Thank You for These Awards

I have received more awards which I would like to share with others. I want to thank you for thinking of me when you present your awards; it really means a lot! As I pass these along, please do not feel obligated to respond in kind. I am doing this to show my appreciation for all your hard work.
I would like to take this time to thank From A Yellow House in England for presenting me with...



Da rules: Link to who gave the award to you; admit 5 addictions; and then pass the award on to 5 other blogs.

My Addictions...

1) this one is easy: Smoking. I started in Grad school and never gave the habit up.

2) Pistachios. I love these things, especially the salty shells.

3) Chicago Connection Pizza. They have the best pizza anywhere. Tons of cheese and just dripping with grease:) Unfortunately, I haven't been able to have one in over 14 months (yes, I am keeping track).

4) Reading. Give me a good book and I can be lost for hours. I am currently reading a book called Shadow Divers. It is about deep sea diving and the discovery and attempts to identify a U-Boat found off the coast of new Jersey. A true story and fascinating to read. I know that wreck diving is one thing I could never do.

5) Cooking. I love experimenting with different foods and combinations. Usually, it turns out pretty good.



I would like to thank Ask Ms Recipe for presenting me with the...

Just Say No to Payday Loans

There is a monster lurking out in the credit world. You may think that I am talking about the big credit card companies, but sadly, no. Since I am in a dinosaur mood, I'm going to see if I can completely mess-up this analogy: The big credit card companies are represented by the T-Rex and the part of the Velociraptor is played by the Payday loan. They hunt in packs (you see them on almost every street corner), they are relentless in their attack (the lure of easy money, fast), and they totally devour their prey (high interest rates).

I realize that there may come a time when there is no choice but to get a loan from one of these places, but please be aware that you may be opening a door to a certain lady's box. For example, let's say that you need to borrow $200. You go down to your local Loan store and get your money, what could be easier? Well, depending on the company you choose, you will be paying anywhere from $41.00 to $50.00 for the privilege of borrowing that money for 14 days. Now, on first glance that may not seem like a great deal of money, but just take a minute and have a look at the interest rate you are paying: anywhere from 430.18% to 573.57% APR (roughly 21-25% for the 14-day loan).¹I don't know about you, but I find that a trifle high. With those type of rates, I am half expecting someone to drop by and break my legs if my payment is late.

I took a look at three of these companies and the only one that offered the lower rate, $41.00, was MoneyTree. All the others used a rate of 25% for the 14 day loan period. At the end of the term, you pay the company $250 and you are done. But, let's say that you just can't pay them at the end of the 14 days, what can you do? Well, you pay them $50 (your interest) and they will extend the term of your loan for an additional 14 days. At the end of that period, you pay them $250. So, for the $200 you borrowed, you have paid $100, or 50% of the original loan. If you are already on a tight budget, how will you be able to come up with the extra $50-$100? Does this seem worth it to you? Can you see where this can become a vicious cycle?

This cycle has become so dangerous, that the Federal government has even joined the party. "On October 1, 2007, a new federal law became effective that severely limits the terms under which we can loan to active duty members of the military and their spouses and dependents. As a result, after this date we will no longer be able to offer payday loans to our military customers."² Now, if they get involved, you know that there is something to be concerned about.

I realize that in this age of tight budgets and little disposable income, there is a real temptation to get cash, fast; It's easy and convenient, but at a price. I know from experience (I fell into this money pit about 7 years ago) the type of trouble you can get into by using these services, so PLEASE think it through and be very careful.


¹moneytreeinc.com (dead link removed)

²moneytreeinc.com (dead link removed)

Putting Your Budget on a Diet

Yeah, you heard me correctly. It's time to put the old budget on a much needed diet. I figure since I have bored you all to tears with my weight loss journey, I might as well capitalize on this theme and take it to another level. Due to our current situation, I am in the process of creating a new budget; one that we can actually work with. So, I'll take you all along for the ride.

First thing to do is to gather all your bills and place them on the table in front of you. You will need to include every bill you pay on a regular basis: Mortgage, insurance, credit cards, sewer, water, garbage, Association fees, phone, cable, gas, electric, fuel, food, and any other ones you may have. These constitute your fixed expenses. If some of them are billed on a quarterly basis, then you will need to divide that amount by 3. If billed on an annual basis, then divide by 12. You will most likely have some bills that fluctuate from month to month, so in order to get a rough estimate, try and get your bills from the previous year and average them out. Once you get a monthly total, you will have a pretty good idea of where you stand.

The next part of this budget is going to seem rather odd, but it will really be an eye-opener. As you go through your day, whenever you buy something write down a description and the amount you paid. Keep a diary of these purchases for at least one week. At the end of the week, add-up everything you purchased and take a look at the total. Most likely, you will be surprised at where your money goes. The $5.00 cup of coffee or the $1.50 spent on a snack may not seem like a great deal at the time, but it adds up over the days.

Now that you have a better picture of where your money is going, you will be in a much better situation to begin re-allocating your money to where it is most needed, for example paying off those credit card bills. If, by chance, you find that you are over-budget, you will need to take a hard look at your current expenses and decide where you can cut some fat. Look around and try and find things that you Really don't need. For example, do you currently have cable and subscribe to every service they offer? Try and look into cutting back to a more basic service. Ask yourself, do you really need all those movie channels? How often do you watch those movies and how often do they actually play movies you care to see? What about canceling that expensive service and putting your money elsewhere. If you really need your movie fix, what about joining Netflix or Blockbuster. That way you pay for only the movies you want to see.

In our case, it's water delivery. We get bottled water delivered twice a month and shell-out around $48.00 for the privilege. Now, the water itself is not that expensive, it is the rental cost of the dispenser which drives the price up. So, we are currently looking into discontinuing that service. Thus, we can steer that money towards one of our bills.

To sum up, my point here is to try and give you tips on how to visualize your current financial situation. If you can actually see where your money is going, you will be in a better situation to be able to control your finances, instead of them controlling you.