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Monthly Archives: May 2007

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California…knows how to party!

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This posting has little to do with money, but we thought our readers would be interested in our travels and a few tidbits here and there.

Yesterday we traveled down from the Lake Tahoe area to Yosemite National Park. We had been staying in our family cabin that James’ grandfather bought in 1964. It is in a beautiful and exclusive area since it is the only private land surrounded by the Desolation National Forest. The rest of the cabins in the area are on a 99 year lease, so we feel pretty privileged to have the slice of nature. A great time to spent time with family and reconnect.

On our travels down here via highway 89 (gorgeous) and 395 we saw the highest price of gas at a whooping $4.17 a gallon! Yikes! We are headed toward E on our tank and looking out for cheaper prices than that. We also checked out Mono Lake, which is pretty incredible if you are in the area.

We also stayed last night at the Tenaya Lodge just outside of Yosemite. A couple of tips in booking the place, a) the Awahnee Lodge (inside Yosemite) was a third again as expensive, b) I also declined the room with the king bed and a view, plus the inclusive breakfast and this knocked off a good margin on the price. I figured we would get out in nature to see the view. Plus we opted for one night instead of two, which makes our 13 day vacation with one night in a hotel not as painful as it could be.

Now we are headed out to enjoy our day. Have a great one!

Miel&James

P.S. Our time here has been very mellow, but the song “California…knows how to party” keeps going through our minds

Wealth Transparency

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Last weekend my mind got to wandering at a crab shack on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I got to thinking about how interesting it would if finances were more transparent. Given social norms, finances are one of those things that we deal with each and every day, with quite a variety of people, but we still keep so much disclosed in the process.

Think about it, we buy things at the grocery store, go out to lunch, buy stocks, pay mortgages, get paid, all in a process that is largely void of any real transparency. For instance, we all have an idea of what our friends attitudes are towards going out, shopping, travel, etc. Yet while we divulge quite a bit of information in a variety of ways, few people would adequately be able to access someones financial circumstances in their entirety. There are always bound to be dirty secrets, hidden treasures, or surprises you wouldn’t presume to encounter.

While the reality is that opaqueness will continue to remain the norm, it would be interesting if we had the ability to see further into the financial lives of others to better understand how people tick.

So my question to our readers is:
a) Do you see your friends and family as being transparent in their general financial situation?
b) Do you keep financial secrets, good or bad, from your friends and family?
c) Do you attempt to keep secrets from yourself?

Looking forward to seeing your comments!

Miel

Conscious Spending For Couples

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Last weekend I was at a used book outlet in rural Virginia and I came across an inexpensive copy of Deborah Knuckey‘s Conscious Spending for Couples. Knuckey is a free lance author and marketer. She’s written a number of interesting articles on a wide variety of topics. For example, she’s penned on extreme dating, politics, laser facial rejuvenation and – our favorite – personal finance for couples. More importantly, she’s been on Oprah.

To make a long story short, Knuckey says couples should do seven things:

1) Plan Together: Set your goals jointly and come up with a realistic financial plan.

2) Create Simple Financial Structure: Whatever one’s situation, a simpler account structure limits fees and makes it easier to get things done.

3) Get Into Good Habits: To minimize friction and expenses couples should avoid frittering away cash and and stay focused on managing big bills.

4) Communicate Through Conflict: Most fights are about what money is spent on. To avoid meltdowns, partners should listen, acknowledging and sharing their views.

5) Invest for Strong Returns: The main goal of investing is to grow your money. Focus on making moderate calculated risks to maximize your return.

6) Create a Safety Net For Two: Prepare for the worst by purchasing proper insurance policies and making an adequate estate plan.

7) Get Help When Its Needed: Hire the relevant financial planners, accountants, estate planners and insurance agents based on likability and competence.

All in all, Conscious Spending For Couples is a good read for people who are starting out as a couple (like us DINKs!). The book has an easy accessible style and emphasizes the important impact being in a relationship can have on ones finances. Many author’s ignore this point and assume that being in a couple is like being single in terms of your personal finance. This simply is NOT the case, as anyone who is married can tell you.

Best,

James

The DINKS May Networth

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After dragging ourselves home from work yesterday, we sat down and added up our net worth. We are happy to report that our wealth has grown to $356,000, an all time high. While we’d like to say that we’ve been particularly clever, most of our $27,000 gain over last month has been due to the terrific performance of the stock market.

Otherwise, we avoided incurring further student loan debt and since we dumped our adjustable rate mortgages a while back, we’ve been able to attack the principle on our housing loans. Also, while we haven’t put a great deal of money into prosper.com, the value of our portfolio has increased by 7 percent over the past month. While this is only $300, every little bit helps!

For the details on our networth, check out the picture below

Blogger Spotlight: Financial Tip of the Week

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Hello Everyone!

While nursing my morning coffee, I came across a website you might be interested in. The page is called “The Financial Tip of the Week” and it’s run by Mark Oleson. Oleson has a PhD in family financial counseling and is the financial aid guru at the University of Colombia-Missouri.

Oleson’s webpage has a lot of great information on student loans, tax issues, consumer protection resources, etc. Also, it doesn’t have any ads, which is a refreshing change from many blogs (ours included). If you’re a student, have student loans, or are generally on the lookout for solid personal finance info, you should check out his page.

Have a great Friday!

James

Warren Buffet on the Charlie Rose Show

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Today while I was surfing the net studying for my finals, I came cross the latest interview with Warren Buffet on the Charlie Rose Show. Of course, you know that Warren Buffet is one of America’s most successful investors. He’s also very popular because of his easy manner and folks speaking style. His investing newsletters are widely read and Buffet’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, has enormously popular annual meetings.

Here’s the latest. The video 59 minutes long, but its well worth the watch.

Travel the World For Free

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I know it might feel like a dream or some hype, but it was actually quite an informative class that I went to this evening with my friend (who will be leaving sooner than I on a round the world trip).

While I won’t share all the tips now, I’m tired, I will give a quick overview of ideas to come that will be covered as I try them out. Some of the items covered were:

  • Getting FREE airline tickets (i.e. getting more out of your frequent flyer programs)
  • Mystery Shopping (I’m all over this and will blog more extensively on this)
  • How to get paid for photos and articles while on travel
  • Importing – having shopping pay for part of your trip
  • Getting bumped – how to have this work for you
  • Driveaways – how to road trip it
  • Hotel savings
  • Create a tour and get paid to go
  • Cruising your way for free
  • Volunteer around the world
  • Working within the grey market
  • Air courier for cheap tickets

I learned some great things in the course and will be sharing more as I try them. I just wanted share while it was fresh!

Miel

Don’t Buy Gas Day!

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It looks like to the Don’t Buy Gas Day hype has even reach NPR. Looking around on the net it is pretty clear that people aren’t down with the idea.

Snopes tells us that it is all a hoax that has been tried before and failed.

Given the information out there, it seems that the overwhelming opinion is that not buying gas for a day won’t make much of an impact on the global oil market. Those oil companies know that you’ll go back to filling your tank tomorrow.

While it might not make the oil companies loose much money, think about how much reducing your gas consumption would help your bottom line. For instance, James and I haven’t had a car for over the past three years, and James for another couple of years before that. In comparison to your average couple that would be supporting two cars (including car payments, insurance, repairs and don’t forget, gas), we could attribute a great deal of our assets simply to not having a pair of gas gusseling cars to feed.

While we know that many of you out there don’t live in areas where you can give up your car entirely, consider these possibilities instead:

  • Take public transportation to work – bus, metro, streetcar, tram, whatever your city offers
  • Carpool with friends or strangers
  • Hitch a ride – I just heard of a system here in DC that allows you to bum a ride from someone else coming in from the burbs.
  • Scale down to one car versus two
  • Drive less
  • Keep your tires adequately filled
  • Take excess weight out of your car to reduce gas consumption
  • Ride a bike
  • Walk
  • Telecommute

Plus, you’ll be doing your bit to help overall consumption of fossil fuels. Americans contribute a quarter of total carbon emissions and only comprise one twentieth of the world population. Do your part, wherever you are!

Happy Day!

Miel

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