Econ 101 – Beer

Economics 101 as explained by a University of Georgia professor. Let’s put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

A touch of frugality

Since we’ve been preparing for the new arrival, I’ve been looking at ways I could cut back on some of our costs. Mainly, considering other options to say baby wipes and laundry detergent that are easier on the budget. When the baby comes, I’ll be staying home, so any extra cash I can save us will be good.

When life throws you a curve ball

My husband went to his ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor because he’s been having some sinus problems. For most folks, dealing with his sinus issues, the solution is sinus surgery. There are other non-invasive procedures, but, for the most part, some type of sinus surgery is recommended. The ENT didn’t want to put my husband under because he’s a special case. By special, and to give you guys some background, my husband had a kidney transplant almost 10 years ago. Health issues have always been a concern for us and have been one of the main reasons we needed to enlist the help of Dave Ramsey. Before I get too side-tracked, the ENT doesn’t want to do the surgery but recommended a couple things for my husband to do to help.

Measure twice, cut once

I came across a blog this morning run by a twenty-something soon-to-be-graduated college student. He wrote a great post on what he currently does with his money and outlines some of his post-graduation plans. It’s rare to come across a 20-year old who thinks about money management let alone investing. He asked for some suggestions and advice on how he could do things differently, so I offered a few suggestions. I thought this might help someone else, that’s why I’m posting my recommendations here.

Have you been ICHed?

I came across an article on KETV 7’s (Omaha) website this morning about a mysterious charge appearing on people’s bank statements. According to the article, a company, listed as Ich Services, is charging folks just under $10 each month. The featured couple had no idea who this company was let alone what the services were for. They eventually had to get a new account number and canceled the older one to prevent further charges.

Budget Sticky #2: Birthdays and gifts

One of the most common overlooked items in budgeting is birthdays and gifts. In most households, these things don’t come up until a week or so prior to the actual birthday or event. So, how do you prevent these foreseeable events from busting your budget?

Foreclosure ‘crisis’ is overblown

One of the best articles on the so-called foreclosure crisis I’ve read recently was featured on MSN this week. Why the best? Because it is accurate, objective and completely devoid of any political agenda, which is more than could be said of news sites reporting on the U.S. economy. Here’s a brief excerpt:

Will you be debt free by 2009?

Becoming debt free by 2009 was one of our goals later last year. When we got the news that we’ll be adding another member to our family however, our goals changed. Our main goal now is to save up as much money as we can to prepare for the arrival of the baby. If things go well, we’ll simply drop the load of cash to the debt.

Do we really use envelopes?

This question was posed on the LLNOE forums by KEDkrafty. The simple answer, yes. From my experience teaching Financial Peace University over the last two and half years, folks are a bit reluctant using the envelope system for one reason or another. Many have issues carrying cash for the fear of being mugged. I’ve even come across folks who just plain don’t like cash because it’s dirty. To many, it’s more convenient to use plastic, either debit/check card or credit card. Whatever the reason may be, there’s always some apprehension toward envelopes.

People think we’re broke

Since we’ve been following the Dave Ramsey plan, we come across people here and there that don’t quite understand why we would limit ourselves to paying cash. While most Americans are using credit cards and financing new cars, we get excited about buying a 5 year old car with cash. If that wasn’t weird enough, we don’t even have credit cards. A peculiar bunch we must be.