Archive for August, 2006
Another Windfall Story
Yet another story about someone that gets a windfall of $10,000. There is no question that she’ll spend the money, the only question is on what. Just once I’d love to hear someone answer the question, “What are you going to do with the money?” with “Oh, I’m going to invest it in an index [...]
Facing the Hard Step of Daycare
As you all know, my wife and I purchased an unfinished cabin last week. As part of that purchase, we knew that my wife would have to go back to work for awhile. We are able to cover the purchase cost and monthly costs of having it on my salary alone, but that wouldn’t leave [...]
Received My First Issue of Money Magazine Today
Awhile back I decided to get a subscription to Money magazine. I checked Ebay but was disappointed in the price for a subscription. After going directly to the Money magazine website, I was surprised to see that they had the best deal. At less than 85 cents per issue, I felt I was getting a [...]
Stole Money to Play the Lottery – What Was She Thinking?
Okay, This one is a bit odd. I think it highlights the fact that slow and steady saving, or in this case, slow and steady stealing, can really add up. This woman stole over $2.3 million dollars to play the lottery. I can only assume that she was hoping to hit a million dollar jackpot [...]
I May Have Been a Peeping Tom in Another Life
I have to confess. I really enjoy reading about other people’s finances and day to day dealings with money. I wish that Oprah would have a weekly Debt Diet episode so that I can see more families who are either struggling with their finances, or are doing exceptionally well with them. Honestly, I think I’d [...]
Signed Papers Today – Second Home Purchase Complete
I’m now the proud owner of a partially completed second home. Okay, we are going to call it a cabin but it’s a 30X32 building. The first floor is all one large garage. The second floor is a two bedroom 1 bath apartment, I guess you’d call it. When it’s done it will have hardwood [...]
Close Escrow on a Second Home Tomorrow
Well, I finally did it. I pulled up my skirt a little and bought a second place. We’ve been wanting a summer home of our own at the lake that our family has a cabin near. We bought a place from a friend of ours that isn’t finished. Basically, another friend of ours is going [...]
Making Financial Decisions to End or Extend Your Life
Here’s an interesting article on the costs of keeping someone alive, and when it might not be worth it. My personal opinion on this is that I would not sacrifice the rest of my family’s life and money to try to stay alive a little longer. http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/08/15 What would you do if the doctor said, [...]
Door to Door Meat Sales
Some things seem like good ideas and some just don’t. This falls under the “don’t” category. I’ve told my wife, “If I ever buy meat from a door to door salesman, please just shoot me on the spot”. http://www.komotv.com/stories/44951.htm Update: Many folks have pointed out that there are some quality, ethical meat salesmen that sell [...]
Doomsday Ahead for Many With Adjustable Rate Mortgages?
I keep reading about all the people that are one step from doomsday. Most of these people are dealing with adjustable rate mortgage increases. Why did they get an adjustable rate mortgage in the last couple years? From a purely financial perspective, it seemed like a riskier approach because interest rates were some of the [...]