A 7 Year Car Loan?

Posted by random olio

I saw this recent article about how having a car loan for 7 years. I like the poll at the end of the article: “Would you pay $1,600 more over a seven-year period to get a 50% lower monthly payment now?” The chart shows that for a 3 year loan you would pay $588 a month, and for a 7 year loan it would be $271 a month. The seven-year loan means that you are only paying an additional $1600 in interest. I am never one to pay interest if I do not have to, but it is nice to know that you could have a more affordable payment for a longer term.

The question that they bring up at the end, which I think is also worth thinking about, is if you wanted to sell your car in 5 years, and had a 7 year loan, then likely you will owe more than the car is worth. That is definitely something to think about and research. I like that it is possible in their more financial tight times. Having said that, I like it with one caveat. If the car you are purchasing is to ritzy and expensive that you have to go for the 7 year loan. To me then it is not worth it. If you are stretching yourself for the visibility of a luxury car, then you should buy a less expensive car.

I guess it depends on how you choose to spend your money, your interest rate, how long you drive your car (in years), how long you drive your car each day, and your thoughts on putting your income into your car. Suze Orman would tell you to get rid of the car payment completely. She would likely say if you are making less on the money you are putting away (separate from 401ks, 403bs, and IRAs) than you are paying for a car loan, then pay off your car loan. If you can make more on the money you invest than the car loan interest rate, then keep your car loan. Look to where you make more for your money.

What do you think?

“The Law of Two-Thirds”

Posted by random olio

I love to share a good thing. Whether that is my new favorite restaurant, or a referral for a hair stylist. It does not matter. Sharing a good thing feels good. So thank you, John, for sharing this great blog, and the idea of the two-thirds rule with me.

The full blog post is from “Start from Why.” The blog post explains that out of these three, we can only have two:

Quality
Speed
Price

He explains that if we want fast food, we are not after quality, but we want it quick and cheap. If we are buying a new luxury car, we want quality and price, but want it done well, so we do not care as much about speed, and are willing to wait. What areas of your professional and personal life follow The Law of Two-Thirds? Are there projects you are working on that you know you will have to sacrifice quality because you are asked to do it quickly and cheaply? Or do you have projects where quality matters, and so you sacrifice speed?

It makes me think about the many times where it is hard for me to sacrifice quality. When my name is attached to anything I am working on, I want quality to come first. We do not always have that choice. Many times money is the driving force to how we have to approach what we do. Yet, so is speed. In this world of now, now, fast, now, speed tends to be the focus. So does that mean that many of the times what is lost is quality?

I hope not. I hope that quality eventually becomes the most important aspect of The Law of Two-Thirds. What do you think?

Sophia Grace and Rosie’s Comment on Ellen

Posted by random olio

Have you heard of Sophia Grace and Rosie? The eight- and six-year-old British music fans and mini singers frequented “The Ellen Degeneres Show” quite often last season. I loved watching them. They were always so excited, happy, and thrilled to chat and sing. They are also Nicki Minaj fanatics. Ellen has had them interview musicians on multiple award shows, and both girls know all the stars, as well as their songs. And, yes the always are dressed in tutu’s.

While catching up on personal emails, online reading, and Great Dane web cam watching over the weekend, I also caught up on Ellen. One of the episodes in her first week of the season had Sophia Grace and Rosie on. Simon Cowell and Britney Spears had been on earlier in the show promoting “The X Factor.” When Sophia Grace and Rosie came on, Ellen asks them if they watched Simon and Britney, and Sophia Grace (dark hair) says: “I met him backstage, but I do think he needs to put his trousers down a bit.” If you fast forward the video to :40 seconds, you’ll see the specific moment (click first image to watch).

Love those two girls. Wish I had as much excitement and thrill about the world, music, and pink when I was six and eight years old.

If you want to see them sing (and their hilarious banter with Ellen) watch the first time they were on Ellen’s show:

Have a great day!

Dishes and Pooper Scooper

Posted by random olio

Did you ever try to get out of doing your chores? I did. I used to hate to wash dishes. My sister, brother, and I used to have to wash the dishes after dinner. We alternated each night. One of us would wash, and another would dry. I hated doing both. I would do whatever I could to get out of doing the dishes. One thing I remember doing specifically, is stating that our Frankoma dishes were to heavy for me to wash and dry. It meant I had to wash the glasses, silverware, and pots & pans.

I also can remember having to clean up after our dogs. The worst part was what we called “pooper scooper.” We had this yellow plastic trowel with these slots in it. We took turns walking around the yard cleaning up after the dog. It was never fun. We had a big backyard, and somehow we would wait for ages to clean the yard, which meant it took forever to finish the job. Looking back I do not know how we ever got away with waiting so long to clean up after the dog. It would have been easier to do it more often, but we did not think like that back then!

The little things we do to get out of doing work. I do actually remember that those Frankoma dishes were heavy, the plates especially, but I wonder if my parents knew I was trying to get out of washing them. These days cleaning is actually therapeutic to me. Although I do not get overly excited to clean, I like the feeling of calm I have after the house is clean, the laundry is done, and the sheets are freshly put on the bed. Bliss. Why is it that having everything in my house in order means that I feel clear and ready to tackle the week ahead?

Frankoma mugs

What chores did you try to get out of doing when you were a kid?

Do You Put Yourself Out There?

Posted by random olio

I often think about why it took me so long to write a blog. Looking back I felt what I had to say was boring and that folks would think that whatever I would have to say was BORING. In the end, I finally took the plunge and put myself out into the blogosphere. Yes, many might find me boring, but I have also been happily surprised with the response from folks and their interest in my blog. It is a gradual evolution.

As I think more and more about it, I think many individuals have felt in similar ways. There are those on Facebook who tell you about every moment of their day, including how many times they went to the bathroom (you know the ones)! Others are what might be called cyber stalkers. We all have a bit of cyber stalking inside of us. Whether we are looking at photos of individuals we went to school with, old friends, or those you wonder what happened to after so many years.

Whether you over share, or barely exist online, we all to some extent can be hesitant to share about our daily life online. It might have to do with feeling concerned about the security of our life online. Or, it might be that we are not sure we want to put ourselves out there, especially if there is no response from those in our social networks. It is a question I have been wrestling with, for myself and the greater online community. What makes us share? What makes us hold back?

Do you put yourself out there?