Kid learn from what they see so its best that whatever you are trying to teach you show them that you are doing as well. Financial education about money, bank accounts, savings, and the cost of education are things that really need to be taught starting at an early age. Kids don't learn if they see mom and dad saying one thing but doing another.
The article mentions that "you have another 30 years to pay off the loan". That's actually one of the biggest risks with refinancing.
Say you live in the house for a long time - 20 years and refinance every 5 years. If you just take the 30 year loan each time - guess what. You're not really buying a house. You're renting. That's because at the end of the 20 years you still have a 30 year loan - just like you did on day 1.
Sure there can be these clever analyses showing that if you take the money you save from the lower payments, invest it wisely then you can come out ahead (esp after the tax break).
But with all due respect, that's probably a good plan for about 1% of real people. In the real world, if you have lower payments on your house, you most likely will just increase your spending on other things. So a lower house payment often translates into just higher spending. While a higher house payment (which will happen if you decide to refinance keeping the *original* end date - e.g. after 5 years getting a 25 year mortgage) most likely results in higher savings. That's because you're buying your house faster - so you're saving the money in your house.
Personally every time we've refinanced we've gone a step further. We've kept the same end date and used the lower interest rate (since rates have been falling steadily) to increase payments against the loan principle. So we've kept the same house payment for years, but each refinance means we're buying the house faster - with ultimately less total interest paid. So after starting with a 30 year loan and 3 refis we look like we'll pay it off after about 20 calendar years from the day we moved in.
I asked for a fruit tree when I was six. When my parents realized I was serious, I received a tree the next year for my birthday. We moved the year after that. The happy ending to the story is that a Bing maps search shows a large healthy tree where we had planted mine years ago.
You might not need to do a 30-year new mortgage. You can set it for; say 25 years or whatever you had on your original loan. Lower-term mortgages carry lower interest rates; so that's something else to consider. In some cases it makes sense reducing even further the number of years left on the mortgage; you'll get less years to pay it off; less total amount paid on interest and it might cost about the same as the current mortgage at a higher interest rate.
I agree whole heartedly.I spent 3 months playing for hours every day and can now belt out about 7 tunes and sing. Its taken your average night at a friends house to new levels with everyone singing along and sharing other songs.
Probably the most valuable skill I've learned in terms of personal growth.
Hi Guest,
Although yes - across the board insurance companies will work hard to NOT pay out, my concerns are with AD&D specifically, since payout is only contingent on a random number of incidents that could happen.
If you need life insurance, then get life insurance. Don't get AD&D - which only pays if you die in certain ways. Your family's financial needs after your death will be the same, regardless of if you are hit by a bus or die of cancer.
I buy organic as much as possible. The dirty dozen whenever possible, all dairy unless I can buy from a local farmer who I talk to. Meat I will choose humanely raised over organic. Though I do admit, when there is a large price difference sometimes going for nonorganic, this is usually the packaged foods.
I think the right amount of house is whatever you can afford while also contributing your target amount into retirement accounts. So if you seek to max 2 Roth IRA and 1 401k, your mortgage payment and cost of maintenance should allow you to contribute at least $2000 or so to these accounts. Just my 2 cents!
I try to buy organic fruits and vegetables that don't have a thick skin that is peeled off. Items like peaches and other foods with thin skins that you normally eat are safest as organic.
Ugly furniture reminds me of ugly days when I had no choice. Some of us need to have beauty around us. For you, your children are your beauty. Me, I need objects. Artwork. Beautiful pottery. No, I'm not rich, just particular. The items don't have to be new, but they do have to be beautiful. To some of us, surroundings are very, very important. Ugly surroundings can lead to depression.
If it's ugly, as soon as possible, it goes.
Life's too short. Enjoy your kids. Me, honestly, I'd rather have good-looking furniture. I'm really not joking, but I don't question your choices.
When I was pregnant, we purchased as much organic food as we could afford, mostly dairy products. Now that our son is here and eating solids, I make his food (purees) with organic produce, but it's cheap when 1 zucchini makes 5 or 6 servings for him! In addition to his food, we ALWAYS buy organic, cage free eggs more for how chickens are handled than any other reason. Also, we ALWAYS buy organic ground beef, but only 1-2lbs/month. We'd rather pay more and eat it less.
My favorite gadget has to be my cellphone - a cheap Nokia push-button phone. Cellphones ten years ago were few and far between, but it's amazing how many of us use them and take them for granted now. Think about how you used your cellphone when your car broke down, when you had to call your Dad about that important question you thought up, or when you called your sister in Europe when she was travelling. Cellphones were the beginning of our major work on communication that continues to this day with technology and "smart" gadgets
Another important tip is to never stand between 2 cars while trading information. If the car in the rear were to be hit by another vehicle, you could be pinned between them and seriously injured.
I currently live in a 3000+ square foot home. My kids are almost out on their own. I have found with smaller homes, the room sizes shrink. I do not care to pay to design and have built the home of my dreams. I am happy having a larger home where my kids and their potential families can stay if need be. I like having a master down. Being 15 steps to our pool from our bedroom is fantastic. Taxes are low. Electricity is high, but we are conservative. In order to downsize I will have to pay a Realtor commission and then closing costs on a new home. Taxes may be 1K less a year at most. So I'm looking at Spending $30K to save about $1200 a year. The big picture is what counts.
Thanks for your insights. There are so many ways to evaluate a stock but I thought these may be great starting points and easy ways to take a quick look.
Sifting through what's hype and what's not as you mentioned is not always easy. And, sometimes the current state points to short-term movement. But hopefully staying in touch with what's going on in the industry, company, etc. can help folks get the feel for what is meaningful for long-term value.
The more you know about a company on a regular basis, the better -- whether by visiting its facilities or using its products (you'll be the first to know when product quality slips or the customer service sours).
News used to make me jumpy but now I am more accustomed to hearing about ups and downs. Still, I like to know about issues that I may not hear about in casual conversation with friends, like whether a company is getting ready to be bought out or if it's declared a dividend.
I think it makes sense to compare financial stats to past performance and peers within a field or industry. Some general benchmarks may also be helpful for beginning investors. Thanks for commenting.
I juice pretty often so buying fruit and vegetables organic is not very cost effective. Though I try to buy them on sale. My local grocery store generally puts produce on sale on certain days. On those days I get up early to buy them or ask my fiance to stop by and check.
Nice round up! Will certainly check out a few of these articles for weekend reading.
Kid learn from what they see so its best that whatever you are trying to teach you show them that you are doing as well. Financial education about money, bank accounts, savings, and the cost of education are things that really need to be taught starting at an early age. Kids don't learn if they see mom and dad saying one thing but doing another.
The article mentions that "you have another 30 years to pay off the loan". That's actually one of the biggest risks with refinancing.
Say you live in the house for a long time - 20 years and refinance every 5 years. If you just take the 30 year loan each time - guess what. You're not really buying a house. You're renting. That's because at the end of the 20 years you still have a 30 year loan - just like you did on day 1.
Sure there can be these clever analyses showing that if you take the money you save from the lower payments, invest it wisely then you can come out ahead (esp after the tax break).
But with all due respect, that's probably a good plan for about 1% of real people. In the real world, if you have lower payments on your house, you most likely will just increase your spending on other things. So a lower house payment often translates into just higher spending. While a higher house payment (which will happen if you decide to refinance keeping the *original* end date - e.g. after 5 years getting a 25 year mortgage) most likely results in higher savings. That's because you're buying your house faster - so you're saving the money in your house.
Personally every time we've refinanced we've gone a step further. We've kept the same end date and used the lower interest rate (since rates have been falling steadily) to increase payments against the loan principle. So we've kept the same house payment for years, but each refinance means we're buying the house faster - with ultimately less total interest paid. So after starting with a 30 year loan and 3 refis we look like we'll pay it off after about 20 calendar years from the day we moved in.
I use organic when it comes to my fruits and vegetables whenever I can.
I asked for a fruit tree when I was six. When my parents realized I was serious, I received a tree the next year for my birthday. We moved the year after that. The happy ending to the story is that a Bing maps search shows a large healthy tree where we had planted mine years ago.
I try to buy organic (and fair trade) products whenever I can afford it.
You might not need to do a 30-year new mortgage. You can set it for; say 25 years or whatever you had on your original loan. Lower-term mortgages carry lower interest rates; so that's something else to consider. In some cases it makes sense reducing even further the number of years left on the mortgage; you'll get less years to pay it off; less total amount paid on interest and it might cost about the same as the current mortgage at a higher interest rate.
I agree whole heartedly.I spent 3 months playing for hours every day and can now belt out about 7 tunes and sing. Its taken your average night at a friends house to new levels with everyone singing along and sharing other songs.
Probably the most valuable skill I've learned in terms of personal growth.
Hi Guest,
Although yes - across the board insurance companies will work hard to NOT pay out, my concerns are with AD&D specifically, since payout is only contingent on a random number of incidents that could happen.
If you need life insurance, then get life insurance. Don't get AD&D - which only pays if you die in certain ways. Your family's financial needs after your death will be the same, regardless of if you are hit by a bus or die of cancer.
I buy organic as much as possible. The dirty dozen whenever possible, all dairy unless I can buy from a local farmer who I talk to. Meat I will choose humanely raised over organic. Though I do admit, when there is a large price difference sometimes going for nonorganic, this is usually the packaged foods.
I think the right amount of house is whatever you can afford while also contributing your target amount into retirement accounts. So if you seek to max 2 Roth IRA and 1 401k, your mortgage payment and cost of maintenance should allow you to contribute at least $2000 or so to these accounts. Just my 2 cents!
I try to buy organic fruits and vegetables that don't have a thick skin that is peeled off. Items like peaches and other foods with thin skins that you normally eat are safest as organic.
Ugly furniture reminds me of ugly days when I had no choice. Some of us need to have beauty around us. For you, your children are your beauty. Me, I need objects. Artwork. Beautiful pottery. No, I'm not rich, just particular. The items don't have to be new, but they do have to be beautiful. To some of us, surroundings are very, very important. Ugly surroundings can lead to depression.
If it's ugly, as soon as possible, it goes.
Life's too short. Enjoy your kids. Me, honestly, I'd rather have good-looking furniture. I'm really not joking, but I don't question your choices.
Also, I did post about this a couple of months ago!
http://www.thedebtprincess.com/2013/02/26/frugal-food-tip-eating-organic...
I buy organic produce as much as possible. I follow the dirty dozen list when money is tight and when I'm juicing.
When I was pregnant, we purchased as much organic food as we could afford, mostly dairy products. Now that our son is here and eating solids, I make his food (purees) with organic produce, but it's cheap when 1 zucchini makes 5 or 6 servings for him! In addition to his food, we ALWAYS buy organic, cage free eggs more for how chickens are handled than any other reason. Also, we ALWAYS buy organic ground beef, but only 1-2lbs/month. We'd rather pay more and eat it less.
Haha. Scrolling through the replies, I thought this said, "I buy organic cigarettes."
My favorite gadget has to be my cellphone - a cheap Nokia push-button phone. Cellphones ten years ago were few and far between, but it's amazing how many of us use them and take them for granted now. Think about how you used your cellphone when your car broke down, when you had to call your Dad about that important question you thought up, or when you called your sister in Europe when she was travelling. Cellphones were the beginning of our major work on communication that continues to this day with technology and "smart" gadgets
Another important tip is to never stand between 2 cars while trading information. If the car in the rear were to be hit by another vehicle, you could be pinned between them and seriously injured.
I currently live in a 3000+ square foot home. My kids are almost out on their own. I have found with smaller homes, the room sizes shrink. I do not care to pay to design and have built the home of my dreams. I am happy having a larger home where my kids and their potential families can stay if need be. I like having a master down. Being 15 steps to our pool from our bedroom is fantastic. Taxes are low. Electricity is high, but we are conservative. In order to downsize I will have to pay a Realtor commission and then closing costs on a new home. Taxes may be 1K less a year at most. So I'm looking at Spending $30K to save about $1200 a year. The big picture is what counts.
I registered!
Thanks for your insights. There are so many ways to evaluate a stock but I thought these may be great starting points and easy ways to take a quick look.
Sifting through what's hype and what's not as you mentioned is not always easy. And, sometimes the current state points to short-term movement. But hopefully staying in touch with what's going on in the industry, company, etc. can help folks get the feel for what is meaningful for long-term value.
The more you know about a company on a regular basis, the better -- whether by visiting its facilities or using its products (you'll be the first to know when product quality slips or the customer service sours).
News used to make me jumpy but now I am more accustomed to hearing about ups and downs. Still, I like to know about issues that I may not hear about in casual conversation with friends, like whether a company is getting ready to be bought out or if it's declared a dividend.
I think it makes sense to compare financial stats to past performance and peers within a field or industry. Some general benchmarks may also be helpful for beginning investors. Thanks for commenting.
I juice pretty often so buying fruit and vegetables organic is not very cost effective. Though I try to buy them on sale. My local grocery store generally puts produce on sale on certain days. On those days I get up early to buy them or ask my fiance to stop by and check.