Do You Tithe Your Tax Refund?

Photo credit: forwardcom

We are tithing people at our house. In other words, we give the first 10% of our paycheck to God via our church (Malachi 3:10).  And since we believe that we are to give the first 10% of our income ("firstfruits" and the "full tithe"), we tithe off of our gross income.  In other words, the first money we give is to God...and THEN we pay our taxes.

So that being said, we just got our tax refund back last week (I know, early, right?).  It was awesome.  And as I was writing out the amount of our tithe that week the question occurred to me...am I to tithe this?  I mean, it is a blessing to get the refund in the first place.  However, since this is money I overpaid the government, haven't I already tithed the portion associated with this money?


So I did not tithe the refund.

Don't get my wrong.  I know God will bless any gifts so when in doubt, give all you can.  = ) This was just a question that crossed my mind in thinking what I was supposed to do.

What do you think?  Is this selfish to do?  Is it completely selfish of me to even ASK this question?  Where do you weigh in on this? 

This is Why We Tithe

Photo source: ColinBroug

I have never hidden the fact that we are Bible-reading, devoted Christ followers in our home. We tithe.  What is tithing?  We give 10% of our (gross) income to our church.

There are many places where you can argue about how much to tithe, whether to tithe, or when to tithe. I'm not here to have that discussion. I'm here to tell you why WE give and how faithful our Father is when we are obedient.

We give

• out of obedience (Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce  Prov 3:9)
• out of worship (Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord. Lev 27:30)
• from our gross income (The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. Deut 18:4)
• a 10% tithe (And this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you. Gen 28:22)
• out of trust (And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Phil 4:19) 
• because God not only promised us, He challenged us (Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  Mal 3:10)  

And there are may other verses (let me know if you want more and I'll hook you up!).

Anyway...not telling you this to brag that we give. God supplied it to us in the first place, we have nothing to brag about.

I'm telling you that we tithe because I want to show you a beautiful example of God's promise in those last two verses up there fulfilled. Here is the story I've been getting at:

This past month was horrible for our spending.  We were truly irresponsible with our money and spent it on a lot of stupid things. It's been a long time since we've been as spendthrift as we were this past month, and it doesn't need to happen again.

But we did tithe this month.

And God (despite our poor stewardship of His blessings) still provided for our needs.

My car has been needing an oil change frequently. Too frequently. We knew there was a small oil leak because of this frequency and because there would be trace amounts of oil in my parking spot in the garage. But it didn't look too big.

A week and a half ago, Chip took it in to the shop to see what was going on. It was a much bigger leak than we knew. A leak to the tune of $500. Yikes!  And I knew that we hadn't been as careful with our money as we should have been, but was determined not to put it on our credit cards but to pay for it in cash. Just less money to send to the creditors, I thought.

Last Monday we were on our way to pick up the car and pay the $500 invoice when Chip happened to mention, "Oh...we got a check for $950 from our insurance company today for overpayment of home owner's insurance." What?!  That's almost an entire year's bill of insurance and we're getting it back? We are getting back enough to cover our bill AND cover the childcare costs that we will pay while Chip is on orders?!

Man oh man...God is so good!

Do you have an interesting story of God's provision that showed up just when you needed it?  I'd love to hear it, so either link to it or leave it in the comments and let's celebrate how good God is!

How Less Debt Equals Cheaper Insurance

Photo credit: penywise

In the last 2-1/2 years, we've reduced our debt by $21,000. As much as that feels good to say, that fact reaches farther than I knew it could.  Recently we learned that with a better credit score, we could get better insurance rates.  That sounded interesting since we haven't gotten our insurance requoted during that time frame.

So we called our existing  insurance agent and asked if they could run a credit check and see if it would affect our rates. We knew our scores were really good because we had seen them when we refinanced our home a few months ago. We didn't change companies.We didn't change our plan. Just reran the credit score. Honestly, all my husband and I did was sign a form and fax it to them.

We got a letter in the mail.  Our auto insurance rates were reduced by 13.5%!  Now, in dollars that isn't a huge amount because the cars are paid off and as their worth depletes, so does our insurance rate.  However, 13.5% is huge - especially since all we did is sign a piece of paper.

So if you've made some lifestyle changes and recently reduced your debt and have a lower debt to available credit ratio or if you've found another way to recently improve your credit score, contact your insurance agent. It's simplistic and can really save you some money!


Have you ever done this?  What other ways can you save in unexpected places?

We Sold Our Son's Old Furniture

We recently bought our son new bedroom furniture.  He had outgrown the nursery stuff and even though it was the convertible furniture that grows with the child, it really wasn't going to do the trick.  We didn't know what we were doing when we bought that stuff for our oldest child so we didn't fully think it through.  Let me take that back - we did think it through and it worked great for his needs when he was little and we lived in a totally different house.

But this house?  That furniture was not going to grow with him in this particular house that we live in now.

So we used money that I thought we had to hold onto for a debt repayment (seems like it's better to let the military take it out of your check rather than sending them a check - we've been told by several people that they misplace it for a while all too often), and bought Patrick new furniture. It's gorgeous, well-made, and really and truly will be with him for the rest of his life. I mean - he can take it to college and do whatever he wants to with his furniture and his money after that. We won't be buying anymore though.

I had hoped to get $500 - $800 for the three piece set (crib/toddler bed/full size, dresser, and armoire) that was in super condition.

We listed it on Craigslist for $800, hoping that would leave us room to bargain down to the minimum of $500 if needed. When we got a few bites for each individual piece, we were about to split up the set and sell it piece by piece although we guessed we'd fare better with the set. 

Then I posted a link to the Craigslist ad to our community Facebook page. You know what?  Some people who had moved in just one street over a little over 2 months ago wanted to look at it. 

They came over that evening, purchased it the next day, and Chip helped them load it into their house on the third day.  For $650.  Hooray!

We got rid of it for the upper end of what we wanted for it and they have a beautiful new bedroom suite for their little one.

That $650?  We used it for our YMCA membership.  Chip has been wanting one for several years now.  The military (E6 and below) gets a discount and he will get to use the gym during the day, as they have childcare while you work out.  And since the kids take swim lessons there and do recreational sports throughout the year, we'll save money on those activities by paying member prices rather than non-member prices.

I think we'll get our money's worth in the end.

And now I have no excuse not to go to the gym.

Ugghhhhh.

Free Prescriptions at Publix

Publix has been offering a certain selection of free prescriptions for a few years now, but in case you never got the news, didn't live in a Publix area until recently, or just simply forgot, I wanted to remind you.

In efforts to help families manage healthcare costs, Publix offers a selection of some of the most often prescribed medications at NO COST to you.  There is no limit how many times you use this service, who your insurance provider is (or if you have one), or how many you need filled that day.

Here is a current (5/7/12) list of prescriptions you can currently get for free at the pharmacy inside your local Publix grocery store:

• Lisinopril - An ACE inhibitor, lisinopril is used to prevent, treat, or improve symptoms of high blood pressure, certain heart conditions, diabetes, and certain chronic kidney conditions. Get a 30-day supply of this vital prescription FREE* only at your Publix Pharmacy.  * Maximum of 30 days supply (up to 60 tablets). Lisinopril-HCTZ combination products excluded.
• Metformin - As part of the Publix Pharmacy Diabetes Management System, you can get up to a 30-day supply (90 tablets) of generic immediate-release metformin (500mg, 850 mg, and 1000 mg) FREE.
• Antibiotics - Get up to a 14-day supply of the following generic oral antibiotics free:
• Amoxicillin
• Ampicillin
• Cephalexin (capsules and suspension only)
• Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP)
• Ciprofloxacin (excluding Ciprofloxacin XR)
• Penicillin VK
• Doxycycline Hyclate (capsules only)

So if you are prescribed one of these, make sure to go to Publix to get it. Even if you have a low cost insurance plan, this will keep you from paying that low cost AND from filing it on your insurance. =)  Win-win!

School Uniforms - Pro or Con?

Photo source: Sophia's Style

We live in an area where all schools, public and private, wear uniforms. Although some of the private schools force this, the public schools' uniforms are not a strict policy that you have to purchase through the school or have the school name or emblem embroidered or anything. In fact, it is more of a set of guidelines that you have to follow.  Here are the requirements:

• Shirts must have a collar
• Shirts must be of a specified color, depending on the school
• Shirts cannot have any characters or logos on them of any type.
• Pants/shorts must be of a certain length.
• Belts are required.
• Shirts must be tucked in
• Pants must be of a specified color, depending on the school
• Girls can wear skirts/jumpers/dresses of coordinating color
• No light-up or character shoes.

And the school that Patrick current attends, and Abigail will attend next year, requires gray, navy or white shirts and khaki or navy bottoms.

How do I feel about it?  Some days I love it and others I hate it.

PROS:

• Easy to pick out what to wear the next day
• No peer pressure (or greatly reduced) based on clothing at school
• Uniforms can be found easily at consignment shops or swapped among classmates when outgrown.
• No need to have more than 5 pairs of pants - can wash each week without fear of "wearing the same thing" boredom
• Don't have to buy as many play clothes
• Typically don't worry about them not adhering to length/exposure guidelines of the dress code
• Help identify intruders in the school
• Helps reduce gang affiliation in school, as gangs are often identified by clothing color.
• All pieces match, so you get more outfits out of fewer pieces

CONS

• Still have to buy play clothes because they a.) don't want to wear uniforms after school and b.) they still need clothes for the weekend.
• Cannot express their individuality in their clothes
• Must make sure they are cleaned each weekend because they cannot go to school in anything else

I think overall, I'm for them.  It definitely makes things easier as a parent. But I know they don't get the excitement of picking out that "first day of school" outfit.  Then again, they don't have the pressure of having the "right" clothes either.

So what do you think?  Do your kids wear uniforms?  Did you? 

What Some People Do For Money - A Look Into Some Bizarre and Odd Jobs

Photo credit: ngould

Have you ever thought about what extremes you would go to for money?  I mean, is there a particular sum of money that would make you do something a bit (or a lot) crazy?  I am not talking anything illegal like murder or selling yourself.  I'm talking about things that are legal and legitimately loony.

What if you really needed a job?  Does needing to provide for your family make you take a job that you wouldn't ordinarily consider?

Well here are some...let's say...interesting choices for employment that you might not have known were available:

1. Armpit Sniffer - Seriously.  You know how deodorant companies brag about how much odor their products eliminate and/or prevent?  Someone has to test those claims. Professional sniffers are well trained to understand everything about the human body and the role of the sweat glands. A single sniffer is said to sniff around 60 armpits an hour and they take three sniffs per pit to assess the intensity of the body odor, all the while using their clipboards to note down offensive odors on a scale of 1 to 10. (source)

2. Breath odor evaluator - Similar to the armpit sniffer, these people test the effects of products like toothpastes, gum, mouthwashes, and mints.

3. Beer Tester - These people littler taste and spit out beer all day long to examine new flavors and varieties.

4. Video Game Tester - Every little boy's dream.  These people sit around 8 hours a day, 5 days a week playing and replaying games testing for glitches in the game play.  I wonder if these people are at all interested in playing their own games when they get home.

5. Gold Ball Diver - Those water traps on the golf course would fill up quickly if someone didn't get in there and retrieve those balls from time to time.  So people suit up with a mask, tank and flippers and dive (not so) deep to reclaim those balls. Although this may sound like a dream job (some make between $50K-$100K a year), it doesn't come without hazards including broken glass, fishing lures, barbed wire, alligators, snakes, and deadly algae.

6. Furniture Tester - Did you know that there are professional couch potatoes? Yep - there are some people who get paid to sit on furniture and tell you just how comfortable is it.

7. Foley Artist - These people work for the entertainment industry. They take everyday products and create sound effects for film, radio, and TV.  You've seen those TV shows where in a recording studio someone is using a sheet of aluminum to make the sound of thunder or something similar - these people do that professionally. But they do much more.  They add in all of that ambient noise that really isn't there (or not clearly captured) during filming - the sound of rain, the wind, the street noise. 

8. Gum Buster - This is one that I did not realize had it's own name attached to it.  These are people who are contracted to remove gum from public settings - park benches, stadium bleachers, picnic tables, lamp posts, etc.  Although this sounds unappealing, with a pair of gloves, I bet you could get used to making money doing this pretty quickly.

9. Animal Reproduction Assistant - Okay, so this isn't the name of the two jobs that fall under this category, but I wasn't going to add the name of one of them to my search engine results.  Let's just say this: often in the world of farming you have to help animals mate when Mother Nature is not moving things along naturally.  You have to - um - handle the bulls in such a way to obtain their contribution to the process.  And then you have to add it to the cows so that little baby cows can result. That's the simplest way I can explain it - I think you get the idea. If not, go google it on your own because I'm not going into any further details.  Farming can be a rough job.

10. Chicken Sexer - Baby chicks are divided into males and females while they are still little and yellow and fuzzy.  This is because their diets are different depending of whether they will be used as egg-layers or dinner. So it takes someone some serious investigation that involves squeezing the poop out of the chicken and then looking for a bump inside their little booty to tell whether you have a little guy or a little girl chick. Sounds just strange.

I have to say that I've never had a particularly strange job, but during one assignment as an engineer intern I had to do a time study on a custodian. That means I had to follow him around his tasks for 8 hours timing how long it look him to do each task with a stop watch. It was completely mind-numbing.  I had a friend who, also as an engineer intern, had to measure length, width, and depth as well as the location of each pothole in a parking lot and plot them out in precise detail to determine the wear and tear of the asphalt in the company parking lot.

What about you?  Have you ever had any strange jobs?  Do you know of any not mentioned here?  Please share with us all!

The First Steps I Took Toward Getting Out of Debt

If you've been here a while, you've been walking through this process of getting out of a monumental amount of consumer debt with me.  If you're new here, please know that we're not there yet, but we're getting there!

The point is, this process has been going on for over 2 years now and we're at least a year (or more) away from being completely debt free. In all of this time, I have been telling you about the here and now, but I want to revisit what we did to start this long (and sometimes seemingly endless) road to financial freedom.

1. Had an emotional breakdown. Yep...that's right. I lost it. I don't remember what set it off, but there was that day, that moment when I realized how much trouble we were really in.  And I cried. And I blamed. And I fussed. And I fumed.  And then I got over it.  I think the breakdown was an essential part of my process.  I had to go there before I could move forward and I think the raw emotion that was set off made me realize just how big of a deal this really was. So go ahead - have a breakdown. And then get ready to move forward.

Photo source: zd

2. Sat down with spouse and the online banking statements and looked at what we were spending. Yet another important step that many people miss.  People will tell you to "make a budget" - but how in the world are you supposed to know how much to budget for food if you have no idea what you are currently spending.  Categorize it and write it down.  If you are spending $800/month for two people to eat, you can deal with that later. You might even get it down to $200/month. But before you can know what is doable - what is reasonable - you have to know what you are currently spending.

3. Segregated the necessary spending. Here it is. The power bill. The credit card minimum payment. The mortgage. The car payment. These are all of the minimum payments that you have to pay everyone in order to live right now.

4. Noticed what our income was. Now, compare this to your necessary spending. If the spending is above the income, big changes are coming.  If you can cover the initial necessary charges but not the "extras" your road might just be a bit easier.

5. Started making cuts. First cut out all of the extras. The shoe shopping each weekend. The convenience store snacks. The manicures (I know...that one might hurt). Cut it all out. You can get them again later, but the key here is to make progress and make a lot of it at one time. Then once you are down to the bare bones, cut it down again. Do you really need those premium cable channels? Do you really need cable at all? Do you really need that weekly detail job on your car? Can't you do it at home? Now that you've done this twice, take a break. You'll find more cuts later, but too much at one time can be simply too much.

6. Found extra cash. This may come from freeing up some of those previous purchases. Maybe you'll need to sell some extra "stuff" you have. Maybe you need to get a side job. Just find cash.

7. Read a good "getting out of debt" book. We chose The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It was inspiring. It was embarrassing. It made sense to us. You can choose a different one if you want, but this is the one that really hit home for us.

Photo source: ekki

8. Got moving. After deciding on a plan based on the info we read, we had to get moving. Putting it into action was exciting and inspiring at first. We were having a blast making changes and seeing those bills decrease.  We learned to live without things we thought we needed. We found that we could make even more cuts in our budget.

9. Reduced our debts.  Of course we were paying them down. We also called for lower interest rates, refinanced our home, took out a low-interest loan to replace a high interest one, snowballed our debts, threw every extra paycheck at our debts.

10. Rewarded ourselves. I will honestly tell you that we could live more frugally than we do. Plenty of people live simpler lives than we do. We still occasionally go out on dates and pay for a sitter. We still pay for summer camps and sporting activities for our kids. We have made huge cuts but continue to reward ourselves for the strides we have made. As long as they are in moderation and we keep it under control, it makes us feel a little more "human."

11. Made adjustments.  I hate to tell you, but your plan will not go as you want. Not all of the time. We were sailing along smoothly and then BAM! Chip lost his job. That really threw a wrench in our plans and seriously decreased our income possibilities. We had to adjust. We had to modify our plan. We had to make more cuts. We had to refocus. At some point something (and I hope it isn't job loss for you) will interrupt your plan. You have to reshift and keep going.

12. Stuck it out. This is the hard one. This is the day-to-day feeling after a few months of being "gazelle intense" (Dave Ramsey term there) of just being tired of this whole process. I find ways to remind myself that we've come so far...that's why it's so important to me to show myself how we're in $25,000 less debt than we were 2-1/2 years ago. I have to try to remember what the future will look like when we arrive at that debt free goal. Sometimes it's easier (like when we sent a huge check to a credit card) than others (you've seen our dining out numbers, right?).  But it is a process. This is, to me, by far the hardest of those steps. And the one that lasts the longest.

Photo source: _TekToNik

But I have to keep my eye on the prize. I have to remember where we've come from. And you do too.

So if you're starting out on this journey, let me tell you Welcome to the Club. You aren't alone. You aren't as dumb as you might feel (I know I did). You have nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, you have less to be ashamed of now that you're starting your journey than you did when you were ignorant of your bondage to debt.

We're going to do this together. Some will do it sooner. Others will take longer. But we'll all finish this race as long as we keep running, or jogging, or even walking. The finish line is out there even if it isn't in sight. Forward progress is the goal right now. It will get us there.

How My Inattentiveness Cost Us $400

Photo credit: bodgie

Two weeks ago Chip was out of town for two days on orders from the National Guard.  So I had to drive Patrick to school (Chip normally does it).  Wednesday went off without a hitch. We got to school on time, sat in the carpool line for just a little bit, and got to work in a timely manner.  The afternoon - once again - went great.

Thursday we got to school alright and had no problems with the drop off. As I was leaving, I prepared to turn off the road that his school is on to make a left onto a busier highway. This was a frustrating task, as the person who sat opposite me in the intersection (who was going straight - both by his lack of blinkers and in reality), sat and wanted me to turn left in front of him, like I had the right of way. Of course I didn't, but I was needing to get on my way to work, and other drivers' stupidity is one of my pet peeves (because you know, we all drive better than everyone else - myself included). After I finally waved like a crazed lunatic enough to indicate to this person that he, in fact, needed to go first before I could go, he finally proceeded forward and made it through the intersection so I could make my left turn. I was frustrated and probably whipped my car around faster than I would have normally. My mind was on the idiot and his lack of driving skills and knowledge as to the rules of right-of-way. A few hundred yards down the road I see them standing on the side of the road throwing their arms in the air and flagging me down.

Cops. Both on foot on the side of the road.  One with a radar gun in hand.

This was not good.

I look at my speedometer immediately and see I'm traveling just over 40 mph, well below the posted 45 mph.

But obediently I pulled over.

What I didn't realize?

I was still in the school zone.  And it was school zone time.

It wasn't the school zone for my son's school, which is about 2 miles down the road I had turned off of.  This is another school that is located some unknown (to me) distance down the other side of the intersection where the idiot other driver had been coming from. 

Posted for school hours was 25 mph and I was clocked at 41mph.

The officer asked if I wasn't aware of the school zones and I told him that no, I was not because I typically did not make this drive in the morning. He left with my license and I hoped for the best, although I was certain I wouldn't get it because it was a school zone.

And I was right.  I was now the owner of a speeding ticket - my first in about 7 years.

It's amazing the amount of guilt and remorse that ticket brought about. I was convicted of not only speeding, but being so inattentive that I didn't know the posted speed limit accurately. And in a school zone, no less.

Well, last Thursday was payday and since this check was not going to our mortgage this month I signed on to see how much my ticket was going to be.  I knew it'd probably be bad because it was a school zone.  I kept repeating this to myself to prepare myself for what I was to find.

$367.60. Plus $29.00 to pay it online.  For a total of $396.60.

That was my punishment for being rash, inattentive, and flustered.

No, I'm not angry.  I deserved the penalty. I was speeding. I was unaware of the school zone. Were they speed trapping me?  Absolutely - but I was speeding, so I have no reason to be mad at them.

I'm frustrated with myself though. Although we did have the money to pay it (thank goodness), that's $400 that I cannot use to pay down my debt. That's a probability that my insurance could go up.

I hate stupid decisions/mistakes. I hate how stupid I feel for making them.

But the fine is paid now. Time to go send everything ELSE to my credit card.

Donations to Charity by Our 2012 Presidential Candidates

Source: Maggies Notebook

Today is going to be a political post. Wait, wait, wait!  Before you click away...

I'm not going to be supporting or promoting any particular candidate. I have faith that you can make those types of decisions for yourselves. I mean, you are smart enough to be visiting my blog. =)

But here is the purpose of this post:  All of our 2012 Presidential candidates are offering to make our country better by helping people. Some back it with their faith, allowing the promises and tenets of their proclaimed belief system to carry some weight with voters. Others are approaching it from a humanitarian point of view - helping those who are down and out because it's just the right thing to do. I'm not here to argue with either of those points of view.

What I am here to do today is present to you how our Presidential hopefuls have spent their own personal money in the past. Have they been living the type of life that promises philanthropy, care, and concern for those less fortunate than they are...you know, before they were asking you to elect them?

Let's take a look:

Barack Obama:
Net Worth*:  $2.8 million - 11.8 million
2010 Income: $1,795,614
2010 Charitable Contributions: $245,075
Percentage of Giving**: 13.65%
Recipients of Donations: Fisher House Foundation which houses families of wounded military ($131,075 of his personal money), his Nobel Peace Prize award money was divided between 10 charities as listed: Fisher House Foundation ($250,000), Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund ($200,000), College Summit to increase college enrollment rates ($125,000), Posse Foundation for scholarships ($125,000), United Negro College Fund ($125,000), Hispanic Scholarship Fund ($125,000), American Indian College Fund ($125,000), Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation ($125,000), AfriCare which promotes health, food security and access to water primarily in Africa ($100,000), Central Asia Institute, which education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan ($100,000)
Of Note: The Obamas' giving has increased steadily over the last few years.  In the early 2000s, it grew from 0.4% to 4.6%.  With the Presidency, Obama's wallet has opened up to more and more giving opportunities. His Nobel Prize winnings of $1.4 million in 2010 were donated directly to 10 organizations and therefore never went though his income tax return as income or donations.

Mitt Romney
Net Worth*:  $190 million - $250 million
2010 Income: $21,661,344
2010 Charitable Contributions: $2,983,974
Percentage of Giving**: 13.78 (between 13% - 16% over last few years)
Recipients of Donations: The majority of this was contributed to the Mormon church, as it is a tenet of their faith to donate a full tithe (10%) in order to be in good standing with God and their church. Other recipients were BYU ($300,000 and $1 million at different times), a homeless shelter for veterans ($10,000), Hurricane Katrina victims ($10,000), victims of south Asia earthquake and tsunami ($25,000), Becket Fund for Religious Liberty ($25,000), as well as various donations to charities helping children, cancer patients, MS patients, and wounded veterans, research and service organizations for cystic fibrosis, cancer, epilepsy, Lou Gehrig's Disease and AIDS, The Boy Scouts of America, the Boston Scholars program for disadvantaged students and the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund to prevent child abuse, The United Way, Massachusetts Family Institute ($10,000), Massachusetts Citizens for Life ($15,000), andRight to Play ($100,000 over several years). There were also donations that helped restore community baseball fields, teach sailing in Boston and support the U.S. Olympic handball team, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation ($20,000), and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston ($30,000 over several years).
Of Note: The most generous of the candidates, Romney has spread his wealth out to assist with charities for health concerns, political interests, children's welfare, veterans support, sports interests, as well as victims of various disasters and hurts.

Newt Gingrich
Net Worth*:  $6.7+ million
2010 Income: $3,162,424
2010 Charitable Contributions: $81,133
Percentage of Giving**: 2.57%
Recipients of Donations: $9540 to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was the largest donation of 2010. Previous years' giving includes Luther College in Decorah, Iowa ($30,000) in 2009 for a scholarship fund in his name, Atlanta Ballet ($2500), American Cancer Society ($500), American Museum of Natural History ($25,000), City of Fairfax Band Association ($5000), Oliver North’s Freedom Alliance ($2500), Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association ($12,500), the Pentagon Memorial fund ($1000), Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, Georgia ($100)
Of Note:Various organizations that Gingrich claims to have ties with are mysteries to his staff.  Do they not exist other than on paper or is he just quiet about his giving?

Ron Paul
Net Worth*:  $2.25 million - $5 million
2010 Income: Not yet reported
2010 Charitable Contributions:  Not yet reported
Percentage of Giving** Not yet reported

Rick Santorum
Net Worth*:  $880,000 - $1.9 million
2010 Income: $930,227
2010 Charitable Contributions: $16,289
Percentage of Giving**1.75%  (2.2% over last 4 years)
Recipients of Donations: No individual charities indicated on form submitted.
Of Note:"We should be proactive in finding ways to more fully engage the American public in charitable giving," Santorum said in a 2005 statement on the CARE Act, a bill he sponsored that sought to promote the interests of charities and provide incentives for Americans to donate. Also, a charity he started called Operation Good Neighbor has been under scrutiny for only using 45% of its revenue to help those it was established to help. The remainder of this money has been used for advertising and overhead.


Now, I am not going to try to tell you who to vote for. In fact, these numbers sicken me because there are some that don't "jive" with my feelings about who should be President.

And I'll readily admit that this only captures monetary donations and not donations of time and talents. But I really can't imagine that many of these gentlemen have a lot of extra time to donate to everyone, although I could be completely wrong about that. It also could be that there are donations that are not reported. I have no idea. I'm just presenting to you what is available.

All of this is presented before you to say this: if each of these candidates are going to tell you that they want to make things better and help people and support those who are less fortunate than themselves in order to provide for a better tomorrow in America, what does the way they live their personal lives reveal about their intentions and their rhetoric?

What do you make of this?  Does this support your feelings about your preferred candidate or make you squeamish?  Does it make any difference in all in your feelings about your vote?


*Just an FYI.
**Based on annual income not the net worth shown above.
Sources: Credit Sesame, Huffington Post, Washington Post, CNN Money 

8 Smart Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund

Photo credit: LeoSynapse

Yep - it's that time of year. Some people are itching to do their taxes, wanting the refund they deserve. Others are more cautious, either not knowing the outcome of their tax form calculations, or knowing they will be sending a check to the beloved IRS.

Some people will argue the ins and outs of whether you should try to get a refund each year or try to balance it as to not loan the government money interest free.

I get it. But we're not going to have that argument here and now. Right now we're just going to discuss what to do with the money that some of us will be getting back (I will!).

1. Start or Bolster an Emergency Fund:  If you don't have any type of emergency fund, this should be the first step you take with this money.  How much to put into your beginning emergency fund is up to you.  I am a follower of Dave Ramsey's teachings, so I'd say $1000 if you have debt (to cover  small emergencies) or 4-6 months of spending if you have no debt.  This would be a great place to use this windfall. 
2. Pay Down Debt:  If you are covered on the beginning emergency fund, throw that bad boy at your debt. It's a great way to make a big stride in paying down debt. There's nothing like seeing a much smaller balance after that check is sent. Successes like this one can motivate you on for months more.
3. Save for Retirement:  What a great way to go ahead and toss some money at your Roth IRA.  You might be able to cover all of your annual contribution allowance if your refund is enough. What a peace of mind this would give you to already have this covered!
4. Children's Education: Look into socking this away into an education fund for your children.  There are a number of different way to do this and since I'm not a financial advisor, I will not tell you the best way to do it.  There are plenty of people out there that can help you though, and this is a conversation worth having. 
5. Fund a Purchase: If you've been fighting the uphill battle of debt or if you've been looking for a way to live on cash alone, this money might be just what you need to afford something you've been hoping for. Whether it is a good used car that will allow you to get out from under a new car payment (and the accompanying new car insurance) or some furniture that your house actually needs, using cash will not only give you the freedom of paying without credit card interest, but you might likely be able to swing a better deal if you can pay cash upfront!
6. Donate it:  If you are blessed enough to not have anywhere in particular that you need to put this, why not bless someone else with it?  Give it to your favorite local charity or sponsor someone on a mission trip.  Not only will you have the joy of helping someone else with this money, but you'll be able to count it as a deduction next year!
7. Go on a Mission Trip Yourself: If you have the drive to help others but can't typically shell out the money needed for a trip, use your tax refund and sign up through your church for a trip to - well, wherever they are going. You will get some hands-on experience of serving others, but you might just change a life or two (including your own!). 
8. Splurge: This is the last way you could spend your money, but ONLY if you are in a good place in all of the above items. I don't mean that you feel okay about spending when you have debt.  I mean you have no debt, you have a full emergency fund, you live within your means, you have nothing that needs to be purchased with cash and you feel good about your giving.  Then - and only then - should you buy that next larger TV, or that new laptop, or that family vacation.  Yep - make sure you are financially secure before splurging.  But once you are, SPEND AWAY!  It's your money! =) 

What will you be doing with your tax refund?  Are you having to pay in instead? 

What Lending Club did for Our Timeshare Loan - Our True Story

Featured in this weeks Carnival of Personal Finance!

In September we made a leap and took out a Lending Club loan to replace our timeshare financing. I wanted to give you the details of this deal. And see, I'm a numbers kind of gal. I'm logical to a fault and numbers just make sense to me. So although this post might be a bit tedious to read for some, it sheds a lot of light on the subject of debt to me. Please read on whether you like numbers or not. It's truly shocking.

Here are the down and dirty details of that deal:

Original Cost for Timeshare: $17,820.00

Down Payment: $4,716.69

Total Amount Financed: $13,103.31

That was in February of 2008. 

Balance of Loan September 2011: $10,906.17

Whoa!  WHAT?! 

Yep...in three and a half years after paying $238.78 a month on time every time with no penalties, we had knocked down that loaning a massive $2197.14.

TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS in 3-1/2 YEARS? 

Yep...that's the horror of 17.9% interest. That's the horror of ANY interest. (cash is king, people!)

So, in September of 2011 we took out a Lending Club loan for $12,000 at 9.99%.  This would cover our timeshare debt as well as the loan fees associated with taking out the loan. It left us about $300 that got us through a rough period in a tight month.  But that's another story.

So we made our first payment on October 9th to our Lending Club loan in the amount of $387.15. 

So notice that our payment is now about $150 higher.  We could have settled for a payment that was closer to our previous payment but we chose a 3 year loan with a lower interest rate rather than a 5 year loan with a higher one.  We did they math and saw that we could work in the extra $150 for the hugely improved (over 17.9%) interest rate.

Of our first payment, $287.25 went to principal.  That's 74.2% of our payment that went towards principal.  One month earlier, of our $238.78 that we paid, only 31.0% (or $74.05) went towards principal.  Yep...in one month we've already paid more than 3X the amount of principal than we would have on our old loan.

To make it even crazier...we are paying $148.37 more a month for this loan, but in the first month, paid off $213.20 more in principal.

AWESOME!

And as crazy as it may sound to some of you, I actually care that my interest is going to people who are responsibly investing their money in Lending Club rather than a financial company that financially rapes people like they were us.

So, if you had any questions about whether Lending Club works, I can tell you that it has certainly worked for us. Even in one month's time.

So if you need a loan, go check it out.  Do the calculator they provide on their site. Go through the pre-approval process to see if the payments would do the wonders for you that they have done for us. Interest rates start at 6.78%.

And if you're looking to invest wisely, consider Lending Club. You may not put a large sum in, but the current returns for investors average 9.6%.  Because I invested with $50 of free money, I invested in more risky loans, and my current return is 18.01%.  Either of those beats anything you'll get with a CD or even the more risky current stock market. You can rest assured that Lending Club does not lend to just anyone; in fact, the only approve about 10% of the requests for loans before people even get a chance to decide if they want to fund them. And you can know that you are helping people who are working their way out of debt the honest, hard-working way.  

Links provided are affiliate links, but the story is all mine and all true. It really does work for us and I couldn't be happier about it.

Fees for Using Your Debit Card?

Is your bank one of the ones about to start charging you for using your debit card?

Mine's not.





Find a bank today that will let you use your own money for free!

Time to Check the Credit Report

If you've been following along with me, you know that every 4 months I run a credit report to make sure nothing looks crazy or out of whack.  You are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three major reporting agencies every year.  So every 4 months, I run one from a different agency. That means within the year I have run all three and I can follow my credit throughout the year rather than just once in a calendar's turn.

So if you are playing along, it's time to run our Experian credit reports.

Go to AnnualCreditReport.com (the only truly free site to use and sanctioned by the government) and select your state.  Fill out the info your are asked and tell it you want only the Experian report (if you're doing the every 4 month plan with me).  Then....off you go!

For me?
I had 0 potentially negative items in my report
I had 20 accounts in good standing in my report.

When I read that 20 account bit, I was like, "Wha...?"  But as I look through them, 16 of them are old accounts that are already closed and have to appear on here until a set date (ranging between 2012 and 2020).   So that's 4 open accounts. 

What are those 4 open accounts? 

• American Express - Chip's credit card that I'm a joint account holder on.
• Chase - my "big" credit card that I hate and am attacking now. It will be the next to go for balance and emotional reasons.
• GMAC Mortgage - Our current mortgage.
• USAA - Our bank and my preferred credit card.  This will be the only one we keep when all are paid off.

Everything else looks all well and good.  So one more report done and I feel safe and sound about my credit.

How did you fare?

Photo credit: LotusHead

Cash Spending - How Do You Do It?

A few days ago at work, some coworkers called to see if I wanted to go to lunch with them. Sometimes I do go just to get out of the office, but try to keep these occurrences to a minimum.

This particular day I wanted to leave, but knew that financially it would be much better if I stayed and ate something I had in my fridge at work.

Then I found $5 in my wallet and immediately called one of them back and said, “Hey…I can go! I just found some cash in my wallet.”

She and I proceeded to talk about how amazingly we seem to feel no guilt about spending cash. Somehow spending $5 in cash is “ok” for lunch while spending $5 on lunch from my debit card is a more difficult decision.

I wonder why that is.

I’m not trying to hide any spending. Nothing of the sort, really. Just somehow it seems like “real” money if it comes directly out of my bank account rather than from my wallet.

This is a big reason why I try not to carry cash – it seems to disappear without me knowing what in the world I’ve done with it.

To add to this madness, if I am using cash only at the grocery store or while shopping, I spend less because I don’t want to have to pull out my debit card while I have cash specifically for a purchase. I know that is totally contrary to what I just told you, but the big purchases seem to make me think differently than the small ones.

What about you? Do you view cash the same way as a debit card purchase when deciding what to buy/how much to spend?

Photo credit: foxumon

The Great Budget Deal

I received this as an email on Monday. I haven't verified the actual numbers to be correct, but they don't look completely out of line. Even if they are close, this is a great piece.

To Put It All In Perspective ....

The U.S. Congress sets a federal budget every year in the trillions of dollars. Few people know how much money that is so we created a breakdown of federal spending in simple terms. Let's put the 2011 federal budget into perspective:

U.S. income: $2,170,000,000,000
Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000 (about 1 percent of the budget)

It helps to think about these numbers in terms that we can relate to. Let's remove eight zeros from these numbers and pretend this is the household budget for the fictitious Jones family.

Total annual income for the Jones family: $21,700
Amount of money the Jones family spent: $38,200
Amount of new debt added to the credit card: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from the budget: $385

Whew! I'm glad they got that all worked out to our benefit, aren't you? I feel better already.

What Can Harry Potter Teach Us About Money?

Here on the eve of the release of one of the most highly anticipated movies of a series (a 10-year series, might I add), I wanted to examine what in the world that The Boy Who Lived and his friends can teach us about money.

A stretch? Maybe. But it should at least be fun.

By the way...this post containers no direct spoilers (I'm not going to ruin the last movie for you), but does contain information that indicates some plot lines. If you are avoiding information about the series because you want to discover it yourself, I would suggest reading this some other time.

Smart People Avoid Spending Sprees

One of the most surprising parts of this series is Harry’s management of the fortune he discovered he had at 11 years old. What kid at 11 understands that the money will not last forever – especially when discovering that a bank vault full of gold is his alone? Obviously Harry did. Although an unrealistic maturity for a tween, this act indicates that Harry is smarter than the average kid.

Money Does Not Prevent Trouble in Life

Sure, money can buy you out of sticky situations, but it seems that those types of situations never really go away until the problem is truly solved. Regardless of Harry’s fortune, he was tracked for 7 years by Voldemort and no amount of money would have bought safety for him, his friends or his family. He had to address that one head on.

Money Does Not Buy Happiness

The best (and most obvious) example of this is the large and fun Weasley family. With seven children, a stay at home mom and a dad who has a job with a mediocre paygrade, this family could have easily found themselves feeling destitute and complaining. Although Ron did his share of complaining about lack of money that would be typical for a kid his age, the Weasley family as a whole was content. They had large gatherings with family and friends and always, even through horrible times, had an optimistic view of life.

Wealth is Not An Indication of Character

Draco Malfoy was raised in wealth and splendor and could have bought anything the world had to offer, but none of the money his family had could provide him with the character and courage it took to do what was right. In fact, throughout all 7 books he proves to be nothing but a loud mouthed coward unable to save or think for himself.

You Are Not Defined by Your Upbringing

This can be seen in a number of instances. Harry was one of the best wizards the world had ever seen but was raised in an emotional and psychologically abusive situation where his guardians did nothing but berate him. He excelled anyway.

Voldemort grew up in an orphanage with no knowledge of his family for a long time. Although he chose an evil path in life, there is no doubt that he because one of the most powerful of his kind in history.

Sirius Black was raised in a snooty, pureblood family who had evil tendencies, but he turned out quite down to earth and shook off the notion of superiority.

And getting back to finances: Fred and George Weasley became quite successful businessmen who could afford lavish items despite their humble childhood.

Hard Work Pays Off

Despite her Muggle upbringing, Hermione Granger was one of the most thoroughly read and informed witches that Hogwarts had ever seen. She did not learn magic from her family, as many of the students had (and had taken for granted) but studied hard to become great. Late nights of studying, obsessive reading, and taking huge course loads of classes along with her desire to learn made her one of Harry’s most valuable assets.

Side Hustle

Fred and George spent most of their time at Hogwarts creating new tricks and pranks, doing market research by the way of paying underclassmen to let them experiment on, and selling items on the side. This would eventually lead to them doing what they truly loved.

Gambling is Not a Good Source of Income

During the 4th book we see crowds of people heading to the Quidditch World Cup. During the festivities, the Weasley twins bet on the outcome of the games using their life savings. Although they predict the end of the game perfectly, they are never paid their winnings, as the swindler of a “bookie” chastises them for being too young to gamble and refuses to pay out.

Giving Lifts Your Spirits

After the TriWizard tournament was over and Harry had been awarded the prize of 1000 Galleons, he did not feel right about taking it. He tried to offer it to Cedric’s parents, but they refused it. So he ended up giving it to the Weasley twins to use for their business venture. Later, when Harry saw how that investment had helped then (and yes, they did thank him for it), he felt good about giving it to them to help them out.

You Can’t Take it With You

The final war between good and evil leaves a wake of carnage behind. In the end young and old, rich and poor, wise and foolish – so many don’t make it out alive. All of the wealth in this world could not save them from the certainty of death. Make sure the legacy you leave behind is more than a bank account balance.

What else can you throw in? I'd love to hear more!

The Winds of Change are Blowing

So almost 3 weeks ago Chip left for OCS after re-enlisting in the National Guard. After 4 days of torture, he returned home – the 10th person sent home in those 4 days. He wasn’t prepared. He wasn’t prepared physically and didn’t have the procedures down in his head that he should have. Add lack of sleep to that mix and you have a recipe for disaster.

But not all hope is lost. He can go back…and he is going to. I know he is perfectly capable of graduating from OCS, but just didn’t have the time to prepare. For goodness sake, he just got his military ID two weeks before leaving!

So the next round of OCS starts in January, but now Chip is considering a different option. Instead of an accelerated 8-week program, he is considering a 1 year plan that basically follows the 2-weeks a year and one weekend a month plan that the National Guard uses. His drills would just consist of OCS training rather than a traditional drill. He would start January 2012 and finish January 2013. The slower pace would allow for more time to study in between, no extra time away from our family, and postpone any chance of deployment for a year. This is not yet set in stone, but is a big consideration for him right now.

So we had to readjust our financial plan as well. As you know if you’ve been reading here for a while, our plan included using the commissioning bonus that Chip would receive upon graduating to repay a large chunk of our debt. That will still come, but not as soon as we initially hoped. So here are the changes that will take effect immediately:

• We are pulling the kids out of daycare. They will stay at home with Chip during the day. This will last for Patrick until he starts kindergarten at the end of August. For Abigail, it will last until either January (if Chip does the accelerated OCS again then) or until next Fall when we have considered starting her in the 3K program at the Montessori program that Patrick will be attending. We will further evaluate that as the time draws near.
  
  Anyway…since we have been paying for Patrick and Abigail to both be in “summer camp” at the daycare this summer, this will saver us $1040.00 a month. Increased will be our food costs at home since they will be eating lunch and snacks at home, but decreased will be our gasoline costs of taking them daily.
  


• We have dropped Chip’s private life insurance policy. He has one through the National Guard now that costs $45/month less and guarantees more coverage. Win-win.
  


• We have dropped some excess subscription TV channels to the tune of $10/month.
  


• We have registered his military status with Verizon, dropping our mobile phone costs $15/month.
  


• We will be receiving a few hundred dollars a month now in drill pay from the National Guard. I’m not sure exactly how much yet, as Chip has not yet had a regular drill pay period yet. I will estimate $300.

So these changes will net us about $1410/month that will now be focused at debt repayment. So it won’t be as quick as we had anticipated, but these changes should move it quicker than it was moving before!

What would you do with an extra $1400 a month?

Sometimes You Have to Reboot...

So what do you do when life just doesn’t turn out the way you expected?

I mean, we had a good plan to pay off our debt. By August we had planned that Chip would be through OCS and be an officer in the National Guard and his commissioning bonus would pay off my largest headache of a credit card. In the meantime, the money he would make would knock a large chunk out of our other card. We would be well on our way to being debt free.

But sometimes…you know where the road to good intentions leads…

Chip was not ready for OCS. He was dismissed early and will not get to complete it at this time. He does get to go back if he so chooses. And I’ve let him know that I fully support him and believe him to be capable. The problem this time? He wasn’t prepared. No one else there just cleared MEPS three weeks ago. No one else there just got their (new) military ID two weeks ago. No, the others there have been regularly drilling with a real unit for months…many of them years. They had time to study their manual. Chip has spent the last three weeks putting together paperwork and running around trying to gather all of the uniforms and gear he would need for OCS.

He just wasn’t ready this time.

And so much happened just before he left that tried to keep him from going. He pushed through it all and made it (against seemingly all odds).

This makes me believe that maybe this was not his time to be at OCS. Maybe there is a reason he needs to be at home right now. Maybe that is why so many roadblocks came up in the first place. Maybe God was trying to keep him home. And once he got there, maybe God said something to the effect of, “Holy cow, what will it take to get through to him?!” and made sure he came home.

Maybe not.

But we’ve got to make a new plan now.

We’ve got to re-evaluate our plan.

While Chip has been unemployed over the last few months, all of our monthly overages have been coming out of our accelerated emergency fund that was built out of our tax refund. That money is almost gone now. And I was okay with that because soon we were going to be a dual income family again and our debt was going to be drastically reduced, making it easier to knock out those finals bills.

But now that can’t happen.

So what do you do?

What do you do when you go to get an oil change and end up dropping $400 on other repairs that are needed (and totally legitimate)?

What do you do when he spends $1000 buying items that are necessary to go to OCS and then doesn’t get the chance to get that money back in salary?

You re-plan.

And that’s what we’re doing.

Wish us luck!

Have you ever had to back up and start again things just didn’t go as planned?

Photo credit: allenp

Emotional Decision? Not This Time!

I think I made a smart decision.

Looking back, it seems like it was an obviously smart decision – on paper at least. But it was so hard to say no at the time.

Last Thursday night, a gentleman came by our house (Chip knew he was coming but had forgotten to tell me) to do some water testing and try to sell up a water filter system. He went through the chemistry of what he was selling. He tested our water and told us horror stories about the water we were consuming through ingestion as well as inhalation and absorption through our skin. It was enough to make you cringe.

And I’m not saying the guy was lying. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. I know that if he was not lying, it gives me the heebie-jeebies to think that we live in the middle of the toxic mess that he was claiming we do. It’s enough to make you fear for what type of environment you are raising your children in.

And you know, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if his sales pitch was full of truth or fear. Maybe both.

I didn’t get to listen to the entire sales pitch because you know, there are children to bathe and put to bed and they were not interested in hearing this guy tell us about all of the chlorine we have living in the top three feet of each of the rooms in our house.

So I left the sales presentation and did mommy-type stuff. After the kids were in bed, Chip came upstairs and wanted me to sign the paperwork to finance this system. He had already signed his part. Luckily (I think), this was a joint venture because I wasn’t willing to sign it.

I tell myself it was a number of reasons that I didn’t sign it, but I’m not really sure what the real reason is.

First of all, I know us. I know that we have bought a timeshare after hearing a convincing sales pitch. I know we previously bought a vacation club package that we never used (and got out of) after hearing a convincing sales pitch. I know we have spent a lot of money in the past because we’re obviously gullible. Part of me doesn’t want to buy anything else in those conditions – even if it legitimate – because I am tired of realizing that I have been taken advantage of.

Secondly, I don’t like buying out of fear. Maybe I have every reason to be afraid for myself and my family (although I certainly hope not). Maybe this guy was not trying to use fear as a motivation to make us sign those papers. But I don’t like having that suggestion in the back of my mind that maybe I bought out of fear. Out of a “the sky is falling” mentality.

Thirdly, and what it the reasoning that I gave at the time, it was yet another bill to add to the mix when we don’t have it. You see, the system was $6000 paid over 72 months, which really came up to just over $8500 after what must have been an astronomical interest rate. The sales guy claimed that it would save us the money that we would be putting into it ($119/month) in electric and water bills (no time to go into the “hows” of it here) as well as in cleaning products. But I had no proof. Maybe it would. Maybe it wouldn’t. But in the end, without proof, I wasn’t willing to sign up for another bill. I told Chip that when we are out of debt we can re-examine when we can pay in cash and not pay 140% of the actual cost of the system due to interest rates.

But you know what was hard? Telling Chip “no.”

You see, I have a problem telling him no. I don’t know why. I feel like I am dictating to him what he can and cannot have when he wants something. I feel like I am treating him like a child. I feel like I am making decisions for him. I don’t like feeling like this (for the record, he says he doesn’t feel this way at all – it’s all obviously in my head).

Looking back, I think it was the right decision. But it was an emotionally tough decision to make all because I don’t like telling my husband “no.”

But somewhere inside, I'm proud of myself for telling him no. Because I believe it was the right thing although it wasn't the easy thing.

Have you ever felt this way? How did you cope with it?