Remember Playing MASH?

Posted by random olio

Do you remember as a kid playing MASH (Mansion/Apartment/Shack/House)? It used to be a horoscope/8-ball into your future. As a girl (and I can imagine more girls than boys played this game), you would list out 4 boys names, 4 cars, 4 numbers (usually meant for # of kids), 4 cities, and 4 jobs. Then the friend asking you the questions would say “Go” and they would make draw lines until you said “Stop.” Then they would count the number of lines and use that to go through the list and cross off items in each list until there was only one left. I have not played that game in years and years. AND. Yes, there is an online version. No longer do kids (if they still play this game) write on notebook paper. There is also, yes you guessed it, a MASH app.

MASH

It came to me today because we have been house hunting and it made me think about the house I grew up in, and how much my parents paid for that house, and how expensive homes are today. Like dominos, my mind went from the house I grew up in, to my neighborhood, to childhood friends, to games we played and then to MASH. Does your mind do that kind of domino effect of one thing to another?

As I started writing this post, I remembered I had this article saved for a while from LearnVest about “How much my lifestyle will cost?” I had been meaning to use their MASH style calculator that tells you how much money you need to be saving to have that MASH-esque lifestyle. It is sort of like a dream calculator.

Ah…the things we did as kids. The dreams we had for our mansion, the boys we dreamed about growing old with, the luxury car, oh the list goes on. In the end, it all turned out all right. Dreams are good though. Some we meet, some we never attain, and some we blow out of the water!

Bump to Pay App

Posted by random olio

How many times are you out with a friend and they say I am covering this, and you say I will pay next time. When the next time comes you realize you do not have your credit card and about enough cash for a small coffee. Your friend covers to pay for your dinner, but you are adamant that you are paying her back. Now you can, right away! No need to send her a check in the mail, wait until you see her next, or send her a check through your checking account.

You can now use the Bump to Pay app on your phone (iOS devices). The app uses PayPal for the transaction, so you need to have a PayPal account set up that will take money out of your checking account. You can then select the amount you want to share with a friend and Bump your phones to make the money transfer.

As long as it is truly secure, then it is definitely an app individuals will use. Hopefully they will expand to other smart phones. For now, anyone with an iPhone has no excuse for not covering their own tab.

Has anyone tried it? I always like to hear what others think before I use apps that require connecting to my credit card or checking account, but it does sound convenient. What else will they think of?! What apps have you thought of that do not yet exist?

More Bang For Your Buck

Posted by random olio

Recently I posted about: All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending, by Laura Vanderkam. One of the things she mentions is that the average cost of an engagement ring today is: $5,392. Wow. That could be a used car for some folks. Add the engagement ring to the cost of the wedding itself (flowers, dress, reception, food, venue, etc). It adds up quickly. My question is – is it all necessary? Chris and I got married on a beach in Hawaii for basically the cost of a honeymoon. Even doing that, it was expensive, but it was nothing like what the cost could have been if we had a traditional wedding + a honeymoon. I appreciate what Laura says in her book:

“With the same $5,392 the average couple spends on an engagement ring, a set of new parents could pay a babysitter $50 a night for 107 nights so they could have time to themselves or go neck in their car like teenagers. The $12,124 The Knot reports the average couple spends on a reception venue could cover a $100 housecleaning service, twice a month, for the entire five years many two-kid couples spend in that sticky stage when children spill milk just to see what will happen. The average $1,988 florist and decor bill could be doled out, instead, as 198 thinking-of-you $10 bouquets–a once-a-month gesture of love for a solid 16.5 years.” page 22

Laura also talks about what would bring more joy to your marriage. Does the American Dream and picket fence really make you satisfied? Or are you more interested in traveling and learning about other cultures? If so, are you paying more for a car or home then you really need? Are you doing it because it makes you happy, or is it because it is what you think you should be doing? What is more responsible? What causes you less stress? I often think of things pertaining to money in terms of justification. If I do not buy this now, I will have enough money for something else later. Much like what Laura mentions about $1,988 in flowers could give you 198 $10 thinking of you bouquets a month for 16.5 months. What has more bang for your buck?

We have so many different ideas and options before us. Are we asking the questions of what is best for us and our families, or are we making choices just to keep up with the Jones’? Do we really need the big elaborate wedding, or engagement ring, or are we best prepared if we put that money towards our future? Or towards our emergency funds?

What do you think?

Are you a DINK? Or a DEWKs?

Posted by random olio

I think we have all heard of the term DINK, which is an acronym for: dual income no kids. Until recently I had not heard of the term DEWKs: dually employed with kids or SITCOM: single income, two children, oppressive mortgage. Right now I am feeling for the SITCOM, at least the OM part. All these acronyms come from the many ideas I read in: “All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending” by Laura Vanderkam.

She mentions talking to your children about money, and making it part of their upbringing. I do not have children yet, but I have a feeling that my kids will think I am like a broken record, because I will definitely be teaching them about money just as I will teach them about respect, love, trust, the list goes on. I want them to feel comfortable talking about money. I like what the author says in the following quote about an internal locus of control. This allows kids to chart their own course and work hard on their own merits. I know it has always felt nice when I have attained something on my own, rather than on the shirt tails of another.

“The best thing we can do for our kids, economically, is to teach them to be entrepreneurial. A big chunk of this is helping them develop an internal locus of control–that is, the belief that they are responsible for making their way in the world. No one is going to hand them a job or an opportunity. They will have to seek it out.” page. 139

Another ideal that I would like my kids to see me follow is that we are living within our means. I want to show them, whether with our own finances or with examples, how it is possible to live within your means based on choices that we make. I have seen so many horror stories on Oprah and other shows about parents that give their children everything they want and are not even remotely able to pay for it. To me this is “keeping up with the Jones.” Laura says that children’s mindsets are shaped between 8 and 12 years old.

“Talk about why a lower interest rate on a mortgage matters in terms of monthly payments, and if you’re working extra hours to afford a particular vacation or to get out of debt, make sure they see the connection. Keep in mind that in a cashless culture, kids may have a harder time grasping what money really is.” page 213

It should mean that children will have more respect for their parents and the material possessions they do have, and hopefully connect the dots to see all that a parent is doing to provide for their children. I can understand parents wanting to protect or shield their kids from knowing if things are tight, or that their financial situation is dire, however, I think it is possible to educate without instilling fear.

“If your children see you paying your bills on time, living on less than you make, and putting money away for the future, this becomes the norm. If your young children have savings accounts and simply learn that a percentage of birthday and holiday money always goes there, this will be an incredibly difficult habit to break later on. Saving will feel like brushing their teeth.” page 212

She also tells us to let children fail, that we should teach our kids the “value of the dollar.” She says to encourage children to figure out their values about money (and that means we should probably know ours). I learned my values about money the hard way. I had many jobs during college, juggling them to pay for school, while also babysitting on the side. Some friends got to sleep in and take classes all day (or have just 3 classes all day and that was all they were responsible for). I was in a work/study program and then worked extra on the side so I could go out and have a little spending money for food or a movie with friends. I definitely did not take what I earned for granted, I worked hard to pay for school, and knew what an opportunity my college education was for me.

So regardless of if you are a DINK, DEWK, or SITCOM, what are your money values?

Spouse Inherits In Only 16 states

Posted by random olio

This is not the most exciting or thrilling topic, but it is an IMPORTANT one. I recently read this Forbes article: “Americans Lack Basic Estate Plans.” The part I want to point out though does not have to do with estate plans, but about the part that says:

“Even if there are no end of life questions, you need at least a basic will to make sure the right person gets your assets. Most couples without estates big enough to be taxable write “I love you” wills leaving everything to each other. But if a husband or wife dies without a will, the surviving spouse inherits everything in only 16 states.”

Fascinating. Did you know that? I did not.

After doing a bit of research it looks like it is called, the “Uniform Probate Code” and these are the 16 states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. So if you are not in one of these 16 states it might be worthwhile to look into what the estate laws are for your state. I know I will be!

When each of my parents died, neither of them had a will, health insurance, life insurance, or a living will. My sister, brother, and I had to figure out what to do about funeral arrangements, how to pay for their bills, and deal with their remaining belongings. When my grandma died, she did have a will, but it was very outdated. It still had disbursement going to my mother who had been gone more than 10 years before her. The way her will was set up and worded meant that we spent a few years in probate, ending up in a very large portion of her estate going to probate fees, lawyer fees, and the bank (she had the bank as one of the executors of her will). Bank as executor = lots of lost money. The bank has to sign a lot of the paperwork and they do it in their own time, while charging a monthly fee. It was a mess, and a long, drawn out process that took a few years.

I have heard good reviews that you can go to LegalZoom to have a will put together inexpensively online. If you do not have a will, take the steps now to do so. Especially if you have children!