Ken Bireta Promoting Liberty in New Jersey

Student Loan Update

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:22:47 -0500

We've paid down our loans some this month. I can see why I put this off some. It will be a slow but steady process. We did not pay off as much as I planned because we did not get our stimulus deposit from the government. When it arrives, we'll have an additional $1800 to put towards the student loans (big dent)! Maybe we should lobby for another stimulus check. If sending a family of four $1800 is good for the economy, imagine how much we'd accomplish doubling it!!!

Ken's loan: Paid $254 in principle
Tamra's loan: Paid $137 in principle
Total Paid of $700: $391 Principle and $309 Interest

Why only $700? We've been adding to our savings accounts. With a baby on the way, we need extra money on hand. It actually does not cost much to add to our savings. The money will be applied to the student loans if nothing comes up and I actually earn .03% more on my savings account than I pay in student loan interest (pay 3.25% earn 3.28% at IGoBanking).

One Week Retreat in July

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:33:00 -0500

Tamra has been begging me to sign up for a one week retreat in July (I must have become real ornery;) ) at the Francis House of Prayer. I've been telling her over and over that a week straight with the kids and being pregnant would be tough. She insists that she thinks I would enjoy it and that she would be fine. I finally gave in and signed up. I've never been on a retreat before, so I am looking forward to a new experience! It's been four years since I've escaped.

Next Step: Savings and Shredding Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:44:40 -0500

In continuation of the post I started earlier about our journey out of consumer debt, our next step was to establish a savings account and then agree that we would no longer add to our debt. That meant eventually shredding all the credit cards.

We opened a savings account at ING. It pays well and we're so happy there we also have an interest bearing checking account. Now, it's funny to think that Tamra and I, after not having a savings account, were not comfortable with Dave Ramsey's recommendation of $1000 in the bank as a short-term emergency fund while you get out of debt. We finally agreed on $1500 and put it in the bank. We accumlated the $1500 very quickly by selling, through Amazon Marketplace and Ebay, everything we could get our hands on. I also cancelled all are magazine subsrciptions and put the checks towards the emergency fund as well.

Once we put our $1500 in the bank, it was time to shred the credit cards. We shredded all the cards, except one at first. Tamra's first card had a picture of the University of Florida on it and she was attached to it (even though it had $0 balance because of the high rate). When we shreded the cards, except the UF card, I really never would have thought we would have had all that credit card debt paid off by February of the next year. Also, Tamra got over closing and shredding the UF card the following month!!!

Net Worth Tracking Website

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:48:36 -0500

I found a neat website to track your net worth. They'll send you an email every month to update your information. If you're shy, you can keep your profile private. I added the badge to the right hand column of my blog. It's nice to track the effects of our decisions (whether positive, negative, or neutral).

The graph goes from December of 2006 when we discovered Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. I also entered in February 2007 data from when we paid off the credit cards which freed us from consumer debt. Lately, I've been feeling like we've lost focus and that we haven't been getting anywhere, but it looks like we have, so that was nice to see.

More detailed net worth information is available if you click through the graph or my name across the top. That will give an idea of the categories they have for you to fill in. Clicking their logo at the bottom takes you to their home page.

Doing Student Loans Gazelle Style

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:19:49 -0500

We are going to get gazelle intense with the student loans. They've been on hold for awhile because we owed $1800 in taxes, unexpectedly. To help offset that, we decided we'd have another kid (he he). Unfortunately, having another kid meant we had to write a $9,000 plus check for a one year old Chrysler Town and Country, so we will not break even for quite a while.

The good news is that in a few weeks, we should get our economic stimulus rebate and then we can throw it at my student loan. That should mean about two thousand dollars in reduced principle next month! These loans total just over $550 per month in minimum payments on the shortest repayment plan and we have about a grand per month budgeted for them. From this point on, most everything extra will go their way as well (which will hopefully add up to a lot).

So here is our goal: to pay off my student loan, over $20,000, by fall of 2009!

And for archival, here is what the progress bars looked like when we first started:

2008 Payoff Progress:

0.23%

$214

$92,000

First Ken's Loan:

0.65%

$145

$22,300

Then Tamra's Loan:

0.1%

$69

$69,700

Kaitlyn's Fourth Birthday Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:12:02 -0500

Here is a photo of the wonderful caterpillar shaped cake my wife Tamra made for Kailtyn's fourth birthday:

and here is one of her looking at the camera:

Kaitlyn's Fourth Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:45:05 -0500

Kaitlyn, our oldest, had her fourth birthday today. Tamra's dad and his wife, Jen, came to visit. Tamra made a delecious cake in the shape of a caterpillar with Kaitlyn's name spelled out in sugar cookies and "Happy Birthday" written on small sugar cookies. A video summary is below...

Kaitlyn and Ellie's first flight in Cessna 172

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:25:23 -0500

Mercer County Community College had a fund raising for their flight team last weekend. I took the opportunity for Kailtyn and Ellie to have a flight in a Cessna 172. The river out of Kaitlyn's window is the Delaware River. We crossed it and went into Pennsylvania and then headed back.

Having A Third Baby ....

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:50:39 -0600

Yes, we're excited!!!! We are going to have a third child. The baby will be born around October 20th. When there's more news to post, I'll be sure to post it, but for now, here is a video of us telling Kaitlyn (our oldest)...

Returning to the Catholic Church...

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:21:25 -0600

We started going to church a couple months ago and we decided to baptize the kids. We joined St. James Catholic Church in Pennington, New Jersey. It was over 15 years since I've been to a mass. We sought permission to have Kaitlyn and Ellie baptized in Florida while we were down there visiting my family. They were baptized at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida at the evening Mass on Sunday, December, 30th.

The next step in my journey is to have our marriage Convalidated. My wife and I were married outside the church during my absence from the church. It's interesting how easy it is to drift away from something important. Below are a few pictures of the girls in their baptism dresses:

Ellie

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn and Ellie

Ewing Township Council Meetings

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:53:49 -0600

I have the recorded audio available for the November 7th Ewing Township Council Agenda Session and the Ewing Council Township Council Regular Session. The links to the files are below and I will post the video of the Ewing Township Council's Regular Session once it is uploaded and processed by Google Video.

Right click and select "save as" to download the mp3 to your computer or press play to stream it over a decent internet connection.

Ewing Township Council Agenda Session Recorded November 7, 2007 (6:30pm)
Ewing Township Council Regular Session Recorded November 7, 2007 (7:30pm)

I encourage people to listen to this Agenda Session. Over two-thirds of this "Agenda Session" was dedicated to a special session with the Mayor and the Township Council working on salvaging a 1.8 million dollar grant that expires in December of 2008. Fifty-three minutes of a seventy-four minute Agenda Session were dedicated to this topic (from 1:00 to 54:25) and less than 20 minutes were spent discussing the agenda.

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:54:20 -0600

I played my part in history today with a $100 donation to Ron Paul's Campaign. Below is a screen shot of my name on Ron Paul's site. This historic day has also captured the attention of CNN(video below)!

Becoming Debt Free - First Step - Admission

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:19:49 -0500

Well, at first it started seeming like the credit card bills kept on coming. My wife and I had a toddler and a baby on the way. One evening, I reluctantly decided to add them up! My wife was standing by the fridge and I asked her if she wanted to guess how much we owed on the credit cards. She doesn't like guessing games, but I sure wasn't going to blurt this number out. After telling her to guess higher a few times, she finally guessed close enough for me to tell her and then we both shared the shock.

That evening I used Google to find out how to get out of debt and I discovered Dave Ramsey and his baby steps. After learning about his show on XM Radio, I decided to start listening and I also added my name to the waiting list for his book at our local library. My wife and I also decided to stop the hemorrhaging of money by deciding not to eat out, renew magazines, visit our parents in Florida for Christmas annually, and no more buying anything. I also canceled the magazine subscriptions I had to get the checks for the unused portion of the subscriptions.

Tamra and I were both freaked out by what we discovered that night. But, in hindsight, I see it as a beginning to a very enlightening journey. After taking responsibility for where we were financially and admitting we had to do something about debt, it was time to start our journey out of debt and towards success.

(to be continued)

Jason Scheurer Exluded from 14th District Assembly Debates

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:49:19 -0600

Jason Scheurer was excluded from the televised debates by News 12 NJ. All candidates should receive unbiased coverage from the media. As soon as a media outlet chooses which candidates it will promote with it's recourses, it ceases being a media outlet and becomes a political action committee.A video of Jason's exchange is below and it was also covered by politicsNJ.com.

read more | digg story

Ewing Township Community Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:40:58 -0500

Here is a very short clip of the Ron Paul for President 2008 booth at the Ewing Township Community Festival. The kids really enjoyed the festival and there were lots of free activities. We registered Republican voters who wanted to support Ron Paul and handed out about 175 brochures. The reception to Ron Paul's message of freedom was overwhelmingly positive.

Ewing Liberty Club - First Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:20:29 -0500

I have had a few people express interest in the Ewing Township Liberty Club. I will host the first meeting on Wednesday, October 17th at 7pm. If you are interested, you can rsvp and get a map to the meeting location on our meetup.com site.

If we cannot convince our current representatives that Ewing's taxes are already high enough and that they need to reduce spending and debt, we have the duty to replace them. The future of our town is at stake. We cannot burden our children with the debt of our generation. I think "Recall Them All" would look good on a sign ;), but three council members are up for reelection next year, so maybe we can wait.

Promoting Ron Paul and New Jersey Straw Poll

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:59:57 -0500

Tamra and I couldn't go to the New Jersey CWA GOP Presidential Candidate Forum and Straw Poll Saturday morning. Ron Paul ended up winning with over 70%!!! But, Tamra and I promoted Ron Paul at the Mercer County Italian American Festival. We had a good time. Below is a video of the girls walking with signs. Well, they pretty much stopped walking every time I pulled out the camera, but they were cute.

There was also a small petting zoo at the fair:

A Year (a life?) Without Credit Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:19:49 -0500

Well, it has been well over a year since we have used a credit card. Unfortunately, I don't know the exact date we shredded the credit cards, but we freed ourself from consumer debt six months later on February 22nd, 2007, by making the last and final consumer debt payment we will ever make to payoff a chase credit card. The only debt we have left to payoff are our student loans. Tamra and I have vowed to never have consumer debt again. It's one of our "No Matter What's".

We have to thank Dave Ramsey and his book, The Total Money Makeover, for sharing the wisdom of living debt free along with a plan to become debt free that works. Living below our means has changed our life and we are planning a debt free life for us and our girls. We do plan on getting a small mortgage on a house that we can payoff in five years or less while we payoff our student loans. We hope that we will be able to help our girls start a debt free life by setting a good example, planning to help them pay for college and maybe even help them with a starter home.

Over the next few weeks, I'll share how we did it. But for now, I would recommend renting Dave Ramsey's book at the library. It's a quick read (it's motivating) and this book has the potential to change you life, too! You just have to do it!!!

Potato Harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 09:13:15 -0500

This past weekend we went to the Howell Living History Farm for the annual Potato Harvest. We saw horses pull a plow like tool through the dirt that lifted the potatoes to the surface and then we went out and put them in buckets. We filled two buckets full of potatoes and then enjoyed some cookies and lemon aid. We also packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it by the farmhouse. After lunch, which included fresh potato chips cooked outside the farmhouse, we visited the farm animals. The potato picking is on the first video and the animals are on the second video.

Howell Farm Potato Harvest

Howell Farm Animals

Ron Paul Takes Them On!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 19:43:23 -0500

Someone created an interesting, but brief, compilation of Ron Paul's night with good music in the background. You can hear them (the neocons) mocking and snickering at him like highschool kids, but HE WON!!! Listen to all of the applause!!! I wish the person would have left more of Paul's answers in there. He was good. If I ever find myself in a debate like that I could only hope to do as well.

Ron Paul - Going the Distance!

If you prefer a longer unedited summary of what he said, here it is:

Yesterday's Outing

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:45:35 -0500

Tamra, Kaitlyn, Ellie and I go to Dessert Moon for some delicious Mexican and then to the Mall to walk around. Google Video is down, so I put in on Youtube for the time being.

Open Letter to Mayor Jack Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:12:46 -0500

Dear Mayor Ball,

I believe your administration may have lost touch with why the voters chose you as their mayor and what role the voters wanted you to fill. Below, I will touch on a few points that you can use to guide yourself towards an electoral victory in the future while satisfying the needs of Ewing's voters.

Ewing should not be dependent on any other organization in meeting the needs of Ewing's citizens. To say we need state aid is an admission of the failure of our elected officials to manage our resources properly. Claiming that Ewing is in need of any aid is one of the
symptoms of too much spending. The solution is to reduce spending by eliminating services and departments and selling financed assets in order achieve a level of spending that we can afford.

Ewing does not need to have the debt restructured. Debt is a symptom of purchasing something that you could not afford. We need to look back at what we purchased and either sell the item we purchased or pay-off the item within the next two to four years. Our current generation loves to make bankers rich by purchasing things they cannot afford. If it's not worth saving up for, it's not worth purchasing. Government debt is the process of passing on our responsibility to pay for something to our children. We cannot let today's elected officials make decisions for the next generation. They will have their own issues to resolve with their resources. Let's not commit the next generations tax dollars to paying off our extravagances.

Following these suggestions will not be easy. A very loud minority will rise up and fill the meeting rooms whining that they want everything under the sun without paying for it any time soon. While you're eliminating departments and services, remind this loud minority that you are not eliminating their ability to seek out these services from private parties.

I hope that you agree that we need to separate our needs from our wants to restore Ewing's financial future. Following these suggestions will also avoid an oppressive tax increase. If you follow the suggestions above, history will honor you as the Mayor that saved Ewing. Thank you for your time.

Ken Bireta

Ewing Township Libertarian Club

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:51:22 -0500

There seems to be a lack of fiscal conservatives in elected positions in New Jersey. I have decided to see if there would be support for a group that would be interested in actually lowering taxes here in Ewing Township. I have created a website for a club and created a group on meetup.com to coordinate activities.

Whether you are a liberal, conservative, or an independent, please join the Ewing Township Libertarian Club if you would like to reduce debt, spending, and taxes. We need to separate the luxuries from the necessities in Ewing.

Official Website:
Ewing Township Libertarian Club

Interactive Meetup.com Group Site:
Ewing Township Meetup.com Group

Raise Taxes Over 50% - Mayor Jack Ball at Ewing Republican Club Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:51:46 -0500

At the meeting of the Ewing Republican Club, Mayor Jack Ball said the next years proposed budget would include a tax increase of over 50% and the Republicans there applauded him for the great job he's doing. I was shocked, but everyone there seemed fine with it. I guess the new breed of conservatives are not opposed to oppressive tax increases. Not one person raised the idea of cutting the budget, eliminating a service/department, or selling an asset of the city that the city could not afford (like a financed park). Imagine if we lowered the tax rate in Ewing instead of raising it. Hmm, maybe that's why Jack Ball was elected, to do something different? Well, unless we recall him, were stuck with more big government taxing and spending in Ewing, New Jersey.

Either way, I might give the Ewing Republican Club another chance. But if they are not fiscal conservatives, then I don't think I could support their candidates. Is there a difference between a Republican and a Democrat in New Jersey?

Kailtyn At Ron Paul Event in Mercer County New Jersey

noreply@blogger.com (Ken Bireta) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 08:33:23 -0500

Kailtyn At Ron Paul Event, originally uploaded by Ken Bireta.

Here is Kaitlyn at the first Mercer County, New Jersey, Supporters of Ron Paul Meetup.com event. Our next event will be at the Freedom Fest in the Mercer County Park. My brother Matt Bireta took this photo for us.

Mercer County Supporters of Ron Paul