Sushi Money

Awoke to a cold spring morning today with blue skies and sunshine. It would be nice if it were all blue skies for the economy and markets, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty out there. Does it seem like we’re reading more and more about recession paranoia in the media these days? Maybe recession-speak is now fashionable, but perhaps also because of the election cycle. As some economists observe, one way to create a recession is to just keep talking about it. Hmmm, interesting observation about sex there…

Many American consumers are feeling pinched these days. The Fed has aggressively cut rates in the face of many economic challenges, yet some investors are worried about the Fed causing more inflation. The inflation argument may be valid down the road, but it doesn’t sit well when we’re trying to tackle the other economic problems first. Seems like you slay the dragon in front of you before worrying about the one coming next.

All I know is I can bring more certainty to our own life through doing more things that improve financial stability, and doing less things that reduce it. Stuff like increased savings, reduced spending and debt, and becoming more knowledgeable about financial matters. Honestly I can control very little except the conduct of my own life, and even that is arguable at times.

Yet because most of us care about the nature of our life situation in the future, we do something about it. We modify behavior in the present in order to cause change for the future. Or at least we try to do that. Sometimes we fool ourselves for quite a few years, going through the motions, but not really being serious about it.

And then it hits. Some event, realization or dynamic in our lives that induces enough reflection to become aware of our mortality. For many of us it’s hitting the age of 40. Maybe like that keystone analogy and the poll results that shows how people take retirement planning the most seriously around the ages of 40-49.

It’s the realization that says,

“Half my life might be over, and I have very little to show for it!”

If you haven’t yet been hit with that realization, it will come. It’s kind of like presbyopia. “Presby what?!” Well, let’s just say “old people’s eyes.” Somewhere between 40-45 years old, most people are going to have a tough time reading things up close. And you’ll need reading glasses. Just a fact of life. And it’s a humbling experience that I’ve just gone through the past few years. I think reading glasses should come with a financial “how-to” book that helps people understand retirement planning. Because that’s about the same timeframe that most people start really planning for retirement.

I think it helps to remember what’s important, even in the face of a recession and that,

“If it takes change to make our lives better, then we better change!”

There are tons of resources out there of course. Learning from the experience of others can be a valuable source of new knowledge. In the blogosphere an excellent source of insight is the Carnival of Personal Finance hosted this week by Million Dollar Journey.

With an eclectic mix of personal financial advice and interesting stories, there’s something there for everyone. PennyMine talks about Teaching Kids the Importance of a Dollar. Dividends4Life finds Dividend Gold in a Down Market. The Honest Dollar shows us 11 Ways to Trigger an IRS Audit. And The Financial Engineer writes with the economy tanking it’s no time to increase foreign aid by $845 billion dollars. Not really time to increase taxes either…

There we have it. A place to find a beginning, and make a start or new commitment in our own lives. This week I’m committed to finishing our taxes. Now where did I put those reading glasses…

     Something I love about the internet, blogs and writing is that you can learn about so many people, their insights and the journey they are taking in their own lives.   Some of my favorite blogs include topics on success and life growth, and this week Karen from Live the Power is hosting the Live the Power Unlimited, Volume 6 Blog Carnival.  It’s a wonderful collection of articles about personal growth, intentional living and other life strategies. 

    In so many ways, how we manage our money is simply a reflection of how we manage our life.  Simply stated perhaps, but in an era of such dynamic opportunities and challenges, many of us are now seeking ways to optimize our lives and the manner in which we live.  Maybe we are seeking a more “authentic” lifestyle, that is all our own.  If that’s not a buzzword today, I don’t know what is.  But in terms of managing money, our education and knowledge can go a long way toward helping us make wise decisions.  The bottom line is still about who we are, the choices we are making, and where we want to go on this great journey.  I wish you well!

     After a long weekend, it’s time for a review of some Carnivals posted over the past few days including a super Carnival of Personal Finance: NSA Edition over at Advanced Personal Finance.   Fire Finance hosted a wonderful lineup with the Carnival of Money Stories last week, and an eclectic mix of articles was provided at the Carnival of Homeowners, hosted by Homeowners Insurance Lowdown.  I really enjoy reading the contributions each week at the various carnivals-there’s always something to learn! 

     We spent a nice Labor Day weekend camping and relaxing at a nearby lake.  Instead of spending a fortune, the nightly costs for our campsite were less than $18, so all we really paid for was food and fuel for driving there.  Of course we packed most of our food in advance, cooked out quite a bit, and even caught enough fish for dinner Sunday night.  I would say it was a frugal trip, but the fuel costs really add up.  However it was a memorable trip, and something not measured in terms of money, but rather the time spent with family.  I could hardly believe how many people were on the road! 

This week’s Carnival of Money Stories #19 is being hosted at The Dough Roller.  The  host does a really funny “Presidential Debate Edition”…  a clever and fun way to include articles from many sites, with tons of great content on frugality, credit, debt and how we use our money.  Thanks for including Sushi Money!

     Welcome to the 18th edition of the Carnival of Money Stories! We had 28 submissions this week, half of which had stories or a personal twist to provide interest for the Carnival. There were some great submissions! Alas, if the article didn’t share some type of story or dialogue, even remotely… then we couldn’t include it here. On a negative note, we also couldn’t include articles that were the work of others…  some people actually submitted stuff that was reprinted verbatim from other sites, without attribution.  Nothing ruins credibility in blogging and publishing faster than plagiarism, so here’s a call for making sure we respect the work of others and provide proper attribution.  Some sites are like spammers… but they’re really stealing the work of others, and personally it really frustrates me.  So if you’re hosting, I recommend taking a hard look at submissions from sites with no author information, etc.  

Thanks to Andy from Money Walks for asking me to host… I really enjoyed reading the submissions, and thank you all for making the personal finance blogosphere such a vibrant community. Enjoy the Carnival of Money Stories #18!

“The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them… make them.” George Bernard Shaw

Stephanie at Stop the Ride! talks about those kinds of people with Resourceful West Virginians.

A hearty Congratulations to Lazy Man and his Bride (I’m not calling her lazy!) on their recent wedding… I wish them well with a favorite quote from Sir Winston Churchill:

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened, and maintained.”

Lazy Man shares how the money adds up… brace yourself for The Cost of My Wedding.

Andrew Tobias once said, “You want 21% risk free? Pay off your credit cards.”

Good advice, but what happens when someone else is using them?!

Tate of Trading Stocks at Self Investors is wrestling with that issue (keep us posted!) in Beware of Credit Card Fraud.

Steve of Debt Free outlines some great preventive ideas in - How to Avoid Credit Card Fraud.

Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”

I think Frank from The Happy Rock would agree in It’s Hard Without Habits - July Cash Experiment Update .

Edith also shows us how good financial habits can improve our lives by using the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Money Managers.

“How I Made My Fortune? It was really quite simple. I bought an apple for 5 cents, spent the evening polishing it, and sold it the next day for 10 cents. With this I bought two apples, spent the evening polishing them, and sold them for 20 cents. And so it went until I had amassed a dollar and sixty cents. It was then that my wife’s father died and left us a million dollars.”

Not very likely for most of us! But Millionaire Mommy Next Door talks about how she achieved financial security and happiness in Reader asks, “How exactly did you become a millionaire so young?” .

Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life makes the Carnival rounds with an excellent view of her 10 Steps To Becoming A Millionaire.

“Before borrowing money from a friend, decide which you need more.“    A. H. Hallock

But what if you’re borrowing money from yourself?

Paul at ExtremePerspective is asking for opinions with a question, Why Not Borrow Against 401k?.

“Develop an attitude of gratitude… knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” Brian Tracy

Betsy of Money Changes Things helps us remember that a little perspective (and money) goes a long way in Gratitude and the Garage Door Opener. (I’m glad I have one of those little red handle thingies as a back up!)

“Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for. A product is not quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe. This is incompetence. Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes quality.” Peter F. Drucker

David of MoneyNing discusses his views of customer service practices with Coca Cola vs TD Ameritrade - Company Efficiencies.

“Nothing is to be more highly prized than the value of each day.” Goethe

Mr. Credit Card has a great attitude in testing that premise with

Missed My Airline Flight and Threw Away Money!

“If every fool wore a crown, we should all be kings.” Welsh Proverb

We’ve all been there in one way or another, and Moorea of Queercents shares her past with some insight on How to Undo a Wedding.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it simply when he wrote, “The first wealth is health.”

Who could disagree with that wisdom? Certainly not FitBuff as he ponders the legislative efforts in the UK for a proposed “fat tax” in How Much Are You Willing to Pay for Twinkies? .

That’s it for this week’s edition of the Carnival of Money Stories. Thanks to all the contributors! I didn’t have a story today, but I will share one of my favorite quotes by Authur Gordon:

“Love life. Be grateful for it always. And show your gratitude by not shying away from its challenges. Try always to live a little bit beyond your capacities. You’ll find that you never succeed.”

The next edition of Money Stories will be hosted Monday, July 23rd at Investor Trip  Dough Roller. You can submit your money stories to the Carnival here.

The 92nd Carnival of Personal Finance is hosted by Lazy Man and Money this week with a wonderful line-up of articles.   Some really interesting stuff includes ProBargainHunter’s look at what’s hot on eBay through the new eBay Pop! tool for trending the most popular items.  Great idea… and wouldn’t it be interesting to trend the price averages from month-to-month and year over year?  I know… lets call it the EPI for “eBay Price Index”…  then we can analyze and trend eBay inflation data…. well, they probably do that already somewhere.  Hey, maybe I can coin that term for posterity… has it been done yet?   I’m also a believer in long-term investing to which Fire Finance’s article on Investing- The Mistake of Timing the Market really drove the point home.  I enjoyed BluntMoney’s look at budgeting, or rather a Confession on not budgeting!  I wonder how many people really, truly use a budget?  For many it’s just a reference point… something to aim for.  Like Blunt Money, I use software and tracking tools primarily.  It’s a budget per se, but realistically I operate from a thorough knowledge of where I am at all times.  I may start a more accountable budget this year to see if it makes a difference on the savings end.  It was interesting to read that Online Savings Blog is concerned about moving their IRA’s to Vanguard.  Moving money and retirement accounts around can be intimidating, but I have to say Vanguard is the one place I’ve been most satisfied with over the years.  I think you’ll really be happy after you’ve completed the transfer.  I’ve moved and modified many accounts on Vanguard without a hitch, and it has always been flexible, reliable and staffed with helpful people.  Believe it or not though- I did catch an omission on Vanguard’s part one month a couple years ago.  They somehow forgot a monthly dividend reinvestment on one fund… I looked and looked, and finally called them.  They researched it within a day and said, “You’re right!” and corrected it asap.  So I check my accounts at least every quarter to make sure any dividends and reinvestments are credited properly.  Shows that you can’t, or shouldn’t, simply leave your finances on auto-pilot even with the best of companies… it’s your money, make sure it’s doing what it’s supposed to!  But with Vanguard’s low cost structure and helpful staff, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.  Finally, a shameless plug for Sushi Money’s article Get Ready to Sell That Home.  If you’re a prospective home-seller, do everything you can to stand out from the rest!