May 2015 Archives - Personal Finance (MB)

Lesson Learned: Not All Septic Safe Toilet Paper Is RV Compatible

April 23, 2019May 28, 2015 by Money Beagle

Last year I went through some minor drama with regards to our camper’s black tank, which is the tank that the toilet empties into. Don’t worry, there’s nothing too queasy here!

Essentially, we use our toilet mostly for number one only. Since we camp at campgrounds, most other business is done at the campground bathrooms. Unfortunately, it’s not 100%, but even so there’s toilet paper used anyway.

The Problem Arises

Last summer, we were on a week long trip around the 4th of July, and we ran into trouble. After every time using the toilet, well, the only way to put it, is that the camper stank. Definitely a sewer stink. (I promised it wouldn’t be too queasy, and that’s the most detail there is *lol*)

Do You Brush Your Teeth During The Day?

April 23, 2019May 26, 2015 by Money Beagle

For just about all my life, I have brushed my teeth two times per day. I brush once in the morning after I wake up, and once in the evening before I go to bed. Outside of that, I never brushed during the day. Well, I would on days I went to the dentist. So, two times per year, I guess! After all, you don’t need to gross out your hygienist, right?

This has served me well, and for a long time. I would even kind of laugh to myself when I would see someone brushing their teeth in the bathroom at work.

But, after my latest cleaning, the thought popped into my head. Maybe a mid-day brush wouldn’t be a bad idea!

No Cavities!

Thankfully, I did not have any cavities during my cleaning, as those are pretty rare. However, my hygienist did say that I had one particular area that I needed to make sure I got a little closer, as she saw a little plaque buildup.

Things I’ve Heard Said About Forex

April 23, 2019May 25, 2015 by Money Beagle

There are many different ways to invest, trade, make, and lose money. Just about all of them are available in some fashion on the Internet. One of the big buzz words that I’ve heard over is Forex. I thought I would do a little digging on my own to find a little bit more information. I wanted to find out whether the things I’ve heard said are true.

Questions and Answers on Forex

Reading, Watching, And Listening: May 2015 Entertainment

April 23, 2019May 21, 2015 by Money Beagle

This is a personal finance blog, right? But every so often, I get more on the personal side of things. Some of my favorite bloggers have been those that I get to know through their stories, experiences, and likes. I hope those that interact with me here at Money Beagle enjoy the personal experiences and such that I share.

With that, I would like to make note of some things that have been keeping me entertained as of late. I’ll also give my two cents on whether they’re good or not!

Reading

I love reading fiction. I always have at least a few books checked out from the library. Plus, I subscribe to their New Items RSS feed. So, any new book I think I might like, I add to my to-read list. Here are a few I have recently completed reading.

I Ran My First 5K Race This Past Weekend

April 23, 2019May 20, 2015 by Money Beagle

I’ve been doing treadmill running pretty consistently throughout 2015. I’m pretty proud of my progress. One thing I hadn’t done is an actual race. That finally changed! My wife convinced me to sign up and I finally ran my first 5K. It was a lot of fun! We ran together, and we actually did really great, finishing in 0:29:44. My goal was to break 30 minutes, so I was very pleased!

My First 5K

The 5K race benefited a program in our school district. With this in mind they created a family pricing plan so everyone could participate. For the younger crowd (like our kids), they offered a one mile Fun Run, which was basically running around the track at the high school eight times.

Put Your Worry To Productive Use

April 26, 2019May 18, 2015 by Money Beagle

If you’re anything like me, chances are you’ve had nights with little or restless sleep because of something on your mind. Whether you can’t fall asleep, or you can’t fall back asleep after something wakes you up, when something gets in your head, sometimes it just sticks there and it makes sleep difficult or impossible for the remainder of the night.

If this has happened to you, my question to you is what have you done about it? If you simply drank some more coffee the next day or tried to get an earlier start to bedtime the next night, you might have missed out on an opportunity. While those are certainly things to do in order to function in spite of the lost sleep, there’s also another potential opportunity.

6 Ways To Save On Wine

April 23, 2019May 13, 2015 by Money Beagle

My wife has really gotten interested in drinking wine over the past couple of years. She never really found her ‘drink of choice. But, once she started sampling various wines, she realized that she really enjoys wine over other types of alcohol. Over time she’s found wines that she truly enjoys. She favors dry white wines and certain types of red. She does not care for sweeter wines and while she may, she doesn’t have a deep appreciation for many of the drier reds. Maybe some day!

I enjoy the occasional glass, but my drink of choice is a whiskey and cola, and that’s a good pairing for any meal where my wife chooses wine.

With her new appreciation for wine, it’s been obvious that wine drinking can be a very expensive habit if you let it, but that there are ways to save money and still appreciate the various wines.

Don’t Write Your Goals In Permanent Marker

April 23, 2019May 11, 2015 by Money Beagle

By day, I am an IT project manager. This means I am normally juggling multiple projects in various stages. For each of these, goal tracking is key to success. Right now, I have three major projects going on. One is just starting off (planning), one is midway through the setup and delivery (execution), and the third is just wrapping up (closing).

With multiple projects in different stages, all involving different people, t’s necessary for me to keep track of things so that I don’t lose track of any key tasks or dates. I have a whiteboard where I write down key tasks. Every day, I’ll check against my whiteboard to keep track of things that I might need to do or follow up on that day.

Every once in a while, things will get a little disorganized on my list. One project might need more space, erasing and adding new things may have put things out of order, or a new project might need space. When I do that, I’ll often erase the whole thing and start writing it from scratch.

Funding Retirement in California

April 23, 2019May 6, 2015 by Money Beagle

The state of California and its citizens are being held hostage, by the funding of its public workers retirement plans. CalPERS, the city’s union that funds the worker’s pensions, is owed more than $200 billion dollars by the citizens of California. With the cities unable to pay up, many have filed for bankruptcy.

The controversy centers around two laws that were passed over 20 years ago. CalPERS has used these to create beneficial retirement plans for their employees. In the recent case of Stockton, California, a judge upheld a bankruptcy recovery plan that maintained the current public pensions. With the overturn of those two laws, the judge could have legally required them to cut pension, but didn’t.

Attention has now shifted to the town of San Bernardino, California, where two companies are claiming that they are owed money related to government pensions.

Stolen Debit Card: This Crook Had No Idea What He Was Dealing With

April 26, 2019May 4, 2015 by Money Beagle

I work in an office area that’s fairly open. We have half walls and the cube layouts are broken out into areas where three of us sit in a shared area. Each of us has a corner with one corner open to enter and exit. I like the two people I share space with a lot, but it’s often easy to overhear conversations given the layout.

I couldn’t help but hear bits and pieces of a conversation from JV, who was looking into a charge that he didn’t recognize. It was for a pizza place in Ann Arbor, about an hour and a half away from our area. The charge was for $53.00.

Phone Calls

First, he contacted his wife, then I heard him talking to the bank. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but it was unavoidable to hear that he had gotten it worked out to get the charge removed, and to get a new card issued and the old card disabled.