So, I’m looking at my budget today, and I notice that I’m spending ~19% of my take-home pay on housing (yay–well within our means), but 27% on transportation, including: Van payment, gas for 3 cars, registration, repairs + upkeep, and insurance. :-) I’m thinking of moving to new york! * * * On the opposite tack, I came home last night to find that someone had left the passenger-side sliding door open on the van. For 2 hours. In a driving thunderstorm. ...
Hrm…let’s see. Yesterday: - A French Bank closed 3 subprime hedge funds because there’s not enough liquidity to value them. I don’t know what that means exactly, but it sounds bad. - The S&P dropped 3% yesterday. - The subprime mortgage fiasco is turning into a vortex. I yanked my 401(k) back into a money market. I’m NOT looking forward to a repeat of the bath I took on my Roth in 2001.
not enough liquidity to value them….the mtg co’s… Whitney - Aug 5, 2007 not enough liquidity to value them….the mtg co’s are so far upside down on their lending that it’s not even worth the analysts’ time? well, the hedge funds were invested in the subprime mortgages and mortgage brokers themselves. I used to be invested in Harbor Fund’s Harbor Bond fund and it had a great run investing in mortgages, but it scared me so I got out before 2005. ...
Had a fascinating conversation with Chuck the other day, where he said: The best thing that ever happened to me is when they cut out my pension This got me thinking: Today, if you’re lucky you have some employer-matching, tax-deferred retirement plan, like a 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE, ABC-XYZ-Dooflatchie. These plans are all portable–quit or get laid-off, and you take the money with you. From a corporate perspective, this moves legacy costs off the books. once you’ve contributed to the plan, your obligation ends, and the employee and the servicing company (say, Fidelity or Vanguard) handle the rest. This is A Good Thingtm. ...
Interesting Consumer Price Index chart, from 1978 to now Basically, some items are going up much faster than inflation (Cost of college being #1) and some are flat to declining (cost of cars, televisions). I’ve got this theory that people are buying more expensive cars because of zero down, 0% interest loans that encourage them to get overextended. This leads to debt-slavery, meaning you become accustomed to always having a car payment, even though that (probably) isn’t necessary. ...
I think this post by Delerium sums it up pretty well I’m in the top 10%, but not by much and I DEFY you to find anyone near this point who can: Afford to send 2 kids to a decent college Take expensive vacations Pay the mortgage, car loan and credit card loans Maintain cars and house Heat, electric for house and gas for cars Feed the family well Pay for your multiple insurances ...
Whitney and I took a big step on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon last night: We cut up and then shredded our Credit Cards. We had everything from Shell, to discover, to MasterCard, to JC Penny’s. All gone :-) I’ve never been more proud of her. We’re looking for a new (used) couch, so we’re heading up to a furniture store liquidation auction tomorrow morning in Cynthiana. The stars have perfectly aligned: We just got a windfall from my huge LXK bonus ( coupla hundred $$), and Jeff’s graciously allowed us to drive his newly tuned-up truck up there (for the price of a tank of gas). Awesomeness. ...