After thinking a lot about it I've decided to stop blogging on savingadvice.com and dedicate myself to blogging fulltime on my personal frugal retirement blog at http://frugalretirement.blogspot.com. Its been a great 2 1/2 years, but its time to go. Thanks for everyone's encouraging comments and support on this blog. You've given me a lot of ideas and helped me shape my blog. Thanks.

If you want to continue reading my blog check out http://frugalretirement.blogspot.com or subscribe to my e-mails click - subscribe to emails.

Thanks again and remember to be frugal to get to retirement early!

Today I got a check in the mail from the county auction I went to last Monday. The check I paid with last week cleared last Friday and today I got a redemption check on the lien I bought. Here are the stats:

Paid: $347
Received: $354
Interest: $7 for 1 month
Effective interest rate because loan was for only 3 days but earned interest for a whole month: 244%

How do I get these numbers?
$354/$347=2.017% interest
365/3days=121
2.017% * 121= 244% interest

This is the second time I've bought a lien, but the first time I've had a lien redeemed. You really can't argue with an effective interest rate of 244% even if it is for only $7 interest.

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About a week ago I announced that we had finally completed our murphy bed build and installation. I used the build-a-bed kit I got on the interet, which was "personally recommended by Bob Villa". I spent $250 on the kit, and probably spent close to $425 on all the lumber. The project was a lot harder then I thought it would be and took a lot of time away from the family. However, while I built the bed in our garage my 3 1/2 year old son would ride his bike in a circle in the garage and driveway. Since I got a bike and been riding with him I've noticed he's gotten really good and we go on 1 1/2 mile bike rides together and we go up and down some steep hills.

Anyhow, I know my family is glad the project is done and checks off another one of my year's goals!! I'm almost done with all my goals for this year.



Check out my blog for more pictures at Frugal Retirement.

We'll the results are in. After asking our readers "What age do you hope to retire?" I was suprised that we didn't get more respondants that said they hoped to retire before 50. I thought there would be some extreme thinkers out there!

The majority of people said between 55 - 60, and close behind was 60 - 65, which is to be expected.

Check out Frugal Retirement for the results! I really enjoyed doing this survey and gives me some great ideas for some future blogs on extreme retirement. "Thinking outside of the box to get out of the daily grind!" I know a lot of people out of there are just sick of the continual 9-5, commuting, having to deal with co-workers, and stress of making ends meet.

Boy if something gets my heart fluttering with nervousness it is an auction. The pressure of having to make a decision quickly with less then a second or two of thought based on previous research is hard. I just have to trust that the research I did on the land or home is sufficient and have a little bit of luck! At the end of the auction I just feel tired and drained, because I feel like it took a lot of energy out of me. Next auction I'll probably go to will be next March, so it will be a little time off and a chance for doing more research!

Does anyone else experience nervousness during an auction?

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After about 40 hours of work in cutting, gluing, nailing, sanding, and painting I am finally done. This whole project took a lot more time then I ever thought it would. I told my wife tonight that I am done for a while doing home project. We have a baby coming in August, so there will be a few things left. However, we have the majority of the work done, which is relief. Pictures and maybe a little video to come in the next few days when I have some time!

Happy Father's Day!

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If you haven't read my blogs in the past you'll all know that I'm an extreme believer in setting goals and reviewing them from time to time. Today I took some time just to sit down and review how am I doing on the goals I have set for when I turn 35 and goals for 2008. Here is a breakdown of my 2008 goals.

-Run a 10k under 40:00
-Run fifth Full Marathon
-Complete four masters classes
-Get involved in weekly bible study in area
-Start investing in Roth 401k anything above company 401k match
-Consistent quiet times (5 times per week)
-Start scripture memorization in shower
-Buy a tree for the back yard
-Install cabinet in kitchen
-Paint Bedroom and buy matching duvet
-Tile bathroom
-Pay off my school loan
-Take weeks vacation to the cabin
-Take camping trip vacation
-$15000 in emergency savings
-Purchase parcel of land

Overall I'm progressing pretty well for being almost halfway through the year. So far I've installed the kitchen cabinet, working hard to pay off student loan, taken a camping trip, bought duvet and painted bedroom, investing in my company's Roth 401k, taking masters classes (2 complete thus far), gotten involved in a local bible study. Along with those goals I have also completed building a murphy bed and installed it in our basement, which is one of our side goals.

So if you haven't already take some time to first WRITE DOWN YOUR LIFE GOALS (present age to 90 years old - in five year increments) and then write down goals for the year, which will help you accomplish getting to your next 5 year goal. They really work! Try it today.

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We'll on Saturday I just got word that my student loan was going to be deferred, because I am enrolled part time in my masters class. My student loan is going to be deferred until I graduate next May 31. My wife and I had been accelerating our payments ($117 required, but contributing $350/month) until we have our baby at the end of August. So with this change I am going to move my payment to my money market account each month (until next May) and earn 2.75% interest instead of paying 5.5% interest on my student loan. So basically if you take 2.75% + 5.5%, then we'll be earning 8.25% interest on our money.

So basically this is yet another way for my family and I to 1) get out of debt faster 2) earn some extra money 3) get to retirement early. Then by next May I'll hopefully have enough saved up to pay of my student loan and be closer to owe no man nothing!

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Today I read the article from money.com on "Welcome to the recession". It got me thinking...how is the recession effecting me? The only way I've seen it effecting me is that gas prices are going up and so is food. How about everyone else? The economy where I'm at really isn't moving either way and home prices are staying about the same. I was wondering if other people are starting to feel the effects yet? I'd love to get other people opinions in other regions of the country.

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Wow! What a weekend! It hardly feels like I got a vacation, because I spent the entire weekend building a murphy bed for our basement. Last week I bought a build it yourself kit off of Rockler beds and it sure was a lot harder then I thought. The kit was really good and even came with an instructional DVD. I have finished all the initial 38 steps that required cutting all the wood and assembling it, and now I'm waiting on painting it and adding decorative modeling. I'm taking some of the ideas from Murphybed.com to help me make it look nice. When I finally get some time I'll try and take some pictures. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!

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This weekend my family and I are going to be hitting a few garage sales. Here are the top five money making tips for how to make money off another person’s trash.

1)Ask for a discount on the item you are going to purchase
2) Check out Craigslist before you go to find out which garage sales you want to hit, and what items will be on sale in those neighborhoods.
3) Bring a laptop and wireless card – leave the wireless laptop in your car, if you find an item that you think might be valuable go back to your car and look it up
4) Team up – go with a group of people into each neighborhood to find items that you can resell and you can cover more garage sales faster. Also you can tap your team’s knowledge on what may be good items to buy
5) Buy baby clothes – at a lot of garage sales people sell their baby clothes at an extreme discount. Gather as many baby clothes throughout the year and host a garage sale of your own selling just baby clothes (marked up of course). It will definitely get a lot of traffic and baby clothes are sure to sell

These are just a few of the tips I recommend to try and make a little money from going out garage-saling! What are some of your tips? Enjoy the season everyone and remember “turn trash into cash”!

Today I read this article on how they are now predicting $15/gallon gas!

$15 Gas article



If things like this come true then the world will be in chaos! I can't imagine what prices at the store would look like, lines at the gas pump would look like, or how this would change the future of the middle class. Personally, I think you are going to see a major swing and rebellion once you hit $5, which we were debating a few weeks ago on "what is the braking point for gas". A lot of people are already sick of the gas prices and if this continues our economy, middle class, and standard of living are in for a world of hurt.

I just want to throw this out there as my own prediction that I think will come true before 2012. Along with all the middle east countries rationing explain in the article I predict that "Israel will find large quantities of oil reserves under their soil." Based on what I've been see and the trends I just want to throw that out there.

What do you think the breaking point will be? How will you change your lifestyle once gas hits $5, $7, $10, or even $15? You better ask yourself these questions now and come up with a saving plan if this does come true. Again we shouldn't be driven by fear of the unknown possibility but be in a position to protect ourselves and our assets.

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Today I was going through my old favorites and came upon this 2002 article – You think like a million bucks. The article went on to list the most common characteristics of millionaires. Here they are:

“MILLIONAIRES SEE A HALF-FULL GLASS”
“THEY SEIZE THE DAY”
“THEY HAVE A MASTER PLAN”
“THEY FEEL ENTITLED TO THEIR MONEYBAGS”
“THEY KNOW THE UPS AND DOWNS OF INVESTING”
“THEY FIND WAYS TO MAKE MONEY DOING WHAT THEY LOVE”
“THEY KNOW THEY COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN”

Back in high school I was out playing golf with my golf buddy and his dad. During our round of golf I told my friend and his dad that someday I was going to be a millionaire. Boy did I get laughed off the course. For about two holes they wouldn’t stop laughing and criticizing me saying, “Do you know how many zeros are in a million?” “Are you serious?” “I’ll believe it when I see it”. To this day I still remember that day, what I was wearing, what hole we were on, how they said it, and their doubtful attitude. Above anything their criticism motivated me more then anything to one day become a millionaire. I was only 17 at the time and I didn’t know how, but I knew I would.

Then came college...I still remember the class and teacher...quantitative methods and professor George. During one of our boring classes I was introduced to the power of compound. George laid out how by dollar cost averaging and investing $500/month from 22 to 30 that I could have $6.5 million by the time I turned 65 (@ 12% interest). I was AMAZED and so was the whole class. Everyone asked more questions that day then they did in the entire semester. He went on to explain that a person who invested from 30 to 65 would end up having less. That is when I realized...this is my ticket to becoming a millionaire. I’m going to invest $500/month right after I graduate college at least until I turned 30 (and I did!).

Finally, right out of college I went to see a “financial advisor” at one of the big brokerage firms in our town. I went in there with a bit of skepticism, and came away with an important tidbit that I carry with me today. He tried to get me sucked into one of his “HIGH Growth tech funds”, but the thing that stuck out the most was he asked me a question. He asked me, “what are your goals?” I said “what do you mean? For tomorrow, week, month, or this year?” He said, “No what are your goals for when you turn 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 75, and 85?” I said, “Hmm...I’ve never thought about that.” I went home that night and wrote out my life goals.” To this day I still have those goals and am working to accomplish all of them, which include financial, spiritual, physical, family, and educational.

Like the above article wrote about millionaires have a master plan. For me my master plan is my life goals. I know what I want to accomplish and by when. It’s in my yearly goals that I set out how I’m going to accomplish these goals to meet the next 5-year increment goal. If you haven’t thought about it, then write down your goals!! For me having a master plan has been the biggest compass for staying on track. Do you have one?

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Lately I've been reading some articles on becoming a millionaire. Additionally, I've also read many books in the past that address characteristics of millionaires and how to become a millionaire. But very few discuss the post end of becoming a millionaire. Now that you've got a million dollars in the back, then what now? For me in order to retire I'll probably need closer to two million to retire but my hope will be to be able to do these things in retirement.

- Spend time with family
- Run
- Read more
- Blog more
- Golf
- Buy a house on a lake or golf course
- Wake up early to watch the sun come up over the lake while sipping my coffee and reading a book
- Help maintain running trails
- Get more involved and volunteer for our church
- Let mom take a break more while I watch the kids
- Help dad at the farm

These are just a few of the ideas I had to do in retirement. What are a few of yours? I'd love to hear any of your ideas.

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Lately, I've been feeling prompted to blog about tithing 10% even though an individual may have a lot of credit card debt, auto loan, school loan, and home loan. I am a firm believer (contrary to Suze Orman) that a person should continue to give 10% to the church even though you may have a lot of debt. A lot can be determined by the character of a person while they are in debt to determine how they will act once they get out of debt. I know a lot of people may disagree with me on this, but I can account for myself how continuing to tithe while in debt has had great rewards for my wife and I. The Lord has blessed us many times over for our faithfulness in giving in the hard times and now we are trusted with a lot more. Now we are again tested in the good times if we will be faithful with what we have and continue to give. Since getting married I've really experience the joy of giving sacrificially and it definitely has been a learned trait that I got from my wife. Thanks honey!

I just wanted to get other people's take on tithing regardless of large amounts of debt and hear about any success stories or failures. All comments are welcome.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe to my e-mail updates

Check out my blog at Frugal Retirement

Today my 3 1/2 year old son and I are planning on going camping along the Missouri River tonight! This is our first time ever trying this and last night I practiced setting up the tent. Needless to say it was "fun", but took a lot of patience. Regardless, I just want to create a tradition with him that we can do the rest of our life and I hope he can grow to have a love of nature like I've grown to have. Especially after being raised on the farm! So its off to camping we go!

Yesterday in my masters class we discussed the “real” dollars spent on gas and how we’ve just crossed over the threshold that we were at in 1981 during the Iranian Crisis. People have been moaning a lot about how the price of gas is “breaking the camels back”, but in relative terms gas is at the same levels that they were in 1981.


Data provided from http://www.inflationdata.com/

Department of Labor – Inflation Hoax:
Now take a snapshot of the above inflation adjusted gas data. Then look at the rate of inflation in both 2007&2008 and compare it to 1980 & 1981.


Data provided from http://www.inflationdata.com/

Does something look a little odd here? To me something smells a bit rotten and that our department of labor is skewing the inflation numbers, because so much of our national debt is leveraged against the inflation rate and business are adjusted against the inflation rate as well. To me I really believe the Department of Labor is pulling the wool over our eyes and these numbers aren’t really factual. You and I both know that when we go to the grocery story that 1) Milk cost $2.55 last year and last week when I went to the store it cost $3.35, 2) Gas last spring cost $2.75/gallon and I just had to fill up on $3.54 gas today, 3) Fertilizer for my lawn last year was $5.80 for a small bag and this past weekend I paid more then $11. Now do those numbers look like 3%, 4%, even 5% inflation? Even a high school dropout can figure out that! Personally here is what I believe. I believe we the people need to take inflationary calculations into our own hands. Here is what I propose. List out 4 items that you will commit to track yearly on how much it will cost for those items each year. For example:

1) Milk
2) Bread
3) Gas
4) The same 3 homes in your neighborhood

Then you can figure out on your own…is the government telling us the truth? This puts the power back in your hands and helps you to make adjustments to your finances based on your factual data! As a result, you’ll get to retirement early and be able to hedge inflation while in retirement to sustain a comfortable lifestyle.

What do you think?

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Yesterday I read a great article from getrichslowly.org that JD took to one of his lectures at Western Oregon University. He produced a one page personal finance sheet and this perception from a pf book caught my eye:

The Three-Step Budget (Andrew Tobias, The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need)
1. Destroy all your credit cards.
2. Invest 20% of all that you earn. Never touch it.
3. Live on the remaining 80%, no matter what.

So that got me thinking...time for another poll. What % of your income do you save on a monthly basis. Check it out my new poll at Frugal Retirement. I'll be sure to post the results in about a week.

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8 years ago I heard a sermon on “owing no man nothing” and people from the church got up front and testified of what being debt free did for their lives. It was really powerful and encouraging to see people with real stories of how getting out of debt freed them of this bondage. Debt has so much baggage with it and restricts a person in so many ways. For example…college loans.

I graduated school 9 years ago in May. I still owe $6950, and I started out owing $15,000. Does that sound kind of ridiculous? For me it sure does? I’m almost coming up on my 10 year reunion and if I wasn’t so aggressively paying off my student loan, then I would most likely still have my loan at my 15 year reunion. What kind of bondage is a 15 year school loan? It’s a lot!!

My wife and I are having a baby hear in September and today as I write this I still owe $6950, and one of my wife and I goals are to pay off my student loan before we have our second baby. It is a lofty goal and I don’t how it is going to happen, but when we introduce this baby into this world we want one less debt to have hanging over our heads. As part of my 30 day Multiple Streams of Income challenge I plan on continuing even after the 30 days to generate income to pay off my student loans and eventually owe no man nothing!

Is anyone else struggling with debt out there? Make a plan (with your spouse if you are married) and plan to get out of debt aggressively. Then at the end of the day when capital one asks you…”What’s in your wallet?” You can yell, CASH!!!!

frugal retirement

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Yesterday my wife and I had a great discussion about keeping money, frugality, retirement, debt, and saving in perspective. Recently my wife and I have been following this blog about a couple that found out at 20 weeks into their pregnancy that their baby had under developed lungs and would be born with undeveloped lungs and would die soon after she was born.


http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

The blog gets about 40,000 hits a week and has had a huge impact on people all throughout our country. It really has impacted us in keeping all things in perspective pertaining to money and that it is only temporal. This family's faith in the midst of this adversity has been amazing!! Despite all that they have gone through in giving birth to their daughter who they lost within 2 1/2 hours of birth - it has been a testiment of how our Lord can use all things for his glory.

Even trials and dispair.

Even joys and triumphs.

Even money worries.

Even death.

Even life.

I just want to encourage you all, like I've been refined of lately, to keep all financial matters at the feet of Jesus. Money is talked about in the Bible more then any other topic, and its important to keep your character in check and search your heart on "are you trying to serve both God and money?" I know personally I fall into this camp sometimes.

I also ask you to check out this great video of the testimony of family about the whole experience and the impact it had on them. Thanks for listening!

http://withoutwax.tv/

Yesterday when I went to Starbucks with a co-worker to get a $1.87 coffee I overheard a customer say to the gentleman making her drink - "You guys are my closest family and friends. You Jim, Nancy.." She goes on to name off all the people working behind the counter and all the people that work on the second shift.

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous!! If you know one of the cashiers names, then fine...but when you know everyone that works there by first name, then you have a problem.



To me this relates a lot to the "Latte Factor" David Bach preaches so much about. I can't imagine what this lady's latte factor looks like if she knows all their name.

Anyhow, I admit that this is her choice to go there everyday, but I on the other hand choose to go only once every three weeks or so. I don't want Starbucks getting rich off me! NO THANKS, STARBUCKS!! Starbucks Your are NOT my family!!

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10. That I should own a bike so I can bike to work

9. It would cost $50 to fill up my Ford Escape

8. Its not fuel efficient to accelerate quickly

7. Telling my 3 1/2 year old son to bike to preschool isn't an option

6. How to get free fuel

5. A gallon of gas would cost more then a gallon of milk

4. American auto makers really don't make fuel efficient cars

3. 20 miles per gallon isn't really that good of mileage

2. Paying $3.49/gallon really hurts!

1. Its not smart to comment to the cashier at the gas station on the price of gas - its not her fault

We'll today we are going to be leaving for the farm to see my Grandparents who are celebrating 67 years of marriage!! What a great accomplishment and testimony of committment to each other through it all. I truely look up to my grandparents for the blue print they've laid on long lasting, giving, selfless marriage. I also learned the majority of my money sense from my grandparents, because of what they instilled in me about what the Great Depression taught them. Its a lot of the little things like cutting up old shirts to make dish rags, making your own soap, cleaning up your entire plate at the dinner table, to using pots /pans that are so old that the bottom of the pan isn't flat but egg shaped, to having medicine in your medicine cabinet that expired in 1984 which they say is still good (ya right). Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!



Also going home this weekend to see if I can help dad with some of the fieldwork or atleast get the equipment ready. I always like being home and away from the city. I like walking out on the gravel roads at around 10 o'clock and seeing no light pollution, hearing no cars, and just listening to the crickets cherping. Its a great calmness that I feel. Plus I like getting up in the morning with grandpa and listening to the radio over a cup of coffee. We always have good talks over coffee in the morning while we rock in our rocking chairs!

Anyhow, its off to the farm this weekend!

We'll the results are in on the "What do you consider the most important factor to get to retirement early?" poll.

Here are the results.


Along with that I publish a new poll. "Who had the biggest influence on your financial mindset?" Vote at frugal retirement.

I'm only on day 8 and I've made $425 so far!! Sold our media cabinet and side table on craigslist today. Put three more items out there tonight for sale - baby bedding, golf irons, and golf driver. Hopefully I'll get some bites on them. Priced the baby bedding kind of high, but everything I've listed on there has sold right away. We'll see though. Anyhow, I'm extremely pleased with the 30 day challenge thus far. Hopefully I can make some more money besides selling things online that can be residual income.

I've also includes specifics about my craigslistings on my frugal retirement blog.

Got a frugal tip for you all today. Walgreens is have a sale today only where you can get 15 free 4x6 photos. Just use code - TAXDAY to get them free and pick up at your local Walgreens.

Well no movement yesterday on the front yesterday to make more money for my challenge. No offers yet on our media cabinet on craigslist, so I may need to relist it and reduce the price a little. I'll probably do that today. I also need to go ahead an list our baby bedding on ebay or maybe even craigslist. We are hoping to get around $60 for that. I am still struggling with ideas on how I can multiple the $225 I've already earned and help leverage it. I'm open to any ideas. I've also been working on creating a partnership on developing my online blog for frugal retirement, which may help in my Multiple Streams of Income challenge.

We'll it looks like its going to be a great day today again with highs in the 70's!! I'm very thankful for this weather after this winter.

With this nice weather in store for today, tomorrow, and Wednesday it makes me itch to want to take some time off. I have been wanting to take some time off lately, but I'm working to save up my vacation hours at work. Right now I have about 330 hours of vacation saved up and we can save up to 400 hours. I'm hoping by the end of the year I can have 400 hours saved, then I'll be forced to take 3 weeks vacation and 1 1/2 weeks of holiday's each year other wise I lose it. Plus with having another kid this year it will be a lot better to take vacation when the kids are growning up and spend quality time with the family! Personally, I'd just like to get away to a quiet destination out from the city, and get a log cabin and sip coffee while overlooking a pond, river, or mountain range.

Today I listed another item on craigslist - media cabinet and side chair. I hope I can only have as much success as I did yesterday with selling our tv. Also I'm trying to think of ways to re-invest the $225 we made yesterday to help grow that money. Does anyone have any ideas. Initially I just thought of putting it in a money market account, but was trying to think of some way I could leverage that money. Anyhow, if anyone has any ideas then let me know.

Also today I started reaching "Loop-holes of the rich" - a Robert Kiyosaki type book. Thought it might be helpful since I formed a LLC for my new farming business.

I'll keep you all posted on how the new listing on craigslist goes.

I can't tell you how excited I am to start on this journey - especially after today. Today I started out working on generating more streams of income and started by listing one item in our storage closet that has been just sitting there for the past 6 months. Today I listed our old TV on craigslist!!

More pictures are on my blogspot page Frugal Retirement

Within one hour I got two e-mails saying they wanted to stop over and see the TV tonight! This could generate $225 for my challenge on just the first day. I really pumped as you can tell from my exclamation marks! Below are a couple of the pictures of the TV.
I started taking pictures of a tv media cabinet that we are also going to list and some baby bedding the next day.

Updated while was writing this blog:
A guy e-mailed me and I called him while I was writing this blog, said he wanted to check the tv out, stopped by and bought it. $225 added to the challenge!!! I'm only on day one and I am almost half way there. More updates to come, but as you can tell I'm excited.