogs GoodFinancialCents.com and LifeInsurancebyJeff.com.

The job of a stay at home mother is one that no salary amount could compensate for. From parenting to cooking, the duties are endless and determining the right amount of insurance coverage in the event that something happens to this person is key.

If you came to my house, it would be no different. Aside from the duties listed above, my wife is also a resident nurse, tutor, sports equipment manager, UFC referee (we do have have 3 boys ), and much, much more.

Quick math shows that the typical $25,000-$50,000 policy would not be enough to even cover the lost wages of the breadwinner of the family. Heck, even a $250k-$500k policy might not be enough.

Adding the monetary value of some of the tasks that a mom performs on a daily basis brings us even further away from the range of a standard policy. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that most Americans to not have enough life insurance coverage.

A 2010 LIMRA study shows that 30% of American household have no life insurance at all and another 58 million are not insured enough.

Most that don’t have life insurance claim that it “cost too much”.

Really? Do these people not realize how cheap life insurance really is?

It is difficult to plan for an unfortunate event to happen but it should be looked at as a means to protect your family in the event that you cannot anymore. Of the women in the workforce, their life insurance coverage is far exceeded by their male counterparts. For stay at home moms, the amount is even less.

How Much is Momma Worth?

According to a study performed by Salary.com of 8,000 stay at home moms, it was determined that their value is equivalent to a salary of $112,962. Dave Ramsey came in with an estimate closer to $300,000-$400,000. I’m pretty sure why wife’s estimate is 3-4 times of what Dave’s is. (Jana’s note: trying to put a salary on the job of “mom” is one of my pet peeves, but I like Jeff so I’ll let this slide).

Regardless of where you value yourself as a stay at home mom, it is important to consider every task you perform as well as other considerations such as the cost of child care. The tasks that a stay at home mom performs have real economic value which is why life insurance for stay at home mom is so crucial.

Who’s Watching the Kids

In addition to the various duties of a stay at home mom, the duty of watching after children is by far one of the most expensive to pay someone else to do. Child care costs are extraordinarily high as is, but depending on where you live, they can eat a large portion of your paycheck each month.

In 2010, the average cost of care for an infant in Mississippi was $4,650. In the District of Columbia this cost was $18,200. We have 3 boys with an adoption pending. Imagine the cost for our family. <gulp> (Jana’s note: Where I live, it costs roughly $800/month for an infant. By the time my daughter stopped attending daycare last year, we paid $660. And, now that she’s in school, before and after care, we’d need to pay about $300/month. And let’s not even discuss the wallet abuse that is summer camp. When I talk about going back to “normal” employment, we often come back to this point).

It is important to take location into account when determining just how much life insurance you will need.

Other Important Factors For Life Insurance

Not only does life insurance help to pay for some of the duties that a stay at home mom performs, but it is also essential for funeral arrangements as well as children’s college tuition. Losing a loved is emotionally tough. It doesn’t have to be financially tough, too.

Even though I’m the bread winner in our household, having to raise my boys without my wife is something I don’t even want to ponder. She does so much for our family and if I had to replace her, I would spare no expense to make sure they had the best care until they were old enough to attend school.

Where Do You Buy Life Insurance?

In years past, the common thing to do was to call your local life insurance agent, have them come to your kitchen table, and buy your policy that way. While that still occurs, it’s much more convenient nowadays to hop onto Google and do your life insurance shopping that way. By Googling “term life insurance quotes“, you’ll find over 41 million results! Granted there not all good; but it’s a good indication on easy it is to shop online.

If you do buy life insurance online, be sure to identify a true independent agent that can work with dozens of different carriers. Many local independent agents and online sites claim to be independent, which they kinda are, BUT they may only work with 10 different carriers. In comparison, my agency works with over 60 different carriers which increases the likelihood of you truly getting the lowest rate. There are many other independent agents that do the same.

How do you find out? Just ask. If you get an agent on the phone, ask them how many different carriers they work with.

With all of this in mind, it is difficult to argue that stay at home moms do not need life insurance. Knowing that your family will be well provided for in the event that something unfortunate happens gives you peace of mind which to many is considered invaluable.

This list is coming to you from Nashville where I am hanging out, seeing some sites, and working on a project while my husband is at his industry conference (they put one of those airline size bottles of Jack Daniels in the conference swag bag. I love this idea). I'll also be headed down to the Dave Ramsey studios to get my personal finance nerd on (although I am hoping for a Jon Acuff sighting). Should be a fun week.

So, what I am I reading, watching, and listening to while I'm here? This:

What I'm watching: Freaks and Geeks (via Netflix). This is probably my favorite show of all time and at least twice a year, I watch the whole series. After seeing This Is The End last week, the F&G spirit moved me to watch it now.

What I'm listening to: 45 by The Gaslight Anthem. I know it's odd that this isn't a country song but I don't like country music (well, most of it. Some songs are acceptable). And The Gaslight Anthem recorded their newest album, the one with this song, in Nashville, so it counts.

http://youtu.be/oST77VRHXt0

What I'm reading: Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas. I had never heard of this book, or the accompanying blog, until a friend told me about it. Should make for an interesting read, particularly given my history of working with adjudicated kids.

Last week, in my birthday post, I mentioned that I took a government job over a job at a consulting firm upon my completion of graduate school. I had asked if anyone was interested in hearing why and, surprisingly, people were! Since I appreciate feedback and content suggestions, I bring you the story of why I choose a government job.

I finished graduate school in 2001 with a degree in Urban Affairs and Public Policy, concentrating in nonprofit organizations and a specialization in program evaluation. This, my undergraduate degrees (yes, I have 2. I double majored as my majors were closely related), and my internship and work experience put me in a pretty decent position for employment (which one would hope for after 6 years of college). Encouraged by my advisor and the fact that I needed to do something after graduation (and I had no interest in a PhD), I applied to a number of jobs. And, by some stroke of luck, I wound up with 2 offers.

To this day, I’m still not sure how it happened. Or how  it happened twice (once when I completed grad school and the second time, a year later, when I was looking for a job after I got fired from my post-graduate job).

Picking between two jobs is never an easy task. It’s not made any easier when the jobs you’re offered are equal in a number of important ways (salary, benefits) but completely different in other ones (location, job function, permanency). That’s the situation I faced both times I had to choose between two offers.

The second time, the decision was a bit easier. I had to choose between a possible temp to hire job doing institutional research at a suburban community college (I know! I used to be smart!) and a reintegration social worker in a major city. While the research job was more in line with my education and employment history, I wasn’t willing to take the risk of not being hired at the end of my contract (the whole “it’s your job to lose” speech is not exactly inspiring). So, I took the other job.

In my book, permanent will almost always trump temporary.

The first situation, though?  That decision was rough. I had to choose between a consulting job in Washington DC (one of my favorite places) and a federal government job in Philly. Both had the same starting salary, benefits, and I needed to move. But there were some key differences that warranted much discussion both out loud and in my head. This is pretty much how my thought process went:

Cost of living. Neither Philly nor Washington DC is an inexpensive place to live. But when I started comparing the two, the Philly suburbs were, without a doubt, less expensive than DC  suburbs (I have an aversion to living in a city). When I looked at how far my $30K salary (not a bad starting salary in 2001) would go for all my expenses, Philly won. By a landslide.

Scope of work With the consulting job, my duties would vary from project to project, as would my clients, and there was no guarantee that I’d do what I had just spent 2 years in grad school learning to do. With the government job, I had consistent clients and I’d get to use all the skills I’d just learned in school. My 24 year old mind couldn’t see the potential in the consulting job, so the government job made more sense.

Stability While both jobs offered a great deal of stability and security, there’s clearly more of that with a government job. Upon graduation, I needed the immediate assurance of stability without understanding that a consulting job could be not only be more secure in the long run but would open up so many doors, even in government positions.  So again, point for the Philly job.

Promotion potential Again, as a 24 year old with little guidance, I could only see the move through the pay grades as an opportunity for promotion; I didn’t think about all that could happen in a consulting firm. And when I did the research, it seemed fairly easy to move up the ranks in pay without having to assume any more responsibility (like supervising people). So that was awesome. Which again made the government job more appealing.

Work hours I don’t mind working. I really don’t. But when I thought about how I’d have to work twice as hard for the same pay at the consulting firm, the government job really made more sense. Working less meant more time for fun and friends!

As a more experienced, mature adult, I can look back at what I was thinking and realize how messed up it was. If I could go back and talk to myself (anyone have a Delorean?), I’d tell myself to ignore the immediate and look at the long term benefits of the one job over the other. I’d ask myself which job has more potential? I’d command myself to take a chance and go live where I’ve always wanted to live.

In other words, I’d tell myself to do a lot more thinking before I made my decision.

But…

While I look back and regret my decision making process, it’s hard to regret the ultimate decision. Because without those bad choices, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today, finally realizing what I think I’m meant to do.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a handy guide of tips for sucking at life. I hope you bookmarked it, shared it, or gave it to a friend with a dream. A lifelong dream that, with hard work, time, and effort, is entirely possible to achieve. A lifelong dream that instead of flourishing, rots because she insists on doing nothing but sit on her couch, spending hours watching TV or browsing Facebook, making excuses for why she simply cannot do any of the work required to reach her goal. A lifelong dream that’s dies because she’d rather wallow in unhappiness and misery and the sense of feeling unfulfilled than spend even 30 minutes per week working on her dream.

I wrote that guide for people like your friend because I wanted her to realize that it’s not the world’s fault she hasn’t succeeded. I wanted her to know it’s her fault. But then I realized that pointing out her shortcomings, while somewhat helpful, is only half the story. People like your friend need the other half; they need to know what rules to follow to be successful. So I decided to help them out once again (because I’m nice like that).

This time, I’ve compiled a list of steps/rules/whatever that will point them in the right direction. Things that are so simple even my 6 year old knows them.

Welcome to the second installment of the LWR list! To summarize last week's, The Killing premier kicked ass, Start is an excellent book, and I listened to Heaven Nor Hell approximately 198 times.

It was a good week.

And now we're moving on. Here's what's on tap this week:

What I'm listening to: “Freak Like Me” by Halestorm. It's my new anthem. Maybe it'll be yours.

http://youtu.be/4sXoA7B5yJo

What I'm watching: This Is the End. I seriously cannot wait to see this movie. I rarely go to the movies because the cost offends me so you know this is a big deal.

What I'm reading: Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt. It was a Jon Acuff recommended book so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's pretty interesting thus far and I'm hoping to pick up a few ideas.

What's on your LWR list this week?

Shit like this drives me crazy, too.

A few weeks ago, I attempted to do an online fundraiser for two organizations that I felt were deserving: The Brooke Jackman Foundation and The Red Cross. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say this: It tanked. Badly.

Once I realized that the fundraiser flopped, I pulled it from DMS and have spent many hours trying to figure out what went wrong. I have many ideas. But one idea that I keep coming back to is the fact that most people, myself included, are exhausted from being asked for money. After all, it’s everywhere. At your kids’ schools. At your religious institution of choice. In front of the supermarket. At the airport. At the checkout line at pretty much every store you ever buy anything from. At the gym. On Facebook.

The donation invasion is everywhere. You can’t escape it.

I wrote about a similar topic before, how the charity creep can affect your holidays, but this is something broader. This is the fact that it’s almost impossible to conduct normal, mundane, routine acts of life (like driving a car or buying shampoo) without being inundated with requests for money. And, if you’re like me, I don’t care about having my name written on a shoe or a heart or a four leaf clover and having it proudly displayed for all the world to see. What I do care about is to not being asked for money everywhere I go and then looked at like a total piece of shit when I say no.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

However, realizing that I can only control my actions and not the actions of others, here’s a few I ask to make sure that I don’t respond affirmatively to every request for money:

• Is it something I’m going to use anyway? Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a great example of this. With so many product lines donating a portion of their sales to the organization, I will spend a few extra cents to buy a product that supports it. I do this particularly with water ice (like Italian ice, only not as good). Our local chain has a lemonade flavor every summer that’s on the menu to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand. So, if my daughter wants lemon, that’s the flavor I buy her.  She’s getting the water ice anyway; might as well do a bit of good with the purchase.
• Will I get something out of it? I’ll contribute a few dollars to a raffle, particularly if there’s a chance I can win a decent prize. I’ll buy entry into a walkathon or Zumbathon because I’ll get to exercise and network at the same time. I’ll buy tickets to an event because I know I’ll have some fun.  It may sound selfish, but if I can’t see where my money’s going or how it’s being used, I want to get something out of my contribution. Remember that conversation between Joey and Phoebe on Friends about how there are no selfless good deeds? Yeah, I agree with Joey.
• Is it a cause I believe in? It’s hard to say that one cause is more important or more valuable than another. But if I were to give a dollar or two to every cause that I’m asked to help, the charitable giving line item in my budget would equal that of my mortgage.  I can’t afford that. Maybe one day, but not this day. So to keep my charitable giving at a level I can afford, I have to assess if the cause is something I believe in or if the organization is one that I support (because there are a number or shady charities out there).
• How do they solicit my money? Are they walking up and down the street with a boot, going up to car windows and sticking the boot in the driver’s face? Are they bugging me in the middle of dinner (try reading that sentence without singing Alanis Morissette), pretending we’re BFFs, asking me for cash? Is the unenthusiastic cashier asking me to tack on an extra dollar or two to my purchase? Are they sending me an email or a mailing explaining specifically what they’re raising money for? Is there a website I can use to make an anonymous donation? The tactics behind how money is solicited makes a huge difference in whether or not I’m going to donate.

Please don’t get me wrong. I fully support charitable giving and do so when I can via a means (and an amount) convenient to me. I just don’t appreciate when I’m guilted into giving or made to feel like I’m scum because I choose to take my donations elsewhere.

However, sometimes there are generous people out there who want to give you stuff and you don’t have to spend a ton of money. You just have to do something simple (such as liking DMS on Facebook) in order to gain entry into a raffle that could net you an iPad mini . That’s what Jackie at The Debt Myth is doing to celebrate the launch of her updated Pay Off Debt app (you could win a copy of this, too).  To enter the contest, just follow the directions below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today is my birthday. And on my birthday, I like to take some time to reflect not only on the past year but also on the path (progression, track, whatever) my life has taken. I think a little introspection is good for the soul and it’s an exercise I highly recommend.

For my self-reflective exercise this year, I chose to focus on some of the good financial decisions I’ve made over the years that have enabled me to leave full-time employment, conquer my fear of self-employment (well, sort of conquer. I’ve at least showed up to the battle), and get to a place where, although my income is pretty low, my happiness quotient is higher than it’s been in a long, long time.

Worked crappy jobs

I think it’s character building to work a crappy job or two. And I’ve certainly had my share, particularly in college when I worked a video store (yes, I’m old enough to have actually held a job in a video store), a daycare, an afterschool program and one painful, horrible month over one summer at a gadgets store in the mall. Let’s not forget the $100 paycheck job I had in high school, either. Although the pay was low, I learned so much and developed so many soft skills (showing up on time, getting along with co-workers, customer service, how to quit politely, stuff like that) that have been so valuable to me in my adult life.

Those crappy jobs also taught me the value of working hard to earn money and the joy I felt when I got those paychecks, knowing that I earned them, made me feel pretty damn accomplished.

Learned to budget

While on the surface, it looks like I learned how to live on a budget in college and grad school, the credit card debt I accumulated tells another story. However, in my post-graduate school years (okay, fine. Post-20s if we’re going to be really specific), I took it upon myself to really learn how to budget. Without the help of credit cards when the cash from my paycheck couldn’t cover what I wanted. When I learned to budget, I actually took the money that I earned, along with my husband’s income, and made our expenses match that money. With some leftover, too!

Living on a budget has made me more comfortable, financially, than I’ve ever been.

Paid of my credit card debt

Being consumer debt free is the best thing I’ve ever done for my finances. Without a doubt. I don’t think I even need to explain why.

Went to graduate school

When I was on the verge of graduating college, I genuinely didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to do it. So I made a decision that I would apply to grad school, but only one program. I told myself that if I got in, with a scholarship and a job, I would go. And I did. With both criteria I wanted. So I went. And I am incredibly glad that I did. Although I didn’t necessarily work in the field I have my Master’s in (Urban Affairs and Public Policy. I know, I know shit! Surprising, right?), the skills that I learned not only made me a more useful employee in a number of my post-graduate jobs (including founding and running Bloggers Helping Bloggers) but I was also able to command a higher salary. And my MA is the reason I have my part-time teaching job.

Graduating with no student loan debt, combined with the extra earnings post-school, has had a significant impact on my overall financial situation.

This post was originally intended to discuss my money regrets. I do have some of those, like getting into credit card debt in the first place, taking a government job over a job at consulting firm upon graduation from grad school (I’ve been debating this as a post. What do you all think?), not studying abroad in either graduate school or undergraduate, and buying a house way too quickly after getting married. I’m sure there’s a few more that my old age is making me forget.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that all of those decisions shaped the person I am now. And if that’s the case, are they really regrets? I think that’s up for debate. For now, though, we can focus on all the good choices I’ve made.

Because it’s my birthday and I say so.

If you guessed from my spending freeze experiment that I like a good challenge, you’re right. I like to see what I can do when I really focus and try. I also think that challenges are good ways to work on changing bad habits, whether you’re looking to stop smoking, start exercising, reduce your weekly alcohol consumption, or eliminate frivolous, unnecessary spending.

It’s this last one we’re going to focus on for this special June challenge.

One thing I’ve learned is that I might have a problem buying things I think I need without actually checking to see if, in fact, I really need them. I’m not talking about conscious stockpiling. I’m talking about thinking I need lip balm every time I go shopping and wind up with 10 different types of it (note: I have a moderate addiction to lip balm. Even when I know I have enough, I still buy more if I think I’ll like the flavor, scent, or consistency. And, for the record, Bonne Belle Dr. Pepper has the best of all 3). Here’s just what I found in my room. I didn’t even look in my purse or include lipstick or my fancy lip gloss:

No one needs this much.

Some people do this with craft supplies or nail polish or food or clothes or kids’ toys or hair accessories or golf tees…you get the point. There’s a lot of unnecessary spending and accumulation going on.

But I don’t want you to fall into this trap. Or, if you’re in it, I want to help you out. To make that happen, here’s what I’d like you to do. Please:

Go through your house, focusing on the items that you believe you spend too much unnecessary money purchasing. Note exactly how many of said items you have. Based on that amount, ask yourself if you need to buy any more that item this month (Not want. Need.) If the answer is no, commit to not spending any money on just that thing for the entire month of June. Then, when you come back from shopping trip having not spent money on that item, put the money in a savings jar (envelope, piggy bank, shoe, coffee can under your porch…whatever you’d like). At the end of the month, add up how much money you’ve saved just by using what’s already in your house.

Then, treat yo’self (financially, of course). It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, either. Use the saved money to make an extra payment on your debt. Or contribute it to a savings account. Or start an emergency fund. Or use it as another step towards achieving any financial goal you might have. Just put it towards something productive and positive.

This is not a spending freeze. It’s simply a challenge to use what’s already in your house. You’ll be amazed at how much money you can save when you just use that shit up. Because I don’t care how much money you have, there’s no need to keep wasting money on a collection of products that’s so vast you’ll never get around to using all of them before they expire.

Are you in? I hope so!

P.S.I’ll be talking about the challenge on Facebook, so if you’re not already a DMS fan, please like and join us! I want to hear about your progress!

Last week, my friend Steph wrote a post wondering what happened to Baby and Johnny. Her questions about them got me wondering: what happened to The Breakfast Club after they left detention? Did John take Brian out to the parking lot to get high? Did he return the earring Claire gave him? Did Andrew win his wrestling match? Did Carl rat on Mr. Vernon for reading those basement files? Did Larry Lester’s buns ever heal? And where did they go once high school was over?

Burning questions, right?. And I need answers! So I made them up:

Claire Standish (“The Princess”)

Although Claire’s future seemed secure with an Ivy League acceptance and promise of an internship in France after she finished college, her obsession with John Bender has all but ruined her life. After that Saturday detention, she and John kept a clandestine relationship that lasted through their freshman year of college. When he broke up with her the summer after that year, she went crazy (like Amanda Bynes, Charlie Sheen level crazy), developing an obsession with John (leading to a restraining order) and a wicked shopping addiction that eventually landed her in rehab nine times over the last 20 years. Her final stint was 2 years ago and she has replaced her shopping addiction with tanning. She looks old and leathery but she no longer shops for comfort. And the fact that she looks old helped her meet her husband, a wealthy older man who paid off her debts and finances her tanning habit.

Unemployed, Claire currently spends her days Googling for information on John Bender and making her stepchildren hate her.

Andrew Clark (“The Jock”)

He did, in fact, win that last wrestling match.

Plagued with guilt over what he did to Larry Lester in the locker room, Andrew went to a mid-western college (on a wrestling scholarship, of course), studying psychology. He took a few years off to work as a professional wrestler, although he mainly performed on the state fair/high school gym/fire hall circuit. After breaking his nose for the 8^th time for very little pay, Andrew quit wrestling and went back to school. He graduated, obtained his PhD and now works as a therapist, specializing in traumatic childhood duct tape incidents. He volunteers for an anti-bullying organization and has recently taken up archery as a hobby.

Financially, Andrew isn’t wealthy but he’s finally paid off his student loans and is working his way through Dave Ramsey’s baby steps.

Allison Reynolds (“The Basket Case”)

As expected, Allison barely made it through high school. She moved to NYC shortly after graduation, working odd jobs, making just enough money to scrape by but never really needing or owning a whole lot, just what she could fit in her giant purse (which she still carries with her). In her mid-30s, she settled down in Brooklyn, where she owns an art gallery featuring art created by school children and lives in a small loft apartment with her lifemate, Stu (who makes a living dressing as Peter Pan for birthday parties), and their 6 cats, 4 dogs, and a rotating number of guinea pigs and rabbits.

Money isn’t a concern or a care for Allison. An active Freegan, she runs classes at her art gallery teaching others how to live on as little money as possible.

Brian Johnson (“The Brain”)

He did not get high with John. But he wanted to.

Brian, sadly, did not graduate as valedictorian (due to the tragic lamp incident) but he did graduate in the top 5 of his class. This perceived failure haunted him in the years following high school, even causing a small breakdown in his first year in graduate school. He dropped out, was ostracized by his entire family, and became a hermit until his 40^th birthday. A pioneer user of the internet due to his hermit existence, Brian honed skills he didn’t know he had is now a successful app developer. His most successful app, to date, is an app for kids called “Pull the Elephant’s Trunk”.

As a result of the apps, Brian is now incredibly wealthy and lives in a large, sprawling mansion in California. He’s still a bit of a hermit, but has been spotted at some of Hef’s parties.

John Bender (“The Criminal”)

He did return Claire’s earring when he broke up with her.

A career in criminal justice never seemed farfetched for John, although most would assume it would be behind bars rather than on the outside. After spending 11 months in jail for a bar fight with Mr. Vernon (John finally did take that swing at him), he regrouped, went to law school, and found his calling working for those who needed a good defense. He met his wife at a very high profile trial (he was the attorney, she was a spectator), leading to some speculation that John won the trial under shady circumstances. Like most things in his life, he rose above that, and, after the media caught wind of his childhood, jail time, and subsequent successful law career, his life was made into a Lifetime movie. With money earned from the movie coupled with his prolific law career, John retired from law to work on novels (a la his hero, John Grisham).

His restraining order against Claire remains active.

On Friday, I had a guest post on 27 Good Things (you really should read it. I'm quite interesting. So go ahead. I'll be here when you get back). Because I am not above stealing copying borrowing other people's ideas, I thought I'd take that one and modify it into a regular feature here on DMS. And that's what I am doing. Every Sunday, I'll be posting what I'm listening to, what I'm reading, and what I am watching, or my Listen/Watch/Read (LWR for short) list. I'm hoping it gives you a bit of insight into the mind of Jana (it's okay if you want to be a little frightened. My mind is a scary place sometimes).

(And because this is a personal finance site, I'll point out that most of what I recommend should be found for free or minimal expense via Spotify or Pandora, your library, Redbox, YouTube, or your Netflix subscription. Or maybe from a friend who has impeccable taste.)

What I'm listening to: “Heaven Nor Hell” by Volbeat. Have a listen (my favorite line in the song is “I found his business card in the mud”). I should tell you upfront that I love loud rock music played by men (and some women) with multiple tattoos so you can expect lots of music like this.

http://youtu.be/vEN3mQ0ql30

What I'm watching: The Killing on AMC. I would be lying if I said I didn't do a jig of glee when I found out AMC uncancelled this show. If you haven't seen it yet and like smart, suspenseful shows, go back and start with season 1. Do it. Seriously.

What I'm reading: Start by Jon Acuff. I love his books. They're packed with practical information without being too boring or preachy. And he uses a ton of pop culture references and you know I'm partial to that.

What's on your listen/watch/read list this week?