Hi everyone!
When I said I was going to take a break and focus on my professional blog, I didn't think it would mean I'd have *no* interaction with it. Yikes! that changes starting today (no this is not a new years resolution, but it's a good place to start up an old habit again :) ).
My professional blog is all about testing. This blog is all about everything else, and frankly, there's a lot of things that "everything else" entails. For starters, I decided last week to start up my Ego Over Matter posts again (note, I started on December 26th, not a New Years Resolution :) ). Still on Monday I will be putting in my first week of reality and how it has affected me.
I'm also focusing on Madd Money again, since there's a few aspects of personal finance I've missed writing about and want to cover more of in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Finally, I owe this newfound drive for my personal blog to Gerald Weinberg. His book "Weinberg on Writing, the Fieldstone Method" is opening my eyes to a way to write that I hope will be more effective and more insightful. We shall see :).
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Madd Money: The Case of the Disappearing Water
Remember the old saying "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure"... and It's even more in real money (that's a joke for anyone who remembers the old Showtime comedy "Brothers"... if you don't, don't sweat it :) )? Well, I decided it was time for me to start taking a look at some areas around our house that might be causing us some troubles.
One of the things that has been driving me crazy is the water bill... it seems absurdly high based on what we do and it also looked like we were using quite a bit more. Why was this the case? I decided it was time to get to the bottom of it.
First, we know we have an older toilet in our master bathroom, and that older toilet has a large capacity tank. A simple fix is to fill a milk jug with water and sand and park it in the tank (instant 33% savings of water with each flush). However, it seemed that that didn't do the trick. As I took apart the toilet mechanism to see what might be happening, I noticed that the fill release for the fill tube seemed to run even after the toilet was full... translating to dropping into the bowl and then gravity carrying out the water through the bottom of the bowl. No idea how much was flowing through, but it was enough to have that dribble effect for extended periods. Replacing the flow tube and seal fixed that problem. But could there be another possible answer? After doing a little research online (yes, I researched leaky toilets, just because I'm strange like that :) ), I found that in many older toilets, the ball stopper and gasket age and cease to create a tight seal. A quick way to check this is to put some drops of food coloring in the bowl after it fills, and make a point to not use that toilet for two to three hours, then check the bowl. If you see tinted water, you have your answer. It's reported that the average toilet could lose up to five gallons of water a day if the ball stopper or closure mechanism doesn't seal correctly. It's my next fix to do.
Next, take a look at all of your sinks, and see if you have any leaks. A great way to check this is to pull down the stoppers on all sinks and go to bed, and then check them in the morning. If you have a puddle of water in the sink, bingo! The good news is that, while it will probably take some dismantling of your faucet hardware to replace some washers or seals, it's a relatively simple repair to do and doesn't require a plumber to come out and do it. For those who have not visited WikiHow, make it a site to stop at and peruse. If you actually have a leaky faucet, here's how to fix it :).
For those that have sprinkler systems, if you notice that you have heads that do not have even spray pressure (or one head seems to do well but others down the line are performing less optimally), it's possible you may have a leak on one of the sprinkler heads (best case and easiest to fix) or in the underground line (not so easy to fix, but still doable). Last night, as I was lying in bed, I hears the sprinklers go off, as I usually do, but this time, it sounded like a rushing rivulet instead of the steady drone of the sprinklers. Sure enough, when I went out to investigate, I noticed that the head closest to my side of the bed against the back wall of our house was gushing water... the sprinkler head had cracked. Bad news, it needs to be fixed. Good news, since it's the sprinkler head itself, it will be relatively easy to replace.
Long story short, if you have high bills and you can't quite put your finger on why, do some basic water hunting. It's too early to tell if these changes will make large scale savings, but even if they don't, you can feel good about the fact that you are limiting waste by checking and doing some simple maintenance in these areas. Happy hunting :).
One of the things that has been driving me crazy is the water bill... it seems absurdly high based on what we do and it also looked like we were using quite a bit more. Why was this the case? I decided it was time to get to the bottom of it.
First, we know we have an older toilet in our master bathroom, and that older toilet has a large capacity tank. A simple fix is to fill a milk jug with water and sand and park it in the tank (instant 33% savings of water with each flush). However, it seemed that that didn't do the trick. As I took apart the toilet mechanism to see what might be happening, I noticed that the fill release for the fill tube seemed to run even after the toilet was full... translating to dropping into the bowl and then gravity carrying out the water through the bottom of the bowl. No idea how much was flowing through, but it was enough to have that dribble effect for extended periods. Replacing the flow tube and seal fixed that problem. But could there be another possible answer? After doing a little research online (yes, I researched leaky toilets, just because I'm strange like that :) ), I found that in many older toilets, the ball stopper and gasket age and cease to create a tight seal. A quick way to check this is to put some drops of food coloring in the bowl after it fills, and make a point to not use that toilet for two to three hours, then check the bowl. If you see tinted water, you have your answer. It's reported that the average toilet could lose up to five gallons of water a day if the ball stopper or closure mechanism doesn't seal correctly. It's my next fix to do.
Next, take a look at all of your sinks, and see if you have any leaks. A great way to check this is to pull down the stoppers on all sinks and go to bed, and then check them in the morning. If you have a puddle of water in the sink, bingo! The good news is that, while it will probably take some dismantling of your faucet hardware to replace some washers or seals, it's a relatively simple repair to do and doesn't require a plumber to come out and do it. For those who have not visited WikiHow, make it a site to stop at and peruse. If you actually have a leaky faucet, here's how to fix it :).
For those that have sprinkler systems, if you notice that you have heads that do not have even spray pressure (or one head seems to do well but others down the line are performing less optimally), it's possible you may have a leak on one of the sprinkler heads (best case and easiest to fix) or in the underground line (not so easy to fix, but still doable). Last night, as I was lying in bed, I hears the sprinklers go off, as I usually do, but this time, it sounded like a rushing rivulet instead of the steady drone of the sprinklers. Sure enough, when I went out to investigate, I noticed that the head closest to my side of the bed against the back wall of our house was gushing water... the sprinkler head had cracked. Bad news, it needs to be fixed. Good news, since it's the sprinkler head itself, it will be relatively easy to replace.
Long story short, if you have high bills and you can't quite put your finger on why, do some basic water hunting. It's too early to tell if these changes will make large scale savings, but even if they don't, you can feel good about the fact that you are limiting waste by checking and doing some simple maintenance in these areas. Happy hunting :).
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Shedding of Innocent Stuff: The Kitchen Cleanout
On Saturday, I found that I was at home and had some free time to ponder and consider a few things regarding our kitchen. There are certain things that we do and certain rituals that surround our cooking, and because of those rituals, we have accumulated a small army of wares that, many times, do not get used or have just sort of piled into our cabinets. I think it was when I was looking to get a griddle out of our corner cabinet and having to fight all of the stuff surrounding it (and skinning my knuckles in the process), that I decided enough was enough, and that we really should take a look at what we have in here and why.
To be fair, I asked Christina if it was OK to embark on this particular journey, since this is one of those times when my decisions were going to have a possible radical effect on her life and reality, too. We both spend time in the kitchen, but it can be argued that she easily spends three or four times the amount I do there. Thus, I couldn’t just arbitrarily impose my ideas of what would work or why, it had to be something we would both agree to and with.
To this end, we went through all of our cupboards and drawers and we pulled out everything. We put these items on the kitchen table and we looked to see what we had. In the process, we discovered that we had two large nonstick cooking pans that were absolutely identical… and this totally baffled me. Why did we have two of the exact pans? Would we really have a need for two large pans like this at the same time for the same meal? We both decided that the answer was no, and we let one of them go.
We had a number of pots and pans that were holdovers from many years back when we still had an electric range. These items had thin walls and are really not suited for use on a gas range (you have to watch them like a hawk or the contents get scorched and then cleaning is a nightmare!). We decided to let most of these items finally go, but we kept one of them as an experiment. We jokingly refer to this as the Mac and Cheese pot, so we will see how often it gets used and see how many times we have to go to great efforts to clean it. If the answer is more than twice, then we will downsize it in favor of one of our other pots.
We found that we had a bunch of mismatched lids… they didn’t go with anything. Time for them to go.
Somehow, we had accumulated a copious amount of low grade plastic storage containers. Having storage containers in and of itself is not a problem, we just had way more than we would ever practically or realistically use, even if we were to fill the fridge and freezer with various dinners. Many of these are being repurposed rather than thrown away; Since they are clear, they make for great storage options for small items in the garage and in my upstairs closet.
A nice surprise was that we really hadn’t accumulated too many “unitaskers” over the years; though we had a few odd items that we decided just didn’t make sense to keep around, such as a small plunger operated chopper, the electric can opener, a bevy of manually operated can-openers that had just lost effectiveness over the years, and a slant type cooking device that looks surprisingly similar to a George Foreman Grill. We also have a salad spinner that, while I questioned if it was actually worth hanging onto, Christina swears she uses it every time lettuce is used for anything, so it’s cool, it stays :).
What we ultimately kept is as follows:
1 2 quart reduction Sauce Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 2 quart Dutch Oven (Lodge)
1 3 quart Sauce Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 3 quart “Mac and Cheese” Sauce Pan w/ lid (Revere)
1 6 quart Sauce Pot w/ lid (Lodge)
1 8 1/2 quart Sauce Pot w/ lid (Viking)
1 3 quart Saute Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 11” Fry Pan w/ lid
1 3 quart Casserole Pan w/ Lid (Viking)
3 Pyrex casserole dishes (various sizes)
3 Corning Ware casserole dishes (various sizes)
2 bread pans (small and medium)
2 cookie sheets
3 muffin tins (2 small, 1 large)
1 13" Flat Bottom Cast Iron Wok
4 Stackable storage and mixing bowls with lids
A bunch of various plastic ware containers for storing leftovers (enough for about 6 full family meals)
1 Waffle iron
1 Griddle for pancakes and cooking bacon and eggs (we’ve had this thing forever and anticipate having it for just as long :) ).
1 food processor
1 rice cooker/steamer
1 blender
1 standard 2 slot toaster
1 toaster oven (honestly, I could see the day when we just kept the toaster oven and dropped the standalone toaster, but Christina is not seeing it that way at the moment (LOL!))
The great thing about doing this was that we liberated a lot of cabinet space that was not being used efficiently before, and we consolidated all of our regular use items into a simple to access area, and all right near the range where they can be of the greatest use. As always, it’s the pieces that actually get used that make the most sense to keep handy, the occasional items can be stored elsewhere, and if it’s really just occasionally, perhaps a case can be made that it shouldn’t be there at all. We’ll see how this more minimalist approach works for us (and truth be told, it’s still not all that minimalist, but it’s a lot better and easier to access than what we had before (LOL!).
To be fair, I asked Christina if it was OK to embark on this particular journey, since this is one of those times when my decisions were going to have a possible radical effect on her life and reality, too. We both spend time in the kitchen, but it can be argued that she easily spends three or four times the amount I do there. Thus, I couldn’t just arbitrarily impose my ideas of what would work or why, it had to be something we would both agree to and with.
To this end, we went through all of our cupboards and drawers and we pulled out everything. We put these items on the kitchen table and we looked to see what we had. In the process, we discovered that we had two large nonstick cooking pans that were absolutely identical… and this totally baffled me. Why did we have two of the exact pans? Would we really have a need for two large pans like this at the same time for the same meal? We both decided that the answer was no, and we let one of them go.
We had a number of pots and pans that were holdovers from many years back when we still had an electric range. These items had thin walls and are really not suited for use on a gas range (you have to watch them like a hawk or the contents get scorched and then cleaning is a nightmare!). We decided to let most of these items finally go, but we kept one of them as an experiment. We jokingly refer to this as the Mac and Cheese pot, so we will see how often it gets used and see how many times we have to go to great efforts to clean it. If the answer is more than twice, then we will downsize it in favor of one of our other pots.
We found that we had a bunch of mismatched lids… they didn’t go with anything. Time for them to go.
Somehow, we had accumulated a copious amount of low grade plastic storage containers. Having storage containers in and of itself is not a problem, we just had way more than we would ever practically or realistically use, even if we were to fill the fridge and freezer with various dinners. Many of these are being repurposed rather than thrown away; Since they are clear, they make for great storage options for small items in the garage and in my upstairs closet.
A nice surprise was that we really hadn’t accumulated too many “unitaskers” over the years; though we had a few odd items that we decided just didn’t make sense to keep around, such as a small plunger operated chopper, the electric can opener, a bevy of manually operated can-openers that had just lost effectiveness over the years, and a slant type cooking device that looks surprisingly similar to a George Foreman Grill. We also have a salad spinner that, while I questioned if it was actually worth hanging onto, Christina swears she uses it every time lettuce is used for anything, so it’s cool, it stays :).
What we ultimately kept is as follows:
1 2 quart reduction Sauce Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 2 quart Dutch Oven (Lodge)
1 3 quart Sauce Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 3 quart “Mac and Cheese” Sauce Pan w/ lid (Revere)
1 6 quart Sauce Pot w/ lid (Lodge)
1 8 1/2 quart Sauce Pot w/ lid (Viking)
1 3 quart Saute Pan w/ lid (Viking)
1 11” Fry Pan w/ lid
1 3 quart Casserole Pan w/ Lid (Viking)
3 Pyrex casserole dishes (various sizes)
3 Corning Ware casserole dishes (various sizes)
2 bread pans (small and medium)
2 cookie sheets
3 muffin tins (2 small, 1 large)
1 13" Flat Bottom Cast Iron Wok
4 Stackable storage and mixing bowls with lids
A bunch of various plastic ware containers for storing leftovers (enough for about 6 full family meals)
1 Waffle iron
1 Griddle for pancakes and cooking bacon and eggs (we’ve had this thing forever and anticipate having it for just as long :) ).
1 food processor
1 rice cooker/steamer
1 blender
1 standard 2 slot toaster
1 toaster oven (honestly, I could see the day when we just kept the toaster oven and dropped the standalone toaster, but Christina is not seeing it that way at the moment (LOL!))
The great thing about doing this was that we liberated a lot of cabinet space that was not being used efficiently before, and we consolidated all of our regular use items into a simple to access area, and all right near the range where they can be of the greatest use. As always, it’s the pieces that actually get used that make the most sense to keep handy, the occasional items can be stored elsewhere, and if it’s really just occasionally, perhaps a case can be made that it shouldn’t be there at all. We’ll see how this more minimalist approach works for us (and truth be told, it’s still not all that minimalist, but it’s a lot better and easier to access than what we had before (LOL!).
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Shedding Of Innocent Stuff: The Dreaded Room, Aftermath :)
PARCA came and took all of the extra stuff away (well, at least all I could bear to part with at this given point in time, that is :) ). So how does everything look now?
The closet that had three shelves of VCR tapes and DVD's? Cleared out. Now it's just clothes... and a Styrofoam head to hold my Wood Badge regalia and preferred scouting hat... OK, I admit it, that's a little weird (LOL!).
What to do with all of the various tchotchkis? I figured they'd look good on the window sill. Well, *I* like them there, anyway :).
The book shelf after a MAJORpurge. The Samurai swords and cedar flute now look like they actually belong there :). Plus, the bunch of white storage boxes that were sitting on the side table have been relocated and are no longer front and center (thank goodness). A cork board and accordion file now act as the place to catch papers and notices.
Notice that the behemoth computer armoire is now practically empty. When I bought this big piece of furniture almost ten years ago, it housed a massive 23" CRT monitor, a Sun SPARC class server and just about every computer item I ever owned. Needless to say, I've downsized my rig considerably since then... perhaps the desk should be downsized correspondingly (jury is out on that one at the moment :) ).
The other side of the closet. Having made enough room by liberating several pairs of pants out into the wild (wow, that almost sounds suggestive (LOL!) ), I determined that I had enough room to place the office chair when I'm not using it in there. Since the computer armoire has a retractable desk surface, and since it closes up, there's no simple place to put the computer chair. Having the ability (and the room) to tuck it away in the closet is a huge space win!
And here's the odd "over the stairs" closet. The white boxes that used to be out on the bookshelves and the side table have been repurposed and put in here. Moast items either have a designated shelf or area they now belong to, and most are immediately accessible now. Truth be told, I can probably do more with this, but all things considered, this is a major improvement over what was there before :).
The closet that had three shelves of VCR tapes and DVD's? Cleared out. Now it's just clothes... and a Styrofoam head to hold my Wood Badge regalia and preferred scouting hat... OK, I admit it, that's a little weird (LOL!).
What to do with all of the various tchotchkis? I figured they'd look good on the window sill. Well, *I* like them there, anyway :).
The book shelf after a MAJORpurge. The Samurai swords and cedar flute now look like they actually belong there :). Plus, the bunch of white storage boxes that were sitting on the side table have been relocated and are no longer front and center (thank goodness). A cork board and accordion file now act as the place to catch papers and notices.
Notice that the behemoth computer armoire is now practically empty. When I bought this big piece of furniture almost ten years ago, it housed a massive 23" CRT monitor, a Sun SPARC class server and just about every computer item I ever owned. Needless to say, I've downsized my rig considerably since then... perhaps the desk should be downsized correspondingly (jury is out on that one at the moment :) ).
The other side of the closet. Having made enough room by liberating several pairs of pants out into the wild (wow, that almost sounds suggestive (LOL!) ), I determined that I had enough room to place the office chair when I'm not using it in there. Since the computer armoire has a retractable desk surface, and since it closes up, there's no simple place to put the computer chair. Having the ability (and the room) to tuck it away in the closet is a huge space win!
And here's the odd "over the stairs" closet. The white boxes that used to be out on the bookshelves and the side table have been repurposed and put in here. Moast items either have a designated shelf or area they now belong to, and most are immediately accessible now. Truth be told, I can probably do more with this, but all things considered, this is a major improvement over what was there before :).
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Shedding of Innocent Stuff: The Dreaded Room, Take 2
It’s rare for me to post a Shedding entry two days in a row, but I figured it was time to give an update. Yesterday, I wrote about how I was up at 3:00 AM trying to get a handle on this. Well, yesterday when I got home, I decided to keep doing what I was in the process of doing.
I am one who finds that the best way to bring order to chaos is to jump in and go for the jugular. To that end, I decided to pull out all of the items in the closets (and I mean all of the items). Christina was overjoyed to see the office in the state it was in this morning, so she was noticeably dismayed when she say everything spread out on the family room floor and futon once again.
What were items found? Here’s some of the gems:
• a large set of videotapes from the Standard Deviants that covered mathematics from Algebra through Calculus (out of date and now available in their entirety through the San Bruno Library)
• some DVD’s covering “Learning to Skateboard” Volumes 1 and 2
• some old VCR tapes of "Snowboard Porn" (no, not really... that's what all of us snowboarders call the videos where riders are doing insane tricks and leaping off of massive cornices and riding sheer cliffs... it's all of the stuff of snowboarding fantasies, and us everyday guys just staring... and drooling.... and wishing we could be doing what we are seeing... OK, maybe porn is the correct term (LOL!) ). Anyway, I decided to keep my three favorite videos, and I let the others go.
• several music VCR collections that I had not seen since we moved into our house back in 1999 (obviously not all that important (LOL!) )
• about 50 cassette tapes that I really want to make sure I keep… and about 300 that I have not listened to in any meaningful way in 15-25 years. Seriously.
• two large format coffee table books that I’d read cover to cover, and really didn’t see myself reading or referencing again
• some clothes that I had decided had seen their day in my wardrobe, and was time to let someone else have a crack at them
• items associated with the dance team regalia making process. There’s a dedicated cabinet in the garage for all of these items now, thus they were easily relocated.
• lots and Lots and LOTS and ***LOTS*** of PAPER, from just about every imaginable source.
The paper is, without a doubt, the number 1 biggest challenge to keeping any semblance or order in this room. All of the financial transactions that relate to our house, our retirement and any investments we make is stored in here. Likewise, anything having to do with Scouting is also kept here. I confess, I’m paranoid about any financial transactions falling through the cracks, and I want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to Scouting activities and responsibilities, so these are my all time worst offenders when it comes to “pack rat” tendencies. Still, I have found that there are good ways of tackling this stuff, and here’s what I’m currently doing.
I have a bunch of “Red” file folders. This translates to “Hot” or “This needs to be acted upon and soon". I have a large accordion folder in my office on a side table, and this is the landing area for all papers (well, ideally it is; sadly, that doesn’t happen as neatly and nicely as I’d like it to), and the Red folders stand out and get a daily perusing to see what I need to do “that day”.
I have a bunch of standard Manila colored folders, and these are my general purpose folders, i.e. active accounts and stuff that’s happening soon, but not urgent.
Finally, I have a bunch of “Blue” folders. These are my reference and my “pack rat” folders, where any data that is historical that I may need someday (perish the thought I should ever have to have an audit), they are there. My ultimate goal with the blue folders is to scan them and store off the contents onto a DVD (save the files that require a signature or otherwise).
Net result… I was up until 2:00 AM clearing all of this stuff out, and I have a cloth shopping bag full of papers that need to be sorted and dealt with. The good news is that I have an hour each day on the train to dig through these and junk the stuff that I don’t need (and though my paranoia is rampant, I am getting better about what to throw away).
Oh, one other cool thing I discovered through this process… the monster of an armoire desk that I have, while it is very nice and elaborate and closes off everything terrifically… is an absolute beast for the size of the room. What’s more, with the changes I’ve made, all that’s being used in it is the top surface to hold the laptop, an external drive and a wireless mouse and keyboard. In short, the humongous armoire desk may itself be a candidate for finding a new home.
Pictures coming soon :).
I am one who finds that the best way to bring order to chaos is to jump in and go for the jugular. To that end, I decided to pull out all of the items in the closets (and I mean all of the items). Christina was overjoyed to see the office in the state it was in this morning, so she was noticeably dismayed when she say everything spread out on the family room floor and futon once again.
What were items found? Here’s some of the gems:
• a large set of videotapes from the Standard Deviants that covered mathematics from Algebra through Calculus (out of date and now available in their entirety through the San Bruno Library)
• some DVD’s covering “Learning to Skateboard” Volumes 1 and 2
• some old VCR tapes of "Snowboard Porn" (no, not really... that's what all of us snowboarders call the videos where riders are doing insane tricks and leaping off of massive cornices and riding sheer cliffs... it's all of the stuff of snowboarding fantasies, and us everyday guys just staring... and drooling.... and wishing we could be doing what we are seeing... OK, maybe porn is the correct term (LOL!) ). Anyway, I decided to keep my three favorite videos, and I let the others go.
• several music VCR collections that I had not seen since we moved into our house back in 1999 (obviously not all that important (LOL!) )
• about 50 cassette tapes that I really want to make sure I keep… and about 300 that I have not listened to in any meaningful way in 15-25 years. Seriously.
• two large format coffee table books that I’d read cover to cover, and really didn’t see myself reading or referencing again
• some clothes that I had decided had seen their day in my wardrobe, and was time to let someone else have a crack at them
• items associated with the dance team regalia making process. There’s a dedicated cabinet in the garage for all of these items now, thus they were easily relocated.
• lots and Lots and LOTS and ***LOTS*** of PAPER, from just about every imaginable source.
The paper is, without a doubt, the number 1 biggest challenge to keeping any semblance or order in this room. All of the financial transactions that relate to our house, our retirement and any investments we make is stored in here. Likewise, anything having to do with Scouting is also kept here. I confess, I’m paranoid about any financial transactions falling through the cracks, and I want to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to Scouting activities and responsibilities, so these are my all time worst offenders when it comes to “pack rat” tendencies. Still, I have found that there are good ways of tackling this stuff, and here’s what I’m currently doing.
I have a bunch of “Red” file folders. This translates to “Hot” or “This needs to be acted upon and soon". I have a large accordion folder in my office on a side table, and this is the landing area for all papers (well, ideally it is; sadly, that doesn’t happen as neatly and nicely as I’d like it to), and the Red folders stand out and get a daily perusing to see what I need to do “that day”.
I have a bunch of standard Manila colored folders, and these are my general purpose folders, i.e. active accounts and stuff that’s happening soon, but not urgent.
Finally, I have a bunch of “Blue” folders. These are my reference and my “pack rat” folders, where any data that is historical that I may need someday (perish the thought I should ever have to have an audit), they are there. My ultimate goal with the blue folders is to scan them and store off the contents onto a DVD (save the files that require a signature or otherwise).
Net result… I was up until 2:00 AM clearing all of this stuff out, and I have a cloth shopping bag full of papers that need to be sorted and dealt with. The good news is that I have an hour each day on the train to dig through these and junk the stuff that I don’t need (and though my paranoia is rampant, I am getting better about what to throw away).
Oh, one other cool thing I discovered through this process… the monster of an armoire desk that I have, while it is very nice and elaborate and closes off everything terrifically… is an absolute beast for the size of the room. What’s more, with the changes I’ve made, all that’s being used in it is the top surface to hold the laptop, an external drive and a wireless mouse and keyboard. In short, the humongous armoire desk may itself be a candidate for finding a new home.
Pictures coming soon :).
Monday, January 12, 2009
Shedding of Innocent Stuff: Tackling the "Dreaded" Room
I think it's safe to say that we all have a spot in our lives that we either:
a. allow to be chaotic and messy to keep everything else together
or
b. one place just ends up being chaotic no matter how hard we try
In my life, there are two places that fit this bill. The first is (and has always been) the garage, but we have taken steps to rectify that. The second place in our house is the one that is much more troubling and more difficult to deal with. However, it's the one that gets to the point where it must be dealt with much more quickly than the garage. This is our "4th Bedroom", AKA my office.
Now, if this room were truly "just" an office, then it might be easier to deal with. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Due to some oddities in the way that our house was added on to by previous owners, the upstairs is a little unusual. The room itself has an odd shape. It's about 10' wide and about 12' feet deep, not counting the standard two door closet (which itself is about 5 1'2' wide and two feet deep). Add to that the fact that there is a bump-out that is four feet deep on both sides (to accommodate the staircase that leads upstairs to the addition), and you soon realize that this is a room that doesn't have a lot of options when it comes to actual floor and wall space. The bump-out does have an advantage, in that it has an extra single door closet space, but the floor of this closet begins two feet off the ground (again, because it needs to accommodate the stairway underneath, and having an angle in the room would have just plain looked odd).
Back when we first bought this house, this room served two purposes and two purposes only. It was my office, and it was where my music equipment went. It wasn't meant to be anything more than that. However, as our family grew and space for other items was needed, the closet became not just my closet for my clothes, but it also became storage for kids toys, family photos, video equipment, and all of the other things that families aren't sure what to do with. This of course spilled out into other closets, shelves, drawers, etc. Add to that fact that, at the end of the day, it just seems there's no place to put [fill in the blank], and it somehow ends up in here. Thus this room's life cycle is like an ocean wave, where the clutter and disorganization build up to the point where it forces action, and a flurry of activity cleans it out, but never 100%, because there's always something that needs to be taken care of and there's just never enough energy or time to completely take care of it, and then other areas of life intervene, and the room gets piled up again, and the cycle keeps repeating.
I actually woke up at 3:00 AM this morning with an urgent anxiety... I have to get a handle on this. It's ridiculous for there to be an entire room in a house that gets this treatment as often as this one does, but why is that the case? It's because of the multi-purpose and undefined notion of this room. It's an office, it's my closet, it's my personal library, it's storage for media, it's storage for scouting stuff, it's a spare bedroom/guest room... it's all of these things, but because we allow it to be all of that, often times it's none of those things, and more times than I care to admit, it becomes "that room where the door is never open, and the stuff is allowed to accumulate until we can't take it any more". Whenever people come over to our house and wonder that it is so clean, I always chuckle a little bit under my breath and think "just don't ask to see my office."
So how am I going to handle it differently this time? Here's my strategy:
1. I have a closet that is set up for clothes, and thus, I have decided that, if it is not clothing related, it does not belong in there. Somehow an entire three shelves have become dedicated to DVDs and VCR tapes, because we have no place else to put them.
2. There are a bunch of items in the odd closet over the stairs, and their relationship to each other is very questionable. This closet is going to be designated as the "office closet", meaning office supplies and work related materials ONLY will stay in here. All other items will need to be relocated or liquidated.
3. There is a large futon in this office that often ends up being a holding place for [FILL IN THE BLANK]. The futon is not all that comfortable a place to sit, and it doesn't make for all that good a bed when it's folded out. On top of that, it's also rather bulky in its overall size for the room, but it's been of good utility when we have needed a place for someone to sleep (be it when a kid is sick or a parent is sick). thus, for the time being, the futon stays, but it needs to be designated as a couch or a bed, not a clothes rack, filing cabinet or some other purpose.
4. This room needs to have a "perimeter sweep". Just like the garage, if an item stands in front of another item, it's not in a good place and needs to either be relocated or liquidated. As this cycle repeats, I realize that "liquidation" is often the most appropriate action, but boy is it tough sometimes to actually do that.
And thus, the never-ending struggle with this room continues. Since I do so much better with things when I somehow "bare my wounds" for the world to see, this room will now be the focus of "Shedding of Innocent Stuff" until it is purged. Do I think this will be the final time? Unlikely, as I have said this too many times to count, but I know that with public recognition of a problem, action follows. Stay tuned for further developments ;).
Friday, January 2, 2009
Shedding of Innocent Stuff: The Garage Deep Clean
New Year's Day was spent in a flurry of activity, and it was perhaps a little more intense than I truly intended it to be. I woke up at 6:00 AM and went into the garage. With the exception of having dinner at my wife's parents place, the garage is where I pretty much stayed, all day. That, and going in and out of the living room and kitchen area to pack up all of the Christmas items we had out.
My goal was simple. There had been a creeping and growing amount of boxes and items making a second perimeter around the garage. I wanted to see how much of this stuff I could get rid of. Here's what I determined:
* We purchased a bunch of really fragile glass ornaments about ten years ago. We've been way too paranoid to put them up on the tree in the past, but this year we decided to give it a try. Since they are just plain gold, silver and burgundy balls, and since we liked the more eclectic mix of ornaments we've gathered over the years better, we decided it was time to let these ones go. In the process, we reclaimed a whole storage box worth of space.
* We have various totes and boxes that have made their way into the garage, most without lids, and most just end up on the floor as "dumping areas" to be dealt with later. This is an example where too much organizational media can actually lead to disorganization. I realize it sounds weird to say "we're getting rid of a bunch of organization stuff to get better organized", but in this case, it's true. Plus, with the added factor of not always having the fall back of putting things in a random container, one must go through the effort of actually putting things where they genuinely belong (shocking, I know (LOL!) ).
* I have an external frame backpack that I haven't used in close to four years. The internal frame pack is what I now use for outings, and my son has one that's best sized for him. This isn't needed by me anymore, so I'm giving it to the troop.
* I have a bunch of vinyl albums that I have not played in close to 10 years. It's a pretty good bet they will never get played. Gone.
* Somehow, a lot of scouting paraphernalia has made its way to my garage. It needs to go back to the troop closet at church and not be in my house.
* I have a table router that I bought when we first bought the house for all of the projects I would do. I've used it three times in ten years. time for it to find a new home.
* I have a number of items that I purchased from back in the days when my garage was Pinewood Derby central. Some of the tools are useful and definitely needed. Others I will likely never use again.
* I have a lot of stuff that is used by the Native American Dance tram that I help advise and support. Much of this stuff is in great shape, but having it packed all the time makes it bulky and hard to maneuver. By taking the items out, hanging them in see through bags from the hanging rack in the garage, I can stow the big trunk they usually go in up on the high shelf over the workbench, and use it when it is appropriate. Large scale floor reclaim :).
* There's paint that is the old color of rooms that are no longer that color. Why am I keeping this?
* I have three folding tables that were a big part of my Cub Scout teaching curriculum when the house was Cub Scout central. Now that my son has moved on and we use the church for most of our activities, I'm a little torn on what to do with these. Do I need all three? Not likely, but I can definitely see keeping two of them. The question is, which one to get rid of?
* There's a lot of sporting goods gear that has been worn by my kids through their growing years, and the smallest of the gear now needs to be given a new home. I have some serious emotions about the "Lion" snowboard that is now too small to be ridden by anyone... that board has now been part of the family for almost ten years, and every one of my kids learned to ride on it. Still, its time to let another family take advantage of it now.
Fourteen hours, four trash bags, three donation bags, and a lot of equipment that needs a loving home. My goal for this new year (remember, no resolutions :) ) is to commit to taking a really hard look at the items that come into the garage. It took a really long time to clean up this dumping ground, and I really don't want to do it again (LOL!).
My goal was simple. There had been a creeping and growing amount of boxes and items making a second perimeter around the garage. I wanted to see how much of this stuff I could get rid of. Here's what I determined:
* We purchased a bunch of really fragile glass ornaments about ten years ago. We've been way too paranoid to put them up on the tree in the past, but this year we decided to give it a try. Since they are just plain gold, silver and burgundy balls, and since we liked the more eclectic mix of ornaments we've gathered over the years better, we decided it was time to let these ones go. In the process, we reclaimed a whole storage box worth of space.
* We have various totes and boxes that have made their way into the garage, most without lids, and most just end up on the floor as "dumping areas" to be dealt with later. This is an example where too much organizational media can actually lead to disorganization. I realize it sounds weird to say "we're getting rid of a bunch of organization stuff to get better organized", but in this case, it's true. Plus, with the added factor of not always having the fall back of putting things in a random container, one must go through the effort of actually putting things where they genuinely belong (shocking, I know (LOL!) ).
* I have an external frame backpack that I haven't used in close to four years. The internal frame pack is what I now use for outings, and my son has one that's best sized for him. This isn't needed by me anymore, so I'm giving it to the troop.
* I have a bunch of vinyl albums that I have not played in close to 10 years. It's a pretty good bet they will never get played. Gone.
* Somehow, a lot of scouting paraphernalia has made its way to my garage. It needs to go back to the troop closet at church and not be in my house.
* I have a table router that I bought when we first bought the house for all of the projects I would do. I've used it three times in ten years. time for it to find a new home.
* I have a number of items that I purchased from back in the days when my garage was Pinewood Derby central. Some of the tools are useful and definitely needed. Others I will likely never use again.
* I have a lot of stuff that is used by the Native American Dance tram that I help advise and support. Much of this stuff is in great shape, but having it packed all the time makes it bulky and hard to maneuver. By taking the items out, hanging them in see through bags from the hanging rack in the garage, I can stow the big trunk they usually go in up on the high shelf over the workbench, and use it when it is appropriate. Large scale floor reclaim :).
* There's paint that is the old color of rooms that are no longer that color. Why am I keeping this?
* I have three folding tables that were a big part of my Cub Scout teaching curriculum when the house was Cub Scout central. Now that my son has moved on and we use the church for most of our activities, I'm a little torn on what to do with these. Do I need all three? Not likely, but I can definitely see keeping two of them. The question is, which one to get rid of?
* There's a lot of sporting goods gear that has been worn by my kids through their growing years, and the smallest of the gear now needs to be given a new home. I have some serious emotions about the "Lion" snowboard that is now too small to be ridden by anyone... that board has now been part of the family for almost ten years, and every one of my kids learned to ride on it. Still, its time to let another family take advantage of it now.
Fourteen hours, four trash bags, three donation bags, and a lot of equipment that needs a loving home. My goal for this new year (remember, no resolutions :) ) is to commit to taking a really hard look at the items that come into the garage. It took a really long time to clean up this dumping ground, and I really don't want to do it again (LOL!).
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year’s Winter Cleaning
First, to anyone who reads this, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and a happy and productive 2009.
As many of you know, I do not believe in New Year’s Resolution. Instead, I believe in making concrete goals and a way to have an action plan to achieve them. Resolutions are just wishes unless they have a concrete game plan, and that game plan is actually followed. At that point, it’s not a resolution, it’s a goal. It’s with this mind set that I offer the following.
Every New Year’s Day, literally starting with the official start of the New Year, I make it a point to stay home and do a deep cleaning of our house. This is also in conjunction with our putting away all of the Christmas decorations (always done on January 1st in our house) and in that process, we always go through and move everything, vacuum every thing, scrub everything, dust everything, you name it. In the process, we also take out a notebook and we make notes on all areas that need work, or are of concern, or otherwise just become pet peeves. From these notes, we set action plans for the areas we can do something about, make projections for the areas we can’t immediately, but would like to, and then set a long term plan for items that will be further down the road.
For 2009, we have determined that the following areas are critical and need to be addressed somewhat immediately:
The garage is overloaded. We have cabinets, shelves, and shelving units that surround the garage. In addition, we have a number of trunks and other items of a random nature that perimeter the cabinets, making it virtually impossible to get into the cabinets without moving the items. When we first moved into this house, we had, arguably, the best organized and cleanest garage in the neighborhood. We most certainly cannot say that now. This is a key area where a concerted dejunking, reallocating of needed items, and deciding exactly why we are holding onto certain things must be done. It always amazes me that every time I do this, no matter how many times I do it, I always seem to determine that there’s still something else that can be downsized. Perhaps it comes from the fact that each time I go through the process, I learn a little bit more about what I actually use and what I don’t. Plus, when you start to let go of things, it becomes easier to let go of other things, too.
My office is the catch-all room. It’s the dirty secret in our house that the house is immaculate except for two places, the garage and my office. Both suffer from the same issue, and that’s overload. We did a massive downsizing of old books and other items, but somehow keeping this room uncluttered is just a royal pain. I also have a longer term goal going forward… I’m looking at the possibility of either converting this room to a genuine guest room, or potentially a bedroom for one of the girls (they currently share a room). To make that conversion, I have to reach the point where the contents of that room are either considerably downsized, or otherwise reallocated. Three key areas make up the bulk of the clutter in this room, and that is media (meaning CD's, DVD, VCR tapes and computer media), craft supplies (mostly associated with my work regarding the White Otter Dancers) and Scouting. My plan is to utilize used media places and sites like mediabuyback.com. In addition, papers that are not essential to be kept in their paper form will either be scanned and stored electronically, or gotten rid of entirely.
We have three fruit trees that produce a good quantity of Peaches, Nectarines and Apples. During 2009, I plan to use some techniques I’ve picked up on the web to set up a square foot garden in our back yard to expand the capacity of that garden space. I’m not gutsy enough to tear up the lawn and make that a garden patch (at least not yet), but the terrace boxes are totally fair game. This will require some observation and determining which areas get the best sunlight, as well as revamping the sprinkler system and adding some heads.
That should keep us busy for the next few months. Expect to see updates on all of these projects right here :).
As many of you know, I do not believe in New Year’s Resolution. Instead, I believe in making concrete goals and a way to have an action plan to achieve them. Resolutions are just wishes unless they have a concrete game plan, and that game plan is actually followed. At that point, it’s not a resolution, it’s a goal. It’s with this mind set that I offer the following.
Every New Year’s Day, literally starting with the official start of the New Year, I make it a point to stay home and do a deep cleaning of our house. This is also in conjunction with our putting away all of the Christmas decorations (always done on January 1st in our house) and in that process, we always go through and move everything, vacuum every thing, scrub everything, dust everything, you name it. In the process, we also take out a notebook and we make notes on all areas that need work, or are of concern, or otherwise just become pet peeves. From these notes, we set action plans for the areas we can do something about, make projections for the areas we can’t immediately, but would like to, and then set a long term plan for items that will be further down the road.
For 2009, we have determined that the following areas are critical and need to be addressed somewhat immediately:
The garage is overloaded. We have cabinets, shelves, and shelving units that surround the garage. In addition, we have a number of trunks and other items of a random nature that perimeter the cabinets, making it virtually impossible to get into the cabinets without moving the items. When we first moved into this house, we had, arguably, the best organized and cleanest garage in the neighborhood. We most certainly cannot say that now. This is a key area where a concerted dejunking, reallocating of needed items, and deciding exactly why we are holding onto certain things must be done. It always amazes me that every time I do this, no matter how many times I do it, I always seem to determine that there’s still something else that can be downsized. Perhaps it comes from the fact that each time I go through the process, I learn a little bit more about what I actually use and what I don’t. Plus, when you start to let go of things, it becomes easier to let go of other things, too.
My office is the catch-all room. It’s the dirty secret in our house that the house is immaculate except for two places, the garage and my office. Both suffer from the same issue, and that’s overload. We did a massive downsizing of old books and other items, but somehow keeping this room uncluttered is just a royal pain. I also have a longer term goal going forward… I’m looking at the possibility of either converting this room to a genuine guest room, or potentially a bedroom for one of the girls (they currently share a room). To make that conversion, I have to reach the point where the contents of that room are either considerably downsized, or otherwise reallocated. Three key areas make up the bulk of the clutter in this room, and that is media (meaning CD's, DVD, VCR tapes and computer media), craft supplies (mostly associated with my work regarding the White Otter Dancers) and Scouting. My plan is to utilize used media places and sites like mediabuyback.com. In addition, papers that are not essential to be kept in their paper form will either be scanned and stored electronically, or gotten rid of entirely.
We have three fruit trees that produce a good quantity of Peaches, Nectarines and Apples. During 2009, I plan to use some techniques I’ve picked up on the web to set up a square foot garden in our back yard to expand the capacity of that garden space. I’m not gutsy enough to tear up the lawn and make that a garden patch (at least not yet), but the terrace boxes are totally fair game. This will require some observation and determining which areas get the best sunlight, as well as revamping the sprinkler system and adding some heads.
That should keep us busy for the next few months. Expect to see updates on all of these projects right here :).
Monday, December 29, 2008
Madd Money: Charting a More Refined Course in 2009
2008 was a pretty darned good year all told for my family and me. Financial total wise, it was not a banner year, but that is because the entire market retreated heavily in 2008. The housing market is down significantly, and some might say rightly so, but it’s still not pleasant to think that an asset you hold is down in value. No, the reason why 2008 was a banner year in our household was that, for the first time in many years, our total savings rate increased, and it increased significantly.
At this time last year, we paid off our mortgage for our house, with the goal to take that house payment money and save it, not inflate our lifestyle and buy more stuff. Looking back at what the market has done this year, it turned out to be one of the luckiest moves we ever made. We've never for a second assumed this was some skillful financial decision; I just felt anxious about not being able to save money for the future, and thus made the decision to sell off my shares of Cisco and Synaptics (the only single stocks I still owned) to completely and totally get us debt free, everything including the house. From there, I made the decision to invest going forward in broadly diversified mutual funds through my company’s 401K plan, through mine and my wife’s ROTH IRA’s and through our children’s 529 plans.
The biggest win for 2008 was the fact that we fully funded a six month emergency fund and determined an absolute threshold value (more than the threshold means we can take that money and invest; fall below the threshold and all investing outside of funding an employer match for 401K stops until the threshold is reached again). In addition, we also maxed out one ROTH IRA, are close to maxing out a second ROTH IRA (we still have until April 15, 2009 to do so), and contributed an additional 9% of gross income to our 401K plan. Looking back, we managed to average a savings rate of 25% of gross income every pay period. Again, that was boosted significantly by the fact that we were no longer making a house payment.
So in the closing days of 2008, things we determined we did well were:
• making an evolving budget and fine tuning it each month
• living primarily on the “envelope system”, where we used cash to make most payments for expenses during the month
• developing a grocery plan that allowed us to significantly trim our grocery bill (truth be told, we could probably do even better if we got truly aggressive on this front, but we're doing way better than we used to :) )
• keeping and monthly funding an escrow account of our own to allow us to pay for recurring expenses (car repairs, insurance, taxes, etc.)
• utilizing a “blow money” system for each of us to allow for some spending freedom (each of us got about $120 per month that we could use as “no questions asked” money to spend)
• budgeting for Christmas this year and making a hard determination that we were not going to go beyond a certain amount of money
• taking advantage of a Health Savings Account with high deductibles to lower our health insurance premiums considerably (even though we spent more cash of our own each visit, our total costs for the year were less than we spent last year with the premium structure the way it originally was)
• we only had to dip into our emergency fund once the entire year (to fix our oven which had a burner go bad)
• we downsized a lot of things that took up a lot of space and gave us more control over the areas where decided to keep things (hnothing worse than going out to buy something you need, knowing full well you have it somewhere, but no clue where it might be because of too much stuff in the way!)
• refinishing our deck and painting the exterior of the house ourselves, while a lot of work to do, was a huge net savings over hiring a professional to do it. This has also given us some confidence in tackling some additional projects in our house on our own.
All of which led to our being able to bank 25% of our gross pay on average in 2008.
By contrast, there were a few areas where we decided we could do better:
• there were a number of “surprises” that seemed to pop up on a recurring basis (things that, try as we might, we just didn’t see coming, or they suddenly got thrust on us and required that we spend to cover them). Last year, we made a point to write down any “gotcha” that we had to deal with, and this coming year, we plan to continue to do the same, and compare it to last years “gotcha” list. If we see it’s about to happen again, we know it’s something we need to plan for and apply to the regular spending escrow account. We realize we can’t plan for every eventuality, but many months of data help to determine true anomalies and which areas really should be worked into the ongoing budget.
• there is still a lot of “stuff” that we have that is really of questionable utility value, but I’m still leaning on the side of “oh no , I can’t get rid of that”... but each time I approach these areas, I get a little better and a little more realistic. Not to mention, I’d also like to see some monetary return for some of these items should I sell them. My “Shedding of Innocent Stuff” section of this blog was developed to help me do exactly this :).
• in 2009, I want to make our household finances 100% transparent, where all of us (including the kids) have a true understanding where the money goes and why. This way, it’s my hope that the whole family can pitch in and help make the decisions about what we can do and how to manage our home. Now that tools like NetworthIQ and Quicken Online are readily available (and free to use), this should be relatively easy to accomplish (of course, the devil is always in the details, ain’t it :)?).
• In 2009, I want to encourage my children to make some concrete plans regarding their own money that they earn, and how they would like to donate, save and spent it, with a goal of all the kids at the minimum making a commitment to tithe 10% regularly, save 40% and feel free to spend the remaining 50% if they so choose.
So those are my concrete financial goals for next year, which can always be associated with the more amorphous goals of “earn more money” and “save more money” that everyone always makes. It’s my hope that following through on the areas we did well in 2008, as well as using the action plan we have for 2009, we will be able to do both :).
At this time last year, we paid off our mortgage for our house, with the goal to take that house payment money and save it, not inflate our lifestyle and buy more stuff. Looking back at what the market has done this year, it turned out to be one of the luckiest moves we ever made. We've never for a second assumed this was some skillful financial decision; I just felt anxious about not being able to save money for the future, and thus made the decision to sell off my shares of Cisco and Synaptics (the only single stocks I still owned) to completely and totally get us debt free, everything including the house. From there, I made the decision to invest going forward in broadly diversified mutual funds through my company’s 401K plan, through mine and my wife’s ROTH IRA’s and through our children’s 529 plans.
The biggest win for 2008 was the fact that we fully funded a six month emergency fund and determined an absolute threshold value (more than the threshold means we can take that money and invest; fall below the threshold and all investing outside of funding an employer match for 401K stops until the threshold is reached again). In addition, we also maxed out one ROTH IRA, are close to maxing out a second ROTH IRA (we still have until April 15, 2009 to do so), and contributed an additional 9% of gross income to our 401K plan. Looking back, we managed to average a savings rate of 25% of gross income every pay period. Again, that was boosted significantly by the fact that we were no longer making a house payment.
So in the closing days of 2008, things we determined we did well were:
• making an evolving budget and fine tuning it each month
• living primarily on the “envelope system”, where we used cash to make most payments for expenses during the month
• developing a grocery plan that allowed us to significantly trim our grocery bill (truth be told, we could probably do even better if we got truly aggressive on this front, but we're doing way better than we used to :) )
• keeping and monthly funding an escrow account of our own to allow us to pay for recurring expenses (car repairs, insurance, taxes, etc.)
• utilizing a “blow money” system for each of us to allow for some spending freedom (each of us got about $120 per month that we could use as “no questions asked” money to spend)
• budgeting for Christmas this year and making a hard determination that we were not going to go beyond a certain amount of money
• taking advantage of a Health Savings Account with high deductibles to lower our health insurance premiums considerably (even though we spent more cash of our own each visit, our total costs for the year were less than we spent last year with the premium structure the way it originally was)
• we only had to dip into our emergency fund once the entire year (to fix our oven which had a burner go bad)
• we downsized a lot of things that took up a lot of space and gave us more control over the areas where decided to keep things (hnothing worse than going out to buy something you need, knowing full well you have it somewhere, but no clue where it might be because of too much stuff in the way!)
• refinishing our deck and painting the exterior of the house ourselves, while a lot of work to do, was a huge net savings over hiring a professional to do it. This has also given us some confidence in tackling some additional projects in our house on our own.
All of which led to our being able to bank 25% of our gross pay on average in 2008.
By contrast, there were a few areas where we decided we could do better:
• there were a number of “surprises” that seemed to pop up on a recurring basis (things that, try as we might, we just didn’t see coming, or they suddenly got thrust on us and required that we spend to cover them). Last year, we made a point to write down any “gotcha” that we had to deal with, and this coming year, we plan to continue to do the same, and compare it to last years “gotcha” list. If we see it’s about to happen again, we know it’s something we need to plan for and apply to the regular spending escrow account. We realize we can’t plan for every eventuality, but many months of data help to determine true anomalies and which areas really should be worked into the ongoing budget.
• there is still a lot of “stuff” that we have that is really of questionable utility value, but I’m still leaning on the side of “oh no , I can’t get rid of that”... but each time I approach these areas, I get a little better and a little more realistic. Not to mention, I’d also like to see some monetary return for some of these items should I sell them. My “Shedding of Innocent Stuff” section of this blog was developed to help me do exactly this :).
• in 2009, I want to make our household finances 100% transparent, where all of us (including the kids) have a true understanding where the money goes and why. This way, it’s my hope that the whole family can pitch in and help make the decisions about what we can do and how to manage our home. Now that tools like NetworthIQ and Quicken Online are readily available (and free to use), this should be relatively easy to accomplish (of course, the devil is always in the details, ain’t it :)?).
• In 2009, I want to encourage my children to make some concrete plans regarding their own money that they earn, and how they would like to donate, save and spent it, with a goal of all the kids at the minimum making a commitment to tithe 10% regularly, save 40% and feel free to spend the remaining 50% if they so choose.
So those are my concrete financial goals for next year, which can always be associated with the more amorphous goals of “earn more money” and “save more money” that everyone always makes. It’s my hope that following through on the areas we did well in 2008, as well as using the action plan we have for 2009, we will be able to do both :).
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Shedding of Innocent Stuff: After Christmas Edition
One of the rules that we put into place last year to hopefully overcome the intense crowding of our garage, closets and other things was that this year we would make a very concerted effort to send a lot of different items to other people to do with what they will. After a day of going through closets, gathering up old clothes, books, and other items that could either be donated or junked, we came down to the requisite after Christmas Goodyear run and special pickup for the garbage company.
This year, we have a larger than normal sweep because we really made an emphasis on out with old, in with new wherever possible. We got the kids on the program with this early and they were down with it originally, but amazingly, come the day after Christmas, that resolve gave way in a hurry (LOL!). Still, after making a strong push, we managed to get to the point where there was a full car for donations:
Things that didn't quite make it (along with a fairly large amount of yard cast-offs after the deck repair and repainting of the house):
While it makes a rather large dent in the garage and elsewhere, it amazes me that there's *still* so much stuff that I know I could legitimately downsize and probably not be any worse for wear for doing so. Still, I know we have a long way to gountil we are completely clutter free, but dang it, we're sure trying (LOL!).
This year, we have a larger than normal sweep because we really made an emphasis on out with old, in with new wherever possible. We got the kids on the program with this early and they were down with it originally, but amazingly, come the day after Christmas, that resolve gave way in a hurry (LOL!). Still, after making a strong push, we managed to get to the point where there was a full car for donations:
Things that didn't quite make it (along with a fairly large amount of yard cast-offs after the deck repair and repainting of the house):
While it makes a rather large dent in the garage and elsewhere, it amazes me that there's *still* so much stuff that I know I could legitimately downsize and probably not be any worse for wear for doing so. Still, I know we have a long way to gountil we are completely clutter free, but dang it, we're sure trying (LOL!).
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Day After Christmas :)
Well, we had a great time celebrating with our families. Christmas is always a two day event in our family. My wife's parents are from Germany and Austria, so their tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve. My son got something he has wanted for a long time, an Apple iTouch (think of an iPhone, just without the actual phone component). We had fun seeing the kids reactions to their various presents (Nick smiled broadly when he saw Season 2 of the anime series BLEACH, and Karina about flipped when she realized what I'd gotten her... a book on cosplay costumes from Japan).
I asked the family to not worry about getting me presents this year (I reasoned that it was my own money they were spending, and while I loved the sentiment, a handmade card or a hug from my kids and wife and a Merry Christmas wish was good enough for me). Well, my son was *not* going to stand for that (LOL!). He decided that he was going to get me a Christmas present,and since he had the money to do it, he figured it was perfectly alright to do so. So what does my son get his dad? An awesome art book called "All Color but the Black" (drawings and illustrations by Tite Kubo, the artist for the original "BLEACH" manga).
Another neat gift that the family received this year was totally unexpected. It came in the mail from a "distant relative" :). On a forum that I participate in, I discovered a family that shares my great-great-great grandfather, John Pack. I've had the opportunity over the past few years to get to know this family, celebrate their up times, feel concern about their down times, and feel really happy for them when the father of the family came back from serving overseas in Iraq. For fun, I sent them a gift of a DVD they were interested in a few months ago as an "early Christmas present". Well, what should my wondering eyes see... a few days ago, in the mail, appeared a gorgeous hand knitted afghan from my distant cousins. It was a really neat gift, one that my children commandeered immediately (LOL!). More to the point, it was just a fun feeling to have a connection at Christmas with a part of my family that I have never met, yet in some ways I've had more interaction with them than I have with people who are much more closely related to me. The takeaway from this one is that family is who you make it to be and who you nurture an effort to make a part of yourself :).
Christmas Day is always the day of my family getting together, so we pack up the family and drive out to Danville to spend the day with my parents, my siblings and their families. One of the coolest revelations of this Christmas? Both of my sisters are getting married! We knew about Adrienne's engagement for a couple of months now, but Renee sprung the news on us yesterday. We are very excited for both of them, as the guys they will be marrying are terrific and will be very welcome additions to our family.
So today, I will be kicking it at home, helping to put away a number of new items the kids got, shedding some things that could probably find a better home elsewhere, maybe perusing a couple of episodes of "Samurai 7" (a Christmas present I gave myself :) ), and just feeling good about the fact that this Christmas was a very enjoyable and ultimately relatively stress free day, spent with the people we most waned to spend it, and in celebration of whose life it was meant to commemorate.
I asked the family to not worry about getting me presents this year (I reasoned that it was my own money they were spending, and while I loved the sentiment, a handmade card or a hug from my kids and wife and a Merry Christmas wish was good enough for me). Well, my son was *not* going to stand for that (LOL!). He decided that he was going to get me a Christmas present,and since he had the money to do it, he figured it was perfectly alright to do so. So what does my son get his dad? An awesome art book called "All Color but the Black" (drawings and illustrations by Tite Kubo, the artist for the original "BLEACH" manga).
Another neat gift that the family received this year was totally unexpected. It came in the mail from a "distant relative" :). On a forum that I participate in, I discovered a family that shares my great-great-great grandfather, John Pack. I've had the opportunity over the past few years to get to know this family, celebrate their up times, feel concern about their down times, and feel really happy for them when the father of the family came back from serving overseas in Iraq. For fun, I sent them a gift of a DVD they were interested in a few months ago as an "early Christmas present". Well, what should my wondering eyes see... a few days ago, in the mail, appeared a gorgeous hand knitted afghan from my distant cousins. It was a really neat gift, one that my children commandeered immediately (LOL!). More to the point, it was just a fun feeling to have a connection at Christmas with a part of my family that I have never met, yet in some ways I've had more interaction with them than I have with people who are much more closely related to me. The takeaway from this one is that family is who you make it to be and who you nurture an effort to make a part of yourself :).
Christmas Day is always the day of my family getting together, so we pack up the family and drive out to Danville to spend the day with my parents, my siblings and their families. One of the coolest revelations of this Christmas? Both of my sisters are getting married! We knew about Adrienne's engagement for a couple of months now, but Renee sprung the news on us yesterday. We are very excited for both of them, as the guys they will be marrying are terrific and will be very welcome additions to our family.
So today, I will be kicking it at home, helping to put away a number of new items the kids got, shedding some things that could probably find a better home elsewhere, maybe perusing a couple of episodes of "Samurai 7" (a Christmas present I gave myself :) ), and just feeling good about the fact that this Christmas was a very enjoyable and ultimately relatively stress free day, spent with the people we most waned to spend it, and in celebration of whose life it was meant to commemorate.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Larsen's Homestyle Honeycrisp Applesauce
This past weekend, my kids and I decided to go in the back yard and harvest the late blooming apples from our apple tree. I’m not an apple expert, but based on the times that this tree’s fruit ripens (usually late November and early December) and the coloring and flavor of the apples, I think it’s a Honeycrisp tree (hey, it came with the house, and there wasn’t a tag on it when we ultimately got it :) ). What I can say is that these late harvest apples are “fantastic” and very sweet.
This year, we were able to pull off the equivalent of a full grocery bag full of pristine, clean apples, with about 2/3rds of a bag worth of apples that got a bit of insect or bird carnage on them. Hey, it happens :). This is the single biggest harvest we’ve had from this relatively young apple tree, and as we go into the next several years, we have hopes that it may yield even more.
While apples can last quite awhile, we were seriously wondering… what on earth are we going to do with all of these?! We decided to go through and pick the biggest ones (about 30 or them) and set them aside for daily eating. The rest, which varied in size but had the same flavor and development) we made into what we call “Larsen Homestyle Applesauce”. This is how we make a typical batch:
LARSEN’S HOMESTYLE HONEYCRISP APPLESAUCE
8-10 Honeycrisp apples
1 cup water
Juice from ½ of a Meyer Lemon
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Take the apples and put them into a food processor (or you can use a mashed potato press to get the same result). The goal is to get a fine chop and press of all of the apple pieces. For best flavor and smell, do not remove the skin (personal preference; I like the flavor of the pectin in the skin :) ).
Mix the juice from the lemon with the apple mixture (this helps to slow the oxidization of the apples and keeps a lighter color. It also adds a hint of sweeter citrus to the overall taste (Meyer lemons being considerable sweeter than most other lemon varieties).
Put the apple and lemon mix in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water, and place on medium heat for 25 minutes. The goal is to reduce the water and apple juice. When the applesauce mixture is the consistency of lumpy oatmeal, mix in the other ½ cup of water, the ½ cup of brown sugar, and the teaspoon of cinnamon. Reduce for another 20 minutes until the texture is just right.
The end product is a fairly chunky applesauce (not too soft but not too crisp) and it is a little reminiscent of Apple Pie filling, but not quite as sweet. This is great to eat by itself, but also tastes great when served with ice cream. We’ve now made three batches of the applesauce and devoured just about all of it (LOL!). Next year, if we get a similar yield or better, I’m going to invest in some canning supplies and actually store some up for later (or perhaps give some of it away :) ).
This year, we were able to pull off the equivalent of a full grocery bag full of pristine, clean apples, with about 2/3rds of a bag worth of apples that got a bit of insect or bird carnage on them. Hey, it happens :). This is the single biggest harvest we’ve had from this relatively young apple tree, and as we go into the next several years, we have hopes that it may yield even more.
While apples can last quite awhile, we were seriously wondering… what on earth are we going to do with all of these?! We decided to go through and pick the biggest ones (about 30 or them) and set them aside for daily eating. The rest, which varied in size but had the same flavor and development) we made into what we call “Larsen Homestyle Applesauce”. This is how we make a typical batch:
LARSEN’S HOMESTYLE HONEYCRISP APPLESAUCE
8-10 Honeycrisp apples
1 cup water
Juice from ½ of a Meyer Lemon
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Take the apples and put them into a food processor (or you can use a mashed potato press to get the same result). The goal is to get a fine chop and press of all of the apple pieces. For best flavor and smell, do not remove the skin (personal preference; I like the flavor of the pectin in the skin :) ).
Mix the juice from the lemon with the apple mixture (this helps to slow the oxidization of the apples and keeps a lighter color. It also adds a hint of sweeter citrus to the overall taste (Meyer lemons being considerable sweeter than most other lemon varieties).
Put the apple and lemon mix in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water, and place on medium heat for 25 minutes. The goal is to reduce the water and apple juice. When the applesauce mixture is the consistency of lumpy oatmeal, mix in the other ½ cup of water, the ½ cup of brown sugar, and the teaspoon of cinnamon. Reduce for another 20 minutes until the texture is just right.
The end product is a fairly chunky applesauce (not too soft but not too crisp) and it is a little reminiscent of Apple Pie filling, but not quite as sweet. This is great to eat by itself, but also tastes great when served with ice cream. We’ve now made three batches of the applesauce and devoured just about all of it (LOL!). Next year, if we get a similar yield or better, I’m going to invest in some canning supplies and actually store some up for later (or perhaps give some of it away :) ).
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Proof I Should Have Stayed In Bed
I woke up Saturday Morning feeling not at all well; congested head, headachey, the whole nine yards. I'd been fighting a cold much of the week, and this time, I just felt like I'd been clubbed in the head. Still, there were a lot of things we needed to do today, and that required my actually getting up and helping out. Anyway, as we were running around yesterday, at one point my son wanted to make some Jell-O as part of dinner. I decided to give him a hand and I helped him dissolve the Jell-O packet over the stove.
Next thing we know, the phone is ringing, only the cordless phone is in the bedroom. No problem, I think, and I rush off to go answer the phone... and that's when it happened:
It was an accident, of course, but what happened was that the cabinet door that's overhead was let open. I should say that it is overhead for everyone except for me! Sure enough, as I was practically at a running start, I glanced the bottom of the cabinet, which opened up and caught against the side of the refrigerator... which had the net effect of me looking like I'd been hit across the head with a two by four! Needless to say, my family was rather alarmed as I dropped to the floor and clutched my head (not an entirely voluntary reaction). the next thing I knew, my son was there with ice in a plastic bag (wow, he really has been paying attention in Scouts :) ), and he was the first to say "Oh my gosh, Dad, your head!"... which doesn't exactly instill confidence at moments like this (LOL!). Fortunately, it's just a welt that will likely turn into a really vibrant bruise in a few days, but hopefully, I'll be no worse for wear from the overall experience.
Yep, I should have just stayed in bed (LOL!)
Next thing we know, the phone is ringing, only the cordless phone is in the bedroom. No problem, I think, and I rush off to go answer the phone... and that's when it happened:
It was an accident, of course, but what happened was that the cabinet door that's overhead was let open. I should say that it is overhead for everyone except for me! Sure enough, as I was practically at a running start, I glanced the bottom of the cabinet, which opened up and caught against the side of the refrigerator... which had the net effect of me looking like I'd been hit across the head with a two by four! Needless to say, my family was rather alarmed as I dropped to the floor and clutched my head (not an entirely voluntary reaction). the next thing I knew, my son was there with ice in a plastic bag (wow, he really has been paying attention in Scouts :) ), and he was the first to say "Oh my gosh, Dad, your head!"... which doesn't exactly instill confidence at moments like this (LOL!). Fortunately, it's just a welt that will likely turn into a really vibrant bruise in a few days, but hopefully, I'll be no worse for wear from the overall experience.
Yep, I should have just stayed in bed (LOL!)
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Things That Dads Dream To Hear
This has been an interesting year for my older daughter, Karina. She is my big girl and I love her to death, but she has had her share of small challenges when it comes to school. One of the biggest issues (I hope she won’t feel embarrassed for me saying this) is that she deals with astigmatism as well as far sightedness. Because of that, she has had to wear glasses for several years and it’s been a challenge for her to do things that some kids take for granted. Reading is not an easy thing for her, and sometimes she has to go over sections a number of times to make sure that she gets everything.
This past year, Christina has really given a lot of up front time and attention to Karina to help her get more comfortable with reading, and especially more challenging passages. I am happy to say that that effort looks to have paid off! Yesterday was Karina’s and Amber’s Parent/Teacher conferences, and both of them were very positive and complementary. Added to that, though, were some things that were said about Karina that made me a very proud daddy indeed.
We were very excited when we saw that she had earned all A’s and one B, and had secured a spot on the Honor Roll at school. Yep, that would be a moment to make a parent proud, but that’s not the one that I’m writing about today… the one that really made me feel great was to hear her teacher say (somewhat paraphrased and second hand, mind you :) )…
“we are really happy that Karina was elected by her class to serve as the class representative to the Student Council, because she is such a wonderful role model to the other students. She is always very polite, very supportive of others, and she is kind and considerate to everyone. She doesn’t have any attitude, and I am so happy that she seems to be above and beyond all the “girl drama” that’s so common at this age.”
Really, seriously, that’s a fabulous report, but even if the top Honor Roll part hadn’t happened, hearing the second part of the conference would have made my day just as well. Often, we hope that we are teaching our children to be good citizens and good friends to those around them, and hoping that things like morality, ethics and integrity shine through at key moments. I’ve been so happy to see the many times that they do, and it gives me hope that my Heavenly Father may actually trust me with these very precious loans of three spirit children of his. It’s days like this, and comments like this, that make me feel like I and Christina might actually be doing something right! Trust me, we get ample opportunity at other times to feel exactly the opposite (LOL!), so for today, hey, I’ll take the other sentiment ;).
Friday, December 5, 2008
It Was 16 Years Ago Today
It's funny, there's so much I could say about this day, but I'm just going to point out that today is the 16th anniversary of yours truly and his beloved tying the knot, making two into one, cleaving unto one another and no other, you pick the sentiment. The point is, today is the day that, sixteen years ago, the most gorgeous woman on Earth (well, to me; understand I'm not exactly unbiased in this particular opinion) said "I do" and "I will" and I'm ever so glad "she did" :).
So instead of waxing rhapsodic about "the way we were" and who were were back then, why not just show you who we were :)...
A few weeks before our wedding at the wedding shower, and yes, I was there (I'm all liberated like that, and stuff (LOL!) ).
At our Bachelor/Bachelorette Party (yep, we decided to be unconventional and hold them together because, well, we're just raging geeks like that :) )". Don't you just love the early 90's garb (LOL!)?
The Bride and Groom the Night of the Celebrated Day.
The two of us out and about a couple of months later on a typical San Francisco afternoon in the Sunset District.
Another early shot of the newlyweds (sometime in 1993).
And now fast forward to us today (a lot has changed)...
Well for some of us, not so much... Christina has hardly changed at all!!!
I certainly can't say the same for me (LOL!).
But you know what? She still digs me, and I definitely still dig her, and frankly, when all is said and done, that's all that matters.
Happy Anniversary!!!
So instead of waxing rhapsodic about "the way we were" and who were were back then, why not just show you who we were :)...
A few weeks before our wedding at the wedding shower, and yes, I was there (I'm all liberated like that, and stuff (LOL!) ).
At our Bachelor/Bachelorette Party (yep, we decided to be unconventional and hold them together because, well, we're just raging geeks like that :) )". Don't you just love the early 90's garb (LOL!)?
The Bride and Groom the Night of the Celebrated Day.
The two of us out and about a couple of months later on a typical San Francisco afternoon in the Sunset District.
Another early shot of the newlyweds (sometime in 1993).
And now fast forward to us today (a lot has changed)...
Well for some of us, not so much... Christina has hardly changed at all!!!
I certainly can't say the same for me (LOL!).
But you know what? She still digs me, and I definitely still dig her, and frankly, when all is said and done, that's all that matters.
Happy Anniversary!!!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday Musings: Amber Meets A Hard Days Night
Tonight my older kids were invited to attend a Faith in God fireside at a friend’s house. Christina, in her role as Primary President and as a parent of one child who had completed the process and another who was actively involved in it, also attended. That left Amber and I at home. Amber felt a little bummed about being left home alone, so I decided to do something special... I decided to give her a screening of my all time favorite movie and see what she thought of it.
For those who have known me for any length of time, you all know that my number 1 favorite movie of all time is the Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night”. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what Amber would think of this, having grown up in an age of hyper-cuts and fast action, relentless pacing. While “A Hard Day’s Night” certainly has elements of that (it was certainly a frenetic film in its day compared to all that had come before it), it was very tame by today’s standards. Still, this is my daughter, and I figured if it was something that I loved, and Amber being so much a “Daddy’s Girl” in the sense that she seems to want to be into the same things I am into, I figured it would be a good bet that she’d enjoy it, too.
She loved it. We had fun singing along to several Beatles songs that she’d heard me sing over the years and play in the car or at home, and I could tell she was having fun seeing these songs being performed. It was also cute to see how much she liked Wilfrid Bramble (the “clean” old man that is Paul’s grandfather in the movie). She’d ask me things like “were people really like that back then?” Of course, I had to explain that I had no idea if people were really like that, as I wouldn’t be born for 3 ½ more years (LOL!), but yes, based on the film clips and television I’d seen, Beatlemania was indeed every bit like that. It was cute to see which character she responded to the most and would laugh with and about. Based on her reaction, I think George was her favorite (which, if true, again mirrors her old man… George Harrison was always my favorite of the Beatles ;) ).
It was funny to hear my other kids when they came home. While they all got to go out and spend time with their friends and attend this fireside, it was cute to see that they felt a little jealous that Amber got to have a private screening of “A Hard Days Night” with her Dad. What it told me was that they saw me sharing something that they knew I loved very much with my youngest daughter, and they wanted in on that action, too. Not to worry, kids, this is one movie I can watch a thousand times and still love it. Let me know when you want to schedule another screening (LOL!).
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Madd Money: What's Helped Save You the Most Money?
Trent over at The Simple Dollar had an entry yesterday about describing the most concrete things that he has done to save money. I liked his answer, as it's one that I can totally relate to and agree with: use the public library instead of going to the book store and directly purchasing books and DVDs. For Trent, this was a concrete example that passed on some tremendous savings to him. He described an $80.00 per month book habit that was reduced to close to nothing (I can't say the service is 100% free because the public library is one of those things that our tax dollars pay for, so we do have a direct payment plan into access at our public library, we just don't know how much of it actually goes there :) ). While I do not have that big a habit, I most certainly had a love affair with book shopping at Barnes and Noble, with fits and starts and bank statements with the store's name emblazoned on it.
Over the last several months, I decided to give the public library a lot more of my reading and DVD viewing business, and the results have been tremendous. Our expenditures on books and DVDs has gone *way* down. Now granted, the library doesn't have every movie or every book I want to examine, but they sure do have a lot of them, and many times I get to see books or DVD's I'd otherwise never have considered. It's too early to say for sure how much we have saved, but judging from the lack of purchases from Barnes and Noble over the past few months, I would say we've probably "saved" at least $300 dollars.
That got me thinking more about Trent's article and trying to figure out concrete things that I have done to help me save money. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some areas I personally have seen a difference in both changing my habits and being aware of what I am doing. In some cases, it has allowed me to apply money to different areas where I hadn’t before:
1. Clothing: I’ve made the decision to go with as much of a minimalist wardrobe as possible. Thus, I’ve tried my best to imagine living for two weeks out of a suitcase without option for doing laundry. Whatever can fit in that suitcase, that’s my wardrobe (and that includes two suits that normally don’t get used for anything else other than attending church and church service opportunities, but that’d enough to justify both of them). To this end, I try to pick items that have a classic quality to them and will be able to be worn for many years without retooling or restyling. Net result is that, each year, I spend no more than $500 total on clothing, and some years I spend even less. Also, I tend to look for items that, while not necessarily the cheapest, I have a good feeling will actually last me a long time.
2. Food: I almost never eat out while I am at work. I very nearly always take care of my own food, either from home or shopping in a store to have staple items available. Granted, there are the times the company springs for food, and I certainly take advantage of that (LOL!), but I make it a policy to shop as little as possible when I’m downtown. Also, I'm trying to really make a point of spending the least amount of money possible of food items that just I consume. Thus, when I go grocery shopping for items to make meals out of, I almost always buy generics, I but items in bulk , and I do my best to combine them and set them aside to be used when I need them. I'm also cutting down on meats and other expensive foods, and going with more vegetables and lover priced alternatives. I like to have a varied diet and want to have some fun with the food I eat, but I've realized I don't need to go overboard on expensive meats, as there are often good low priced alternatives.
3. Entertainment: I’ve definitely pared down this area considerably over the years. I used to be the first in line to grab up several video games that I know I’d love to play… problem is that, much of the time, I’d never get around to playing them. I have several games that are on my “to do” list, and have been there now for close to three years. I’ve heeded this attribute in myself, and I’ve decided to be *very* hardcore about the games I buy. Now, if there is no immediate time frame to play it, I don’t buy it, no mater how rare or unique I think the game might be. In general, if I’m not going to play it for a year, it’s likely to be a title I can pick up used at the local game store. Also, as one who loves video game strategy guides (more for the back story and the additional art galleries related to the titles rather than for the specific strategies offered), I’ve made it a point to also scale back here. I only buy the guide if, indeed, the game in question has enough additional artwork and back story items that I will, indeed go back to it again and again to enjoy those things. Otherwise, if I truly only want game hints, I use sites like GameFAQs to fill that need now. DVDs now mostly come courtesy of my public library.
4. Work and Commute: I am overjoyed that I made the decision a number of years ago to work in San Francisco. While I still have commute expenses, they are considerably less than when I used to work in San Jose or Redwood City. My drive to my train station is 4 miles round trip, and on some days, that’s the only driving I do. Were I to live in an area with flatter terrain (my house happens to be near the top of a pretty substantial hill in my town ), I’d totally consider commuting by bike to and from the train station. Perhaps that’s in my future one of these days, but I’ll need to get into better shape first (LOL!). the fact that I use the Bart Smart Card, which is attached directly to my company’s transportation Flexible Spending Account, also helps to insure that I have tax-free funds to help pay for the commuting.
5. “Keep Us Honest” Accounts: I’ve found that having set these up and sticking to them religiously to be a very valuable thing for us to do. Our ROTH IRA’s, my company’s 401K’s and our children’s 529 plans are all areas that we invest in each pay period, and we make it a point to keep to our agreed-to percentages. We have not automated this process yet, because we want to make sure that we are all clear on the fact that we are adding the amounts that we agree to and that we are comfortable with for these purposes. What’s great about these accounts is that, once the money is in there, we can’t get to it unless its for the defined purpose (college for the kids) or we reach the appropriate age for retirement fund distributions.
Some of these are actual concrete steps taken to help us save money and hang onto more than we spend. Some of these areas are actually more psychological and behavioral rather than just a list of tips to do to save money. Of course, may times, that’s exactly what we need to make the changes necessary. By making sure that we are aware of what we are doing, and are in the correct mind set to do what we want to do, but be open to ways where we can do what we want without having to pay a premium for the experience. So let me know… what are some of the things you have done, whether it be psychological or totally physically tangible, to help you save more of your money over time?
Over the last several months, I decided to give the public library a lot more of my reading and DVD viewing business, and the results have been tremendous. Our expenditures on books and DVDs has gone *way* down. Now granted, the library doesn't have every movie or every book I want to examine, but they sure do have a lot of them, and many times I get to see books or DVD's I'd otherwise never have considered. It's too early to say for sure how much we have saved, but judging from the lack of purchases from Barnes and Noble over the past few months, I would say we've probably "saved" at least $300 dollars.
That got me thinking more about Trent's article and trying to figure out concrete things that I have done to help me save money. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some areas I personally have seen a difference in both changing my habits and being aware of what I am doing. In some cases, it has allowed me to apply money to different areas where I hadn’t before:
1. Clothing: I’ve made the decision to go with as much of a minimalist wardrobe as possible. Thus, I’ve tried my best to imagine living for two weeks out of a suitcase without option for doing laundry. Whatever can fit in that suitcase, that’s my wardrobe (and that includes two suits that normally don’t get used for anything else other than attending church and church service opportunities, but that’d enough to justify both of them). To this end, I try to pick items that have a classic quality to them and will be able to be worn for many years without retooling or restyling. Net result is that, each year, I spend no more than $500 total on clothing, and some years I spend even less. Also, I tend to look for items that, while not necessarily the cheapest, I have a good feeling will actually last me a long time.
2. Food: I almost never eat out while I am at work. I very nearly always take care of my own food, either from home or shopping in a store to have staple items available. Granted, there are the times the company springs for food, and I certainly take advantage of that (LOL!), but I make it a policy to shop as little as possible when I’m downtown. Also, I'm trying to really make a point of spending the least amount of money possible of food items that just I consume. Thus, when I go grocery shopping for items to make meals out of, I almost always buy generics, I but items in bulk , and I do my best to combine them and set them aside to be used when I need them. I'm also cutting down on meats and other expensive foods, and going with more vegetables and lover priced alternatives. I like to have a varied diet and want to have some fun with the food I eat, but I've realized I don't need to go overboard on expensive meats, as there are often good low priced alternatives.
3. Entertainment: I’ve definitely pared down this area considerably over the years. I used to be the first in line to grab up several video games that I know I’d love to play… problem is that, much of the time, I’d never get around to playing them. I have several games that are on my “to do” list, and have been there now for close to three years. I’ve heeded this attribute in myself, and I’ve decided to be *very* hardcore about the games I buy. Now, if there is no immediate time frame to play it, I don’t buy it, no mater how rare or unique I think the game might be. In general, if I’m not going to play it for a year, it’s likely to be a title I can pick up used at the local game store. Also, as one who loves video game strategy guides (more for the back story and the additional art galleries related to the titles rather than for the specific strategies offered), I’ve made it a point to also scale back here. I only buy the guide if, indeed, the game in question has enough additional artwork and back story items that I will, indeed go back to it again and again to enjoy those things. Otherwise, if I truly only want game hints, I use sites like GameFAQs to fill that need now. DVDs now mostly come courtesy of my public library.
4. Work and Commute: I am overjoyed that I made the decision a number of years ago to work in San Francisco. While I still have commute expenses, they are considerably less than when I used to work in San Jose or Redwood City. My drive to my train station is 4 miles round trip, and on some days, that’s the only driving I do. Were I to live in an area with flatter terrain (my house happens to be near the top of a pretty substantial hill in my town ), I’d totally consider commuting by bike to and from the train station. Perhaps that’s in my future one of these days, but I’ll need to get into better shape first (LOL!). the fact that I use the Bart Smart Card, which is attached directly to my company’s transportation Flexible Spending Account, also helps to insure that I have tax-free funds to help pay for the commuting.
5. “Keep Us Honest” Accounts: I’ve found that having set these up and sticking to them religiously to be a very valuable thing for us to do. Our ROTH IRA’s, my company’s 401K’s and our children’s 529 plans are all areas that we invest in each pay period, and we make it a point to keep to our agreed-to percentages. We have not automated this process yet, because we want to make sure that we are all clear on the fact that we are adding the amounts that we agree to and that we are comfortable with for these purposes. What’s great about these accounts is that, once the money is in there, we can’t get to it unless its for the defined purpose (college for the kids) or we reach the appropriate age for retirement fund distributions.
Some of these are actual concrete steps taken to help us save money and hang onto more than we spend. Some of these areas are actually more psychological and behavioral rather than just a list of tips to do to save money. Of course, may times, that’s exactly what we need to make the changes necessary. By making sure that we are aware of what we are doing, and are in the correct mind set to do what we want to do, but be open to ways where we can do what we want without having to pay a premium for the experience. So let me know… what are some of the things you have done, whether it be psychological or totally physically tangible, to help you save more of your money over time?
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy All Saint's Day :)
Halloween 2008 has officially come and gone. Some highlights of this year's festivities:
Nick and his pal, Jessie, and their campy approach to the whole Twilight Edward/Jacob thing... and no, I have no control whatsoever anymore when it comes to my son's costumes (LOL!).
Karina putting the sass on!
Amber as a kitty cat... *the* perfect costume for this little one. She stayed in character just about the entire night ;).
And of course, what would Halloween be without the obligatory tormenting of the family pet. Rikku was a good sport through all of this, to be honest.
We brought the kids around the Crestmoor neighborhood for the better part of two hours (and it was a mob scene this year; seriously, between Charleston and Kingston, I thought it was a street party. I've *never* seen it this crowded in our neighborhood!) Nick and Jessie decided to go their own way, and since they are old enough now to make that decision, we complied (they ended up hanging out at Jessie's house after Trick or Treating until well after I was in bed). The girls and I went around the neighborhood from 7:00 PM until just before 9:00 PM, at which point, Amber was complaining her bag was too heavy to carry anymore (sure sign that it's time to call it a night). We have a standing rule in the house; exch kid gets to pick 25 pieces of their choice, the rest goes into a big bag that Dad takes back to work. My kids are slowly realizing that this is not my way of punishing them (they can keep the best of the best, and I don't stop them from doing that). My co-workers, though, *dread* seeing me come in the day or Monday after Halloween, because they know this *huge* bowl of candy will be on the break room table. Funny, but it never seems to be there for very long (LOL!).
Oh, and for those keeping track, I took second place in my company's costume competitoopn. that now has me at 2 1st place wins and 2 second place wins. I'm only allowed three wins, at which point I join the "Gallery of the Greats" and I am no longer eligible to compete. So I have another chance to grab the coveted third win... and yes, I've already started planning my costume for next year :).
Well, here's wishing everyone a happy All Saints Day, and wishing all a happy sugar hangover recovery as well.
Nick and his pal, Jessie, and their campy approach to the whole Twilight Edward/Jacob thing... and no, I have no control whatsoever anymore when it comes to my son's costumes (LOL!).
Karina putting the sass on!
Amber as a kitty cat... *the* perfect costume for this little one. She stayed in character just about the entire night ;).
And of course, what would Halloween be without the obligatory tormenting of the family pet. Rikku was a good sport through all of this, to be honest.
We brought the kids around the Crestmoor neighborhood for the better part of two hours (and it was a mob scene this year; seriously, between Charleston and Kingston, I thought it was a street party. I've *never* seen it this crowded in our neighborhood!) Nick and Jessie decided to go their own way, and since they are old enough now to make that decision, we complied (they ended up hanging out at Jessie's house after Trick or Treating until well after I was in bed). The girls and I went around the neighborhood from 7:00 PM until just before 9:00 PM, at which point, Amber was complaining her bag was too heavy to carry anymore (sure sign that it's time to call it a night). We have a standing rule in the house; exch kid gets to pick 25 pieces of their choice, the rest goes into a big bag that Dad takes back to work. My kids are slowly realizing that this is not my way of punishing them (they can keep the best of the best, and I don't stop them from doing that). My co-workers, though, *dread* seeing me come in the day or Monday after Halloween, because they know this *huge* bowl of candy will be on the break room table. Funny, but it never seems to be there for very long (LOL!).
Oh, and for those keeping track, I took second place in my company's costume competitoopn. that now has me at 2 1st place wins and 2 second place wins. I'm only allowed three wins, at which point I join the "Gallery of the Greats" and I am no longer eligible to compete. So I have another chance to grab the coveted third win... and yes, I've already started planning my costume for next year :).
Well, here's wishing everyone a happy All Saints Day, and wishing all a happy sugar hangover recovery as well.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
From Asleep to Enraged in 10 Seconds!!!
OK, I admit it, I’m probably one who needs a little work on this particular attribute. I’m a relatively high strung guy, and I tend to get excited about stuff and I’m the King of hyper-motivation when it comes to getting some things done. It’s one of the reasons I work well as a Scoutmaster; I’m little more than a kid in a grown-up’s body, plus I have the emotional energy to match it many times. This is great when the emotions and the circumstances are positive. It also, however can be a huge negative when the emotions and circumstances are negative. In short, I tend to overreact to bad news, especially when it relates to members of my family.
The recent challenge du jour has been in regards to homework. For the most part, my kids are good students; generally bright, articulate, and get things done when they need to be… however, we seem to have run into a rough patch when it comes to one child's math class… they're looking to be getting a C.
WHAT?!!
Now, understand, I wouldn’t mind if the issue was struggling with Math and that was the best they were able to do. I certainly wasn’t a Math wiz when I was younger, so I got my share of C’s, too. That’s not what’s got me up in arms. What has me so frustrated and agro about all this is that the reasons the grade is so low is because of missing assignments, and a fairly big project that needed to be done on the computer at school, a lost password, and no mention of the fact until it was too late. THIS is what set me off.
I’m a firm believer in letting people do what they need to do in the manner that best works for them. I also realize that my way isn’t necessarily the best way for everyone. I discovered when I went back to school full time in 2003 that my peak learning hours were between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM, with a gradual drop off from there and a real wall being hit around 2:00 PM. Thus, I can understand if another way of doing things needs to be done, as long as it gets done. However, it looks like that “getting done” isn’t happening, even with Mom cajoling and pushing. Thus, now it is time for Dad to get involved.
I know Christina tends to dread bringing these situations up with me, because I’m not one who handles situations like this in a cool manner. See, I tend to get over emotional about stuff like this because it was a lackadaisical attitude and a sloppy and disorganized approach to life that doomed me to the lower reaches of GPA during my middle and high school years. I vowed I would not let my kids do the same thing. Thus, I tend to fly off the handle when it comes to stuff like this. You’d think I’d be empathetic and understanding, but you’d be wrong, oh so very, very wrong!
See, I’m one of those people that abhor and react most violently regarding others to the traits I most recognize in myself, especially the ones I greatly dislike:
I know I’m disorganized.
I know I procrastinate.
I know that I rely way too heavily on a “fly by the seat of my pants and wing it” philosophy in my personal and professional life.
I’m also trying very hard to change those aspects about me and my life, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. However, I can spot it in anyone else a mile away, and I am swift and merciless when it comes to dealing with it in others. Yes, I am aware that that makes me a world class and monumental hypocrite, but I’ve come to appreciate the fact that my existence at times is best exemplified when I am a warning sign to others (LOL!). In other words, my response very often is “shape up, unless you want to end up like ME!!!”
This is my way of apologizing to everyone for waking them out of a sound sleep on Monday night while Mom and I discussed this particular issue, and to also apologize to one child who received a moderately rude awakening and a fairly stern talking to about how we were going to be allocating their time for the next several weeks, until the end of the semester. This child was informed that they have now been assigned a micro-manager for their schoolwork… ME!!! It also means that they are going to have to get used to a different way of turning work in, as it has to be proofed and initialed by me before it goes out the door, and the teacher in question will know that I will be keeping tabs and following up. Here’s hoping that good and thorough work up front will prove to be the path of least resistance.
I’m sure it will be much more favorable compared to "psycho daddy" as a homework warden (LOL!).
The recent challenge du jour has been in regards to homework. For the most part, my kids are good students; generally bright, articulate, and get things done when they need to be… however, we seem to have run into a rough patch when it comes to one child's math class… they're looking to be getting a C.
WHAT?!!
Now, understand, I wouldn’t mind if the issue was struggling with Math and that was the best they were able to do. I certainly wasn’t a Math wiz when I was younger, so I got my share of C’s, too. That’s not what’s got me up in arms. What has me so frustrated and agro about all this is that the reasons the grade is so low is because of missing assignments, and a fairly big project that needed to be done on the computer at school, a lost password, and no mention of the fact until it was too late. THIS is what set me off.
I’m a firm believer in letting people do what they need to do in the manner that best works for them. I also realize that my way isn’t necessarily the best way for everyone. I discovered when I went back to school full time in 2003 that my peak learning hours were between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM, with a gradual drop off from there and a real wall being hit around 2:00 PM. Thus, I can understand if another way of doing things needs to be done, as long as it gets done. However, it looks like that “getting done” isn’t happening, even with Mom cajoling and pushing. Thus, now it is time for Dad to get involved.
I know Christina tends to dread bringing these situations up with me, because I’m not one who handles situations like this in a cool manner. See, I tend to get over emotional about stuff like this because it was a lackadaisical attitude and a sloppy and disorganized approach to life that doomed me to the lower reaches of GPA during my middle and high school years. I vowed I would not let my kids do the same thing. Thus, I tend to fly off the handle when it comes to stuff like this. You’d think I’d be empathetic and understanding, but you’d be wrong, oh so very, very wrong!
See, I’m one of those people that abhor and react most violently regarding others to the traits I most recognize in myself, especially the ones I greatly dislike:
I know I’m disorganized.
I know I procrastinate.
I know that I rely way too heavily on a “fly by the seat of my pants and wing it” philosophy in my personal and professional life.
I’m also trying very hard to change those aspects about me and my life, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. However, I can spot it in anyone else a mile away, and I am swift and merciless when it comes to dealing with it in others. Yes, I am aware that that makes me a world class and monumental hypocrite, but I’ve come to appreciate the fact that my existence at times is best exemplified when I am a warning sign to others (LOL!). In other words, my response very often is “shape up, unless you want to end up like ME!!!”
This is my way of apologizing to everyone for waking them out of a sound sleep on Monday night while Mom and I discussed this particular issue, and to also apologize to one child who received a moderately rude awakening and a fairly stern talking to about how we were going to be allocating their time for the next several weeks, until the end of the semester. This child was informed that they have now been assigned a micro-manager for their schoolwork… ME!!! It also means that they are going to have to get used to a different way of turning work in, as it has to be proofed and initialed by me before it goes out the door, and the teacher in question will know that I will be keeping tabs and following up. Here’s hoping that good and thorough work up front will prove to be the path of least resistance.
I’m sure it will be much more favorable compared to "psycho daddy" as a homework warden (LOL!).
Friday, October 24, 2008
Madd Money: New Hero Rides into Town... Meet Tightwad Tod
JD over at Get Rich slowly gets the props for posting about this guy first, but I have to say I love the premise and I'm looking forward to reading more from him.
Tightwad Tod is the blog of Tod Marks, a senior editor over at at Consumer Reports. While much of Consumer Reports site is paid content, many of the blogs are available for free, and Tightwad Tod's is one of the free ones :).
Tod Marks is a senior editor at Consumer Reports, and he's been writing about how to save money for 17 years. It will be interesting to see what he has to say, and what opportunities might come out of reading his suggestions :).
Tightwad Tod is the blog of Tod Marks, a senior editor over at at Consumer Reports. While much of Consumer Reports site is paid content, many of the blogs are available for free, and Tightwad Tod's is one of the free ones :).
Tod Marks is a senior editor at Consumer Reports, and he's been writing about how to save money for 17 years. It will be interesting to see what he has to say, and what opportunities might come out of reading his suggestions :).
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