Group Writing Project: The poorest time in my life.

November 19th, 2008 Ashley

It’s that time of the month again.  Time for the PF Bloggers Group Writing Project.  This month we are writing about the poorest time in our lives.

The poorest time in my life was when my daughter, now 7, was a baby.   I went to school and worked part time at a fast food restaurant.  Her father worked at a printing press for $9.00 an hour.  And don’t forget… we had a new baby.

So how did we survive?  First off, we lived in Section 8 housing.  For those that don’t know:  Section 8 housing is housing based on your income, and the rest of your rent is subsidized by the state.  Which is a blast, I’m tellin’ ya.  But we paid $175 a month for a two bedroom apartment, and utilities were included.  So hey, you can’t beat it.  It was worth putting up with the neighbors.  Me and my daughter both had insurance through the state, which was free.  I don’t specifically remember but I think my ex had insurance though his job.  Either that or he didn’t have insurance at all.

Of course, we couldn’t afford daycare so we worked opposite shifts.   My ex worked 7:00 to 3:00, and I worked 6:00 to 10:00.  Which worked out nice, since we only had one car anyways. I drove him to work and picked him up.   I also took all my classes online to avoid daycare costs.  So I spent my days taking care of our daughter and doing school work.

The new mortgage bailout

November 19th, 2008 LivingAlmostLarge

I haven’t had time to post but the US government is no longer interested in purchasing toxic mortgages and taking them off the books from banks. Instead the Federal Government will provide capital to banks by purchasing stock in the companies.  Honestly this sounds like a better plan, though I’m unsure if it’s the Government should keep on interfering with the free market economy.

Worse yet is the fact that Treasury Secretary Paulson is now suggesting that we need to spend more than $700B on the bailout.  More likely $1 trillion. 

And of course this weekend there was summit meeting regarding the global economy.  The truth is that our economic pains is not just in the US.  Nor do our pains affect only ourselves, nor do we only feel our own pains.  Our economy, much like our jobs are global.  We are working not only within the isolated regions of the US, but rather the world.  Our economies are all interrelated, hence right now the economy and our choices regarding our economy is being scrutinized by the world.  Everyone wants us to get our economy going because we affect everyone else.  Japan is now in a recession.

So what should we do about the mortgage bailout?  Should we do a moratorium on mortgage rates?  Thus allowing people to stay in their homes? I think that might help. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage and can afford it if it doesn’t adjust, then perhaps that would be the first step to stabilizing the housing market.  Second, should we allow people to renegotiate with banks to get a fixed rate mortgage even with bad credit?  If their rates are 8-10% should they be fixed down to 6%?  Would that keep them in their houses and foreclosures down?  Should we try?

Poorest Time of Our Lives

November 19th, 2008 Penelope Pince

The topic for this month’s PF Bloggers Group Writing Project, “Poorest Time of Your Life” which was decided about 5 months ago, comes at a somewhat inopportune time. When our group picked out these topics, whoever it was that suggested this topic must have thought that we must all be in a position where the poorest time of our lives were in the past and could serve as an inspirational story of financial achievement.

But with the recent and current economic developments (or should I say, deterioration?) and the rate of inflation, I really can’t say if the poorest times of our lives really are past. At first thought, I just assumed that the poorest time of my life was past, but upon further contemplation, I am beginning to question if NOW might not be the poorest time of my life.

When I sat down to write this essay, I had planned on writing about two brief periods in Madoline’s and my past when were quite poor. They were transition periods in our lives, however, which really didn’t last very long and probably didn’t really count as being poor.

I just bought some shoes

November 18th, 2008 Ashley

I just bought shoes against my will.  Grrr… I knew this would happen.  This is why I don’t allow myself to shop for clothes.  Here I am giving myself permission to spend $20 a month on clothes and instead I’ve now spent $82.   It’s money I would have spent on something else, probably on the kids, so I guess it’s not a big deal, yet.  But see… this is why I stay away from clothes in the first place.  And then my wardrobe ends up looking like I shop at Goodwill, while blindfolded. (Just kidding.  It isn’t that bad.)

It started innocently enough.  My husband was watching football and I was sitting next to him on my laptop.  I was bored and Stumbling site after site.  Then I found this site that has all the Amazon markdown stuff laid out so nicely.   Might as well see what they have for 90% off, right?  I mean, Christmas is coming.   Oddly enough I didn’t browse anything that would make good gifts.  Only stuff for myself.

Ok, but here they are… my new shoes.  I got the “desert” colored ones.  They are half off.  In my defense they really are a good deal and I was afraid if I waited til next month my size would be sold out.  I was kinda nervous about buying shoes online.  A picture might be worth a thousand words… but it doesn’t tell you if those shoes look nice with your favorite jeans.  You know what I’m sayin’?  So I went to the store to try on similar ones, just too see if the size was right and if I really do like that style.  And guess what?  They had the exact shoe at the store.  Same color and everything.  So that was cool.  And they were $60 in person.  So I came straight home and ordered them.

A savings compulsion?

November 18th, 2008 LivingAlmostLarge

MSN had a great article about “Secret Millionaires: Addicted to savings“.  It talks about how compulsive savers whose habits can take a dark turn.  Savings can become such an addiction that it’s hard to spend, enjoy, or give away your money.

The author, Brent Kessler calls people “savers”.  People who only buy things that are on sale, frugal, and generally financially cautious.  Sounds good right?  He says there is a negative side to it as well. These savers feel great pain when they see money “foolishly” wasted or spent.  Or when their net worth decreases with a bad economy.

He defines savers as people who save 20% of their income, give away less than 3%, and increase your net worth by more than 5% a year.  These people, while the savings part is great, the negative is they constantly feel it’s never enough.  They constantly feel the need to save more.  Kessler calls this a prison.

6 Lessons Learned From Being In Debt

November 18th, 2008 Kristy

I ran across an article at Kiplinger.com that really reflects everything I’ve ever learned about being in debt and so I thought it would be fun to talk about. Like the author of the Kiplinger article, I don’t have a lot of money, and unless I get that book deal or sell a script to Hollywood, I probably won’t have a lot of money. Most of the time I manage my finances to the point of being comfortable, but I don’t have large excesses by any means.

The point is, being put in financial hardship situations can teach you a lot about finances, and you as a person. You learn to make do with what you have and get by on less. It sucks, but you get through it and you move on, hopefully with lessons you can impart to others.

What I’ve Learned

1.) You have to figure out your priorities.

This truly goes beyond just the budget. You need a budget to make sense of your financial ups and downs, but having your priorities in order will help the process go a lot smoother. Some decisions are easier that others. For instance, most of us would rather pay our rent then buy a big screen TV. But, other decisions are a little more difficult to make - do you fix the air conditioner or replace the water heater?

Tips for Staying Healthy This Winter

November 18th, 2008 Penelope Pince

While cold weather has it charms – pretty white snow (for some of us), excuse to drink lots of hot chocolate, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. – with it comes some less charming side effects: colds, flus, etc. Not only is it no fun to get sick, it can be expensive. When one is not feeling well, one is often willing to spend whatever money it takes to feel better as quickly as possible, so the best medicine for you and your wallet is to avoid getting sick altogether.

When our cousin Mabel visited us this past spring, she had the misfortune to catch cold on the flight over. The first few weeks of her visit were spent buying and taking all sorts of medication for her cold. She began by spending $30 on Theraflu on her first day here. A few days later, she spent another $30 on more Theraflu, lozenges for sore throat, vitamin C and Zinc drops. After suffering cold sores for a couple of weeks, she spent another $20 on cold sore medication. And then about 3 weeks after her arrival, she gave in and went to the doctor – another $110 for the office visit and another $20 for antibiotics.

While we are very fond of our cousin, one thing that bothered Madoline and me to no end during her 3-month stay with us was her lax food safety and hygiene habits, which we believe contribute to her frequent illnesses. I’m not talking about showering and teeth brushing (though also important), but something even more basic – hand washing. (Something about which I talked a great deal in Warm Weather Food Safety Tips.)

Capitalism

November 17th, 2008 Ashley

When did making money become a bad thing?  Making money is the point of business.  What’s the point of running a business if you don’t have any profits?  Sure, I see the value in non profit organizations, but that isn’t what I’m talking about here.  I’m talking about the millions of businesses that provide the goods and services to us all.  We depend on these companies a great deal and we should want them to be profitable.  Being profitable means they will stick around!  We need them to stick around.  I certainly don’t want the oil companies going out of business.  Or the grocery stores, or any of the companies that make my life what it is today.

Capitalism.org writes:

11-17-08 Twenty-Something Finances-Carnival

November 17th, 2008 LivingAlmostLarge

Welcome to the 11-17-08 Carnival of Twenty-Something Finances!  For the past week I’ve written posts dealing with financial issues Twenty-Something faces in preparation for this carnival. I hope you enjoy the carnival, it’s a large and comprehensive carnival since I tried to include most posts.  If you are interested in hosting or submitting an article for the next carnival check it out.

My name is LAL and I’m a twenty-something DINK writing about my journey to one day live large.  Please look around and explore the site.  These are a few posts from last week specifically for twenty-somethings:

• Time or Tithe
• Is it Frugal to Live Alone?
• Boomeranging Home?
• Accepting a Down Payment?

Interesting Reads From Fellow Personal Finance Bloggers #11

November 17th, 2008 Penelope Pince

It feels good to get back in the groove of posting regularly again. My cousin lent me an older laptop of his last week so that I can work (on the blog and our other business sites) while Madoline works on her paintings on our PC, and it has made all the difference.

As for life in general, things have quieted down since Halloween. Madoline had a birthday last week, and we celebrated by watching a couple of new movies - Cranford (starring Judi Dench) and Wives and Daughters, both wonderfully filmed and which I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys classic British literature and period films.

OK, on to our roundup for today.

From the PF Bloggers Network

• Girls Just Wanna Have Funds shares 4 ways she hacked $1,300 from her budget.
• Master Your Card compiled a list of 101 Ways to Go Green and Save Money. Add that to our 101 Ways to Save Money in Everyday Life - there are a few similarities - and that’s almost 200 different ways to save!
• Living Almost Large weighs in on how it can be frugal to live alone.
• Wide Open Wallet shares a great story on how not being true to yourself can lead to financial disaster.

Elsewhere in the Frugal and Finance Blogosphere

• Mrs. Micah at Finance for a Freelance Life warns how minimum payments slow down debt repayment. I fully agree; when I got my first credit card, I was surprised at how low the minimum payment was and realized just how tricky these banks and credit card companies can be.
• Almost Frugal presents How to Look Fabulous, Frugally. This is the first of a 3-part series, all of which have been published on her beautiful blog.
• The Taxguy informs us of our rights as taxpayers which include challenging penalties, saying “no” to auditors, the right to a correspondence audit and more.
• Living Well on Less asks “Would you buy it if it wasn’t on sale?” Note and beware the difference between shopping for a bargain and shopping for something you need!
• Frugal Dad asks “Is Frugal Movement Just a Fad?” I think it’s a temporary fad borne out of fear and necessity. Some may learn from this current economic situation and permanently alter their spending habits, but I think many will return to their usual spending as soon as the coast is clear.
• Moolanomy offers a Frugalist Expense Reduction Guide, which is very worth the read. He makes a good point that our ultimate goal should be to build financial health by developing extra income rather than deprivation.

Blog Contest

• Bargain Briana is holding a $25 Amazon gift certificate giveaway, which ends 11PM tonight (11/17/08), so get over there now for a chance to win!

Blog Carnivals

• Last week’s Carnival of Personal Finance, Fierce Financial Tips: The Carnival of Personal Finance #178, Struwwelpeter Edition, was Hosted by The Digirati Life and included my post, Feeling Sorry for the Little Guy in the Losing Battle Between Brick-and-Mortar and Online Shopping.
• This week’s edition is Carnival of Personal Finance #179 - Smile Edition, a reminder to us all to smile because there is no such thing as too much happiness. This edition included my post Life Is Too Short To Sleep On Low Thread-Count Sheets.

Well, this wraps up our roundup for today. I hope you enjoy my recommendations.