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I’m home for the evening from a weekend Buddhist meditation retreat, and I was thinking about how unlikely it was that I’d have much to post on this blog about it. But then I realized that there is something of value for my readers. I’ve blogged before about giving gifts and feeling better . . . → Read More: Meditation retreat Hey, it has been over a year and my family is still going strong on our budget! I just realized that we started keeping a formal budget last June. What a difference a year makes. A year ago, we were still operating on the “quick check method”. You know what I mean: “Bunny, do . . . → Read More: Over a year on the budget While playing the Prosperity Game, I got to thinking about my personal rule-of-thumb for handling real-life windfalls. This has definitely changed over time. When I was younger, I would simply split the money in halves. 50% to pay down debt (which always needed paying down), and 50% for "something nice." That was nice, but . . . → Read More: Windfalls, a happy challenge Yesterday was my last day at my old job, and a simply outstanding day for me. . . . → Read More: Great laptop, happy wife, no debt One of the parts of my family budget which has been working the best for my wife and me is the gift budget. . . . → Read More: Valentines day gift giving Did you know that starting a Roth IRA for your ten-year-old will pay off 240:1? It is true. At 7% interest, a $100 investment in a simple mutual fund such as Dow Diamonds or QQQQQ, which average 7-8% will pay off incredibly for your child.I just made a quick calculator to help explore the numbers. . . . → Read More: Starting a Roth IRA for your kids When I started formal budgeting & tracking of my finances last June, I never considered that it would make me feel less guilty about spending money. . . . → Read More: An unexpected benefit of budgeting It is an odd thing, but repeatedly proven to be true, that setting constraints often sparks creativity.The way we did it this year was by budgeting “gift money” every month. The money, $50 each for Dustin and me, goes in envelopes marked “Dustin Gift Money” and “Bruce Gift Money” in the safe…. We use it to fund all gift giving throughout the year, supplemented by whatever we feel like kicking in from our personal “mad money” allowances. Since we started the formal budget in June last year, there were a total of $800 maximum dollars in the envelopes…. $500 really is not a lot to buy presents for the five people in the family, relatives, and close friends…. We did this by setting our limits up front, and by not really buying any “impulse gifts”…. I found myself thinking things like “that is a nice shirt, Dustin would love it, but if I buy it, I wont have enough left to get that bracelet I came here to buy.”… Temptation is just easier to avoid when you are using cash.Another big help was something I read on another personal finance blog (sorry I can’t recall which). It pointed out that young children really don’t have the attention to enjoy more than three or four presents. . . . → Read More: Christmas declared a success |
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