Money Crush $100 Give Away!!!

Please take a look at Jackie's Money Crush $100 Contest.

Jackie, a regular reader and commenter here on BFS, has created a debt snowball app.  Take a look at her give away page and become a Facebook fan or Tweet a certain phrase for a chance to win $100!

Thanks Jackie!

BFS has a Guest Post about Minimizing at Funny about Money

Funny about Money was kind enough to let me guest post today with Can Minimizing Go Too Far?.  Take a look when you can, thanks!

Fit in a Fun Friday - Expensive Dreams

My friend Desiree is an astronomy addict. She and her husband, Mitch, were the ones who took me to the George Observatory a few weeks ago to take my first real look at Saturn. She also found out that she could do way more star-gazing for free if she joined a few astronomy clubs in and around our area.

At her first meeting, they showed her a close-up of the moon like she had never seen before on a 42” screen attached to a Takahashi telescope. She’s now jonesing for this $18,000 astronomy machine…

The weird thing is, even though I’m a frugal, money-hoarding squirrel, I think she should get one if it would truly enhance her happiness.

I greatly value happiness. I also believe that money can be used as a tool to achieve greater contentment. Being in the poor house doesn’t lead to peace of mind, so I also highly value budgeting.

So, I suggest saving for a HUGE splurge the same way you’d save for anything else. Set aside a certain amount of money from every paycheck for the item of your dream.

Desiree could be the proud owner of a Takahashi in 5 years or less (depending on interest) by setting aside $300 a month. If that is too steep, she could put aside $150 a month for 10 years and take advantage of technological advancement while she waits. As newer models come out, the older models are bound to be marked down.

In the meantime, she can happily use the impressive telescopes that the clubs provide. She may discover that she doesn’t even want to buy her own at all…although I saw the awe in her eyes when she was simply using a lesser telescope. I see a Takahashi in her future.

What are you saving up for? Anything crazy in your future?

I know my husband wanted his own pinball machine for a while, but now I see him developing dreams around Curling. I personally have aspirations for an Alaskan cruise.

BFS has a Guest Post about Angel Food Ministries at Personal Finance Journey

Lakita at Personal Finance Journey was kind enough to let me guest post today with Deal or Frill Angel Food Ministries.  Take a look when you can, thanks!

The Fun Stuff in My Budget

Today, Mr Credit Card from www.askmrcreditcard.com is going to talk about the fun things in his budget. He has also compiled his thoughts on the best credit cards offers available today if you looking for one. Hope you enjoy this post

Your budget serves many purposes. The most obvious one is to plan how much you intend to spend your money on different things. Budgeting is such a useful tool to know where your money goes and helps you decide where to put your limited resources to good use. However, very often, budgeting feels like to drag especially if you are looking to reduce debt or squeezing every cent to make ends meet. But as the title of this blog suggest, budgeting can be fun too! So in this post, I would like to touch on some of the fun things that I budget and plan for in our household's budget.

Saving For Vacation - This one is a biggie for us. We take a couple of family vacations every year. And we try to see different places each year. Our budgets for vacation vary every year depending on the circumstances. Normally, we have to save for airline tickets and hotel bills plus the usual meals and attractions if we intend to do the "Disney type stuff". Since vacations can be "relatively big ticket items", we do a few things to try to save money. For example we earn airline miles with our airline credit card. We book any airline tickets months in advance. We are also constantly searching for deals (which I guess is the fun part).

Budgeting for kids extra cirricular activities - We have three kids. All play baseball (softball for the girl). All play soccer. So there is always costs like new gears (cos they outgrow what they wore last year) and equipment. Our daughter also takes ballet lessons which she loves and two of our kids take piano lessons.

Sports Tickets - This year, we are going to get some season tickets for the Phillies and our new soccer team, the Philadelphia Union. I find that taking my kids to games is a really good bonding sessions. The kids really enjoy it too. I have found that getting season tickets is cheaper than just buying them before the game.

Gifts for Mrs Credit Card - Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas - Too be honest, buying gifts for Mrs Credit Card can be fun but stressful (hey, you know what I mean). I find that anniversary and birthday presents are most stressful. But yet at the same time, Mrs Credit Card does not like surprises. So she normally tells me what she wants. And we actually end up debating if it is a good buy and then put it in the budget!

Gadget purchases - I find that every year, I always buy some form of gadgets. Four years ago, I got Mrs Credit Card an iPod for her birthday (this one was a total surprise). Then the year after that, I got her an iPhone. Then last year, I got myself an iPhone. This year, we got the business a laptop. And we've got a couple of computer the last couple of years for the business as well.

The fun part of budgeting for these is that we actually do research on the stuff we intend to buy. That means spending time surfing the net for information (or you could call that time wasting). This year, we are thinking of getting a TV for the bedroom (perhaps 3D Plasma!!). I know most folks say it is a bad idea, but Mrs Credit Card and myself really like to veg out in front of the TV after putting the kids to bed.

House Renovations - This is not an annual thing. But for anyone that has bought an older home, or even a new home that was not really done up properly, you will know that there always seems to be a project to work on. Whether it is painting the walls, installing a new bathtub, changing curtains, or simply landscaping the garden, it costs money - and sometimes lots of it. But budgeting for these things can be fun too. After all, most of us take great pride in our homes. This year, we will not have any projects on the house. But the previous years, we had a deck installed and had our driveway repaved and extended.

What Are the Fun Stuff In Your Budget? - So there you have it - some stuff in my budget. What are some the stuff you have fun planning in your budget? Though I do spend quite a bit on these things, they are things I enjoy doing or in my opinion are worth spending on (ok - perhaps the house renovation is something I do not really enjoy!)

The BFS Way to Diagnose Your Financial Health

There seems to be all sorts of ways to measure your financial health, but here’s the list of points I'd keep an eye on:

1)  Am I spending significantly less than I earn? If I’m not, I’d take a look at my spending, make a budget, and cut the unnecessary expenses. If that didn’t fix it, I’d look into getting a better-paying job or at other income sources.

2)  Do I have a solid emergency fund? If I have at least 3 months of expenses (preferably 6 months or more), I’d move on. Otherwise, I’d start funneling cash into an emergency account. Even starting with $50 a month is better than no backup fund at all.

3)  Am I saving enough for retirement? I’d take a look at a few retirement suggestions and figure out if I’m on track. If I’m not, I’d look into my options. Do I have a 401k, IRA, or a Roth IRA? Would one of these work for me?

4)  What kind of debt do I have? If I do have some, I’d make a little list and see what I could eliminate. I’d start paying off high interest debt like credit cards before attacking car loans and mortgages.

5)  Are my investments diversified? If all of my retirement savings is tied to one stock (like my company), I’d DIVERSIFY. I don’t want my entire future to rest on the back of one company.

6)  Am I insured correctly? If I have health insurance, car insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance, I can move on. If I’m missing any of those, I’d look into my options. I don’t want to be at the mercy of anyone if I get into a car accident and can’t work. I also don’t want to die and leave my spouse with a financial mountain to climb while he’s grieving (he better be grieving…)

7)  Do I have estate planning in place?  If not, I need to set it up for the same reasons I need life insurance.

8)  Am I happy? If I’m not happy with my fiscal life, I need to figure out why and make some changes. For example, I didn’t think we had a good enough plan a few years ago. We came up with a system that made my husband and me happy.

I'll be posting further about each one of these points in the coming weeks to flesh out the ideas.

How’s your financial health? Do you think I missed anything important?

Personal Income is Still Low but Consumer Spending is Rising Again

According to this article, personal income fell in 42 states in 2009. Yet, according to this article, consumer spending is back on the rise and looks to be sustainable.  We have record unemployment but the consumer market is getting better…huh.

This tells me that some people have not taken their new situation into account or the lucky ones aren’t preparing for the worst.

My husband and I are the “lucky ones” since our income didn’t fall. Neither one of us got raises, but we also didn’t get cuts. We have a solid emergency fund and several savings accounts in case the worst happens, but so far, we’re okay. But we haven’t increased our spending in the last 2 years either.

So, we are obviously not contributing to the stats of either article.

Since we know friends that have had pay cuts or gone through job losses, it’s easy for me to understand that personal incomes as a whole have fallen. I just don’t understand how consumer spending is rising…

Do you know anyone who’s started spending more than they were over the last 2 years?

Oh well, at least the economy will be puttering along pretty well by the end of 2010. Maybe some jobs will open up and personal income levels will rise as well.

How Would You Proceed?

My husband and I are approaching a small financial crossroads. We make his final graduate school payment in June, he graduates in August, and that will bring a small automatic raise (about $1000 a school year minimum). That means that we will have an extra $750 a month starting in August. We’re wondering what we should do with it since we have several options. I know, it’s a good problem to have, but I have a personal finance blog for a reason (I over-think money)…

Here’s the info we’re working with:

• We’re in our mid-20s and want to retire at age 52.
• Our current emergency fund has 3-4 months of expenses in it and our jobs are VERY stable.
• Our mortgage has about $73,300 left at 5.375% and is already on track to be paid off by the end of 2017 instead of 2022.
• Hubby’s car loan has about $10,700 left at 4.6% and is already on track to be paid off by the end of 2011 instead of 2013.
• We contribute 6% to my 401k, which is matched up to 6%.
• We fully fund one Roth IRA ($5000 a year).
• We put about $200 a month into our Scottrade account.
• We put $250 a month into our vacation account.
• We each get $75 a month in “fun” money.
• We also put $200 a month into a home and auto maintenance account.

Mr. BFS and I agree on a couple of things and are wondering about a few other options, so he suggested I ask you. What would you do with an extra $750 a month in our position? Do you need to know anything else in order to decide?

Yakezie Alexa Ranking Update - 1,514,672

BFS is a member of the Yakezie Alexa Ranking Challenge!  The beginning ranking with my own domain 10 days ago was 8,531,858.  Now it is 1,514,672.  Yay!

The ultimate goal is to be in the top 200,000, but I'm very proud on how far we've come already.  I'm going to give weekly updates from this point on...it'll be like a BFS net worth update.  :-)

I would like to sincerely thank my readers and the members of the Yakezie Challenge.  I truly look forward to this blog every day because of you.

BFS Guest Post at Little House in the Valley - How Much House is Enough House?

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to Little House in the Valley for letting me guest post!

Feel free to take a look at the article, How Much House is Enough House?, to see my take on my own home.

Thanks again!

Weekly Favorites and Gratitude!

Here's my favorite posts for this week:

• Free Money Finance - Seven Steps to Get Out of Debt  Great breakdown of the steps to take if your in debt.
• 20 Something Finance - 5 Personal Finance Goals for your Thirties  I hope we continue to get an early jump on these.
• Live Real, Now - 5 Ways to Force Your Spouse to Get Frugal  This was hilarious to me.  It's a joke, please don't jump to conclusions.
• Money Crush - Celebrating Risk-Taking and "Good Enough"  This is what I think about a bunch of my little projects...have pride in what you do even if it's not "perfect".
• Frugal Dad - The Secret to Falling in Love With Your Home All Over Again  Be thankful...nice point.
• Monevator - Personal Time Management for Fun and Profit  Okay, I'm jealous of his work week, but it was a nice reminder of what we actually are working for.
• Darwin's Finance - The SEC Likes Porn in the Office - Share Your Ridiculous Work Stories  The stories were funny.
• Studenomics - Going Full Time With Your Side Business - When is it the Right Time?  It was good to be reminded that I shouldn't quit my real job right now even if I do like my blog better...

I would also like to thank Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff again for inviting me to guest post, How Much Do You Need for Retirement?  For those who don't know, allowing less-known bloggers to post on better-known sites benefits the newbie way more than the well-established.  This newbie says thank you!

If you blog or just really like a specific blog you think I should check out, feel free to email me your suggestion.  I'd love to add a few more to my regular reading list or at least give a shout-out for great posts.

As always, thanks to all the bloggers I read!

BFS is in Festival of Frugality #223

BFS is in Festival of Frugality #223: The Silve Edition!  You can check out my article, Fit in a Fun Friday - State Parks, and the other winners at Frugal for Life.

Fit in a Fun Friday - Sea Monkeys

If the title didn’t make you smile, you’ve never had Sea Monkeys. They bring up so many fun memories from my childhood that I thought I’d remind you too.

For those of you that haven’t heard of Sea Monkeys, they are miniature Brine Shrimp that are suspended in their hatching process until they are introduced into the correct environment. In this case, that environment is a little plastic aquarium that has the correct packets added to it a few days in advance.

Honestly, the waiting is the hardest part. Even after you successfully wait to add the “Instant Life Eggs”, you then have to wait until the little guys hatch and become visible under the magnifying bubbles on the side of the tank. I don’t know how many times my mother reminded me to have some patience.

I know that tiny shrimp may not sound like fun, but the whole process makes me giddy. It’s fun to create a tiny world. It’s also interesting to watch them stutter around the tank. I can’t swear I learned anything deep from the whole process, but I really do have fond memories of my first real pets. Yes, we had a dog and a hamster, but Sea Moneys were the first animals I actually took care of myself.

They are also affordable…the whole setup can be bought for less than $10 at Amazon right now. I might be buying the little set of magical packets pretty soon again as well. I think they might make fun office pets.

Have you ever had Sea Monkeys? Did they make you smile too?

Out of Town

Hey everybody!  I'll be out of town Friday-Sunday, so my replies will be a little behind.  I'll be sure to get back to everyone as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoy today's Fit in a Fun Friday post and tomorrow's Weekly Favorites!  Have a great weekend!  :-)

March 2010 Net Worth

Our net worth has hit $3 million and we're retiring this week. 

April Fool's!  Sorry, but I felt like I had to make at least a lame attempt...it's tradition...

To get serious, we calculate our net worth as listed below.  We don't include the value of our possessions, we round down to the nearest hundred for assets, and we round up to the nearest hundred for liabilities.

Assets
1. Cash - $24,500
2. Stocks - $12,400
3. Retirement - $34,500
4. Home - $130,000
5. Cars - $16,000

Liabilities
1. Home - $73,300
2. Car - $10,700  (We made an extra $1000 principal payment in mid-March, woot!)

Total Net Worth = $133,400
Increase/Decrease = Up $5300 from last month

I base the value of our home on two things: comparables selling in our neighborhood and the estimated appraisal by Chase Home Value Estimator.  I will always estimate low.

I base the value of our cars on Kelley Blue Book's Private Party Value of our vehicles in "Good" condition truncated down to the nearest $1000.  For example, if my car is valued at $4600, I'd calculate that as $4000.

Please feel free to visit the archive to see our past net worths.