"Dump a wineskin of perfume on Jesus’ feet and wipe it off with your hair already!"

New kiosk takes your tithing!

Now, they might seem a little spendy. An upright Giving Kiosk is $3,895, but their website says most churches see a 20% increase in tithes. So even if your church can’t afford the pastor’s life insurance right now, that 20% increase track record should have it paying for itself pretty soon (and maybe even for some new daylight projectors, MacBook Pros, thermal-regulated baptismal tanks, plexiglass sound-isolated drum kit booths, plasma screens and worship woofers). And if a church really can’t afford it, they can even lease the kiosk. - via "Stuff Christian Culture Likes"

Not making fun, just pointing at the ridiculousness of it all. And maybe making a little fun.

 

"We've Got Time!" Said Chicken Little to the Sky, Daringly.

AKA: The Dangers of Deferring Retirement Planning

(suspense) Dun, DUN, DUHHHH!

The Mr. and I started meeting with financial planners when I was 26. We interviewed a couple of them to ensure we got a good fit, as financial advisers are like other professional services where personality and relationship matter. Both of the people (from two different firms) we met with though had the same two reactions to us and our financial breakdown.

1) You guys are much younger than my usual clientele.

2) If nothing in your savings, 401k, stocks, bonds, etc. changes, you will only reach a fraction of your retirement goal by the time you want to retire.

Here are the facts about us:
I am 27, the Mr. is soon-to-be 29 (I like to round up to 30 to irk him).
We BOTH have 401ks that we max out and then some.
We have no credit card or student loan debt.
We have savings, a low-rate mortgage and a low-rate car payment.
I have some educational bonds that are vested.
The Mr. has done moderately well conservatively playing in the stock market.
The Mr. may have some inheritance, but that is uncertain at this time.
We are interested in retiring early with enough money to enjoy our golden years*.

So. I thought to myself, "Self, you're set! Look at how well you've planned and how you allocate your debts and savings! Pat your self on the back and go have a BLT**."

I and think the Mr. and I aren't far from the norm in our planning.

Many youngun's have some retirement planning in place. Some have more. Some have none. But most of us think, in my experience, that we've got time.

Here's what "time" and our pre-adviser planning would get us, according to CNN's retirement calculator:

(some spaces have been whited out for our privacy)

Blah blah blah, basically the bottom line is this:

We will only have a 55% chance of being able to retire when and how we want if we don't change our plan.

And that means taking action now. This is how we changed our tune. "Finance" is the category to notice.

The more accurate, robust breakdowns of our financial trajectory done by the professionals showed that most of our investments only made big bucks in the final, compounding years before retirement.

Two words. Compound interest.

And think that 6-figure number is atypical for retirment? This basic calculator says that a modest retirement at a later age even costs $1.5 million, accounting for inflation! Pensions are going the way of the Atari*** and don't count on Social Security, friends!

As my vibrant 92 year old Grammy says: "You always need more than you think you do."


*Travel and buy lattes.
**Had a BLT in Minnesota that was on pita bread... I recommend it!
*** Pac-man!

Consumerism

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts.

I wrote a long tirade about consumerism and how I see it in my life and those around me (and through the internet), but I deleted it. Because I like brevity. Just watch this video:

One of my guilty habits is that I like disposable razors. I found that a reusable razor would get grimy faster and is harder to clean (you know, with those little groves and grippers for your hands?), so I switched to disposable. I'm going to vow to find a reusable, quality razor and stop buying disposable.

Spring Clean Week - Money Tip: Don't Buy The Small Stuff

Don't Sweat Buy The Small Stuff

I was out with some friends at The Container Store a few years ago. Despite being an organization store, this place is really interesting. Cubbies in every color. Hooks that hang on doors, drawers and walls. Shoe boxes that fit all styles and then tetris together in a neat cube! Fun and practical!

TCS had a line of acrylic boxes in all shapes and sizes with lids. I think that they were intended to be used for office supplies, but some of the boxes were so ridiculously small that not even a paperclip would fit. Fun and NOT practical? Let's all buy one!

So we all bought a tiny box for no reason and mine sat on a bookshelf for at least 3 years, collecting dust.

When it came time to purge it, I was reluctant to throw it away. I mean... its a durable, colored plastic box. And it's so cute. But what is it doing for me? Nothing! I never used it and I just ended up knocking it around when I dusted because it was so tiny, light and flick-a-ble.

I try to remember this item's trajectory through my life whenever I want to buy a decorative bowl from a flash sale site or Goodwill... when I think I could get a deal on a great pair or black flats... when I insist that I will use a milk frother at home!

I am challenging myself to leave a shelf empty, a wall bare and a corner vacant! I will throw away holey underwear, I will take that box to the thrift shop (saw Macklemore this past Saturday- waddup!?), I will hold back from buying seasonal/holiday*/temporary items (not that I do this much, but it IS tempting)!

And most importantly, I won't invest in small things. If it's not important or vital, I'll try to do without it. I may acquire things that are small in size, but big in value, but I won't deal with the petty.

Source: catchmyparty.com viaDonna on Pinterest

*This could be another post. Do you buy holiday themed things that can't be used year round? Do you spend money on things that are disposable for the holidays? Do you throw parties with tons of trinkets?

Upcoming Gift Guides

This isn't a real post. Don't get all hyped up thinking you'll walk away being inspired or informed, like usual (ha!).

I was just thinking of how much I love (online) shopping for gifts for my family and thought:

"Self. You like to compile gifts. Why don't you do a gift guide for people who hate crowds and want to buy everything online. And who enjoy a humorous, useful, delicious, classy gift. People just like you."

So here it comes, a big gift guide for the easily overwhelmed, thin-walleted, introverted, quirky gift giver!

I'll break it down by types of recipients. Not by gender (because every other blogger on two legs does that).

It will go as follows:

Couples gifts
Outdoorsy gifts
Foodie gifts
Stocking stuffers

So get excited. The first post with my fun, gifty findings will be tomorrow!

Source: primitivesbykathy.com via Nicole on Pinterest

----

Announcement to my family

My sister and I decided that it would be fun/easy to do couples/household gifts this year for $25 or less per household. That means that the Mr. and I would get only one gift as a "household" and that gift can be not more than $25. My brother, as a single guy (handsome ginger seeking nice, SWF age 20 - 25 who enjoys laughing her head off! Message me! J/K... or am I?) would count as a household and would get one gift at $25 or under. I have thought about getting my sister and bro-in-law 2 little somethings that equal $25 so they each get a smaller gift, but have yet to decide. The point is, keep is under $25 :)

Paycheck, Needs, Wants, Under-the-Mattress

Income, Spending, Saving

I read that your income should be broken down as 50% Needs, 30% Wants and 20% Savings.

I used our Mint.com to factor what we really spend.

Considering Net, post-taxes, post-retirement-contribution, we are 50/24/26.

That makes for a nice nest-egg, I think, but a weird-shaped woman (Dolly Parton, maybe?).

Tipsy Tuesday: How to Save on Utilities

We love being thrifty, don't we?

In light of this post by Newlyweds on a Budget, what are your utilities? Do articles like this cause you to look at what you spend on utilities?

What we spend:
Hulu: $8 for extra content and HD (Mr. S likes that)
Netflix: $8 (streaming only)
Cable/Internet bundle: $50 (We'll get a break on this from S's employer for his working from home and it will only be $30!)
Cell phones: $200 (We get reimbursed portions of it as we are the executors of a family plan with several people AND S's job will give us a break on it since he won't opt to get a work phone which will bring this down to $70 for us!)
Gas: $40
Electric: $50

Yikes. That looks like more than I thought when it's all lined up!

Anywho, we've been able to add in some luxuries lately (so thankful for turning the AC on in 90 degree heat!) and have skimped in the past. Here's how we cut corners.

1) No cable. Cable used to leave a big whole in a person's life if they had to give it up. But now that Hulu and Netflix are available, why bother?! The only reason we have it is because it was super cheap with the internet (they're practically giving it away now!).

2) Share internet. If you live in a multi-unit building or even in a close neighborhood,  you can piggyback internet for general web-surfing with no slowing speeds. If you are working from home or running a data center out of your house (ha), then this might not be a good option, but for general email or hulu-ing, this can work. We did this for a while and it worked ok (for only paying $20 a month for our portion).

3) Cell phone family plans. You see those deals all the time to add-a-line to your current plan. If you and a few family members/friends share a plan, you can save a ton of money.

4) Hulu. It's free without HD, and free is pretty affordable! (You can also read. My book club is reading this book. Anyone else read it?)

5) Dress for the weather, not for style. I wear thick hiking socks to bed in the winter and walk around pants-less in the summer. It saves on heating and cooling and I get to use a full range of my wardrobe. Win win! If you're cold in the winter, get a fleece and a blanket. Some people complain that our house is roasting or freezing and to them I say, "I'll change the temp when you agree to pay the bill!" I love the adventure of seeing how little we can pay for energy. I think I'm a masochist!

via

Do you do anything to save on utilities? Do you consider more than just the bottom line when you adjust your habits? We also like feeling that we're saving the environment by sweating in the summer!

Dusting Off the Soapbox: a Rant on Healthcare

Close your ears, dad; it's another rant on women's health and healthcare. You can skip this one and come back later today for a normal Tipsy Tuesday :)

---

Fuckin' insurance.

There, I said it.

I have some of the best insurance around. Everything is covered. Even massages (I know!). The dentist is cheap, they cover my eyeglasses and mental health counseling is even free! My company really believes in taking care of people. There is a woman in my office who, with complications, had a baby for only $40 out of pocket. $40 beans, people! She had to pay the copay to see the doctor to diagnose her pregnancy and then another $20 to see a specialist to diagnose her complications. Even delivery was covered by our provider. Holy hell, that's nice.

Not everyone is this lucky. I know cause this is the first job I've had that has insurance and really takes care of you. I know I've got it good.

I thought I saw no wrong until I went to the doc today. Regular checky-check. Nothing to write home about. I even got some great no-baby solutions from the lady-doc that would be long-term and relatively hormone free (me thinks me found a winner!). She suggested I see if insurance covered it before scheduling the implementation of this solution.

Mother F-balls, IUDs cost $1,000 and aren't covered by my insurance. And that's just the cost of the product, not including the in-office procedure. Ironically, the office visit is covered. I can go see the doc, but she can't DO anything. 

Now, I'm not mother (and I plan not to be for a long time, if ever), but I know that having a baby costs a ton of money. Just being pregnant costs money with ultrasounds, vitamins, doc visits, etc. Then you have to actually have the thing which translates to some hospital time (or birthing center time.... or birthing tub with herbal incense and waterfall music time) and then re-translates to: MONEY. Thousands of dollars. And that's just if everything goes well! And that's also just what people pay out of pocket who even have insurance... let's just imagine what the insurance company is paying for someone to have a baby on their plan. Hell, some women can't get insurance once their pregnant because it's too much of a money-suck on the insurance. (So messed up. Deep breaths into a paper bag.)

Tell me if this is messed up: I can get a massage discounted at 80% on my insurance but I cannot help save the provider money and my employer time and money (hello maternity leave!) by getting a break on contraceptives? Messed up?

I can tell you that my company would not be happy to deal with my potential long-term leave right now. Not that I'm invaluable, but that our team has had a lot of shifts lately (resignations, new-hires, new initiatives that I am managing) and my boss has flat-out said that the only thing that could ruin his day (after my cohort resigned) was if I came to him and told him I was pregnant.

via

Moral of this story - if birth control were covered by insurance, if my provider and I could split the difference of this IUD, if the mother-f-ing Catholic church would stop suing over contraception then maybe the US would have fewer unplanned pregnancies, fewer unfit or unprepared mothers or fewer families incurring financial, emotional and physical strain! And let's not forget that the buck doesn't stop with those strained families; it passes right on through (like a corn nugget in a turd) to the communities and ultimately the taxpayers (cough - that's you!).

After all, the legislation isn't staying that you have to use contraception, it's just saying that you have the right to have access to it like you would any other medication. Now, I don't know if IUDs would be covered in Obamacare, but the whole ordeal did get me thinking about medication, women's rights and what is holding back healthcare.

What do you think? Am I missing something crucial here that makes this all make sense?


Disclaimer: I love Jesus. I love families. I love America. I stand by Planned Parenthood, the God that created liberty and the country that allows for it. Now, let's come together!

Flip-It Friday: What's your shopping style?

S and I went on a mini shopping spree for him at TopShop/TopMan last night. His new job requires fancier clothes than he has, so he needed to spruce up about 5 days worth of work attire. That's a lot of clothing for one man in one shopping trip. More on what we bought, here.

We have different shopping styles, so I know that putting our nose to the grind could be a struggle. I get worn out with all the people early on and he gets worn out with the decisions and walking around. We have to do things quickly and efficiently - "Do you like this shirt? Yes or no!", "Would you wear these pants with those shoes? No? Then don't get either!", "These pants fit perfectly... lets get 3 pairs in different colors!" Bing, bang, boom, we're done.

What's your shopping style? 

Do you make lists and are an in-and-out shopper?
Do you like to browse and could make a day of it?

If the former, how do you make decisions so quickly?
If the latter, how do you keep going after you've seen 100 pairs of navy trousers!? And how do you keep from spending a fortune?

We didn't get this bag, but I really loved it. It came in a weathered green version and a black version too. I liked the green, even if it is a men's bag :)

Tipsy Tuesday: Can you guess what I'm crafting?

It might be too obvious. If you need a hint, I'll give you one:

In keeping with Tipsy Tuesday, this craft has something to do with beverages!

(Don't be distracted by the photo backgrounds. I claim to be as much a photographer as I am a crafter, which is not-at-all.)

fruit in the background

cat and fruit in the background

nail polish and cat in the background

 Are you crafty? What talent (crafty or not) are you most proud of?

I don't craft very well (thanks to all the women who craft with/for me: My sister, my mom, Makenzie, Bebe, Chelsey, Maddison!) but I did actually do this all by myself and I think they turned out.

Tipsy Tuesday: First Time Home Buyer Advice

Friends:

We are not buying a home rightthisminute, but we are starting to think about it.

So I posted a question on FB and you all came through for me. (I may just start having my Facebook friends write all of these posts for me!)

via

I asked what were some things that home buyers wish they knew when they first started the process. Here's a breakdown of the FB answers and some interesting points I found in my own search to learn about home buying:

Practicalities
- Don't underestimate the proximity to a convenient store, grocery store, and/or pharmacy.
- Storage, storage, storage! Pantries, linen closets, etc.
- Leave emotion out of it. Keep looking until you find the right combination that fits your needs.
- Seek out a buyer-agent Realtor. Most agents are working for the seller and will try to "sell" you a house with their commission in mind.
- We've all heard that location is key, but if you're moving to a new climate/region you should learn what challenges await you. For example, my friend Maddy lives in Texas after growing up in the Midwest. I never knew this, but you must water your house in Texas to keep the slab from cracking in the summer. Interesting!

Finances
- The lender will approve you for too-much-home! You cannot afford the top dollar they will lend you unless you cut out a lot of your other expenses. Don't trust the bank to advise you on your budget.
- Putting 20% down is not a "must" as it once seemed, but be careful. You will spend more in the long run if you don't put 20% down.
- If you escrow your home owner's insurance and property taxes then the mortgage company can change your payment at any time. It's better to pay them in out-of-pocket.
- Get a good home inspector.

Resale Value
- Buy in a good school district, even if you don't plan to have kids.
- Stay away from fads in fixtures. Buy quality.
- Buy the cheapest house in the neighborhood as the other houses will drive up the value.
- Buy in an appreciating neighborhood and plan to invest at least 5 years in that house.

My brother-in-law also wrote something really nice:

"No matter what people tell you now you will make decisions that you wish you hadn't and will be pleasantly surprised about things you had no clue about."

Some of the advice above is more "key" than the rest, but I think it's all worth a ponder.

What advice do you have for us as we start this journey? We aren't even ready to start shopping lenders as Mr. S's job may change a bit (either a raise or a switch in companies) and that will change our employment/income information.

Another question I have is about the 20% down thing. Do you (cough, cough*dad*cough) think that putting less than 20% down is crazy? Some calculators like here and here make it seem like putting 10% down would be fine. I'm wary... but open to the possibility.

Your thoughts?

Financial Infidelity (I've written this post 3 times now).

ohmyword Ijustwroteawholepostandlostitbyclosingthewindow.

hrumpf.

Ok, well I was excited to share this post with you because it stemmed from a question from my friend B.Lill about when one crosses the line of financial infidelity and, alas, all of my good musings are awash and I am apissed.

Let me try to catch you up on the highlights:

Yes, financial infidelity is real and damaging. No, I don't believe I am financially unfaithful, especially according to this survey/article.

Mr. S and I both came into our marriage debt-free and money conscious. We save a ton of money (my entire salary!) to afford a nice down payment on a house in 2013, survive on one budget (no DINK problem here!) and bought our used car outright (heck no to car payments!).

Not us. Picture via.

Being financially stable is like a passion of ours. Here are some easy ways we avoid financial infidelity and stay on track with our goals:

Consider your expenses. It may benefit you to decide on a spending limit that you can be within and not have to share the deets of your purchase. Like, say, $200. Or say $50 (cause our bank, Chase, emails Mr. S if any purchase is over $50... oftentimes before I even sign the receipt...)

Mr. S and I are allotted the same amount each month to spend as we choose. An allowance, if you will. We can choose to spend less than our budget and roll that amount to the next month for bigger purchases or if we over-spend, we have to watch ourselves the following month as our debt to our group budget roles. I am lucky that we get equal amounts as I make half of what he makes. We think that although I bring in less money, my role in the relationship is just as important and therefore I shouldn't be restricted. Blah blah blah, I have it good.

We also keep all of our transactions public to one another by using the same checking account/credit card account and tracking it all with Mint.com [note to self: write another post about Mint.com and it's benefits/downfalls]. The only transactions we keep private would be ones on our personal cards. We each have a personal credit card that we use for buying each other gifts or for when we are buying things that are only for ourselves. We still report the cost of the credit card bill to Mint, but we keep the details of the purchases mum.

Now, some people cannot have a secret credit card. It may sound silly, but if the swipe of the credit card is too easy for you and you've been in the debt-doghouse before, consider limiting yourself to gift-buying with cash-only. If you are at a risk for financial infidelity by having a secret card, then don't get one. Cash is discrete but an ATM withdrawal is still immediately traceable. That way you only spend what you have and you wont ruin the joy of giving a gift by going into the poor house over it.

Some tricky situations arise when extra income comes through. Raises should be considered part of your joint income and should be applied to joint things - whether fun stuff like vacations or necessities like groceries or paying down debt. And yes, your debt is now a joint expense!


Bonuses and money made from side jobs (as long as the side job is not considered part of your necessary, monthly income) can be dealt with by the earner. Yes, you can keep all the money for yourself, but don't forget that while you were out fixing that old lady's computer for $40/hr, someone was at home doing your laundry, feeding your cats and making you brown bag lunches for the week! [Not that that's a real scenario...]

I have started to write this post 3 times now. If it's unclear on any point, please let me know. Also, if I missed something or you disagree, leave a comment below!

What to Resolve for NYE

Do you have a new years resolution?

I'm reading that some people are tossing them out of the window and just living 2012 like they did 2011. Fine, fine. But if you're going to change something, why not resolve to change it when you have the support of the world and their resolutions too?

Lost on what to resolve? Here are some strange/sincere/silly suggestions:

- Eat dessert. Whenever it's available.
- Do a walking tour of your hometown or some place familiar.
- Go to bed an hour earlier (or later... but do something awesome with that hour!).
- Pick a new tv series and follow it religiously.
- Immerse yourself in a new author's works and finish the lot of 'em.
- Cook "Around the World" by making a dish a week that represents another country.
- Become a "Yes man", but within reason. Not like Jim Carrey.
- Incorporate a new article of clothing into your regular attire (ponchos, scarves, argyle).
- Give up holding grudges.
- Live on less and save or donate the rest.
- Vow to do one thing that scares you a month (ski, see a movie alone, sing in public)
- If you haven't been in a while, go to the dentist!
- Give up caffeine (or don't, haha!).
- Instead of trying to lose weight, vow to mind portion sizes and keep a food journal.
-  Date wildly in 2012. Whether you have a permanent person to date or whether you are still open to suggestion. If you're shy, ask for phone numbers. If you're used to meeting people at bars, approach someone in an art museum. Walk up to the bassist after a metal show. If you're dating/married don't forget to date that person. Ask them out. Wear perfume. Turn up the charm! [Note: This is not a hint to S. I feel well dated... er, you date me well... er... you know what I mean.]

Maybe my favorite suggestion: Treat Yo Self

Drink pairing? Champagne of course!

Note: I am still not drinking until New Years. I got through the holidays only having 1 beer because I couldn't find an ibuprofen. I think it was a fair trade.

Go For Broke but Don't Go Broke For the Holidays

money money money mon-ey ... Mo-NEE!

Geepers. S and I have put our wallets on lock-down as of yesterday until our budget starts over next month. We have to make it 9 more days without any noticeable purchases. (Can we do it?!)

via

Between holiday gift$, the turkey and trimming$, entertaining friend$, the mo$t awe$ome cu$tom card$, and needing/wanting new pant$, we/I have tapped the budget and then $ome.

Granted, I got a wee bit of a raise when I was promoted, but not enough to justify all this over-spending. Where did I go wrong??

Custom cards, a fresh, local turkey and new pants were really the only splurges. But I have excuses for all of that:

1) This is the only appropriate time to use wedding/engagement photos in card-form. If I don't stomp on this milestone this year, I never can!
2) This may be the only Thanksgiving I host so I need to make it wow-ser.
3) And well, I am popping buttons on my old pants and am upgrading from hand-me-downs.

Ok, ok. Calm down mom and dad. We are still meeting all of our basic needs, paying all of our bills, and still contributing to savings. All's well.

So let's explore where we went right:

1) Use coupons/Groupons/sales to shop for gifts. I was able to use a coupon on like 80% of our gifts for family this year and the rest were on sale/discount. Fives.
2) Splurge on only some things (the turkey).
3) When entertaining, go pot-luck! Even our Thanksgiving dinner is going to be a group effort.
4) We're spending inside of our means. No lay-away, no credit card bills larger than our checking account balance, no opening up new lines of credit, no black-Friday plans to buy electronics we don't need (cough cough, S, cough cough).
5) Eat leftovers! To make room for all of the Thanksgiving food and all of the Thanksgiving leftovers, eat what you have now. Oh and leftover make great lunches, so pack your lunch.

What are you doing to financially survive the holidays?
Have you found Black Friday deals for which you were glad to get up at 3 AM?
I am seriously curious.

Flip It Friday: Gift Giving and Some Gibberish

Let's get the flippin' Friday thing over with so I can brag a little:

When giving a gift, is it acceptable to be fruigal? Or is inexpensive always considered "cheap"? Can you get and then give a deal? If you know someone isn't going to use a years supply worth of bath salts in their lifetime, is it ok to be reasonable and get them just a few bath's worth?

Via Pinterest. Yes, Sarah, Pinterest. You know the drill. Reply with comments on what you think.
 ---
Ok, on to bigger, braggier fish.

I have readers in the US, Russia, Germany, Peru and South Korea!!!!

I probably have for at least a little while now, I just didn't know how to check for my blog's globalization. That's right, Russia, you are reading real, American, ignorant writing! Feel authentic!

And upon my Magellan of a discovery, I am going to honor my foreign readers in their language. [Per a sketchy site with babble-like translation... here goes]

Я Tooting свой рог

Ich bin tooting meine eigene

Hupe Estoy tocando mi propio cuerno

내 자신의 경적을 tooting 오전

And there you have it. I said "I am tooting my own horn" in 4 languages. Of course, I'm sure that the literal translations of what I just said refers to farting, but I'm proud nonetheless!

[p.s. The Korean looked like wingdings on the translation page. Sorta glad they actually appear to be characters, but also kinda sad that Koreans don't speak "wingdings", but then glad again because they don't have a word for "tooting" and the English word helps ground the phrase on the page, but then sad again because what do the Koreans call it?? Oh, translation machine says: 방귀뀌다]

Last Money Chart For The Week, I Promise

Put your laughing pants on. This is how I spend my money:

Bagels get their own catagory.

Here's what my spending looks like when put into broader terms.

This may show that I am over 75% more concerned with eating than I am with being clean.

Charts and weirdness from here, again.

C'mon. Someone else do some weird charties!

Tipsy Tuesday Advice: Know Your Pie and How to Slice It

I made this chart with the data from our Mint.com and this site. Yes, it may be a kids site, but it makes a pretty good free graph. Neat.

Looking at this graph, I'm all like, "Woah, are you supposed to spend 40% of your cha-ching on rent and stuff??"

Let's take a step back.

This chart only shows our total spending broken out by category. Whew. It's totally ok that out of our total spending, 40% is on rent. It SHOULD be the largest expense we have each month. Unless, we have a mortgage, then that should be our largest ticket item.

To give you some perspective, here's how much we really spend a month:

We save quite a bit, so the first pie chart shouldn't be so scary.

Now, people who claim to be experts say that you shouldn't spend more than 1/3 of your income in housing.

We seem to fit comfortably within our limit of spending less than a 1/4 of our income on rent. High five for saving, spending within our recommended limits and for charts in general.

Fives to NewlyWedsOnABudget too, for getting me excited for charting.

Drink suggestion for this post? What goes well with pie...

If it's a pot pie, a beer; if it's a dessert pie, then have a glass of Merlot. (Some would argue that you should have a sweeter wine with dessert, but who can take all that sugar... let's go DRY.) Last night I had a glass from a winery my parents visited in Paducah, Kentucky. Thanks Mom and Dad for the Purple Toad Merlot! I love a good, local wine with a story behind the hunt for it!

via

Tipsy Tuesday: Cha-ching and Womp-womp.

It's Wednesday. I know. Let's just deal with it.

I did have a tipsy Tuesday, though, over a bottle of white wine with S. The wine last night was quite in-line with this wallet-friendly post in that it was:

a) cheap to begin with;
b) on sale;
c) bought in bulk because it came with a reusable wine-carrier (think reusable grocery bag but with dividers to make carrying 6 bottles must less noisy);
and
d) we drank white instead of red because we turned off our AC for the past few days to try and cut back on our energy bill and it was too HOT to drink anything that wasn't chilled.


Turning Leaf. The Pinot Grigio (I think it was) was good.

We also had fish sticks, a Bertolli insta-meal and chips & guac for dinner. That has nothing to do with anything except that meal planning has become a liberated adventure in our house. Themes and consistency be damned.

So let's talk budgeting.

I used to just do some quick rounding math in my head when I was single to try and budget myself. $50 here on a dress for work - justifiable. $25 here on cover and a drink at a bar - gulp *for the drink and the price tag. $7 for lunch with a friend once in a while - necessary to keep up on my ignored social life. I didn't know where all of my money was going exactly, but I wasn't breaking the bank. I didn't have debt (praise Je-sus) and I was building some small savings. So who cared?

My future self, that's who.

Turns out it is wickedly hard to keep track of money and investments when you add another person to the moola-mix. But regardless of how many people are in your financial household, no post-college person should be without a working budget. I mean a real one. Not a mental one that you compile while in line at H&M.

Tools:
There are some great tools for keeping your budget transparent and on track. Our parents had to balance a checkbook and keep bank statements. Our lives are easier with online banking and budget tools like Quicken and free budget tools like Mint.com. (We use Mint and LOVE it. Easy to use, safe and free!)

Set up:
Be honest with yourself and your tools (be it Mint, your checkbook, your online banking or your significant other. Did I just say your significant other is a tool? Hey-o!). You'll have to set up budgets and be real about it. If you "need" to spend $200 a month on clothes, put it in the budget. If you want to get serious about your debt and will choose to skip a meal once a month so you can make that happen, put it in the budget! (I have a friend who skips a meal once a month to make ends meet. That's dedication!)

Keep with it:
Track your progress. Make appointments to talk to your financial players (the bank, your family, your budgeting tools) and adjust spending, income and investments to reflect what you can do. Take pride in your growing bank account. Remind yourself that you brown-bag your lunch so you can afford the ski trip in March. Live within your means and find joy/peace/existence in that. Hell, make the ski resort your computer background.

Reward and reprimand yourself:
Did you do well this month? Have a latte. Did you compulsively wander the aisles of Target and end up with a cartful of "not in the budget"? Cut back next month, sell some of your stuff on Craigslist or try and pick up some extra hours at work. Make sure you hold yourself accountable to your actions. When you reward yourself, you are less likely to fumble when you feel weak (this works for diets too!).

Here's to some good company in the budget blog-o-world (Not to be confused with the Blago world. Another zing, I'm on fire! Fives!).

Newlyweds on a Budget
The Budget Babe on fashion
Etsy for the budget friendly and socially minded ~swoon!
Broke and Healthy on food and fitness

Happy hump day. S and I are off to Jazzin' at the Shedd with BLill. Budget friendly because we get the aquarium AND the fireworks AND time with B.a.M. :)

Common Sense Wednesday: Don't Get Taken

If you do get taken by some international thugs, let Liam Neeson help you, cause I certainly can't.

What I can help you with is this: being "taken" by some seemingly good deals that aren't. Learn from my pain.

1) Select Comfort Sleep Number beds. It's an air mattress! My roommate (yes, mom, we're still married, but I don't like the term "husband") and I got a king-sized sleep number bed when we got married. We were looking forward to all of the space and were capitalizing on a good deal they were running. The bed was big and cheap(er) - if you count a $3,000 bed cheap :( Compared to the normal pricing and financing, it was cheaper. What it was not, however, was comfortable. The thing had chambers of air to allow for each side of the bed to have different firmness. This meant that we were sleeping on two separate air mattresses pushed together under one foam mattress pad. Think the 50's a la Lucky and Ricky.


via

Not only were we separated by ballooning mattress bladders (that's what they called them too, bladders), but there was a foam ring around the bed to support all of the air displacement and try and make you feel like you weren't at summer camp or a sleep over.

The icing on the cake? The fact that Sleep Number made you keep this awful mattress a full 30 days before scheduling a return, but a return had to be processed within 45 days. They give you a 15 day window to return in, in which they are hoping your forget or slit your wrists on a sleepless bender.

The cherry on the cake? They charge you to return it. My. Word. You can look into shipping it back to them yourselves, but it's a laborious task and costs just as much as their fee. (Deep breaths. I am getting re-heated over this...)

The roommate/husband and I had them haul this thing away and we bought ourselves a proper king sized bed - a premium one too - for less than we paid on this joke.

2) Blooms Rewards. When I started writing these unsolicited reviews, I was only mildly pissed at Blooms Rewards. Now that a day has past and more of their unscrupulous deeds have surface, I'm ashamed to have bought my mother's birthday flowers through this company. (Sorry mom, love you!)

Anyway, Blooms Rewards is a flower website where you can order a variety of bouquets under the assumption of getting a really good deal through a coupon code. Coups are so in right now, so I thought "why not?" Well, the reason "why not" lies in the fine print.


Via their damn website that I will not put a link to here. So there. Take that.

Whether the fine print was there or not, I did not see it. I ended up signing up for a membership that charges my credit card monthly (legit and understandable) and also being signed up for an identity theft service (ironic!?) that I didn't know about (not legit and should be illegal). We ended up canceling that credit card number and getting a new one from the provider instead.

I'm about 30% embarrassed that I fell to a scam, 20% mad that scams like this exist and 30% mad that didn't read the reviews before entering my credit card info. (What? That's only 80%? Well then, I'm also 20% hungry.)

Moral of the story? Read the fine print. Or, if you are too lazy/busy/like everyone else, then read reviews online. Chances are, we could have avoided these two scams (in our opinion, Sleep Number beds are a scam) by seeing what other consumers thought.

Common Sense Wednesday: Money for Nothing and the Perks for Free

or Build, Contribute, Reinvent
or Have Your Cake and Eat It Too (although a Brit said it first)
or The American Way - Fat, Prickish and Broke
or Yet More Evidence One Should Live Within His Means
or Watch This Video and Turn Your Brain on:



Mary Meeker of KCPB narrates a fascinating piece on the economy through the lense of "America, Inc" and on the heels of a heated debate about our country's budgets, spending and debt. It's a bit of a long video, but worth your time. Take you lunch break to view and mill it over if you can.

It provokes many questions, and appears to be non-partisian in pointing blame at all of us - consumers and politicians alike - for being such a greedy, spoiled nation with a muffin top (my words, not Mary's). Pretty picture, huh?

Without even tipping a toe into the partisian debate on spending, let's think about the extremes for no other reason than to answer some obvious questions:

For those that say they don't want to pay higher taxes, that we should purely cut spending because "I don't use the public library, nor am I on welfare, and I don't like war", I ask you -

Do you live in a jungle? Where lion/tiger/bear law reigns? Where you scavenge for your food and answer only to the call of the wild? No. You live in 'merica and you may think that you have a right to retire when your knees go bad.

For those who say that they'd prefer for the rich to pay higher taxes to support programs that help keep Grandma healthier, longer, but think that they, themselves, need to not cut back on the cable bill and pitch in for G-ma's expensive vitamins, I ask -

Would Grandma appreciate that? What if when you get older, your kids shipped you to "the home" to take care of you and give you what you needs to survive, nevermind your quality of life? Isn't that passing the buck?

For those who support higher taxes for everyone in favor of keeping all of the programs the help the poor, downtrodden, sick, elderly, and homeless, I say -

Are the programs for which your tax dollars are paying working? Do you know where your money's going? Is it going towards the program's overhead? Their travel expenses? Is it even going towards providing drug users with clean needles?

For EVERYONE -

What do you think about the budget deal? What changes would you make to the way our country handles its finances? What are you going to do as a citizen to make a difference?