Six Days and Counting

Six days until I go back to work, and I am jamming all kinds of appointments into those last few days.

• meeting with the pastor about FH's baptism
• haircut (which is desperately needed)
• chiropractor
• FH's three month checkup
• eye appointment

We are also having a four-year-old birthday party for LM on Sunday, and somewhere in there I still need to lose ten pounds. Totally backslid this last week. Eating an entire bag of chocolate chips is probably not a good thing.

I should mention, just for the record, that I do not have a bad job at all. I know it may sound like I am going back to the worse thing ever, but that is not the case.

Of course, there is the proverbial grass is greener on the other side thing. I know in my head that if I truly quit my job to stay home with the kids there would be negative things about that too. For starters, money would be a huge issue. It is convenient to think all things would be fine but that is because my check "magically" appears in the checking account every two weeks while I have been on leave. This, obviously, would not be the case if I didn't have a job.

Yard Sale

Well, we all survived the family yard sale. It was busy, hot, and we even made some (a little) money.

IF we do it again, here are some things we learned:

• Do as much of the pricing beforehand.
• Price every individual item if at all possible.
• Make sure the prices on the items are correct. The kids switched some of the stickers without our noticing, and I think some of the items did not sell because the price was too high.
• The early birds can be REALLY early. We said 8:00 in the ad, and had someone sitting on the curb at 7:15. It was difficult to be finishing up the pricing and dealing with customers at the same time.
• Do the pricing at a time when people will not stop by, or behind the garage doors. We did some of the set up on Friday morning, and people kept stopping by, thinking we were having a sale. That really slowed us down.
• Do not underestimate the number of tables or flat surface needed to set out all of the items. We had to go get more tables.
• No one came after 1:00 p.m. Officially run the sale from 7:00 to 1:00 instead of 8-3.
• People can be incredibly cheap.
• People can be incredibly rude.
• Put baby clothes in different bins that are labeled e.g. 0-3 onesies, 6-9 outfits. People just rifled through the piles, and it was difficult keeping everything straight.
• Do put an ad in the newspaper.
• Do have the money box and table all ready to go before uncovering the tables.
• Do have the tables all set up in the driveway and just cover them the night before.

Selling Books

Like any self-respecting, overeducated individual with two Master's degrees, I have a lot of books.  

I am ready to part with many of these books.  The question then becomes, "what is the best way to do so?"  Here are some of the options:

1. Yard Sale--The family yard sale is in a couple of weeks

Positive:  Little preparation or research needed.  Throw (gently place, of course) the books on a table marked $1.00.

Negative: Likely to get very little monetary return.  Many books will likely not sell.

2. Half.com--A company owned by ebay

Positive: Much larger audience than our yard sale.  Can set own price.  Likely to get a little bit more than yard sale prices.  Reimburses sellers for shipping costs.

Negative: Have to research market price.  Must package and ship the books as they sell.  If books don't sell, I still have them in the house.   Half.com charges a commission of a percentage of the selling price.  15% for the price range my books would be in ($0.75-$50.00)  

3. Amazon.com--Similar to half.com.  Amazon collects a commission of 6-15% of sale price, 0.99 per transaction, and a variable transaction fee ($1.35 for books)

4. Powells.com--They have a sell online feature.  Type in the ISBN, and almost immediately a price is returned for what they will give you for the book.  You can get the credit as cash paid via PayPal or as a credit in the Powells store.  The store credit is twenty percent more than the cash option.

Positive: Powells pays for shipping.  No pricing research required, no listing or packaging to different customers necessary.  Make more than at a yard sale or library donation.

Negative: Make less per book than potentially with half.com and amazon.com.  

5. Abebooks.com--very similar to Powells online buy book feature

6. Library Donation--The local library is having its annual book sale soon and is soliciting donations. 

Positive: All I have to do is drop the books off at the library.  Done deal.  They are out of the house--all of them in one fell swoop.

Negative: No monetary return.  Many of the books will likely not sell at the library sale, leaving the library trying to figure out what to do with them. 

Conclusion:  I know some people really get into listing things on ebay, amazon, etc., and I do not doubt there is money to be made if you are willing to put in the work.  For me, right now in my life, I think I am going with the Powells/Abebooks option.  At least I will get a little bit of money for the books.  For those that Powells/Abebooks will not take, I may investigate whether ebay or amazon would be good options.  Otherwise they are going in the yard sale.  If not sold there, then on to the library.

Quite frankly, the whole textbook industry burns my ass.  I pay $40 for a used book.  I can sell it back for $5, and then the book store resells it for $35.  

Millionaire Next Door

I just finished reading The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley, and William D. Danko.  New York: Pocket Books, 1996.  It was a quick read.  Maybe because it is 13 years old now, I did not find anything too revolutionary in it.

In it they outline seven factors for millionaires: 

1. They live well below their means 

2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conductive to building wealth

3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status

4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care  

5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient 

6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities 

7. They chose the right profession 

Side Hustle

On a regular basis, my brother-in-law and I come up with ideas to generate income outside of our regular jobs.  The Frugal Dad gave our potential activities a name:

"A side hustle is a sort of part time job, but it typically involves you building something around your current trade."

This also goes along the lines of "minding your own business" from Rich Dad Poor Dad.

OK, so what is my business?  What is it that I know about, am interested in, have a unique contribution?  

General Ideas

• archives
  
• preservation
  
• organization
  
• technology
  
• motherhood
  
• gluten free eating
  
• beginning investor
  
• travel in area with kids
  

More Specific Ideas

• Consult with local businesses/individuals on preserving archives
  
• Offer a service like This Young House with advice on preservation
  
• Become a personal organizer
  
• Work with churches to improve their websites/start new outreach like blogs/facebook/etc.
  
• Blog about journey as a beginning investor
  
• Develop a blog/site about places to visit in the area with kids.  I actually think this idea has some merit.  As far as I can tell there is not a consolidated site that has descriptions and reviews of places of interest--especially from a mother's point of view.  On the weekends, we say, "ok where should we go?"  It is a real pain to visit all of the web sites of potential places, and it is difficult to find out relevant information or even come up with ideas.  I would love to have reader-submitted reviews as well as my own.  It could be tied to Flickr, Google Maps and all kinds of exciting things.  Not sure about the income-generating part though???  
  

Kids and Going to the Store

We went to the grocery store today, and LM wanted a Curious George book that cost $3.

No big deal, right?; we could afford it, and I would much rather buy him a book than some dumb plastic toy. 

I tried something new today though because I would like him to learn that there are consequences associated with purchasing items.  

I told him that he could have the book but that he would have to "pay" me with one of his toys from home.  He said OK.  When he got home, I told him to pick out a toy in exchange for the book.  At first, he offered up his tricycle, but I didn't think the "worth" of the book and bike were equal, so I told him to pick another toy.  He picked one of his trucks--not an absolute favorite one, but not a clunker either.  Perfect.   

I took the truck and put it up in the closet.  He didn't even fuss about it. 

Don't know if this is the right path or not.  Maybe I have been reading too many financial books lately...

I want him to have and to see different money patterns than that with which I grew up, and I want him to understand that he has the power to make choices about his money and life.

Can't Afford It

I recently read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki.

One of the ideas that has stuck with me is the difference he talks about between "I can't afford it" and "How can I afford it?"

The first is a statement that shuts down any thought process or creativity and puts one in the role of victim.

The second is a question that really opens up possibilities.  It puts one in a position of control.

I have been experimenting with the two options.  I REALLY want a new laptop ~$1500.  This big ticket purchase is definitely not in the spend plan for the immediate future.  Instead of saying, "I can't afford it," I have been saying "How can I afford it?" and have been brainstorming ways to come up with the $$.  I haven't come up with anything concrete yet, but I have a few ideas for generating the funds to purchase it.  

Although I don't have the laptop yet, this approach has been much more positive of an experience.  

Nursing a newborn is a tremendously time consuming task.  Thankfully, a laptop and many trips to the library for books help me utilize this time.  

I have recently branched out and added the following blogs to my blogroll:

• Economist Mom
  
• Escape from Cubicle Nation
  
• Frugal Dad
  
• Wall Street Journal: Digits
  
• Wall Street Journal: The Wallet
  

A couple of articles caught my eye:

Is It Over-Sharing To Post Fetal Ultrasounds on Facebook?

The Juggle, July 22, 2009, 1:58 AM ET, By Marisa Wong

I say yes, but I tend to be a more private person and have a really like/find it fascinating/think it is weird relationship with Facebook.  Personally, I did not post much about my pregnancy on Facebook although I certainly know people that do/have.  I did post an announcement about his birth, but didn't include anything that wouldn't have been in a regular print birth announcement. 

Tri-Level Emergency Fund

Frugal Dad recommends keeping some cash on hand (around $500), about $1,000 at a local bank, and the largest bulk of the emergency fund in an online account or other savings account. 

I had certainly heard of having cash on hand and having a large emergency fund for unexpected issues.  However, I had not thought of having money in a local bank.  For families like us whose bank does not have bricks and mortar branches this makes even more sense.  In some kind of disaster we could not get at the bulk of our asset easily.  I am not a doom and gloom person, but it is something worth thinking about.

Student Loan

Yippee!!!

One student loan paid off!!  (one to go)

After some deliberation about six months ago, we decided to get really aggressive with our student loan payments.  After years and years of paying, we were just sick and tired of having these payments.

We actually reduced the amount of money being withdrawn into my retirement account and have redirected that to the loans.

I know some advisors would advise against this, saying that the money earned in interest in the retirement account is greater than the money paid in interest to the loans.

However, for us, it made sense.

1. Psychologically it was just depressing to have these payments.  We have both been out of school for some time
2. I think debt, in general, is not a good thing
3. I pay the student loan immediately once the funds are available, so we do not use that money for other things.  This is key.