photo by destinelee

There is no shortage of places to go out to eat in our country.  I’m continually amazed at how much food is incorporated into all forms of entertainment. You can’t go anywhere without a hotdog stand, a concession stand, or even a full-blown restaurant stuck inside a discount store.  We recently took our kids to a popular indoor play place (think of a gym for kids with inflatable equipment), but didn’t think to eat before we went.  Like all kids, it only took about twenty minutes of play and the scent of pepperoni pizza wafting through the building before they were begging for a snack.

Snack Savings

I think our lunch cost us about $12.00 that day.  It consisted of two pieces of thin-crust pizza for each of us, and three small drinks (my wife and I usually share, but kids and germs don’t mix well so they get their own cup).  We could have bought an entire pizza with all the toppings we wanted from our local Kroger grocery store, baked it ourselves, and had drinks at home for less!  Lesson learned.  When planning activities away from home it is a good idea to eat a small meal before leaving, else the activity is bound to cost significantly more with food purchases.  I recently wrote about the decision to sneak food into movie theaters instead of buying from the concession stand.  Assuming you simply ate a meal or snack at home you could easily survive a two-hour movie without buying a $5.00 tub of popcorn and a $3.00 drink.

Healthier Food Choices

Things made at home are typically much better for you than food purchased on the road.  Even the choices are significantly better.  It’s rare to find a grilled chicken salad on the menu at eateries tucked away inside amusement parks.  Most menus here resemble fast food restaurants where the most popular items are hamburgers, french fries and hotdogs.  Eating at home saves both dollars and calories.

An Annual Exception

I can easily live with this rule but for one major exception–the fair.  When the state fair comes to a city close to us once a year, part of the experience is fair food.  I’ve often joked that if a place opened and only sold “fair food” they would rake in money!  Funnel cakes, corn dogs, fried candy bars, turkey legs and homemade ice cream are all part of the experience at the fair, and we budget a stomach-ache-inducing binge into our entertainment budget just this once.  After all, what’s the point of living frugal if you can’t have the occasional treat?

How do you avoid food expenses while visiting entertainment venues?  Eat before you go, pack a picnic, or just budget in the food costs?

 
photo by Lisa Andres

Frugal Dad appeared in Thursday’s edition of the Chicago Tribune!  My thanks to Sandra Jones for taking the time to talk with me about my blog, and for mentioning it in her article, Even Now Retailers See a Blue Christmas.  If you haven’t had a chance to read the article, go check it out–it is a great read.  I agree this could be a tough Christmas, especially if another round of stimulus checks doesn’t make it out of Congress in time for the holidays.  Actually, that might be a good thing, but I’ll save my commentary for another post coming out next week.

Who Are Your Personal Financial Heroes?   I always enjoy reading who inspires others.  I’ve had a few people I would consider financial heroes, but none of them outrank my grandfather, who I’ve referred to here before as my “frugal mentor.”

RSS Subscription Options Explained in Plain Language.  An excellent overview from Simple Mom explaining the ins and outs of RSS.  I’m never good at explaining this myself, so I think from now on I’ll just point people to this post.

What Everyone Should Know About Selling Hours for Dollars.  I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately, and Marc and Angel’s post is sort of the condensed, blog-post version of Your Money or Your Life, my all-time favorite personal finance/frugal living book.  If you aren’t maximizing your remaining life energy by living life to the fullest, you need to read this.

20 Ways to Train Your Brain for Peak Performance.  I really need to incorporate more of these into my daily routine.  Like I mentioned in the comments on Jeff’s article, I’ve been trying to convince my wife #10 was legitimate, but I still don’t think she’s buying it.

The Ups and Downs of Buying a Home.  Lynnae over at Being Frugal is buying a new home, and chronicled some of that process here for her readers.  Lots of ups and downs in the process, and a good read heading into a real estate transaction so you’ll know what to expect.

What Will Your Children Inherit?  My take on this great read from Ron (of The Wisdom Journal):  If we lead frugal lives because we are poor, broke and feel generally unlucky then our kids won’t find much appealing about this lifestyle, and will likely react to it the first time they have money by spending wildly. However, if we live frugally because we choose to, because it makes us better stewards of our money and our resources, and we do so with a positive attitude, then our kids will be much more likely to repeat our behaviors.

I Quit.  Looks like Madison is joining the ranks of probloggers who’ve left the rat race in their dust!  I suspect the great work she is doing over at About.com Kids and Money helped her make this move.

Is it Ethical to Walk Out on a Mortgage?  This conversation-starter is closing in on 200 comments, with some passionate discussion happening.  For what it’s worth, I don’t think it is ethical to walk out on any debt assuming you have the means to repay it.  There are justifiable reasons for bankruptcies, foreclosures, etc, but simply not wanting to pay your debt is not one of them.

Carnivals/Festivals

I participated in the Festival of Frugality #135 where I was selected as an editor’s pick.  Some great reads over there!

I also joined in the fun at the Carnival of Debt Reduction #149.  Plenty of motivation here to get out of debt!

That wraps up this edition of the roundup.  I hope everyone has a great weekend and stops by to checkout my Saturday post, and the Sunday conversation.

One of the most controversial subjects around the family finances is the decision to payoff the mortgage early.  Some say you should keep the mortgage around as long as possible, citing low interest rates and tax deductions as opportunities you are giving up by paying it off early.  Others enjoy the freedom that comes from no mortgage payment, and the huge amounts of disposable, monthly cash that comes along with being mortgage-debt free.

Life Without a Mortgage

Mortgages are sort of a necessary evil nowadays, mostly because real estate is too expensive for the average person to pay for a house with cash, but in some cases because people buy more home than they can really afford.  In many cases people could nearly pay for a home in cash, or at least put 50% down, if they would settle for a smaller place.  Of course, some in extreme real estate markets would argue even this plan is impossible with modest homes starting in the $400,000 range.  I would agree.

Still, it is hard not to enjoy the idea of not owing anyone any money.  Imagine the freedom that comes with being debt free, including the house and all credit cards.  Let’s say for example that you are in your late 40’s, and your kid(s) are wrapping up college.  Instead of carrying out that thirty-year mortgage to the full term you worked to pay it off in twenty years.  Now you own a $200,000 paid-for home, and have no other debts.

At this stage in your life, could you seriously consider an early retirement?  Would a career change, or relocation now seem plausible?  Of course!  With no payments you simply have to earn enough to cover your basic needs such as food, lights, insurance, etc.  And assuming you had adequate savings there is nothing stopping you from going after the career you’ve always wanted, but could never afford.

But Couldn’t I Earn More in the Markets?

Maybe.  At the time of this writing the markets are doing so hot, so passing on extra mortgage payments to invest in a flat (or declining) market doesn’t yield the kind of returns you might expect in a bull market.  The flip side to that is that when markets are in a decline it is a good time to stock up on beaten up companies with solid fundamentals, so setting aside some money to invest does makes sense.

I try to look at things through a short-term-pain, long-term-gain filter.  I may have to miss out on a few hot investments now, but down the road I’ll be able to make huge contributions to retirement funds and taxable savings vehicles if I have no debt payments.  I’ll also be free to make more decisions about how to spend the remainder of my life energy, rather than continuing to work in a passionless career just to make a house payment.

Are you planning to payoff your mortgage early?  Why or why not?

photo by hyku

*This photo is nearly identical to the view from my freshman dorm room

My college matriculation is best summed up by the famous line from Robert Frost’s The Road Not Traveled, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”  I guess you could say I got a well-rounded education, because I bounced around three different schools and several majors before finally finishing up the process online. My only regret from the whole experience was that I didn’t pursue the online degree opportunity earlier.

Pre-Medicine Requires Too Much Chemistry

For as long as I could remember I wanted to be a doctor.  It seemed natural, and I had a genuine desire to want to help people.  So, I enrolled my freshman year declaring pre-medicine as my intended path of study and away I went.  Two years into the program, and six chemistry courses later, it all became rather overwhelming.  I had officially reached burnout with several years of school, medical school, and residency to go.  Being the practical personal I am, I realized I wasn’t going to stay motivated all the way through, and accepted the change of heart.

After a short stint as a physical therapy major, and after seeking out an athletic training internship, I decided my heart just wasn’t in medicine anymore.  Good thing I recognized this when I did–just imagine the money I could have wasted pursuing something my heart was no longer in.  A death in the family brought me back home about half way through my third year.  I decided to go to work, and eventually married my college sweetheart, and less than two years later we had our first child.

School, Family, and a Full Time Job

The birth of my daughter inspired me to get back in school and finish my education.  I recognized my career opportunities and earnings potential were somewhat limited by the fact that I had not finished my undergraduate degree.  I enrolled at a nearby college, and thanks to a change in majors, transferring from the quarter system to the semester system, and going to school in different states, I practically had to start over.  And so I began a long, painful process of attending school at night from 6:00pm-10:00pm, Monday through Thursday, while working full time 8:00am-5:00pm and missing my newborn daughter and my wife terribly.  It was an exhausting time.

I kept up the pace for a couple years before a job relocation took me away from that local university, just a couple semesters shy of graduation.  A friend recommended I check out an online program offered by another local school.  He knew I was sick of being a “traditional,” in-class student because it kept me away from my family.  At the time online degree programs were relatively new on the scene, and I was a little skeptical.  I decided to look into it and I am sure glad I did.

The Benefits of an Online Education

There are many reason to finish your degree online.  For a husband and father of two working full-time I needed something with maximum flexibility.  Online education provided the ability to work around my job and family schedules while pursuing the exact same degree as those poor souls stuck in a classroom until 10:00pm.  The online degree program also forced me to upgrade technology, and stay on top of new web-based applications (something that later helped in my career).

Is an Online Degree Right For You?

Continuing your education online requires a greater degree of discipline than attending school in a traditional setting.  All interaction with professors and classmates will be done virtually, usually via online chats, forums and email exchanges.  One of the main complaints about online degree programs is that you miss that social interaction sometimes required to fully grasp a new concept.  Professors will not be able to spoon-feed you information for exams.  When I attended a university full time professors made a point of emphasizing which areas of the text were most important, and often repeated contents of their lecture (a signal to write it down, because it would likely be on the test).  In an online environment you are often told to read pages 145-227 and expect any material contained to appear on the midterm.  It was up to you to figure out what was most important, and what would most likely appear on the exams.  It was an adjustment, but a good lesson in ignoring fluff and focusing in on what was most important.

Compare Top Online School Programs At AllOnlineSchools.com Today

I’d be interested to hear some of your experiences with an online degree.  Please feel free to share your story in the comments section below.

photo by Faeryan

Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on when it comes to how to implement a debt snowball, there is one thing we can all agree on–it is highly motivating to see debt balances falling.  So much so that when you have to put the snowball on ice it can be a bit demoralizing.

Murphy Has Set Up Shop at Our House

Over the weekend I mentioned all the things that have gone wrong over the past few weeks, and the various hits to our emergency fund.  Fortunately, the emergency fund was there to cover these expenses so we didn’t have to turn to credit cards, or try to cash flow them by completely rearranging our budget.  Unfortunately, we will now have to put debt repayment on the back burner while we rebuild our emergency fund.  I’m just not comfortable living with a reduced emergency fund and throwing every extra penny at debt.  With a reduced emergency fund the next rash of emergencies could deplete our savings entirely and force us to once again turn to credit cards.

Here are some of the steps we’ll use over the next few weeks to get the emergency fund back up to our $3,000 goal:

1. Pay only minimum payments on credit cards. Instead of piling anything extra on debt, we’ll be diverting it to savings in the short term.  After attacking debt so aggressively the last few months this will prove difficult.
2. Snowflake any extra money into savings rather than towards debt.  I normally take any found money (snowflakes) and apply them directly to the debt snowball as they are received to boost the amount going towards debt repayment each month.  Now, I’ll pile up those snowflakes in savings.
3. When the emergency fund balance reaches $3,000 we will turn our attention back to our debt reduction plan.  I’m not sure how long it will take to get the emergency fund back to a fully funded status.  Thankfully, we didn’t have to dip too far, and I have a couple payments due for some freelance writing work I’ve completed recently–that should help.

Flipping the Switch

I believe this exercise is actually good for us (not that I want more visits from Murphy).  When we are finally debt free we will need to flip the mental switch to savings rather than debt repayment, without increasing our spending.  Sure, we might add back a few small expenses that we’ve eliminated to become debt free, but for the most part our budget won’t change much.  Shifting from debt paying to savings mode and back again should help us get comfortable with both styles of living on less than we make.