Earn, Save, and Live Joyfully.
For my seventh gift, of the 29 day giving challenge, I prepared baked ziti, a large garden salad, grilled chicken and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I shared the meal with my parents, in-laws, close family friends, and my husband. It wasn’t anything too special, but it was a really tasty meal.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my dad is in need of a major overhaul to his diet and exercise plan. On the drive down to North Carolina I talked with him about our family’s concern. Since he was stuck in the car with me on a six and a half hour trip he … Read more
My dad, who is in his early 60s, is quite overweight. He needs to lose at least 60-70 pounds, maybe more. He’s been overweight for as long as I can remember, though it seems he has gained even more weight in the last year or so. A few years ago, when my nephew was born, … Read more
The image above represents our current net worth including the liabilities on our mortgages but not including the value of our homes. According to the graph above if we cashed in all of our investments today my husband and I would have just enough money to pay off our mortgages. I removed the actual dollar … Read more
My last two posts focused on the financial assistance parents are often asked to provide for their adult children. This weekend Michelle Singletary looked at the flip side of this issue suggesting that adult children should provide financial assistance to their parents. Singletary, a writer for the Washington Post, notes that she often receives emails … Read more
For those of you who view my blog directly, (not through a rss feed reader), you may have noticed the new photo I added to the header of my blog. It was taken this winter by my husband on a cold and icy day on the Outer Banks. It combines two of my favorite loves: … Read more
As a kid I was fascinated with coins. Every few weeks my father would count his coins and roll them into coin wrappers. I vividly remember the first time I helped him count the change. He let me start with the pennies, because they were, (of course), the easiest coins to count. My dad has … Read more
Four years ago I was awarded $12,000 worth or restricted company shares. The stock shares vested over a four year period, which means every year the ownership of roughly 40 shares of company stock was transferred to me. The shares that had not vested continued to earn dividends and those dividends were paid out during … Read more
As you wait and watch the ever so turbulent stock market sink lower and lower, keep Warren Buffet’s words in mind… “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” For now, I’m holding tight in the market. I’m not buying or selling, but if prices continue to fall I might begin … Read more
Yesterday I headed down to the outlet mall. I didn’t initially plan on spending any money. I just wanted to poke around to see if the deals were better than I can find at local department stores. I imagined that most of the items would be priced well below retail, but in fact many of … Read more