FrugalRetirementPlan.com

What is extreme early retirement?

2009-05-12T23:27:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers Jacob at http://www.earlyretirementextreme.com/ has got it right. At 34 years of age he has finally been able to rip free from the life of cubicle walls and TPS reports and retired financially independent. So what is extremely early retirement. To me the definition is having the ability to pick up one day a say...I quit. No longer will I be a HAVE to go to work, but I could quit my job on a whim. To many people are tied to their residual debts of a car payment, house payment, boat payment, vacation home payment, cable bills, doctor bills, student loans. Like Dave Ramsey talks about people need to think of a total new way of thinking. No more debt and no more residual debts tied to your income. One of the first steps to early retirement is removing residual debts and expenses. If these obstacles are removed from your financial picture then it frees your income to start working for you. Last year I drew out how the rich's cash flow went into income generating assets to pay expenses and/or debts and into other income generating assets. Once the process of cash flow management is started then it will only compound or "snowball" with time.

Once your debts are paid off and your expenses are reduced then you can refocus even more on growing your income generating assets. Imagine this for example. Say 100% of your income was direct deposited into an income paying annuity. The annuity would then distribute $$'s to pay your monthly expenses and generate interest and gain principal value. (I want everyone to know that I'm not advocating annuities, but using it as an example). Who wouldn't want this scenario of income generation? Then you wouldn't have to stare at your cube wall or answer to eight different bosses for why your TSP report didn't have a cover sheet on it.

For those of you who don't know what I'm referring to watch this video!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/12638/office-space-peters-interview

Managing your money flow with direct deposit

2009-05-10T06:35:00.003-05:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how our family money flows out of my paycheck. Currently we have it so that a portion of my weekly paycheck funnels into:
1) a money market fund to pay our mortgage on a monthly basis
2) a portion goes into my 401k and 401k ROTH
3) a portion goes to save for the new baby coming
4) the rest goes to our checking account to pay for bills, tithe, regular expenses, and weekly cash usage.

I would like to setup my paycheck to funnel completely into money market accounts to be designated for their usage and withdrawn from the MM fund once a month. This way our money can work for us and not for the bank. Plus any excess won't get spent, but accrew interest and compound.

Like I described in one of my previous posts we'd eventually get to the point where a portion of our income would direct deposit towards an annuity type investment. Then bills would eventually be paid not from the money market, but an annuity type investment. Here are my initial money flow ideas:
1) Income -> MM Mortgage -> Mortgage
2) Income -> MM Bills -> Bills
3) Income -> MM Tithe -> Tithe
4) Income -> MM Expenses -> Expenses
5) Income -> 401k and ROTH 401k
6) Income -> Tax liens
7) Income -> Annuity

I know this appears like a lot of different disbursements, but really we all need to have or money work for us. This way we'll be able to reach retirement early, and have more options for income or "extra circular activities".

Here is a link to my cash flow diagrams from last year that describes what I want to get to and how the rich think.

Dollar cost averaging into stocks during a recession

2009-05-09T06:27:00.001-05:00

What a blessing that we have gone through this bear market! What did you say? A bear market a blessing? Absolutely! This morning I watched an excellent video this morning by CNN Money featuring Warren Buffet (http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/05/07/news.buffett.050709.cnnmoney). In a nutshell he basically said that this bear market is an excellent time to buy. For an investor we should be hoping for many ups and downs, because during the dips it allows us to buy more shares at a lower price. If the market we're to remain on a constant flat line over an extended period of time then we'd have zero to a small gain (depending on dividends).

Take myself for example...on Monday the dow was at about 8100. I said to myself, "I bet for the year in my 401k that I'm close to even or ahead % wise for the year to date." Remind you that on Jan 1 the DOW was at 8776 and down 4.41% for the year. Even despite this fact I checked my year to date 401k and I was up 0.73% for the year. My asset allocation isn't anything extrodinary either with 10% bonds index, 45% S&P index, 15% small cap index, 15% international index, 5% company stock, and 10% value index. Even though stocks were down for the year I managed to eack out a gain. Think about if the bottom to the trough had been deeper and the market on Monday would have been at 8100? The gains would have been even more! But a lot of investors are emotional during the bottom and don't trust dollar cost averaging. They say...this time its different. The market is never going to recover from this.

Point is this..."During a recession or depression continue to dollar cost average and you'll be a lot better off then the average emotional investor."

Great financial advice websites and books

2009-05-07T22:00:00.001-05:00

From time to time I post a list of websites that I feel are helpful in saving money and helping you get closer to retirement quicker. Here are a few suggestions:

http://www.earlyretirementextreme.com
http://www.early-retirement.com
http://www.diehards.org
http://www.bankrate.com
http://www.slickdeals.net
http://www.getrichslowly.org
http://www.allfinancialmatters.com
http://www.emigrantdirect.com
http://www.savingadvice.com

Along with them some books I'd recommend checking out are:

Work less,Live more: A guide to sem-retirement
The millionaire in you by Michael Labouff
The boglehead guide to investing

These are just a few books and websites that might help you get to retirement faster and save more on a daily basis. Good luck and remember to "owe no man nothing."

Tips for retirement or semi-retirement income

2009-05-06T20:27:00.002-05:00

During a tough economy and when both bonds and equities are depressed it takes some creative ideas for generating income. No one that is in retirement wants to pull money out of an asset class that is depressed. A rule I live by for retirement assets is have three buckets.

1) Money market - 1 year of cash reserves
2) Bonds - 5 to 7 years of cash invested in bonds
3) Equities - everything else

Based on this bucket allocation you then draw from a certain asset class during different markets. Here are the three possible scenarios for which asset class you should draw.

Market scenarios and withdrawls:
1) Equities are up, bonds are down - take disbursements from equities and use any excess replenish bonds or MM fund.
2) Equities are up, bonds are up - take disbursements from equities and use any excess to replenish MM fund.
3) Equities are down, bonds are down - take disbursements from your MM fund.

Based on this bucket asset allocation you'll theoretically be able to weather a six to eight year bear market in equities. However, if you are looking for some additional income sources in retirement or want to supplement your semi-retirement here are a few ideas.

Retirement income:
* Start investing in county tax liens - tax liens not only help you diversify your asset allocation but also earn 12 - 24% interest (I'll write in the near future about getting started in investing in tax liens).
* Start a blog - do you have a skill that you feel could make you money based on the knowledge you have about a particular subject matter?
* Start a home based gardening program and sell fresh organic produce to the locals - if you have a fairly big backyard utilize it and make money with things people want. Then advertise your produce on craigslist and people will be begging your for more!
* Start a lawn mowing service in your neighborhood - in your neighborhood it should be easy over the summer to pick up two to three lawn mowing gigs that could pay 20-40 per lawn per week. This could easily supplement your income with $200+/month.
* Start a business short term staffing service - this way you can offer up a short term service that might be needed a small companies in your area. The income seen from this could be extremely varying from 0 to $1000+ per month

These are just a few ideas that retirees or soon to be retirees can tap instead of their depressed assets. What ideas do you have for generating other streams of income?

How to grow sweet corn in a raised garden

2009-05-05T21:39:00.002-05:00

This year my family decided to raise a couple of rows of sweet corn in our 8x6 foot raised garden. Our top soil in eastern Nebraska isn't very thick and after about 6" of top soil it turns to a hard clay soil that isn't very good for drainage. The first year our garden completely flooded due to lots of rain and poor drainage. Then in 2008 I built a raised garden with instructions I found on the internet. The results were semi mixed last year, but poor results were due to late planting and poor shading.

Here are a few keys to successfully growing sweet corn in a raised garden:

1) Plant seeds 6" apart - this way by having them closer together each row can provide shade and wind protection

2) Plant rows 1ft apart - typically it is recommended to plant them 30-36 inches a part, but usually in a raised garden you don't have that much room and the close rows provide weather element protection

3) Plant as close to May 1st as possible - this way you have the greatest amount of time for your corn to root during cooler time and earlier in the spring. This way your corn can properly establish a root base too.

4) Plant your seed 2" below the surface - this depth is the ideal depth for your corn to not be too deep to emerge quickly and not to shallow to properly establish a good root base.

5) Plant your sweet corn when the morning forecasts for the 10-14 outlook calls for 45degree plus LOWS - besides regular water ground temp has the second greatest impact on production of good sweet corn.

Hopefully, during this growing season your sweet corn production will be plentiful and by around the fourth of July you'll be enjoying some juicy sweet corn.

Here are a few pics of my raised garden and sweet corn starting to emerge.

Why you should persue semi-retirement?

2009-04-21T22:35:00.004-05:00

Do you ever feel like your days drag on forever at work? You don't get any fulfillment out of work and the work you do? Or do you feel scared about what the economy holds ahead for you and your job? Is your job secure? These are a lot of the questions that I feel like I have answered in my life and want to get out of the drag of daily life.

I recently came upon this website through a friend called "The art of nonconformity" by Chris Guillebeau. I can total relate to a lot of the things he writes about and the reasons that he writes. Its seems like a lot of other people in the country are struggling with the same questions in their own lives and asking themselves - "Do all real jobs suck?" For myself it pushes me more to consider the possibility of semi-retirement and how I can get there, so I can get out of the daily grind of life. Can any of you relate to this video?

How not to get engaged...

2009-04-21T22:14:00.004-05:00

From time to time I write about things that aren't finances related. Lately I've been frequenting the funny website http://www.failblog.org/ and find some of these things hilarious. Here is a funny little video of how not to get engaged. Plus it isn't the most frugal way of doing it. :)

Another one of my all time favorites is this anchorman reporting on a rapist that is on the loose and an artists sketch of that person.
http://failblog.org/2008/01/30/rapist-search/

Selling Grain based on a Roach Ag Marketing Plan

2009-04-19T11:08:00.004-05:00

In early 2008 I started watching IPTV Market to Market. Around June/July 2008 John Roach appeared on Market to Market and I clearly remember him saying that people will regret not selling grain at these prices. People will look back and say...what was I thinking? Why didn't I sell more? At the time corn was about $7.90/bushel and beans were $16.00/bushel. Then the financial crisis hit and world demand for grains plummeted. In October 2008 I signed up for Roach Ag's marketing plan and have really enjoyed it ever since. Their premise is selling grain on about four differnt sell signals during the March to June each year. You sell 25% of your grain on each sell signal. Sell 25% cash grain you plan on not storing during each sell signal and buy 25% puts on each sell signal. By the time the end of June comes around you'll have 100% of your crop marketed either with puts or cash sales. This year we had a strong and extended sell signal that I started turning on 2009 bean sales, because historically the prices were a lot higher then normal. Here is a screen shot of my grain sales and put options.

In addition, Roach Ag currently has a 10 day sell signal in beans, and here is a brief snapshot of what that looks like. Its my believe that we may have hit the 2009 high in beans on April 16th. We'll see.

Frugal Cheeseburger Macaroni Recipe

2009-04-04T14:03:00.007-05:00

I have to admit. I love hamburger helper cheeseburger macaroni! The only thing better than cheeseburger macaroni is cheeseburger macaroni with corn kernels in it!!! I know hamburger helper isn't the healthiest thing for me, but I give in every once in a while. One frugal tip I have for making more hamburger helper out of a $1.50 box is this.

1. Buy a box of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni - $1.50 (today I was amazed at how few macaroni elbows you now get in a package! Must be the economy)

2. Buy a extra box of macaroni elbows - $0.88

3. Buy 2/3 pound of hamburger - about $1.75

4. Buy one 8 ounce can of whole kernel corn - $0.55

5. Buy some cheese to add in - about 3 slices of cheese - $0.35

What I usually do is add about 1/4 of the box of extra macaroni elbows, the whole 8 ounce can of corn, and three slices of cheese. Once I've added this extra stuff I usually add about 1/4 extra cup of water and 1/4 extra cup of milk. I did this with our meal today and out of a normal box you get about 3 meals for an average adult. By modifying the recipe like I did you can get 6 - 8 meals by only adding a few of the extra ingredients at a fraction of the cost. Will definitely make the recipe go a little further and feed a bigger family. Here is a picture of how mine turned out today. Enjoy!

2005 Ford Escape For Sale on Craigslist

2009-04-04T13:53:00.003-05:00

Today my family and I listed our 2005 Ford Escape with 55,500 miles on it. I'm listed additional pictures on my blog so that prospective buyers can see more details of the car and see the details of the car. This is the first time I've listed anything this big on Craigslist, but we'll see what luck I have! Thanks for visiting and if you need any more pictures, then let me know.

2009 Corn and Bean Farming Operations

2009-04-03T16:45:00.006-05:00

Last year I had the pleasure of farming 520 acres of farm ground in Northwest Iowa and all the things that come with it. I didn't blog about it in 2008, but as much of it became in my life last year I think I will start blogging more about my marketing strategies, and ways to make additional income by farming in 2009. Some of the highlights I will talk about in 2009 include:

Marketing my grain by following John Roach and Sue Martin ag commentary

Seasonal trends and where corn and bean markets are pointing to

Strategies for selling your grain to elevators and coops

Planting results from planting Pioneer corn and beans, and non-GMO beans

Application of fertilizer and money saving strategies that will enrich your soil long term

Using farming profits for investin in other assets for retirement

I hope to gain more readers in 2009 that are interested in marketing their grain, increase their yields, and help the average farmer plan for retirement and be able to retire early. Regardless, I will continue to provide quality frugal retirement planning for all my readers!

How to fix a piriformis problem from a marathon runner

2009-04-02T06:51:00.006-05:00

Well not everyday will I be blogging about finances and retirement but about things that are relavent in my life that I think other marathon runners might be experiencing. First let me give you a background of my problem. I started avidly running marathons in 2005 and ran four marathons between then and 2007. After running my fourth marathon in 2007 I started experiencing some stiffness in my right leg around my hip area. So I went and saw my chiropractor and massage therapist. They recommended some stretches and using a tennis ball to loosen up the piriformis and IT band. That worked for a while, but then after the first week of 2008 I started feeling increased pain and the stretches and tennis ball weren't helping. Over the course of last year I tried chiropractic, massage therapy, ART (Active Release Technique) Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, and again massage therapy. None really gave me lasting long term relief.

The last thing I've just tried was I went to a foot doctor and described my problems. He was able to do some tests with some sensors he inserted in my shoe that would show compression from my foot hitting the ground. It also showed the pace apart my feet were hitting the ground and whether my heal or toes were hitting the ground first. I even got to run about 25 yards with the sensors in my shoes! All in all I come to find out that one of my legs is about a 1/2 inch shorter then the other. So right now the foot doctor has me wearing a boot at night, because my foot and piriformis were experiencing some tenderness in the morning from my foot relaxing. In addition, and probably most importantly I will need to wear insoles in my shoes. The left one will be neutral, but the right one will 3/8 to 1/2 inch higher than the left. Hopefully this will reduce the tension in my piriformis and releave my siatic nerve. I'll keep everyone posted in the comings weeks

Semi-retirement for people in their 30's and 40's

2009-04-01T20:04:00.004-05:00

Lately, as I've been rereading "Semi-retirement: Live More, Work Less" by Bob Clyatt, it occurred to me that my wife and I could reasonably get to semi retirement by age 42. Currently we save between 10 - 15% (plus employer match) of my income. We are going to have our third child here in November, so theoretically if I continue to save about 15% of my income for the next ten years, my wife returns to work in five years, and we save 100% of her income for retirement we could have about a half a million saved in our retirement accounts in 10 years. Then by age 42 both my wife and I could easily work part time (20 hours per week), and save 15% of our income for full retirement. For me this would be ideal, because as our kids grow up it would leave me more time to spend with them and possible be their coaches in some of their extra curricular activities. Plus have 20 more hours a week of free time would allow my wife and I to freely explore other alternatives of income, which could lead itself to possibly leaving our regular part time job for something we enjoy more. Basically, a semi-retirement scenario would free us up to see more of each other, our kids, and our family and friends. Now its just a matter of setting this into a tangible goal that will be achievable and hopefully one day realized.

Tips to survive getting laid off

2009-02-26T07:08:00.003-06:00

As the economy is continuing to spiral downward it is more important then ever to keep on top of your job and continue to put your best foot forward. No one wants to get laid off during these uncertain times, but here are a few tips for getting by.

1) Have three months of cash saved in a money market account
2) Accumulate as much vacation as you can at your current employer
3) Have your resume ready and polished at all times
4) Network - continue to keep in contact with old co-workers or friends. Who knows maybe your next job will come from keeping in contact with them?
5) Start another job at home while you already have a job. As one of the themes of having multiple streams of income if you have other ways of making money then when you get laid off this additional income will help you preserve cash between jobs. Some examples would be selling stuff on ebay or craigslist, cleaning service, computer repair, artistic contractor, flip houses, or selling baked goods. Either way any income will be a blessing.
6) Cut expenses! Even prior to getting laid off you should do everything you can to reduce the amount of money that goes out from your family's checkbook each week. This way if you are laid off then your cash will last longer if you residual expenses are reduced.

I'd love to hear from my other readers out there on other things they have done to survive a lay off. Good luck and remember to keep working for the glory of God at your current workplace!

Free Download of the Oregon Trail

2009-01-28T21:22:00.005-06:00

Man...do I love the game "Oregon Trail"!! I remember I use to play Oregon Trail all the time as a kid and during recess in 6th grade. I remember we had the option of going outside or playing Oregon Trail. Is there any doubt what I chose? Anyhow, for all of your frugal gamers out there here is the files you need to run Oregon Trail.

Unzip all the files
Run the Applewin.exe <--(download here)
Insert Otrail_1.bin in disk 1
Insert Otrail_2.bin in disk 1 (when asked in the middle of the game)
Power on applewin emulator

Then enjoy the game! Here are a few screenshots from my return adventure.

Frugal Tips to Survive a Great Depression or Recession

2009-01-24T06:28:00.004-06:00

A lot of people are scared of what is in store for our country. With that said a lot of people think we are going to go into a hard recession or even a depression. Some of this I don't understand, because 1) our country and government are doing so much more for our economy than what was done between 1929 and 1932. The Fed is actively working to keep money liquid and the exact opposite was true back then. Hoover and his Fed Chief didn't do anything, because they felt the free market would work it through and it was a natural cycle. 2) People are scared that unemployment is at 7.2%, but in 1932 it was 25%!!! A quarter of all people were out of work and we're scared now? We could be a lot worse off...think of how people felt in 1932? 3) People are still spending money, eating out, and aren't really changing their spending habits (yet). I equate this downtrend in terms of innings and in August 08 I was saying we were in about the 3rd inning, and now I feel like we are in the 7th inning stretch. I think by July - August 2009 we should be hitting a bottom and slowly make our way out of this recession. Regardless, here are a few frugal tips that will help you get out of this recession / depression.

Stop eating out
Pay off your debt - owe no man nothing!
Increase your emergency fund savings - have closer to 6 months saved
Bank as many hours of vacation as possible - this will help ease the financial burden of getting laid off and prevent you from having to dig into your emergency fund or touch your retirement accounts
Cut monthly expenses - look at all your bills, especially phone, insurance, internet, tv, and clothes
Shop at goodwill, salvation army, or other thrift stores - what a great way to buy used stuff at extreme discounts? Let down your pride if you think you are better than that
Pay for EVERYTHING in cash - paying with cash makes expenses seem more real
Share tools with neighbors or barter services - this was common practice in the 1930's due out of necessity. The thing was that neighbors never in the 1930's never expected repayment. They just did it out of the kindness of their heart

Here are a few helpful links that have other great tips for surviving a deep recession:

Storing up treasures in heaven during a recession

2009-01-20T23:10:00.003-06:00

Nobody can argue that we are going through some economic hard times? Are not people losing their jobs, the stock market dropped 5% today, and politicians are promising a better future? Sure...but what does this mean to us as the church? What should we be doing? Should we be toiling and worrying if He will provide if our recession goes deeper and longer? No. Personally, I think this time in our country and world could not have come at a better time. This is a great opportunity for us and as a church to rise up and what a better evangelistic time than now to share our faith with our family, friends, and strangers. The recession we are going through and going to continue to go through will peel away the onion skin of our souls and reveal...what are we really trusting in? Am I checking my 401k balance daily? Am I worried I might get laid off? During my quiet time today I re-read Matthew 6:25-34 and the verse that really sticks out to me is 6:26. "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Are not the former employees of Bears Stearn more valuable then the birds of the air? Absolutely!

My prayer's that as we as a nation go through these hard times that many will find Christ and turn a page to work more toward storing up treasures in heaven, which do not rust or fade, instead of storing up our treasures in our retirement accounts. I too easily fall victim to our societies pressures of worrying about retirement, economic ruin, wall street failure, but instead I need to focus more on God's sovereignty throughout history and the fact that He will provide all my family's needs in the future too.

Here is a great video supplement how we as Christians should view these economic hard times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7AxMf-Mjhw&eurl=http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/

Project 365 craziness - women and scrapbooking

2009-01-02T08:44:00.004-06:00

Ok...I'm all for my wife scrapbooking, but I didn't realize until New Year's day just how crazy women are about scrapbooking. My wife told me on New Year's Eve that she needed to be on the computer at 10am to buy a project 365 scrapbooking item on Creating Keepsakes website. So my wife shows me it and the videos that go with with. Saw on Becky Higgin's website that there were a lot of comments for the item and a lot of women wanting the item. So my wife gets on the website at 10am on New Years morning, adds the item to her cart for $39.95 + shipping, and clicks continue and the website crashes. I come upstairs around 10:10am and ask, "did you get it?" She is frustrated like no other, because the page is just sitting there spinning and crashing every time she tries to order it. So we go on Becky Higgin's blog and by 10:15am there are 26 comments of frustrated women who want their Project 365, but the website keeps crashing. Then by 10:20am there are 60 comments with even more frustration comments. Its at that point that I say something must be up...people really want this! I think we should buy an extra one incase our friend can't get hers and if she ends up getting one then we can just sell it on ebay. So its been two weeks since that incident and we got our two kits on January 6th and had listed it for auction on ebay prior to that. I could not believe we got $150+ for that kit and I look today and people are getting $225 right now!! Check it out. Becky Higgins Project 365 Ebay. My wife made more in one listing then I had in about 10 listings on ebay! Never under estimate the power and purchasing power of scrapbooking women. Here is my question though..."I wonder if the husbands of these women know they are paying $225 for a project 365 kit?" My guess would be no.

The Best Puppy Chow Receipe Ever

2009-01-01T14:00:00.006-06:00

I have a few treats that I love to make and I make them a lot and have slowly modified to perfection! :) (notice the humbleness - haha) Anyhow, if you are looking for an excellent treat for around Christmas time or for a New Years Party. Here is my recipe which I hope you all enjoy as much as my family has.

1 cup chocolate chips
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of peanut butter
- Melt these ingredients at a low temperature stirring frequently

9 cups crispix cereal
Prepare a bowl and pour the crispix into this bowl
Once the chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter are liquified then add it to the crispix, and stir until chocolate covers all the crispix kernels

Powdered sugar
Use two plastic grocery bags (one nested inside the other). Pour a decent amount of powdered sugar in it and add all the chocolate crispix into the plastic grocery bags with the powdered sugar in it. Tie the plastic bag shut, and shake the mix around until all the chocolate crispix are white. If they aren't white, then add more powdered sugar and shake again.

This has been a family tradition and hope you all enjoy this treat recipe as much as my family has!! Enjoy!

Making money on Craigslist and Ebay in 2009

2009-01-01T13:42:00.003-06:00

This year among my many goals that include physical, spiritual, monetary, and family/friends, I have one goal that will be on the top of my list. Last year I started selling a few things on ebay and craigslist by buying them on discount and reselling them on ebay and craigslist. I probably had the most success this year on craigslist, because it doesn't charge any fees for listing and it is pretty straight forward to use. I listed a lot of our unused junk in April to help pay for our Chicago trip in May and was able to generate $500+ in a few weeks. In addition, the first item I listed was our old TV, which I listed at 4:30pm and I went to a party, and came back and already had 3 emails and was out of my house by 8pm that same day!

This year I'll list some of the things I've done to help generate more traffic to my listings and success stories each of you can implement in your own lives to help generate another income stream. Hopefully in 2009 I can further develop this income stream to generate more residual income. Here's to a success 2009 and develop of my relationship with the Lord and generating another income stream through online sales!

Happy New Year

Retire@52

Retailers hurting?

2008-11-29T14:05:00.007-06:00

This past week I think I got more e-mail advertisements for in store and online sales for Black Friday, Saturday extreme sales, and cyber Monday. Makes me wonder...retailers must be really worried about this upcoming Christmas season. Even more so I've been getting a lot of coupon e-mails for Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and Restoration Hardware. Makes me think that a lot of the high end stores are seeing a significant drop in sales or are predicting a hard Christmas season. I watch a video on money.cnn.com that Whole Foods was hurting too and their stock has taken a significant hit. Then on the flip side Wal-mart's stock is up 10% YTD. I believe by the end of the first quarter of next year, if things don't improve with our economy, that you'll see one or more of the high end retailers I mentioned above going out of business.

As for me and my family...we are taking advantage of these deals and making upgrades to our house due to the discount we are getting on products and services. Like Warren Buffet says, "be greedy when others are fearful, and be fearful when others are greedy."

Are you taking advantage of these deals or are you holding off purchases until after Christmas?

Engrish anyone?

2008-11-21T06:56:00.003-06:00

From time to time I come across websites that just crack me up. The latest one I found two days ago from a co-worker and I've been crying laughing. The website is - http://www.engrish.com Its a site that posts signs from Chinese people trying to write English on some sign that is displayed to the public. Here are a couple of my favorites.

http://www.engrish.com/2007/12/then-say-someone-made-you-do-it/
http://www.engrish.com/2006/09/hot-dogs-anyone/
http://www.engrish.com/2008/10/or-you-could-use-the-door-on-the-right/

I figured with all the financial turmoil going on in the world that is helps to have some humor every once in a while.

School Loan Paid Off

2008-11-19T22:32:00.003-06:00

We'll today I did it! Last night after my wife and I discussed our finances and juggled around some funds in our money market account I signed into http://www.studentloan.org/ and paid off the last $4000 of my school loan! We had a goal at the beginning of this year to pay this sucker off and after putting away money throughout the year we've been able to finally free ourselves of one more bondage (debt). I also paid this off in under 10 years from my graduation, which I don't know how people can keep paying on them even after 10 years. That is such a long time.

Now all we have for debt is our home loan and my wife's school loan. Our immediate plan is to funnel more money into our emergency account to build that up, then work on paying off her school loan. Once we have her loan paid off then we will have to save for a new (used) car. Hopefully our cars will hold together until then.

We'll I just wanted to share my families jubilation in paying off this debt and the freedom that comes with each shackle that is removed!

Remember...owe no man nothing!

Impact of a new baby to your finances

2008-09-03T11:36:00.004-05:00

We'll as most of you can tell my blogging lately has gone down significantly, because our family has been going through some major changes. Yesterday we gave birth to our second son, Ben, and he is doing good, healthy, and eating well. So needless to say other things have been taking priority lately and I hope to get into the full swing of blogging in a few weeks, but wanted to share the good news. I hope to be having a few blogs in the future on how children effect your finances and things you can do to prepare for them and get you on the road to success.