America Saves Week

Well, leave it to me to learn about America Saves Week toward the end of the week. Truly a day late and a dollar short!
There was a good column today on Yahoo Finance titled "Saving in the Age of Chronic Consumption" that talked about America Saves Week. Sponsored by the nonprofit America Saves, the group's Website does have some good tips on saving money. I will definitely be following some of the suggestions.
The column also talks about how much easier it is to be a consumer today in the age of the Internet, when you can gamble, shop, or participate in an auction in the middle of the night. It used to require some effort to be a consumer. You had to get in your car and drive somewhere to make a purchase.
Also the article talks about how consumers have less discipline today in an era in which they need to save money the most. There is less job security and more part-time jobs with no job benefits. People are more likely to have a volatile income stream.
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/moneyhappy/68883;_ylt=AjDvyiA02K23s6fC24x683e7YWsA

Property Taxes

It is near the end of February, which means "property taxes" to most of us homeowners. I paid my taxes in full a week ago, but by that I mean I paid my delinquent property taxes in full last week. For the last couple of years, I have run a year behind. That is OK, because you have two years to pay your property taxes--at least here you do. Like everything else, my finances have screwed up a number of things--paying my real estate taxes on time included.

All that means is that I am paying extra interest and penalty, and paying for it in extra stress and anxiety as well.

I always breathe a sigh of relief as I write that last check. Almost like a feeling of "saved by the bell." I am never really worried as I know I will always have the money by the deadline. I feel sorry for the people who won't and end up with their property being sold at a tax sale. You see their names and property listed in the newspaper.

I know it is dangerous to wait until the last minute like this and am not going to do it again. I am cleaning up my finances this year, and will be helped by the fact that I will not have to pay tuition anymore in a few months.

The danger is something could happen--you could forget to pay, you might not have the money when due, you might get deathly ill, have a car accident etc., and the tax is forgotten. The consequence would be dire--your property is sold at a tax sale. (Although you do have a number of opportunities even then to pay up.)

I don't want to be in that position anymore.

Even talking about delinquent taxes reminds me of the book and movie, The House of Sand and Fog, a truly wonderful but sad tale of a young woman who is depressed and thinks she has taken care of an erroneous business tax bill on her house but hasn't. The house is sold from under her, and she becomes obsessed and desperate to get it back, as I am sure we would all be. It is very sad to see perfectly normal people become undone and end in tragedy.

All because she didn't open her mail.

Just gives me the shivers thinking about it.

Repo Man

Like many people, I have a car payment. I get paid every two weeks, so my paydays vary from month to month. This month I will have to pay my car payment a couple of days later than usual, so I called the company and let them know. They said fine. Well then, I get a snitty letter saying I should call to make a payment arrangement. Helloooo!? I just did that. I called and explained my frustration, and they said that these letters are automatically generated and of course they had my payment arrangement and to just ignore it. I said fine.

But these letters can be scary. They talk about pursuing all and any remedies......

What I have just learned in my secured transactions class is that a car can be repossessed without notice. (I am not worried about this, as my payment is only going to be a few days late, not enough to get into this dilemma.) But I guess I never knew that they didn't have to give notice for this. This is because, of course, that if you knew they were coming to repossess the vehicle, you would have it somewhere else!

But a few tidbits about reposssesion I learned in class:
--They do not have to give notice.
--They can't breach the peace in repossessing. They can not break into your garage for example to get the car out, and they can't go into the garage to get it even if the garage is unlocked.
--They can reposssess it from the street or the driveway.
--But if you see them repossessing the car and you come out and make a fuss about it, they are supposed to leave. That is because at that point they are breaching the peace.
--They can come back to try again after a break in time from the first attempt. The law does not define how long the break in time has to be. It might be again later that night.
--I remember something about they cannot have a police officer to come with them, etc., but I am foggy on this detail.

This was part of my test the other night. How do you think I did?

Refund to Pay for BarBri

I am so happy to be getting a great tax refund from the IRS! It is enough to pay for my entire BarBri review course. That is important as the course costs in excess of $2,000.00. Sadly, I had money set aside for this earlier this year, but the financial genius that I am, I let other things eat into it. I was worried about paying for it by April 1. So this solves the problem! As soon as I get the money, I am whipping out the old debit card and paying that baby off!

Wealthy Personality Traits

Do you have the personality to get rich? According to an article today on Yahoo! Finance, the key to getting rich is your attitude toward money.

The key traits include (see which ones apply to you)
1) patience to wait to buy something until you get a good deal;
2) satisfaction with your life, cushioning you from buying to make yourself feel better;
3) organization in your finances, so you don't pay late fees, buy two of an item, etc.;
4) discipline to save for longterm goals;
5) reflectiveness, to learn from your financial mistakes;
6) creativity in juggling money to stay out of debt, finding a cheaper alternative, making something last longer, etc.;
7) curiosity to learn and improve yourself;
8) taking calculated risks;
9) setting and working toward goals;
10) hard work and nourishing the traits in this list that you have and working towards obtaining the ones you don't have.

I definitely have curiosity and work to improve myself, I can take calculated risks, and I am good at setting and working towards goals. I can be pretty good at juggling money--but I think I need to work on the rest!

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/104385/Ten-Traits-That-Make-You-Filthy-Rich;_ylt=Aoj7jzmBzFRMKzvTBpcRQ9q7YWsA

Glad I Have Long Term Care Insurance

I may not be the best at money management, but one thing I did right was buy long term care insurance at a young age. My previous employer offered it, and I signed up for it, and I could take it with me when I left. It is with a great company. My premiums are very cheap, but they will go up over time with inflation.

Dave Ramsey would tell me I did the wrong thing in buying it when I did--that I should have waited until I was older to sign on for the insurance. But I don't agree. Yes, I could have not bought the insurance and invested the premiums, yadda, yadda, yadda. But my annual premium is only about $350, and I don't think that money, divided by 12, would have made that much difference to me. I probably would have used it on another evening out. But that same $350 a year gives me peace of mind.

I guess I am just hyper about being able to control my own destiny. I have a strong fear of someone being able to tell me what to do or how to live, or taking care of me in a way that I don't like.

LTC insurance lets me feel like I will stay in control of what I want. After all, I could have a wreck tomorrow and need that care now, not when I am elderly.

$1 Starbucks

I heard that Starbucks may start offering $1 coffees and free refills to keep up with some new coffee competition. I think it is a great idea! I study a lot at Starbucks and go at least twice a month, but sometimes I go 4 or more times a month. Sometimes I even go to different Starbucks on the same day! I'll be meeting a friend at a Starbucks tomorrow to study for an upcoming test.

It would only be a small step, but if they did this, it would save me between $2 and $8 a month, maybe more. Not enough to build my fortune on, but it is a start.

One thing I wish Starbucks would do is offer real food. Their desserts are great, but sometimes when there, I want a sandwich or some fruit or something. Then I have have to decide whether to stay despite the fact that I am hungry or go home or go somewhere else. And sometimes I am not ready to pack up and leave right then.