The Weight of Money

welcome to all of the new visitors and thank you for all the comment action going on lately. getting actual comments and conversation starters makes dealing with comment spam worth it.

I’m going out of town for the upcoming holiday weekend on a last minute roadtrip. It should be interesting and will probably wipe out all positive income leftover this month – but sometimes these trips are just want the body and soul needs.

I’ve always placed various levels of immediate satisfaction, especially in terms of adventures such as this, as important for the heart as sound financial choices. This isn’t just a trip off into the deep green(back) yonder because it is taken knowing, up front and honestly, that it will take a big chunk of our December/January funds.

But, the partner hasn’t been up to see his many friends in years, like 10 or so, and my road tripping tendencies have been tucked away for two years too many. We’ll be leaving town tomorrow afternoon with hopes of reaching clean, pet-free, crash space well before dawn on Saturday.

While I’m off and not posting, I’ll be meeting many of the partner’s longest and dearest friends. He has even made arrangements for us to stay with a farm-running couple and get some hands on knowledge of where our newly outlined dreams are taking us.

It is such a relief to have this trip coming up because I’ve been feeling very stationary in terms of travel and been wanting to run off to my favorite destination. Also, he has arranged every detail of this trip and all I need to do is go along — and do lots of driving since we’re taking my car (35/mpg) instead of his (12/mpg). Maybe I’ll have some photos when we return.

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend and has a great start to the new year.

I am cheap, thrifty, and frugal – and proud of each of them. I honestly enjoy and appreciate the way I live and the way I ration our funds and spending. Reading, Frugal for Life’s post, Frugality isn’t Voluntary Poverty, my frugal passions rose up and got a little defensive.

I’m often treated, by family members, as being poor, miserly or stingy. We’ll be invited to do something and after all the polite excuses are ignored, we’ll simply state that we don’t want to spend the money on it. Then we’re cheap (in my mom’s eyes) or broke (to the partner’s mom). I don’t want to be viewed either way and it bothers me more to have the “oh, they are always broke” sympathy when the reality is that we have money but don’t want to waste it.

The partner also views frugality as voluntary poverty and will often cringe at my statements and preferences. For example, after covering gifts with our fancy wrapping paper, I declared that I didn’t want to buy wrapping paper ever again. I insisted that our recycling bin is full of possibility and I’m certainly artistic enough to make it look just as good. “Wrapping paper is cheap,” he countered. It isn’t just about the price – I don’t want to be buying items that serve a purpose for just the moments before being ripped to shreds and discarded.

When it comes to grocery shopping, I’ll often construct menu plans that will make use of leftovers in a progression of dishes. I’ll also alter my listif something is priced exceptionally high or isn’t on sale. He thinks this is pointless, “we need to eat so buy food.” Again, it isn’t only about the price but also about living intentionally and making use of everything we buy.

I’m tired of the disposable society and want to be reusing where appropriate and make sure the things we buy are worth the hours spent at work to afford it. The idea of use and reuse and making things from nothing makes me happy and isn’t a scroogish plot to amass piles and piles of money. No, I want to know that I’m living as lightly on the earth as I can and saving money is just a logical byproduct of those efforts.

2006 has been quite an adventure and has set the stage for 2007 to follow suite with many personal, social, and financial quests. It is now time to consider the choices available for charting a course through 2007. I’ve set up general and specific goals that are attainable with dilligence and a little stretchingwhere needed.

Debt reduction and a new home purchase (and associated costs) are on the horizon and specific tasks are needed to build a successful plan of action.

Goal: Increase Savings for Home Purchase to $20,000 by July 2007.
This goal is a serious stretch, but I’m planning on making it happen. This will require monthly savings of $1,200 a month. While that number look exceptionally high at the moment, I think it can be done.

Plan of action – increase current savings from $300/month to $700/month – this comes at the cost of scaling back our debt reduction. The additional $500/month will come from ebay sales.

Goal: Reduce Credit Card Debt to $10,000 by December 2007.
Having a goal of $0 debt is important, but I really need to nurture those baby steps along the way. It is important to see a debt reduction is just as important as debt elimination.

Plan of action – this will be worked out in quarterly steps with a credit card debt load of $13,000 in March, $12,000 in June, $11,000 in September, and $10,000 in December. This will include monthly debt reduction of about $300 or an additional $100 over the current minimum payments and is a drastic cutback in our current debt reduction. Obviously, debt reduction is more financially beneficial when compared to savings, but we can’t put down a lower monthly interest charges on a new house – we need to have cash in hand to make that happen.

Goal: Buy a house in July 2007
This is a logical step after the first two goals. The house should have a minimum of 5 acres of land, a house sound enough to live in, preexisting outbuildings, and no restrictions on the construction of structures or the maintenance of livestock.

Goal: Increase retirement investments to 15% of income by December 2007.
This needs to be a year of positive investing. I currently put away about 11% of my income in a 403B while the partner put pennies in his account. We need to make this a household income goal. A stretch goal would be to max out my retirement account and maybe his too.

Plan of action – increase to 5% in April, 10% in August, 15% in December.

Goal: Increase Passive Income to $200/month.
A common goal for many writers, but an appropriate one just the same. We’ve been struggling with this goal for a while and still haven’t broken out of the “must work hard to earn money” mindset. Current passive income is about $30/month. I’ve got some work to do.

Plan of action – expand internet revenue and investments. Also, build passive income into the purchase of the new home in leasing out propoerty or space.

Just five goals for the upcoming year with smaller milestones being addressed through monthly assessments and adjustments. I’m still working out the excel budget kinks and plan to have it fully functional by January 1, 2007. Best of luck to all of those planning out their year and to those who like to let life take them where it may.

Occasionally I’ll see a new easy-cash scheme and think it just might be worth trying. Sometimes I think passive income from ads is worth the trouble of optimizing placement or that singing up for a web survey is worth the few dollars it’ll eventually kick back. Of course, while I’ll think it is worth the trouble, I hardly ever make the effort. My google ads still languish away at the bottom of the sidebar, unclicked and unloved, and I don’t really care. The few sites I’ve pretend I’d complete surveys/activities for are long forgotten.

However, there is something new that actually brought out some action – agloco.com (referral link). Now, here is a program that appears to exploit every concern I’ve ever had about internet privacy and even wants to help line my pockets as advertisers line theirs. Supposedly this is a repeat model of another similar business product, but it is still in its developing stages. Agloco is still working on the beta bar that is essential for the entire process to work — yet they are pushing and urging people to join, make referrals, and build the network before you can even use it.

Of course, all this prerelease network building really helps them sell their product to investors and such because they’ll get to tout the broad interest generated with just the promise of passive riches, riches from merely surfing the internet and getting paid for it.

The basic gist is that you join, agree to run this little browser bar that tracks your internet activity you’ll get paid for up to five hours a month. Also, you’ll get paid for a portion for the time each of your referrals use and even their referrals and yes, their referrals too — it only goes to four levels of referrals before cutting out the kick back. There is a lot of talk on their site about their privacy policy, spyware, and strict no-spam policies that is supposed going to help them stay an honest option for members. I’m skeptical but willing to at least think about it.

Since joining didn’t require selling away any more of my privacy than basic forum websites, I signed up. Of course, this surge of motivation will probably not last through the actual release of the browser bar and live participation in the project, but if it does, I might give it a try if my privacy values will allow it. You, of course, are welcome to join me (referral link).

Referral ID: BBBL2743

I don’t give much consideration for memes, but it is after 3am and I’m awake so why not. Thanks to Mapgirl for the tag.

1. I deserve every outrageous teenage torment the daughter may put me through. I often wonder how my mother survived my preteen/teen years when I trampled every boundary ever created and seemed to have made a personal to-do list out of “a parent’s worst nightmare experiences”. I’d say that maybe she was relieved that I had the daughter just a couple months into my fifteenth year because it actually gave her a break (on some levels, not on the most obvious one).

2. I have moved approximately 30 times in my life and have recently stated that I’m done moving. We’ve got a move coming up when the partner and I get a house, but that has to be it because I am exhausted and just don’t have any more energy for relocating. These were rarely short, across town moves; instead, these were complete upheaval and jarring transitions across cities, states, and countryside.

3. On three occasions I opened new checking accounts at new banks because I couldn’t get my current one balanced. I would abandon the effort in hopes of a fresh start; eventually, after continued failures, I gave up and haven’t balanced my checkbook in 4 years.

4. I return items almost compulsively. I often purchase items and later decided that I don’t like it, don’t want, paid too much for it, or don’t have the money for it and will return it. I’ll often have a bag of three or four returns stashed in my trunk waiting for the next trip — I blame my mother who also lives by the mantra of “buy it, you can always return it.” This activity actually embarrasses me and I’ll sometimes go out of my way to return items to another location.

5. I hate gum. I have an irrational hatred of it and cannot stand people chewing it. The daughter will solemnly tell anyone who offers her gum in my presence that she isn’t allowed to have it because I don’t like it (and solicit all sorts of sympathy interspersed with judging looks shot my way). However, she’ll also smugly show off having gum if she’s feeling suitably protected by nearby, indulging grandparents. I’ll silently fume about it until we get far enough out of earshot or until the grandparent leaves the room and I’ll make her get rid of it.

There, 5 things you may not know about me. I know that two readers that might know a couple of the items but probably not all of them. This leads me to wonder how many pf writers have friends that read their site and their comfort level with it – but that is probably another post in itself.

I’m starting to feel pressured to complete the goals for 2007 and meet my December goals of getting our budget prepared for next year. I need a crash course in advanced excel to whip YNAB into shape and the partner and I are still not quite set on an actual debt/savings plan yet. Also, the work change may have a significant affect on the finances if I take a part-time position and start toward the personal business plans I’ve been working on.

Obviously, the self-imposed deadlines are not worthy of the possible stress they may be inducing, but I really want to meet these goals – not to keep up with others who are one step ahead, but to feel like I’m starting the year off prepared. Of course, if I don’t make my deadline, I’ll get over it and just get it done when it gets done.

Many times in life we make choices based on values, preferences, likes and dislikes. Sometimes they are very minor, but other times they take lots of thought and consideration. Sometimes we look back on those decisions and realize that our choice was not the best. Sometimes we make various compromises in values and choices and select an option we think is the best. Sometimes, once our choice has been made, we realize that our compromise is unsuccessful.
A month ago, I mentioned some upcoming changes that I was going to post about. While I was hoping to put it off longer, I figured now – as I enjoy the evening next to the holiday tree – is as good a time as ever. I’m leaving my wonderful job because the compromises I made have not worked for my family.

When searching for a job earlier this year, I had a few criteria in mind. I wanted a position that would make use of my degree and that would fit with my social consciousness. I needed a position that would be financially and professionally beneficial in the long run. The position I found in the nation’s capitol offered all of the professional, social (values), and financial options I desired. However, it required a commute of at least ninety minutes each way and often more.

I knew that it would be challenge for my family to adjust to this schedule and that the daughter would be facing a situation unfamiliar to her – one where I was gone for an extended part of the day, every day. Despite our best efforts (and there were many attempted solutions), this situation has not worked for my family.

It is clear that the daughter needs someone home more and that I need to be more available at home. Due to the stressful challenges from the daughter, the commute and the very strenuous workload, I had to reevaluate the compromise I made.

I love my job and find the work extremely fulfilling (and tiring) but I will not compromise family security and contentment for professional aspirations. It disappoints me that giving up the position is the only action I can take, but I am glad to make that choice in order to take care of my top priority and the thing I value the most in life – my family.

I often get turned around with simple math problems and I used to think this meant I’d never be able to manage my finances. However, lots of patience, double-checking, and perseverance pays off and I’m proud of how far I’ve come in the past 5 years in terms of managing cash flow.

When I added the Credit Card Debt Reduction meter to my sidebar, I made a mistake in my calculations. Our debt goal is to move from $30,500 in credit card debt to $0 and when I went to update it today, my calculations were telling me that we were doing worse even though our debt had reduced by $5,000 – obviously there was a problem. I realized that I had failed to factor in the fact that I was counting down to zero (not up from) and that inverted the percentages.

The problem is fixed and I’m proud to announce that we’ve accomplished 53% of our goal and now have a credit card debt of only $14,336. I’ll update the numbers every other month or so, because the monthly reductions usually are not great enough to recalculate the numbers for each time. November was a special reduction month because of the special found money that was put 100% to debt reduction.

Also, I’ve updated our home savings and the percentage has gone down. We’ve not touched the money; it was never $2,500 to begin with. The partner and I each have individual savings accounts that equal about $10,000 and we will certainly make use of those funds, as needed, for a house purchase. However, since our joint savings account is starting from the ground up and I want to start tracking its actual progress and not factor in any dedicated contributions from our individual accounts. I’ll also be updating this meter every other month since, unfortunately, it too moves at a snails pace.

These are all just small steps to help shape our personal and financial plan for 2007. This is a great week to get all of those ducks lined up and accounted for.

has finally arrived. My incredibly strenuous work tasks are complete and a muted silence has cloaked my mind. I’m tired and exhausted and running on negative reserves of patience and stress tolerance. But I’m feeling the relief, the satisfaction, that all the broken bits and pieces that have made a 1 hour task take 40 are back in place. I’m ready to relax.

In all of this mess, I’m been using every free moment – those hours spent commuting, thinking about goals and what I want. Last night I literally tackled the partner with exuberant babblings and mutterings and strange gesticulations and pantomimes of cramming all my thoughts into his mind. Of course, he thought I was nuts and concluded that the week’s stress had finally broken me. After I rumbled up to bed and got snug under the not-quite-warm-enough covers, he timidly entered and carefully sat down beside me.

His face was painted with concern and worry and all manners of niceness ready and waiting to make it all better. I could see “are you okay” shinning behind his eyes as he delicately asked what all the previous motions and mentions were all about.

“Goals!”

Last weekend I found a house for us to go look at. Now, were not in the process of actively looking for a house, but when something possible and within bounds of desire comes up, you go look at it. It was a house recently reduced to fall within my parameters and had many amenities that we want and desire – an old (136 years old) farm house on two acres.

The visit showed lots of possibility and options. The well was recently replaced and a brand new pump installed. The septic systems wasn’t a cesspool. The basement had a dirt floor perfect for a root cellar. The kitchen and bedrooms were spacious. The electrical was even up-to-date and adequate for modern appliances. It has three outbuilding, all mostly too small, but still ripe with possibility and the land was surrounded by hundreds of acres of protected farmland.

Basically, it was what we’ve been looking for and within a range we could afford. We finally found the house we were looking for it was an amazing feeling. And then I started thinking. I was picturing us really living there, living there year after year, and all the modifications that would eventually be made, and something struck me – it wasn’t going to be enough. Suddenly the reality of what we’ve been looking for, or what we’ve wanted, had a real face and it wasn’t going to work.

We now have a much better idea of what we want and that provides us with a platform to build from. The partner and I must talk more. We must set goals and concrete plans and take action. Our goals have been hypothetical and mostly just thoughts and fancies. Now that our previous wants has a real life example to consider, we must work out what our wants really are.

Thanks to my strenuous work schedule this past week, we’re very short on the obligatory holiday gifts. I know the partner has been stressing about the upcoming family festivities and the yuletide bearings he thinks we’ll fail to bring. However, I’ve had a secret plan hidden away among the late nights at the office and the few hours of shut-eye in between.

I plan to give the gift of love served up in edible fashion. Our gift budget is limited to the daughter and I feel no reason to overextend ourselves just to keep up with the brother’s family and self-inflicted-guilt expectations. This weekend, the daughter and I will venture into the kitchen and depart only once decorative tins of holiday cheer have been prepared.

I value the ability to enter the kitchen and leave with homemade treasures of love. Now, I must convince the partner that these delicious gifts will be appreciated just as much, if not more, than some store purchased item that isn’t really needed anyways.