Things I did today

Oh, life. How you like to change my plans. I forgot that I was going to a wedding reception this evening.  Since my car is currently unavailable, I'll be getting a ride from my folks, but they are going to a visitation for one of our church family.  After that is the wedding, and then the reception. Sounds like a full day of not being able to write about finance or life or that sort of fun stuff. However, I need to remind myself that this blog is not topic-specific. In fact, I titled it "Things I did today" just so in times where I couldn't get a "real" post done, I can just blog about my day. My goal for this blog is to write every day. Look I'm writing! So, there you go.  Mission Accomplished. «Laura»

Yep, it will be a short post tonight. I'm pretty tired and sore. I was in a minor car accident yesterday evening. I was driving on an access road, and a teenage girl failed to yield to me as she was approaching the road from a parking lot. I hit her car on the right side, and the front of my car is in pretty bad shape. The car was able to be driven home, but I doubt it'll last longer without repair. I had the police file a report, and then I filed a claim with my car insurer, Progressive. They called about an hour after that and got more details. It will be towed on Monday to a local shop and a claims adjuster will survey the damage. I'm afraid they'll total my car since it's an older car - 1995 Cirrus. So, I'm going to eat some ice cream, then go to bed. I'll work on a more substantial post tomorrow! «Laura»

One of my new favorite personal finance bloggers is Ramit Sethi.  He has a blog, " I will teach you to be rich ", and new book of the same title.  I've checked out his book from the local library and this weekend will start reading it.  My friend Joe DeStazio  has already read the first few chapters and explained Ramit's take on budgeting to me - automate it! Ramit advises using rough percentages for the large groups of the budget; fixed expenses, saving, investing, guilt-free spending. Joe, being the awesome friend he is, created a personalized spreadsheet that with his blessing, will share with you! The figures in the spreadsheet are dummy data, so please enter data that is relevant to your life (mortgage instead of rent, for example.) Happy fiddling! «Laura»

Yesterday, I discussed the American Dream and what it means to me, as well as a bit of what I'll need to realize the dream. Today, Bach gives us the names of a couple, Jim and Sue McIntyre, whom talked to Bach about early retirement and how their values influenced how much money they'll need to live the way they wanted.  Bach suggested writing out a "Values Conversation", a pie sliced into six pieces. Value Enjoy my retirement life Continue to tithe Be able to see relatives regardless of distance Travel! Continue to educate myself in hobbies or new ways of enjoying work (ie a new skill) Enjoy my home with a sense of happiness and security (ie sunlit room with a piano to create new songs) After this exercise, Bach builds upon these goals with the Automatic Millionaire Goal Developer, which takes your 6 values and breaks them into smaller actionable goals. The Automatic Millionaire Goal Developer Value Actionable Goal How much will it cost

I read The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach a year ago (yay library!), and it was an amazing piece about saving and how to go about it.  It inspired me to purchase The Automatic Millionaire Workbook. I thought that reviewing and working through each chapter would be a good exercise for me and a helpful insight for you. Bach discusses the "American Dream" and how the baby boomer generation is not faring well with their savings and retirement accounts.  He continues with posing the question, "What's your idea of the American Dream?" So then, what is my American Dream? I want to live debt free (except a mortgage, or perhaps a car loan if the conditions are right).  After I retire, I hope to have income passively and work only when I want to.  I want to cook whatever kinds of food strike my fancy.  I'd like to travel to different parts of the world (United States, Western Europe, Iceland, New Zealand, Israel, Japan) and not worry about money. I'

I use ING because of that defunct band I mentioned a few days ago, One Thin Dime.  They used to have a website with a few photos and band info, gig info, etc.  The band didn't hold onto the domain, and now it's a personal finance blog written by Anna Haferman. I read one of her entires discussing ING Direct, and I decided to hop on the bandwagon and use her referral link to get an extra $25. I'm glad I did!  ING is the best bank I've ever dealt with. I now have my checking and savings accounts with them, and I find their customer service superb.  Their savings interest rate is much higher than any other physical bank, even though at this time it's pretty low (1.3%).  I started using ING in April 2008, and they've been great. Recently, I've been tempted at other banks offering signing bonuses between $100-$300, but they have too many restrictions in order to get the extra money. I'm going to continue my business with ING and look for other ways to ea

Just a short post about tithing. You may have noticed that I didn't have any mention about this when I discussed savings and other accounts . It's because I don't tithe. I used to, 10% of my earnings when I was attending a church that employed a traditional setting. I left for a home church where services held in a living room, the average attendance is 6 and no offering was taken. It was a nice reprieve, but tithing previously never altered my financial life in a negative way. I just got used to saving all the money given to me. I realize that this is no way to praise God. He has given me much, and even though I praise him and gather together with fellow believers to worship him weekly, it just isn't enough. So, I'm going to get back into it, no matter what church I attend. I now am attending a church that has more of a traditional setting, and occasionally attend my parents' church. I need to get back into giving back.  Regardless of what church I atte