Keeping those tax and financial aid papers organized
Every year in late December, I designate a big manila envelope as our “tax papers” parking spot.
Anything that arrives to the house that is a tax document goes into that envelope. Then on our tax appointment day, I bring the packet and sort through the papers as the tax preparer asks for them. (Yes, we hire a pro. It’s one of our rare non-frugal decisions! The point I’m making is you’ll want such a packet regardless of whether your taxes are DIY or done by someone else.)
These days, our tax document packet does double-duty as my daughter’s college financial aid document packet. Reason: some data on the year-end financial documents are needed for both sets of papers.
I’ve already started working on the college financial aid applications, and will sign and send those within a day or two after the taxes are done.
Continue reading Keeping those tax and financial aid papers organized …
From Monroe on a Budget.
The Best Career Advice: Do Stuff
Yesterday, I read a really interesting article about career choices on Charlie Hoehn’s blog. A quick excerpt:
I haven’t really talked about this before, but I’ve failed more times than I can remember. I’ve tried starting up several businesses, tried patenting inventions, tried starting up online communities, tried building several websites, tried to win contests… and failed almost every single time. But I never chalked any of them up as failures in my head, because I learned so much in the process each time. So now, when I’ve finally reached a point where things seem to fall into place with far less effort, I can’t help but think about all those times where I didn’t succeed over the course of the last eight years. And I look back in fondness, because those lessons learned are the reason I’m here. None of this stuff happened over night — in a way, I’ve been working to reach this point since I was 15.
[...]
And therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go.
I know exactly what he’s talking about.
In college, I worked for quite a long time in a plant pathology lab studying soybean diseases. I learned some things – including that the work wasn’t right for me. I eventually moved on to computer analysis of massive quantities of data. I learned quite a lot from that as well (including that I really loved the work, but I found it really stressful). From there, I did another complete 180 and became a writer. I did all of that before the age of 30. What does the next decade hold? I really, truly have no idea.
The key thing is this: I never stopped trying new things. I still don’t. In the last year, I’ve tried a podcast, video production (on an unrelated topic), and architecture of a community website in my spare time (what little I have of it). Each time, things work with varying degrees of success – sometimes it really clicks and other times it doesn’t at all. Either way, I learn something from it.
Many people are afraid to try new things like this. They look at their career as a set path. In five years, I’ll make partner. In ten years, I’ll be a GS-13. In fifteen years, I’ll be mayor.
Careers almost never work like that. Companies are downsized. The political landscape changes. Your interests evolve and change. You gain a spouse – or you lose one. You have kids. You have a health crisis. Something sweeps you off your feet and carries you along for the ride. An old friend calls out of the blue and offers you an awesome opportunity.
The only way to prepare yourself for such chaos is to constantly try new things in your spare time. Take a class. Try out a new hobby. Teach yourself a new skill. Meet a new group of people. Launch a project of some kind. Start a side business.
If it doesn’t work out, so what? You learned something. The learning is the most valuable thing of all. Because, when that right thing does come along, you’re more likely to succeed at it if you have a lot of life lessons under your belt. Life lessons generally come from failure, not from success.
What can you do today? That’s the real question, isn’t it? Try something new – something outside of the normal way you do things. Start a blog. Sign up for a class. Start a side business. Go to a group meeting that you’ve never been to before.
Where will you find the time? Log off the computer and turn off the television, for starters. For many people, those two things alone will free up a lot of time.
Good luck.
Continue reading The Best Career Advice: Do Stuff …
From The Simple Dollar.
“Why should people in distress be the only ones to benefit?”
H. Douglas Chaffin, president and chief executive officer of Monroe Bank & Trust in Monroe, Mich., wrote a guest column for Saturday’s edition of The Monroe Evening News that was headlined “What happened to personal responsibility?”
Doug said in his piece that bankers are seeing an alarming trend “with a small number of borrowers” who can pay the bills, but see no reason to, given the attention that is going to economic bailouts.
A snippet from the fictional, but representative, conversation, he related:
“Why should people who are in distress be the only ones to benefit? Those of us who just want to maintain a certain lifestyle should receive consideration as well. What if I just pay you what I want for now? I might start making full payments later.”
Well, here’s a reality check for those who think the financially distressed are getting too good of a deal: Not every family in distress is benefiting from all those bailout deals in the first place. There are rules and restrictions in effect for those programs.
Almost every money-saving program, discount service and economic bailout that I have posted during the past three years has a qualification of some sort: be it an application deadline, age or residency requirement, a membership, paperwork requirement, first-come/first-served, date range or amount cap on benefits, show up on appointed date and time, etc.
So if you can afford to live comfortably without the time and effort that families on a budget have to invest in the pursuit of stretching their funds, well, then, enjoy your life.
But then, I don’t think people like that read blogs like mine in the first place.
Continue reading “Why should people in distress be the only ones to benefit?” …
From Monroe on a Budget.
"Every State That Has Been Given the Opportunity Has Banned It"
That’s what my husband said when he heard the election results yesterday morning.
Maine, my state, had a referendum question on gay marriage on Tuesday. As a state, we had already voted to ban gay marriage years ago, but the Maine state legislature decided to overturn the will of the people and passed a law to allow gay marriage in Maine. The Maine people put a people’s veto on the ballot and once again denied homosexuals the right to marriage.
I may have a different view on gay marriage than most Christians. I don’t think that banning gay marriage will ultimately lead to more people to follow Christ. But that is not the point of this post.
Can’t we all just be nice?
Regardless of how you feel about gay marriage, the Maine state legislature was wrong in overturning the will of the people. They are elected to serve the will of the people. That alone was reason enough for me to support this people’s veto.
The leaders of the anti-gay marriage side did not play nice, though. They talked about how gay marriage would be taught in schools, implying it would turn our kids gay if gay marriage were allowed. But the gay marriage law that the legislature passed had nothing to do with public school policy. There were some people who were involved in the pro-gay marriage side who were also pushing for a change in public school policy, but this law had nothing to do with it.
The anti-gay marriage side, in my opinion, had a strong argument against the law the legislature passed without lying. Yet most ads I heard and saw were about homosexuality being taught in the public schools, which had nothing to do with the people’s veto.
Can’t we all just be nice?
Although I’m glad that the people’s veto was passed, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t like being on the same side as people who based their campaign on lies. The ends don’t justify the means.
Being nice will get you further in life, both in your personal and financial life. You may still get your way without being nice, but it may end up feeling like a hollow victory.
Continue reading "Every State That Has Been Given the Opportunity Has Banned It" …
From Under $1000 Per Month.
The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Next Project Edition
Now that my book is finished, I’ve decided to embark on another big time-consuming project, but this one is a little different.
I’m a big fan of online banks. I think they’re an incredibly powerful tool for helping you with your personal savings. For a long time, I’ve wanted to talk about a slew of online banks, just to review all of the different options out there.
There’s been a problem with this, though. I don’t like to talk about products that I don’t actually use myself. I won’t review a book unless I’ve read it and thought about it. I won’t review a financial tool unless I’ve used it extensively myself. And I won’t talk about a bank unless I’ve used it myself.
I use ING Direct as my primary bank. I talk about it often. But I don’t mention other banks for the reason above, and I want that to change. There is a huge diversity in online banks, offering different features, different interest rates, different offerings, and different tools for managing your money.
Here’s my solution. Over the next several months, I’m going to open accounts at a bevy of online banks. I’m going to try them out, see in detail what services they offer, transfer some money in out, test their customer service, and close the accounts (if I don’t intend to replace an account I’m already using).
Then, once a week, I’m going to post a detailed review of that bank in an effort to outline clearly what distinguishes it from other banks. What do they do differently? Who is this bank most appropriate for?
So I’m going to open this up to you a little bit. What would you like to see in a review of an online bank? What features really matter to you and would cause you to make the move to switch to a new bank?
While you chew on that, here are some interesting personal finance articles that might interest you.
“Natural Inclinations…Are Hardly Ever Altered or Overcome.” Over the last few days, I’ve been enormously inspired by this little quote. (@ the happiness project)
Do you do your most important work first? I used to have a very organized morning routine, where I would do most of my “routine” tasks before starting the day. What I found is that I got my “routine” tasks done, but most of the real meat of my work – the creative tasks – didn’t go nearly as well. (@ unclutterer)
How to Change Your Motor Oil Changing one’s own motor oil is a tremendous way to save money – when you pay someone else to do it, you’re essentially paying someone $20 so you can sit in a waiting room while some guy unscrews a nut, collects some oil in a bucket, screws the nut back in place, then dumps some clean oil in the top. Why not do that at home where you can do something worthwhile while the oil drains and save yourself $20? (@ art of manliness)
What To Do With A Financial Windfall This is a great step-by-step guide to handling a windfall. If you don’t have a plan, windfalls can actually be a large negative disruption in your life, as we talked about a bit last week. (@ moolanomy)
Results of a Week Without Spending Can you go an entire week without spending any money? As an experiment, this family attempted to have a week without any spending and managed to get by only spending $3. Fairly insightful stuff. (@ pt money)
Continue reading The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Next Project Edition …
From The Simple Dollar.
Blog Content Club has Launched
Well, today is the day that I finally reveal the project that I’ve been working on day and night for several months!
I’ve never been more proud of a project as I am about this one and that’s for one simple (but powerful reason)…
There has never been a way for a person like you (and me) [...]
Continue reading Blog Content Club has Launched …
From Frugal Simplicity.
Blog Content Club has Launched
Well, today is the day that I finally reveal the project that I’ve been working on day and night for several months!
I’ve never been more proud of a project as I am about this one and that’s for one simple (but powerful reason)…
There has never been a way for a person like you (and me) [...]
Continue reading Blog Content Club has Launched …
From Frugal Simplicity.
Blog Content Club has Launched
Well, today is the day that I finally reveal the project that I’ve been working on day and night for several months!
I’ve never been more proud of a project as I am about this one and that’s for one simple (but powerful reason)…
There has never been a way for a person like you (and me) [...]
Continue reading Blog Content Club has Launched …
From Frugal Simplicity.
Lose Yourself In Your Favorite Tunes – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday
I used to love music. My radio and tape player where hardly ever off when I was a teen and later as a young adult. Somewhere around the time I become a wife and mother I stopped listening to music as much. There just seemed to be so much constant noise in my life, the last thing I wanted was more, even if it was music. Sadly, I lost my love for music.
Recently I rediscovered how much the right kind of music energizes me, relaxes me and changes my mood. And that’s what today’s fuzzy-wuzzy Wednesday post is all about. Set aside some time to lose yourself in some of your favorite tunes.
Get out some of your favorite CDs or tune into your favorite radio station and sit back and lose yourself in those tunes for a little while.
Don’t have some of your favorite songs or albums from your favorite artists? Try Pandora.com
I was in the mood to listen to some Fleetwood Mac and Eagles Tunes for some reason today, but couldn’t find a single CD. Instead I went to Pandora, typed both of those groups in, got out my headphones and started listening to some wonderful music while putting the HBHW Newsletter together. I had a blast and it kept me in an upbeat, energized mood all day, even though I’d been up most of the night with a sick little one.
Continue reading Lose Yourself In Your Favorite Tunes – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.
Lose Yourself In Your Favorite Tunes – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday
I used to love music. My radio and tape player where hardly ever off when I was a teen and later as a young adult. Somewhere around the time I become a wife and mother I stopped listening to music as much. There just seemed to be so much constant noise in my life, the last thing I wanted was more, even if it was music. Sadly, I lost my love for music.
Recently I rediscovered how much the right kind of music energizes me, relaxes me and changes my mood. And that’s what today’s fuzzy-wuzzy Wednesday post is all about. Set aside some time to lose yourself in some of your favorite tunes.
Get out some of your favorite CDs or tune into your favorite radio station and sit back and lose yourself in those tunes for a little while.
Don’t have some of your favorite songs or albums from your favorite artists? Try Pandora.com
I was in the mood to listen to some Fleetwood Mac and Eagles Tunes for some reason today, but couldn’t find a single CD. Instead I went to Pandora, typed both of those groups in, got out my headphones and started listening to some wonderful music while putting the HBHW Newsletter together. I had a blast and it kept me in an upbeat, energized mood all day, even though I’d been up most of the night with a sick little one.
Continue reading Lose Yourself In Your Favorite Tunes – Fuzzy Wuzzy Wednesday …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.