Spending A Little More On Coffee

Posted on by
6

In March, I got assigned to a temporary assignment at work.  Instead of working at my office, which is only two and a half miles from my home, I was doing site assessments all over the Metro Detroit area.  It was good work, it was on a high visibility project,  and it let me see up front what we actually do, versus the back-end support we provide in the office, so it was a pretty positive experience.

One of the things I had to adjust was my morning coffee.  My standard routine at the office was that I would drink from the ‘free coffee’ provided, but would add in my own half-and-half.  When I started the assignment, I started making my own coffee at home to take with me every morning.  Typically I would only make coffee at home on the weekends or on days when I’m off.  I buy pre-ground Columbian Coffee from Costco.  It’s $15 for a really big can.  It would typically last about four months, meaning I would spend about $45 per year on coffee.

After finishing up my assignment, I went back to work and the first day, went back to my old routine, and realized something.

The coffee is horrible.

It’s not the worst I’ve ever had for work coffee, but even so, it’s just not…good.

Six weeks away from the ‘free stuff’ turned me into a bit of a coffee snob.  I realized I could have re-adjusted and probably gotten used to the free stuff, but I realized something.

I didn’t want to.

So, I have started bringing some coffee from home.  When I pack my lunch, I scoop out enough for the next day, and  I make some coffee from home once I get to work.  I only make enough for me to drink my two mugs per day.   Work has filters (or I have some left over from an old coffee machine) and they have the coffee maker, so all that’s different is that I’m providing the coffee.  Since I get to work really early, I don’t have to worry about anybody stealing my coffee while it’s being made.

I estimate that this will require me to buy two additional cans per year.  That’s $30, working out to an extra $2.50 per month.

Some people spend that every day on a cup of coffee from Starbucks, so adding that to my budget for the sake of having coffee I truly enjoy is worth it to me.  I still think I’m being frugal in that I’m only making a partial pot per day to make only what I need, and I’m still using the company supplies and electricity.

Have you ever justified spending a little more on a small indulgence? 

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

Why Wall Street Secretly Loves The European Crisis

Posted on by
2

One of my predictions for 2012 was that Wall Street and the financial markets would begin to ignore the European financial crisis, where Greece and possibly others essentially are having a hard time paying all the money that they’ve borrowed throughout the years.  Last year the market would get hammered on days where anybody expressed a smidgen of fear of something bad happening.

I thought that the dust would settle and that Wall Street would move on.

I was wrong.

For a while in the beginning part of the year, the news about Europe was pretty quiet.  Wall Street did actually shrug off a lot of news, but would still have the occasional freak out about Europe.  In the last couple of weeks, the news is suddenly back out and Wall Street has been freaking out in earnest once again.

I believe they actually love it.

Here’s why.

I believe in conspiracy when it comes to the stock market.  I don’t trust people that do trading, and I think that there is dishonesty, manipulation,and insider trading that goes on all the time.  I believe in the efficient market theory on paper, but in practice, there’s no way.

And, I think traders use Europe as a way to cover up the dishonesty that prevails in Wall Street.

Simply put, Wall Street can use Europe as a scapegoat to do anything that they want and blame ‘Europe fears’.

I’ve watched earnings reports pretty regularly.  One theme that I’ve seen happen lately is that a company will blow out earnings.  I mean beyond what was likely priced in, as I know pricing stuff like this in does take place.  I’m talking 40 cents a share where ‘the Street’ might have predicted 12 cents a share.

The stock will even rise for a little bit in pre-market trading and then at the bell.

Look what just happened.  Investors, many whom are likely individual investors (as opposed to institutional investors) just saw great news and they saw the stock start to rise.  They buy in, hoping to ride the wave, not knowing that the sharks on the other side of their high speed trading computers, are snickering and reeling them in.

Suddenly the bottom drops off.  That stock that just tripled expected earnings suddenly gives back the money it made at the open and actually goes down, often by a few percent.

Individual investors just got taken for a ride.  Who do you think took that money and put it in their own pockets?

The crooks on Wall Street.

And when they’re asked about it, they say ‘Well, yeah, they beat earnings, but uh…we’re worried about their growth.  You know, because of the whole Europe situation at all.’

They might not snicker out loud or on the e-mail that they use to publish this, but trust me, they are.

And, that, is why I was wrong about Europe and the effect it would have on Wall Street.  Because while the news might be bad and there might be trouble, Wall Street has latched on as a way to skim (scam) some additional profits off the backs of investors just trying to do the right thing.

Do you think Wall Street operates on the up-and-up? 

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

The Old Desktop Computer May Have Bit The Dust

Posted on by
13

I’ve always been a pretty savvy tech guy.  My career has been IT.  One thing I learned, though, is that no technology, especially in the PC world, ever stays current.  Thus, I pretty much have gotten in the pattern of keeping computers until they die or are basically unusable.

Around 2004 was the last time I purchased a desktop computer.  At the time, it was a pretty state of the art machine.  It was a Dell Precision 370 workstation,  and it had a really cool graphics card, additional memory, and SATA hard drives, which were pretty fast back then.

It was a great computer and very fast, but as computers do, it started to slow down over time.  I think that happens because the computer does actually slow down as you use it and install more stuff on it, as well as appearing slower simply because the new computers coming out are faster.

I re-installed everything once a few years later, and a couple of years later I added more memory, an upgraded hard drive, and a few other improvements to basically max it out.

We have since inherited a couple of laptops from my parents, the latest of which we use as our primary computer.  Still, the desktop computer was one I used for browsing, random game playing, and as a hookup to all of our external hard drives where we keep multiple copies of any picture, music, document, spreadsheet or other files, and it also acted as a central print server so we could print from other computers we had.

Recently, I was using it and suddenly it freaked out.  The video got crazy.  That’s the only word I can use to describe it.  It got into a weird test pattern.  Powering down and back up got it into a state where it would start up but not really boot up.  It actually did boot up one time and I used it for a couple of hours, but since then, it hasn’t booted up once.  I’ve reseated all the power connections, memory modules, and external cards, but so far that hasn’t worked.  One time it did boot up and the fan started running so fast I thought it was going to blow a hole in the wall behind the computer.

The diagnostic lights on the back of the computer aren’t giving me any really good information.  I may try another video card but I’m not too hopeful.

I think it may be lost.  But eight years for a computer has to be like 120 years old, right?  If it is gone, it definitely had a good life.

It really wouldn’t change anything if we lost it.  I’m pretty sure the hard drives are fine, and I don’t think that we have anything on them anyways of importance.

I guess time will tell what we do.  Right now, we’ll do nothing, but down the line do I:

  • Get another desktop computer, which could probably be had for a couple hundred bucks?
  • Get a laptop computer?  We already have two of those plus I can use the one from work for stuff as well
  • Get a tablet
  • Just scrap it and do nothing.

I guess time will tell if we actually miss the computer in any way that would warrant us having a new one.  For now, we have an older laptop that I’ve started using.  If that were to die as well, we would definitely need to do something, but since that was probably from 2005 or 2006, we hopefully have another year or two where we could scrape by with what we have.

What are your computer habits?  Do you get new computers regularly?  Do you use your computers mainly for browsing?

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

15 Reasons I Love The Month Of May

Posted on by
14

There’s a lot to be appreciative in the month of May.

  1. Grilling outside – I sometimes gripe about it, but let’s face it, a burger or hot dog just tastes better when it comes off the grill, doesn’t it?
  2. Cleaning the garage – The garage is the one space that I have complete control over.  The desire to keep it spic and span in the sub-zero temperatures of winters doesn’t exist, so there’s sweeping and straightening that lets my re-claim “my space” in May.
  3. Bikes down – We just pulled the bikes down over the weekend and are looking forward to taking some bike rides, a great way to spend any nice day or evening!
  4. Cutting the grass – I just love that smell of freshly mowed grass
  5. Eating outside – You make those great burgers and dogs, it’s better to eat them outside
  6. Getting ready for family fun – We just bought our camper last fall and are anxiously working to get it stocked and ready for some fun trips starting next month!
  7. Planting flowers – We have a few planting beds and pots around that we enjoy filling up with flowers.  Last summer was the first one we finally had success pretty much across the board.  Here’s hoping!
  8. Lighter laundry baskets – My wife does most of the laundry around the house, but my one job is to take the baskets downstairs to the laundry room.  Lighter clothing means baskets that don’t weigh as much!
  9. Trips to the zoo – Even though the animals are in the same place, the zoo is always a fun time.
  10. Trips to the beach – Once it warms up, there’s nothing like jumping in the lake on a hot day, and the kids are sure to love it.
  11. Walks through the neighborhood – We love taking walks through the subdivision, either before or after dinner.  Now that we set up the kids wagon, they really enjoy it too!
  12. Kids play outside – The kids get to spend time outside, which keeps them in better spirit after being cooped up during the winter.
  13. Windows open – Whether it be in the car or at home, there’s nothing like throwing open the windows and getting that warm breeze.
  14. Celebration time starts – May kicks off a six week period where we have Mother’s Day, birthdays for my wife, my son, and my daughter, and Father’s Day.  It’s great to celebrate with so many important people!
  15. Low utility bills – May weather typically means that it’s warm enough to not have to run the furnace too much, cool enough where the A/C isn’t required all that much, and wet enough to where you don’t need the sprinklers on that much.  Low bills for the month are sure nice!

What’s your favorite month?  What are some other reasons to love the month of May?

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

 

Do You Adjust Your Home Insurance Structure Cost?

Posted on by
8

For the first few years after we moved into our house in 2007, the value of the home declined on pretty much every level.  Comparable houses went for less.  Average square foot went less.  Zillow told us it was worth less.  Even our property tax assessments told us it was worth less every year.  We didn’t trick ourselves into thinking it was worth more.  We knew darn well, just like everybody else, that it was worth less.

Well, almost everybody.

Allstate apparently has not gotten on board with the lower value theory.

Our homeowners policy is probably just like every other one in that it defines the maximum replacement cost if the structure had to be rebuilt.  This makes sense, but what doesn’t is that it has risen each and every single year, and not by a small amount.

This year, the maximum value of the house plus other structures (garage, deck, what is this, I’ll have to ask) is totaled over $120,000 higher than the value that I would expect we could sell the house for.

And that selling price includes the lot as well.

Our house is nice but it’s nothing fancy.  I know darn well that Allstate wouldn’t put granite countertops in the event that the house or kitchen needed to be re-built.  They would pay for the same formica counters we have now.  Sure, they’d ‘allow’ us to pay the difference, but my point is, I see no way where re-building our house would cost anywhere near the maximum value that they are reporting.

The two variables I wonder about are demolition and landscaping.  Assuming the worst, that our house suffered a catastrophic fire, I’m assuming that part of the cost would be the removal of what would be left standing to the point that they could start from scratch.  I would also assume that since the current house has grass, bushes, and such, that these would be replaced since they’d be lost during either the hypothetical fire or the demolition process.

Even with these two factors, plus maybe other stuff (re-connecting all the utilities), I can’t see any scenario where re-building our home would approach the maximum value that we’re insured up to.

So, I ask, dear readers:

  • Have you ever had your insurance provider adjust the maximum value of the house?
  • What type of savings have you achieved if so?
  • Are there other costs that I’m forgetting?
  • Am I missing something glaringly obvious?
  • What other questions or scenarios should I ask my agent when I give a call to discuss this?

We do have content coverage, which I’m fine with, and we have guest medical costs and all that, I’m strictly looking at the line items that refer to a potential structure replacement.

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!

 

Making It In Diapers Without Amazon

Posted on by
4

We were big fans of the Amazon Mom program when it first came out.  When it first debuted, you got 30% off diapers and free shipping, plus a year of Prime benefits.

It was pure awesome.

I kind of figured that it might be too good to be true, and sure enough, it was.  They cut the discount from 30% to 20%, then they rolled out the kicker: To get that, you had to pay $79 in Amazon Prime membership.  If you didn’t subscribe to Prime, you got a measly 5%.

We went back and forth on whether to subscribe or not.  It was really nice getting anything we ordered in two days, and the diaper discounts were nice.

In the end, we decided against the membership.  At first, there was a withdrawal period.  Instead of just having diapers show up at our door, we had to go get them.  Instead of having anything we need in two days, we had to either wait for it (and sometimes scramble to hit the $25 minimum on Free Super Saver shipping) or go get it ourselves.

In the end, though, we’ve managed just fine.

My wife always seems to find diaper deals at either Target or Meijer, where they’ll have an in-store coupon that they will allow you to combine with a manufacturers coupon, plus sometimes they’ll do a deal where if you buy a couple of packs, you get a gift card that you can use on your next order.  We might be paying slightly more for diapers than we would have with Amazon, but when you factor the additional $79 that Amazon would have wanted, I think we’re at least breaking even.

It also helps that our little boy is potty trained which as cut his diaper consumption down quite a bit (he still gets a diaper during nap and overnight).

And, if buying stuff got a little less convenient, well that’s OK too.  It probably saves us money on buying stuff that we might not otherwise buy.

It was a nervous couple of weeks when Amazon first announced that they were effectively curbing the Amazon Mom program for us, but after we settled in, we realized that we are doing just fine.

At some point, Prime might be worth it if we look for the streaming movies and TV shows it gets you, but with summer coming up, camping trips planned, and a 10-month old that looks ready to walk within the next few weeks, well let’s just say that we have plenty to keep us entertained!

Any parents out there affected by the Amazon Mom changes earlier this year?  How did you handle it and what changes has it meant for you?

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or check out my Facebook page.This original Money Beagle post Copyright 2012 Money Beagle is authorized to appear only on www.moneybeagle.com. Thank you for reading and remember: It’s a great day to be alive!