What Would You Do?

I know its been a very long time since I posted an article. In fact, I probably have no more readers for this blog at all. However, I wanted to throw a question out there and see what type of responses I get.

If you were working in a place that was making you absolutely miserable, to the point of where it was becoming unhealthy mentally and physically, but you had no other job to go to, what would you do? Would you quit and run attempt to look for another job? Would you stick it out and suffer while looking for another job? What would you do?

This issue has been coming up quite frequently in conversations I have had, life situations, etc. I know what I would do, but I am curious as to what everyone reading this would actually do. I know these circumstances are brief, and you can add your own conditions in your response (i.e. If I had money saved I would . . ., etc.) How would you handle this type of situation?

Welcome GRS Readers!

To those of you who are "Get Rich Slowly" blog readers, let me welcome you to my blog. Feel free to browse around the site and look in the archives area for various articles.

I have posted a series on how my wife and I actually paid off $97,028 in various debts instead of filing for bankruptcy. The series begins here, and continues here, here, and here.

I also have a series on getting the most out of your 401(k) plan which you can find in the January archives.

I am currntly licensed as a retirement specialist and work for one of the largest Investment Firms in the country. You can read more about my background and who I am in the "Allow Me to Introduce Myself" section. My current job has me undergoing another licensing program so I have been unable to post as much as I would like to, but still manage to get a post or two out during a typical week (or two).

Once again, feel free to browse around . . . I hope you enjoy, and welcome!

Unexpected Expenses and Saving Money

Over the weekend my sister came into to town. I have seen my sister twice in two years. She lives in Minnesota so it can be tough for us to travel to her, or for her to travel to us. So seeing her is always special since I do not get to very often.

We met with my Dad and one of his friends and business associates for lunch at a place called Houston's in North Dallas. Houston's can be pretty pricy. I paid $14.00 for a club sandwich (even though they have the best club sandwhiches I have ever eaten). So I covered my sister, my wife and my meal and the total for this was $63.00 after tips. To me, this is a pretty pricy lunch.

Moreover, every paycheck I receive, I put 7% of it into my 401(k) plan and 10% in my high interest savings account at HSBC, for a total of 17%. I get paid weekly, so this amount tends to cut my paycheck down quite low.

I do not have an "unexpected" expense savings, other than my emergency savings, which technically is used for emergencies. So I had to use my budget money to pay for our meal with really sets me back on my expenses (i.e. being able to cover all my bills).

My budget is set so that every other week my bills get paid, and every other opposite week, those checks are open to either save from or use as "left over" to add to the next week's pay (if all that makes sense). This past week was a week where I had to cover bills so my "left over" was simply not there. This really puts me into financial "worry mode." So I was forced to pull out of my emergency fund to cover the costs.

There were other unexpected expenses that were included in this week that I have not mentioned here, so keep in mind that this one eating out event was not that detrimental, it was the other unexpected expenses added to this one that put me over the top. Space and time simply does not allow me to post all the extra expenses.

This makes me wonder if I should start a small savings for "unexpected" expenses, at least until I have several other credit cards paid off giving me more breating room in my budget.

Does anyone out there have any thoughts on this idea? Has anyone ever tried this? Please let me know your thoughts.

Forced to Slow Down

I hate to say this, but my work has actually demanded more from me which causes me to have less time to blog. Therefore, my post frequency will be very eratic and sparse from this point forth until on or around June the 18th.

I will continue to try and post articles as much as possible, but the daily posts will be reduced to a few posts here and there. Feel free to continue to subscribe - for those of you who do, and I'll continue to try to post as much as I can over the next three months.

I enjoy posting, blogging and being able to share my knowledge, so I refuse to give up the blog. Things should pick up by June if not earlier. Thanks for hanging in there with me and I wish everyone financial success.

Family Fights Bank to Keep Their Home

Here is a video story about a family who was promised a particular mortgage and at closing was pressured into a completely different mortgage agreement which ultimately put them into forclosure. So instead of allowing the bank to take advantage of them, they fought back . . . and won!

This link will take you to the video - http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7264243

It is rare for a family to win in a situation like this, but this couple did, and rightly so, considering how they were treated by the Process Server and the banking violations committed by their bank.

Notice the statistics at the beginning of the clip - 3 million mortgages will go into default and 2 million homeowners will lose their home (source on this stat is Moody's Economy). These numbers are staggering.

I do not doubt the stats since the majority of my work days over the past few months have been talking to people who are attempting to keep their mortgages from foreclosing and they are having to take from their retirement plans to do so.

With the impending possibility of a recession, and news from the Fed that they are worried that this may be a deeper and longer recession than anticipated, it is so crucial that we as consumers protect ourselves financially with emergency funds, less spending, more saving, and make wise financial decisions.

Death By Blogging

While I enjoy blogging and do it out of love for writing and certainly not for the money, blogging one self to death is certainly not worth it, and I would quit before it ever came to that extreme. Below is a very interesting story pertaining to "blogging oneself to death." Read on for further details.

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: April 6, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO — They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

To read the rest of the article continue here.

When I was Born

A few years ago at Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a Remember When . . . A Nostalgic Look Back in Time booklet for the year of my birth. Perhaps you have seen these before. They are pretty fun to look through. I was going through some old boxes this weekend in an attempt to spring clean and found it.

Each booklet details the main events which occurred in whatever year the booklet is written about. It shows pictures of original ads from magazines, it details items that were popular, interesting facts such as who was president, who won the Nobel Prize that year, NCAA Basketball champs, etc.

In the middle of the booklet there is a section called (Whatever Year) Cost of Living - for instance, I was born in 1965, so this page is titled 1965 Cost of Living. This is the section that really blows my mind, to be able to compare the difference between today's cost of living, and the cost of living back then. There is a fairly large difference—the result is, of course, inflation.

Here is how the cost of living breaks down for the year of my birth:

New House—$13,600 (Sheeesh! I could by three houses in one year and still have money left over if that were the cost of house today)

Average Income—$6,469 (Does this seem pretty high compared to the price of a home? I guess not since that breaks down to $539.08 per month)

New Car—$2,614

Average Rent—$118.00 per month

Tuition to Harvard University—$1,760.00 per year (Boy has this changed quite a bit compared to today's cost)

Movie Ticket—$1.25

Gasoline—.31 cents per gallon (I can remember my grandfather, who used to run a gas station back in the 60's, telling my brother in the 70's that if you pay more than one dollar for a gallon of gas you are getting ripped off - he must be spinning in his grave at today's gas price)

United States Postage Stamp—.05 cents each

It amazes me at how big a difference there is between the cost of living back then—43 years ago—and today. I'm amazed how inflation has grown so rapidly since then. This certainly makes me re-think my retirement and what inflation might be like when I'm 65 or 70. What will the cost of living be like then?

BTW—I was born in the same year as Charlie Sheen, Will Smith, and Robert Downey Jr.; I bet they are not nearly as concerned about this inflation issue as I am. :-)