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Rethink Your To-Do List: Throw Out Your Problem Tasks

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Your life is too short to work on tasks you aren’t good at or don’t like. Remove unnecessary tasks and I’ll bet you’re happier AND have more money.

Recently, I was reading an article from Edmunds, Stop Changing Your Oil, where its author, Phillip Reed, contends that the vast majority of people mindlessly change their oil every 3,000 miles – and not because it’s needed. Today’s cars can drive further, sometimes twice as far, between oil changes – but because we’ve been conditioned and trained by our parents, grandparents, peers, and service mechanics for years to do so, we change it more quickly than necessary.  Reed suggests that not only is this a waste of money and oil (replacing good oil before it’s ‘used up’ is bad for the environment) but it is part of a much larger ‘plot’ (my word not his) between the oil industry and consumers to up-sell and cross sell us into thousands of needless expenditures over our car’s lifetime.  Interesting read, to be sure.

 

Stop wasting time

 

But this made me think: What are some other things in our lives that we should stop doing?  Or maybe stop doing so frequently?  I’ve written many times about my thoughts on the purpose of money; money can and should be used to provide for oneself later in life, but needlessly sacrificing pleasurable things today so that my great-great-grandkids can inherit sixty-four million dollars is ridiculous.  So, in my life there are things I don’t do, not because I can’t, but because I can trade an hour of my time working in the yard for an hour prospecting for new clients or perfecting my putting stroke – both things I like doing immensely more than weeding the garden, fixing the power or mowing my grass.  And I’m perfectly comfortable with that exchange.

Part of my goal when giving something up is to exchange that freed up time with something else that provides me increased marginal utility (my economic professors are smiling ear-to-ear).  Notice how I didn’t say, “provides me with more money” or “more free time,” but rather increased utility.  To me, that can be any number of things: spending time with family and friends, watching a great basketball game, playing golf, acquiring a new client, marketing, or maybe even just reading a good book.  But, if I can eliminate something that I’m not terribly good at or like to do with something I do like to do or am good at doing – I’ve increased my utility.

Said another way, utility = happiness.

 

Remove the “Junk”

 

Eliminating things from one’s life becomes a liberating experience and frankly, it doesn’t have to be anything as big as changing a job or selling a couple kids (although the thought has crossed my mind).  It can be as simple as cleaning out a closet or even organizing that dreaded kitchen junk drawer.  Ask anyone who’s started selling stuff on eBay and you’ll likely find that they found the experience quite addictive – cleaning up or eliminating things from one’s life is addicting and you cannot wait to find something else to clean up.  Just last week, I asked my team whether there was one particular client who we should fire – just so we’d remove that headache from our lives.

The same can be said for reducing the frequency of useless or draining activities.  In the Edmund’s article, Reed doesn’t say we shouldn’t ever get our oil changed or car serviced, but rather reduce the frequency of doing those activities.  Ask yourself the question: What things should you reduce?  In the money/finance world that could be something like frequency of dining out or dare I even say, trading in your stock account!  Maybe I’ll write an article titled: Stop Trading in Your Stock Account.  Nah, that’ll never pass the review board.

Take a second, oh dearest reader, and ponder this question:  What’s the one thing you could eliminate in your life right this second that would measurably increase your utility?  The logical follow-up to that is: What would your life be like, if you did it…today?

Photo by: The Next Web

5 Savings Tips You Wish Someone Had Told You Earlier

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There are many ways to obtain a little extra cash when it is most needed, from log book loans and second mortgages to working freelance, to much more unlikely scenarios, such as winning the lottery! It’s always better to try and save cash than hope for the lottery windfall. Here’s five of the most useful ways to ensure there is money there when you most need some:

 

Budget! It’s surprising how many people let budgeting pass them by, even if they are mentally sold on the idea. Once you’ve overcome the remarkably large hurdle of actually sitting down with pen and paper, the basic concept is simple: track what you earn and make sure your expenses don’t outpace your earnings. The very first time you carry out this exercise, you’ll be surprised at how many “little expenses” add up. Often, you’re surprised by some of the numbers. Your energy bills might be higher than you’d expected, or gasoline for the car is more than you’d thought. Once you create a plan to bring those demands under control, you’re well on the way to making tangible savings.

Put savings first. Too many people think they can’t save because “there’s not enough money left over at the end of the month”. This is putting the cart before the horse. Spending nearly ALWAYS expands to eat away whatever amount is in your bank account, so it’s vital to decide how much you wish to save before beginning to spend, spend, spend. Typically, it’s a good idea to set aside a minimum of 5-10% every month for savings, either consciously, or by directing your bank to automatically siphon off the sum into a separate savings account. Once that is done, then you can apply the remainder of your income to your budget!

Cut your energy bills. A major household expenditure is gas and electricity. Fortunately, with many different providers out there, it’s reasonably simple to go online and change suppliers – after first using price comparison sites to find out whose offering the cheapest tariffs. Be sure to repeat the exercise every few months to take advantage of market competition.

Pay down your debts. Debts are the single biggest drag on personal finance, and eliminating them is a massive step on the road to saving. When resolving to pay off debts, start with those commanding the largest interest rates – and remember: these are not necessarily the largest debts. Credit cards generally come with relatively hefty interest rates, so they are an excellent place to start, but all personal circumstances are different, so list your debts and their attached interest rates from highest to lowest, to see where the axe should fall first. Some people start with the lowest balance and work from there (Dave Ramsey’s “snowball” method). This has been proven to help people psychologically pay down debt, but may cost you more in interest over time.

Watch how you shop. Make an “audit” of your next trip to buy groceries by studying the till receipt. Strike off the ready meals and processed foods and resolve instead to get your fruit and veg at the market. The ingredients are much cheaper there, and with the help of easy and quick online recipes you’ll soon be eating more healthily – and saving a remarkable amount every month into the bargain!

 

More about personal finance:

Frustrated With Great Lakes
Walmart Savings Catcher Phone Number

5 Simple Steps to Kick 2013 Into High Gear

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Happy 2013, everyone!

It’s time to take yourself a little more seriously and step up your game. My cousin, a year younger than me, had major heart surgery a couple weeks ago and nearly lost his life on the operating table. Not to be all melodramatic, but it was another close-to-home reminder that time is a finite beast. If you’re going to leave your mark on the world (or just on your little private Idaho), 2013 is the time to make changes.

Here’s the gameplan we’d use when practicing financial planning with clients back in “the day” and it’s also what I’m using this year to shift up a gear:

1)   Write out clear, actionable goals. I like Maria at The Money Principle’s post about themes. Start with an idea generally of what you want to do, then drill down toward specific tasks.

My 2013 theme is about tying up loose ends and focusing harder on core tasks. I haven’t yet crystalized completely the theme (it should be more succinct than what I have so far), but that’s not bad news. I’ve been thinking about it constantly, and this action gets the right thoughts in my little noggin’.

My main goals are simple: I have the first draft of a book written, and I’ve let it sit for about 9 months. Why? I have no idea. Other priorities. But now’s the time to finish that project. I’ve run marathons now for two years. I’d like to run one faster than ever. I’d also like to try an ultramarathon. I need to focus on cooking healthier food at home and have a more regimented plan. On the website side, we’ve talked about creating some products. These need to be launched in 2013.

2)   Direct deposit to your savings account. Everyone direct deposits money into their checking account…and immediately drains it. Reconfigure your system so that you direct deposit to savings. Manually move money to live on over to your checking account.

While this seems like a little step, it’s a huge change. Now you’re saving automatically and having to think every time you spend money. You’re a conscious consumer, rather than an auto-spender.

3)   Protect your downside. I know this for a fact: bad stuff that you don’t expect will happen in 2013. I don’t know where it’ll come from, so the best course of action is to look for Achilles Heels and apply duct tape. Do you have an emergency fund? Is your insurance up-to-par? Is the budget tight?

I need to adjust Cheryl’s life insurance (adjusted mine in 2012). Our will is now six months from being out-of-date (my children will be 18 years old…how the hell can that be? They were just babies yesterday….). I also have to begin “landing the plane” with my kid’s investment funds, so they’re ready when and if I need them for college expenses.

It’s also time for me to get home and auto quotes again. For some, checking out Insure 4 a Day may be a good idea. They offer a variety of cheap short term car insurance options dependent on your requirements.

4)   Focus on energy, not time. I agree with Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book The Power of Full Engagement on this one: the key to optimum performance is to manage your ability to crank stuff out. As workers, we’re like tennis players: we compete year-round. It stands to reason that we can’t be great every moment of every day. We should gear up for those times when there are “big tournaments” in our life and focus on those days.

I’m working on a model day that better uses my energy and shelters that time I need for key tasks. I generally experience great creativity in the morning and low energy around 3 pm, so I’m reconfiguring my day to take advantage of that morning time and guard against the afternoon letdown. I’m also focusing more on my diet to avoid those crashes (just as soon as I finish these chocolates….).

5)   Create surround sound. The best way to stay motivated is to surround yourself with people, books and podcasts that keep your mind on those activities that’ll help you achieve your dreams. Schedule meetings with your planning partners, spouse, and close mentors. Don’t just say “I’ll talk to people more often about my plans.” That doesn’t happen, does it? Set a time in your calendar and stick to it.

We created the podcast for this reason. I enjoy casual talk about subjects I’m interested in, not hard core discussions. I couldn’t find many chatty money podcasts (Planet Money is probably the closest I’ve found), so we created one. If you’ve listened to our show you know: it’s more about equating money with fun and less about deep drilling.

Biographies work well for me, too, to create surround sound. I don’t know why, but I particularly love books about chefs. Maybe it’s because they have to be in-the-moment so much. I loved Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bordain (don’t read this book if you don’t like foul language and discussions about illegal activities). Currently I’m polishing off Restaurant Man by Joe Bastianich. Both of these are great looks into the world of business, written passionately by someone who knows their craft inside-out.

This list could be 100 points long, but if you practice those five above as you walk into 2013, you’re going to move faster, with more energy, and with fewer distractions.

ON that note, how about $100 Amazon money or cash to start your year off right! That’ll buy a bunch of groceries, books or mp3 players…..

Photo: TheBusyBrain

 

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Post-Holiday Distress: Did You Spend Too Much?

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Stop. Take a deep breath. That feeling of dread? It’s just the holiday spirit leaving your body with each passing breath. It’s your own fault… everyone knows not to look at the receipts on the day after!

If you were smart, you planned ahead. You created a holiday account at the beginning of the year so by the time November rolled around, you had cash on hand for cherry-picking the best deals.

If you were smart, you stuck to your budget and didn’t let stress, competition, irresistible deals, or last-minute price hikes to knock you off your plan. You made a list of people and charities you wanted to recognize, set a price per gift, stuck to your list, and got your shopping done early.

That’s if you were smart.

But if your candy cane and cookie euphoria is dissipating with every thought of your credit card statement, you’re not alone. It’s engrained in our culture: Thanksgiving is to overeating as Christmas is to overspending – lavish spending you’d never consider otherwise.

The pressure to GIVE is powerful; our senses may leave us entirely. When we shop, we anticipate the warm embrace and feeling of joy WE create when a gift is received. It’s awfully noble. But if you’re like me, today is the day you watch your kids and realize just how little use your gift will get (I will never buy a robotic pet again!).

So what’s next?

Budgets are fluid. They require constant reevaluation. If you overspent, it’s time to reconsider your budget for the coming months. You won’t be able to see any viable options without a clear picture. If you didn’t before, go back and write down what you spent.

Chances are, it’ll make you feel better. You’ll realize that, while you had a bad month for your budget, you aren’t completely out in the cold. Because, you see, most of the year… You were smart.

If you’re not feeling better, take solace knowing that it’s possible to mount a comeback.

A few years back, holiday spending tipped my credit card balances over the edge. I wasn’t smart. I thought I was – it makes sense to open up store credit cards to save 10%, right? Wrong. It wasn’t until too late that I realized I wouldn’t be able to make the minimum payments on so many cards.

I knew enough to see that with accumulating interest, everything I could afford to pay towards my various credit card bills would be going straight into the creditors’ pockets while my debt level remaind constant. Classic debt spiral.

What did I do? Consolidate. Debt consolidation sounds ominous, but it’s far worse for your credit to fall behind on payments. You can take advantage of low interest rates on balance transfers and merge your debt to one account, or seek a consolidation loan to pay off your principal balances. If you have good credit history, you may be able to achieve a lower interest payment or a longer payment period. Managable. You can handle that.

The moral of the story? I’ll say it again:

Stop. Take a breath. Enjoy what’s left of the holidays. You’ve got options.

Photo: TopGold

Thanks to Jennifer Willard for taking over the blog responsibilities today while Joe & OG search for more egg nog. Jennifer has a new blog, Crayons & Coins. She also writes for Credit Guard, a non-profit debt counseling company.

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Holiday Games and Finance: What Can the Game “Dominion” Teach You About Money?

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While Joe’s playing Dominion with his sister, brother in law and spouse (we all l.o.v.e. this game at our house), Erin Shanendoah of The Dog Ate My Wallet fame holds down the fort at the blog. Hope you’re enjoying some quality family time like we are!

Dominion is hands down the favorite game in our house. Set up is minimal, and you can get through a 2 player game in as little as 10 minutes if both the players know the cards. Every game is different, which means that players need to be open to different kinds of strategies if they want a chance at winning.

Even forgetting that you have money within the game (copper, silver, gold & platinum(in the expansions)), you can learn a lot about finances from Dominion.

Every game is different. Just like every person’s financial situation is different. Because of this, there is no one strategy works for every game of Dominion, and there is no one size fits all solution to personal finance. You have to look at the cards that have been  dealt and figure out the best plan for this game, this situation. Only by responding to the uniqueness of each situation can you hope to consistently do well.

Multiple strategies can be viable options. My husband and roommate both love playing games, and for the most play well together. But they have different outlooks on life and will often see the exact same set of cards and come up with two completely different ways to win. They each go with the strategy that they are the most comfortable with.

Just because someone has a similar financial situation to you does not mean you have to both take the same financial strategy. Find what works for you and what you’re comfortable with, and you’ll have a much greater chance of “winning”.

Diversity is good. Too much is not. Currently, there is the base set and 7 expansions for Dominion. While you can play with as many expansions as you want, we’ve found the best games are limited to 3 sets- usually the base plus two expansions. 3 sets gives you lots of options, but you don’t lose the synergy between cards.

Diversifying your holdings financially helps mitigate your risk, but if you diversify too much, you lose the power of “buying in bulk” so to speak. (Average Joe and The Other Guy can both speak about this much more eloquently than me.)

Sometimes you just need more money. Other times, you need your money to work harder for you. Within Dominion, you use money to buy other cards. You can buy more money, action cards, or victory point cards. Sometimes, the best strategy is to use your money to buy more money, especially in the early stages of the game. But later, you’ll want to use that money to buy action cards. Those cards allow you to advance your strategy, hinder the strategy of others, and sometimes even buy the highest value victory card, even though you started the hand with only 2 coppers.

Early on in your life, often the best solution to money problems is just to get more–go out and work a second job, find a way to earn passive income, etc. But once you get to the point where you’re not struggling to pay the bills, you need your money to work for you. By making smart moves with your money, you can open new doors for yourself or your family, and eventually “win” the game by having a comfortable retirement. (I do hope that in real life, you won’t use your money to hinder others. That should be a game strategy only.)

Just sitting on money can slow you down. One might think the one strategy in Dominion that would work in every game would be to use your money to buy more money until you had enough to buy victory cards, and just keep doing that. It doesn’t work. While you obviously need victory cards to win the game, they don’t do anything else. You can’t spend them. You can’t take an action from them (well, in some expansions there are victory cards that have actions, but those are very special cases). Instead, they just take up valuable space in your hand and do nothing, slowing you down.

While sometimes it seems the safest way to save money is just to stick it in the recliner and sit on it, your money can’t grow that way. It can’t actually do anything for you. It’s a strategy that just slows you down.

The cards aren’t always your friends. There are good cards and bad cards in Dominion. There are cards that are good for the person who plays them and awful for others. There are thieve and militias, there are curses and witches. You can be forced to destroy your victory point cards or have a platinum stolen by the player to your left. Sometimes, you just get negative victory points. In order to win, you have to have a strategy to weather or eliminate the bad.

Bad things happen in real life. You need to have the tools to survive them. Sometimes it’s just in making smart decisions and protecting yourself. Getting yourself out of debt and carrying the right kinds and amounts of insurance can also protect you against the vagaries of the world.

Luck always plays a role, but it’s not everything. Because every player of every game of Dominion starts out with the exact same 10 cards, and a five card hand, there’s a limited number of opening hands you can have. But which one you get and how well it works for that particular game, is all a matter of luck. If two good strategies are going against each other, it’s really just going to be luck that decides the winner of the game. But it’s very rare for a well thought out strategy to lose to no strategy at all. Just depending on luck isn’t likely to win the game.

Some people start life luckier than others. Some people get lucky later on. And some people make their own luck by coming up with a well thought out strategy. And in life, it’s not really going to matter if you retire with $2 million while your buddy is ending with $2.1 million. You’ve both “won”.

Don’t forget to have fun. Dominion is a game. The husband and roommate are both competitive people and love to win. I care much more about enjoying the game. But I can’t enjoy the game if I feel ineffective. I will enjoy myself just as much putting together a strategy that comes “this close” to winning as I will winning the game. I will even enjoy a failed strategy if I find a single good combination within it.

How much money you die with matters only to the people you leave it too. You can’t use it anymore. Don’t put your life on hold just to reach some arbitrary savings goal. If you never take vacation until you’re 75 years old, are you going to be able to climb the island stairs at Tintagel? Yes, you want to save for the future and make sure you have enough to retire in comfort, but there’s no counting up victory cards at the end of your life, declaring you the “winner”, so make sure you have some fun along the way.

Is This Starbucks Gift Card Over the Top? How Much is Too Much?

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I couldn’t believe what I was reading, “Starbucks to roll out $450 gift card” courtesy of USA Today.  

For real?  I felt like the guys from ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast crew, “C’mon, man!”

If you didn’t see the story:  Apparently a $7 cup of coffee isn’t good enough, so they’re now selling a gift card made completely of steel (just like your stomach must be to drink their coffee) for $450.  The good news is that it comes pre-loaded with $400 in credits, so it’s really only a $50 card with $400 of coffee on it, but still.  My question is: Is this too much?  Has Starbucks finally gone overboard?  What purpose does this serve?  What’s wrong with the iPhone app?  It works the same!

Of course, being an investigative journalist for this burgeoning website, I decided to research deeper.  Apparently, this card is only going to be available on the website Gilt.com.  What is Gilt? It’s a smorgasbord of $85,000 watches and $1,500 pairs of shoes.  You know…just in case your Timex ever runs out of batteries.  And there are no other batteries available.  Anywhere.  Ever again.

Do I have you sufficiently fired up?  Are  you tired of this all-you-can-eat-and-then-eat-some-more-until-you’re-utterly-exhausted-type of consumerism?  Have you had enough?

Me neither.

I absolutely love it.  I think it’s the worlds most awesome thing that people exist who buy $450 Starbucks cards and $1,500 loafers.  I’m so happy that those people have a heartbeat.  I’m not personally overly materialistic, but I do have some nice things and I have things on my “wish list” that someday I’d like to buy.  On the very top of that list is a red Ferrari.  I just think it would be cool.  And no, I’ve never driven one.  Someday?  We’ll see.

I love the fact that we’re able to make our own buying choices, and for the most part, must pay the consequences of those actions (except the federal, state, and local governments.  Don’t get me started).  Consumer spending counts for nearly 70% of our GDP.  I say: the more the merrier.  I hope they sell out of those cards.  They’re only making 5,000 of them, so by my math that’s $2,000,000 of pre-bought coffee.

That’s a whole lot of no-whip peppermint mocha lattes.

Year End Tax Planning: A (Surprising) System of Cleaning My Closet

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On the way home from this Thanksgiving weekend in Michigan, I finally reached my limit with the situation in my closet.

For the last four years it’s become bigger and bigger mounds of….clothing. Just as I get the closet organized, it becomes a mess yet again. Being a recovering financial advisor, I loathe messes. Everything should be in neat and tidy rows, not thrown on the closet floor.

Historically, at this point I’d decide to get rid of clothing. I’d pick up stuff and make the “stow or go” draft move:

“No,” the hoarder in me said, “I’ll wear that some day.”

“I got that at my favorite 5k in 1998. I can’t get rid of the Pickle Run shirt!”

“If I get that stain out I’d wear it all over the place.”

I should have been saying, “Some day bell bottoms will come back in style!”

Sometimes–not often enough–I’d find a piece that definitely had to go. Whenever I brought home new clothing from holidays or trips to the mall, old stuff stacked up. The “donation” pile contained a lonely piece or two. I was adding clothing at a 2:1 rate over donations.

On the way home I snapped. Suddenly I formulated a plan:

 

The Plan

 

It was so easy, I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it earlier.

Clothing decisions (and by extension “stuff” in general”) isn’t about whether I like each “thing” or not; of course I loved them all. I wouldn’t have bought them if I didn’t like them. They all had sentimental value AND my mind needed to justify the reason I’d added them to my collection in the first place.

In short: using my current criteria, there was no way I’d ever clean out the closet.

In my a-ha moment, I flipped my thinking: the closet wasn’t a place to store all the cool stuff I wanted to keep. It was a place to store things I needed.

Following that train of thought led me to the real question:

How much did I really need?

 

The List

 

I made a list of things I really needed:

10 Long Sleeve Running Shirts (probably don’t need 10, but that was a start)

10 Short Sleeve Running Shirts (closer to the number)

4 Pairs Running Shorts

3 Pairs of Jeans

4 Pairs of Dress Pants

3 Suits (again, probably too many for my lifestyle, but I could cut more later)

6 Ties

6 Button down shirts

5 Pullover sweaters

….and so on.

 

…and Action!

 

Sunday was a bloodbath in my closet. I tore everything out and placed it on the floor. I was making Top 10 lists of each type of clothing. Soon I was at the difficult portion: there were pieces I liked, but they didn’t make the  Top 10 (or 5, or whatever….). At this point it didn’t matter how much I liked the shirt: there were enough pieces for me to wear without it in my closet. Better to gift it to someone who really needs it this holiday than to keep it sitting in my closet with 10+ items I’d rather wear.

I created a gigantic mound of clothing to donate.

 

Itemized Charitable Donation Deductions: Bonus Time!

 

If you itemize your taxes, you are probably eligible for charitable donations to 501c3 organizations. If you aren’t sure whether the place you want to donate clothing is a 501c3, just ask them. They’ll know.

If your organization is eligible and you itemize deductions on your taxes, you may be able to write off your charitable contributions. I received a receipt at Goodwill that listed all of the items I’d donated to them. I’ll use this at tax time next year.

Bonus!

 

The Lesson

 

I’ve learned this lesson 100 times and still continue to struggle with it daily. Don’t get caught in one line of thinking about a problem….especially nagging ones like cleaning out a closet. Turn the question around. Search for a better answer. Scour the web for strategies….soon you’ll have a clean closet, better decisions and possibly tax deductions!

 

This is another in our list of systems for busy people. Want more? Check out our budget plan for busy couples. It’s another play-tested system (that one OG uses with couples all the time and I used when practicing…it’s worked magic for non-budgeters.)

What are you waiting for? Go clean out that closet and cha-ching on the tax deductions!!!! What system do you use for weeding out old clothes you still love but should probably chuck?

How Much Did This Election Really Matter?

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We just experienced a big day for the United States. Throughout the country people cast votes for new laws and elected officials, including the president. Common people electing officials….it brings up a question: does this mean anything to your overall plan?

For my friends Tim and Kathy, you wonder. They have two young children and make $85k per year. According to them, they have credit card debt of around $6,000. They don’t save, although they could. When we piece together their financial picture, there’s a clear pattern:

 

Credit Cards:

 

They love high end restaurants.

“Why?” I asked when we were playing games together one night. Kathy asked me if I could find her a lower rate credit card and handed me their latest bill.

“We eat dinners out because we work hard all day. We’re both absolutely fried when it comes time to make dinner,” Kathy replies. “It doesn’t make sense to be tired all night so we’re tired the next day at our job. Everybody’s had enough, so we head for a nice meal out. We’re happy sharing our day together instead of slaving over prepping a meal.”

That sounds nice, until you read the bottom lines: $48, $53, $79.

“We try to stay away from alcohol during those meals,” Tim quips. “That helps keep the price down.”

Down?

Further down the bill, I see department store shopping.

“It makes it so much easier to get the stuff at one place. Saves us time,” Tim explains.

“I hate shopping,” Kathy says defensively.

 

Utilities

 

Tim has an addiction: sports. They have the MLB network package that allows them to see every game in the league each night.

Cost? $120.

Each weekend during the fall, he’s watching several games, courtesy of NFL Sunday ticket.

“It’s for my league,” he says. “I’m in this fantasy football thing. $100 to get in. If I finish in the top three I at least get my money back. Then he points to the television remote. “If I win, it pays for about three years of this.”

Cost? $140.

Has he ever won?

“This is the year!” he smiles.

 

House/Lawn Work

 

When I drive by their house, a team of high school age kids is cleaning their lawn. I asked Tim about it at a party we were both attending. “The kids needed the work. It was nice. They came to the house and asked. It’s only $20 a week. Saves me all that time….and gas.”

Speaking of gas….they live in the country. “No high city taxes.” Both Tim and Kathy commute over 20 miles to work. They must spend a couple hundred dollars in gasoline a week.

On my personal Facebook account, Tim made his politics known leading up to the big vote. “We’ve gotta get the President out of office. He’s costing this country dearly. We can’t afford four more years.”

I think there’s a bigger question: Can Tim and Kathy last four more years whether the President won or not?

Hoping to Stay Married? 4 Money Rules for Wedded Bliss

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No one talks about money on their wedding day, do they?

Maybe they should.

The two biggest questions I get from my newly married couples are “how do we pay all this debt off?” and “what do we do with all these accounts?”

Many people now merge their financial lives with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, car loans, credit cards, mortgage(s); because of high student loan amounts, even some shockingly young people are facing piles of debt before they tie the knot.  Additionally, people are generally marrying later, which means they already have established routines and stable financial relationships – and usually many different accounts.  There are a few simple rules to consider when discussing (and planning for) debt and account management in a new marriage.

Rule #1 – You don’t automatically become responsible for your new spouse’s debt when you marry.  If it’s in their name only, unless you’ve co-signed for it, it’s their responsibility.  Many people think that once they’re married they become obligated to the new debt.  Not true.  So, the rule is this:  Don’t assign yourself to your spouse’s debts once you’re married.  There’s no reason to become a joint account holder on their mortgage or credit card account.

Rule #2 – In some states, you can be liable for debts your spouse accumulates after you’re married.  That means you need to be open and honest at all times with money.  No one likes a surprise credit report ding.

Rule #3 – New marriage equals new banking relationships and credit relationships.  It’s the cleanest way to do things.  People change banks now like they change shampoo, so this really shouldn’t be an issue – both of you can keep your own checking accounts, but create a joint one at a separate credit union or bank that you agree on and use that one for household expenses.  Same goes for credit cards.  Don’t become “joint owner” on your spouse’s credit cards unless it’s a $0 balance.

Rule #4 – One person should be named on all utility accounts. Everything shows up on your credit report now, including your utilities (I learned this the hard way).  To keep order, one person should be named on all utility accounts, i.e., electricity, water, gas, cable, phone, etc.  That way if one person has issues, it only takes one person’s credit score down and the other remains fairly clean in case you need credit in the future.

Money isn’t complicated.  It requires very little thought and discussion, but it does require some.  My overall advice is simple: be honest and up front with the debt you’re bringing to your relationship and develop a plan together to pay it off.

Photo courtesy of: photographerglen

How I Saved 35% on My Walt Disney World Vacation

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Last week I was lucky enough to spend a week at the most magical place in the world – Walt Disney World.

Whew!

I now need a vacation from my vacation!

Here’s the amazing part:  the bill they put on my door on our last day–after a week’s stay–was for $600.

My credit card statement will be for $600 after a week of Disney.

I can hear you now: did you sleep in your car?  Sneak into Walt Disney World and do the rides at night?

Nope.  None of those are true. first, we had a 100% authentic trip. First class. We stayed at the resorts (Specifically, the Saratoga Springs resort). We swam in the pools. We ate the Mickey food. It was the entire “stay on-site” Disney experience. Given, this isn’t everything we spent (I’ll explain that in detail below), but we made ourselves a heck of a deal that you can have, too.

My youngest child kept on talking about his “other house” and we couldn’t understand what he was talking about until he said, “You know, Dad, the one with all my toys and bikes and kitty?”  Oh, yes.  Your real house.  Apparently, Walt Disney World was his real home now, and our house was his other house.  Disney knows what they’re doing.

 

The Details

You must plan to get most of the deals I’m going to outline:  If you’re looking for a quick trip this weekend to the House of Mouse and want to save a ton of money, I can’t help you much.  (Check the bottom of this piece for a last-minute newsletter to sign up for that will give you a few sweet deals.)

We started our research in June, which by some standards is too close. If I were to do it again, I would’ve planned this in March.

Savings #1

You know that Disney has timeshares, right?  (Don’t worry, this isn’t a timeshare pitch – in fact quite the opposite).  Each year, the timeshare owners, or Disney Vacation Club owners, receive a number of points  to use however they please.  Those points can accumulate for a couple years, but eventually they expire and become worthless.  If you know anything about the timeshare market, a lot of people have them, but they’re like boats.  The best two days to a typical boat owner are the day you buy and the day you sell your boat.  Many people hate their timeshare after they buy it, but they’re difficult to sell, so they waste them.

That’s until David showed up.  He runs a website DVCRequest.com where he buys Disney Vacation Club (DVC) owner’s points for cheap and sells them on the market after taking a small cut.  It’s a brilliant plan.

There is also a site called Buy a Timeshare where you can buy DVC points on the resale market. David’s site focuses on rentals, but if you decide you love Disney enough and want to buy in to their timeshare program, you can do that here at significantly discounted prices. Just make sure to do your research before buying anything. The Disney Vacation Club can save you money over time, but only if you know how to get the best use out of it.

Here’s how it works:

First, head to his site, www.DVCRequest.com and begin the search for how many points/dollars you’ll require to stay at your favorite Walt Disney World resort.  Let’s take a hypothetical vacation the week of February 17, 2013.  On the left hand side, click “Points Calculator” and select the dates you wish to travel.

Now, a list comes up with all the Disney Vacation Club properties (you’ll notice they’re all super-duper nice!) – as I mentioned, we stayed at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa in a 1 bedroom condo – which, for that week costs 203 points.  David charges $13 per point, so that’s $2,639, right?  When I went on the Disney website and selected the same resort, same days, same room, it came up to $3,956, that’s a savings of 33%, or $1,317 for the same week, same room!  Are you kidding me?!

After you select which week you’d like, you complete David’s very quick process, pay a small deposit of $91 to get started, and they begin looking for rooms that meet your need.  If they can’t find a Disney Vacation Club room, you get your $91 back.  If they do, then you fill out an online contract and pay the room rental fee right there!

Done.

Now that’s part of my strategy about my Disney vacation.  By paying for the room in June like I did, it’s one part of my trip cost completed.  I’ve already received that credit card bill and paid it, so from a cash flow point, I’m now 4 or 5 months removed from this bill.  Kind of like Christmas – once you get to March, the damage is usually all done with, right?  It gets better…

Savings #2

The next thing we did, since we were staying in a Disney Vacation Club condo with a full kitchen, was to order our groceries online using a site called www.gardengrocer.com .  Disney will store your groceries for you in their freezer and refrigerator until you arrive (of course they shop fresh for you) and for a small mark up (milk was about $4.50 per gallon) you find waiting for you a fridge full of groceries.  Now you don’t need to worry about the Disney Dining plan, which saves another $700-$1,000 per family, depending on what plan you avoided.  We spent about $200 with them and another $300 on food at the lunches at the park and one dinner out, so we saved a couple hundred bucks this way.

Savings #3

Of course, you have to actually go to the parks, right?  Well, we saved money here, too.  Head to the site: www.undercovertourist.com and take a look around.  We opted for the Buy 3-Get 1 Free plan, so we were able to see all four Walt Disney World parks (although we skipped one and did Magic Kingdom twice).  We figured we didn’t need Park-Hopper options, since we have little kids and when we were done…we were done.  A neat little benefit they throw in is their Undercover Tourist app for the iPhone which can keep track of ride times, dinner reservations, parade times, and fast-pass lines.  Pretty handy feature.  So there we saved another $200.

So, by the time I arrived on the Disney property last week, I’d already paid for my room (5 months ago) my groceries (last month) and my park tickets (2 months ago) so I only had to worry about what we spent while I was there…which was about $600.

Trust me, it’s a nice feeling to leave Disney spending only $600, even if you’d spent an additional $3,200 already.  But, for a family of four to stay at one of the nicest resorts on the Disney property in Orlando for under $4,000…food, tickets and all, I think we created a pretty good deal for ourselves.

This was my first time to Disney since I was my son’s age.  I’m sure I can make other changes to save more in the future – anyone have any ideas I didn’t use?  Post your comments below!

Photo: CKramer