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Would You Buy a Used Pair of Shoes?

I saw an article on Yahoo! Finance which listed 20 things you should never buy used. Here’s the list:

Cribs and Children’s furniture
Car Seats
Bicycle Helmets
Tires
Laptops
Software
Plasma and HDTVs
DVD Players
Digital and video cameras
Speakers and microphones
Camera lenses
Photo light bulbs
Mattresses and bedding
Swimsuits and undergarments
Wet suits
Shoes
Hats
Makeup
Pet Supplies
Vaccum cleaners

After reading this list, I have to say that some of these I very strongly agree with, some I agree with less strongly (but still do agree), and a few I’m not so sure about.

Starting with the latter, I’m not so sure about #1. I have bought some lightly used baby “furniture” via Craigslist, and have been happy with the results. Granted, these are pack and plays, excersaucers, etc – and are loosely defined as “furniture” – but the point is that I do think some baby things can be purchased gently used and be a great deal. I used a crib for my second child that was the same one for my first child six years older, and it worked great. I wouldn’t compromise safety for a baby.

Also, with respect to #7 through #12, if you get these things incredibly cheap, I don’t see how it could be all that bad. Not saying it would be ideal, but if you could get an HDTV for $50 that retails for $400, and it works fine, why not?

The personal items are where I draw the line, regardless of cost. I don’t want used hats, shoes, wetsuits, and the like, for health reasons. Mattresses are also things that cause more health problems than a lot of people realize; I don’t want a used one, particularly from someone I don’t at all know.

I can’t imagine wearing a used swimsuit! Can you? That one they listed reminded me of a job I had way, way back in the summer between high school and college. I worked in customer service for a major department store, and saw my fair share of returns (not to mention angry customers). I only saw one thing be refused for return, and that was jewelery – which ironically, enough, was probably incredibly low quality anyway. But one thing that has stayed in my mind about that job was a time when a lady brought in a used bathing suit, which she had clearly worn more than once. She got her money back! I always hoped that the bathing suit she returned never found its way back on the shelf anywhere. What a gross thought, someone buying a used bathing suit!

What are your thoughts? Agree/disagree with any of these? Do you have any others to add, or your own stories?

This article was included in Carnival of Money Stories at Ultimate Money Blog

Delayed Retirement to the Extreme

By Squirrelers 5 Comments

Quite often here, we talk about extreme frugality or Squirreling Gone Wild – stories of extreme penny pinching and why people behave in such ways.

This article in Yahoo! Finance talks about extreme workaholics – people that just can’t stop working. We are not talking about people within the standard working age bracket; rather, these are folks that are into their 90’s and even over 100 years of age!

I have to hand it to these people. It’s truly inspirational to see folks of such an advanced age being that active and eager to work. Just the idea that they are even physically and mentally capable of working is fantastic. Great to see that it’s possible to do such things. As someone with a very dear grandmother of 95 years of age, who is a great, great lady that’s mentally sharp, this article resonated with me.

It got me thinking……how long do I want to work? Personally, I would like to work as long as I felt like I was enjoying myself and physically capable. Tough to put an age on it, but I can see working until 60 in some capacity as long as I can do it. Hopefully it’s because of wanting to – not needing to. It’s up to me to make this option a reality, and I have a long, long way to go to get there:)

How about you? At what age would you like to stop working? Or maybe the question is: at what age are you realistically targeting being able to stop working because you have to?

The One that Got Away

By Squirrelers 3 Comments

What do you think of when you read the words “The One that Got Away”? For many people, those words conjure up images of someone of opposite sex from way back when, with whom you wanted to get serious back in the day but it just wasn’t in the cards and didn’t end up in a serious relationship with that person.

As a personal finance maven – or “maven in-development” more accurately – I thought it would be interesting to look at this from a money point of view. Let’s have some fun with this, and reflect on some crazy little money opportunities that could have been – but weren’t. Nothing too serious, like career opportunities, promotions, real estate market issues, etc. I’m thinking along the lines of the following examples:

A fantastic car that you were eyeing on the lot when younger, for which you were saving money, only to have it sold for a song right when you were ready to buy
That purse you wanted, which you heard was on sale at a ridiculously low price, and you rushed to the shop only to find them sold out.
The time you saw someone buy an antique at a garage or estate sale, at a fraction of the actual market value, which you could have had if you only got there a few minutes earlier.
The time you could have written an essay and submitted it for a $200 scholarship award, but didn’t make the time – only to find out that they chose a winner out of just 3 recipients.

You get the idea. Something that could have been, but due to timing, bad luck, or your own decisions, you missed out on an something that would have been one of those little financial victories that would have provided the joy of getting a great deal or something for next to nothing. One of those great deals you can look back on with pride. If I’ve lost you here, then maybe I’m a bit too frugal for you, in that I am glorifying deals as if they were athletic exploits 🙂 Otherwise, go on!

For me, when I think of “The One that Got Away”, I think of my lot of 200 Barry Bonds rookie baseball cards from back in the 1987.

As a 39 year old, I have no interest in these things now, though I have kept them all these years as something to pass on to my kids. The last ones I purchased were probably 20 years ago. That said, back in the mid-1980’s, these were all the rage with many boys – and men – at the time. What was interesting is that these cards, which were available to be purchased in retail stores for $0.50 or so per pack, became “investment” commodities that went up or down in value based on a player’s performance. The most valuable were the rookie cards; if a current player was an all-star, his individual card could be worth a few dollars. If he looked like he could be a potential future Hall of Fame player, his card could shoot upwards of $50. I remember Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco cards being in that range, soon after they were issued.

Anyway, I chose 4 or 5 players young who I decided to invest in, and do it in bulk. That is, I bought 200+ rookie cards of each guy, and paid between $0.03 to $0.17 cents per card depending on the guy, and thought I would “invest” in the possibility of success. The idea for me was that as a die-hard baseball fan, I would pick the prospects who I thought had the potential to succeed down the line. It was sort of like investing in penny stocks or startups with high growth potential.

Lo and behold, one of the guys I invested in was Barry Bonds. I always thought he had the potential to be good; that said, I never realized that he could eventually be the all-time home run leader, albeit one mired in controversy.

I paid $0.17 per card for 200 cards – about $34. Not small change for a 16-year old kid then. If you recall the $50 per card value I noted earlier for guys who looked like potential Hall of Famers, this would mean that Bonds cards – if the overall market would hold – would be at $10,000 at those prices. The thing is, given that Bonds ended up breaking home run records, his cards could have skyrocketed to greater heights – $200, maybe $300 per card wouldn’t have been unrealistic. This could have been a nice chunk of change!

Alas, the baseball card “investment” market collapsed within a few years and values plummeted. There was really no supply and demand tradeoff that supported the crazy values of these so-called investment collectibles to begin with. As supply of newer cards increased by the year, and interest in other sports increased relative to baseball, the values fell off and never recovered. Looking on EBay today, these cards of mine could possibly fetch $1 each – if I was lucky. And that’s before shipping costs!

Well, that’s my “The One that Got Away” story. It’s just baseball cards, and I was just a kid, but man oh man….that would have been cool to see that work out. If nothing else, just for the fun of knowing that I called it right, and picked up a true bargain!

What about you? Anything jump out at you as The One that Got Away?

This article was included in the Carnival of Money Stories at Personal Finance Journey.

Get off the Canvas: 10 Steps to a Personal Finance Recovery

By Squirrelers 2 Comments

“It won’t happen to me!”

Job loss, divorce, serious illness, accident, act of nature. Each of these situations happens regularly throughout the country, to people of all walks of life. No matter what demographic, gender, or socio-economic segment you look at, these unfortunate situations happen in each of them. Somewhere, probably even close to you, each of these is happening today.

But many of us don’t expect these things to happen. Sure, maybe we acknowledge that one or two of these types of things could happen, but we don’t dwell on it. Or, perhaps, we have been impacted by one or more in the past, and feel that we have “learned our lessons” or are “past our misfortunes.” Being an optimist, I certainly would like to believe that. I truly believe in positive thinking, and its power. Your outlook can to a large degree shape the direction of your future. That said, we also have to be realistic and accept the reality that stuff happens.

The thing is, its not just the emotional or physical aspect of the situation that ends up making an impact on your life. One way or another, it’s the financial impact that comes into play as well, and that can knock us to the canvas.

In getting back up off the canvas, and making a personal finance recovery, here are 10 steps that can help get you back on track:

1. Figure out exactly what has happened, and why it happened. This may seem sophomoric on the surface, but often times we are on a path to get ourselves in a situation but we just don’t realize it or understand why its happening. Take the time to figure out what the source of the problem was. If a job loss, could you have been more attuned to impending layoffs, performed better, or built your network better? If a divorce, could you have communicated better with your spouse, or more importantly picked the right person initially? If a health issue, could you have done something ahead of time to prevent it, such as stopping smoking, eating healthier food, or exercising more? Figure it out and learn from the experience to better position yourself to succeed in the future.
2. Make a budget. Take stock of your current expenses and your actual needs, and then put together a realistic budget that you could follow. Be sure to add in room for so called “unexpected” situations, and build an emergency fund contribution to the budget. Additionally, save money for future purchases – for example, even if you have a car with no loan outstanding, save regularly as part of your budget for your next vehicle.
3. Track expenses. By this, I mean track your daily expenses. All of them. Even 25 cents for a parking meter or a gumball for your kid – track it, record it. As you track expenses, be sure to categorize appropriately – not to broad, but not too few.
4. Reduce spending. As you track your spending, you will most likely identify categories where you are just shocked at how much you’re spending. For example, if you have been spending $3.00 each morning for a specialty coffee, you may be surprised to see how you’re dropping about $90 per month if done daily. You’ll be aware of the opportunity to reduce spending, and can then make a plan to do so.
5. Set goals, both long and short-term. Where do you want to be 20 years from now? Visualize your future and set goals that a part of the process of getting you there. Short term goals are building blocks to larger term goals. For example, lets say you want to go from a negative net worth to $1,000,000 in those 20 years. First set short-term goals around getting your expenses well below your income, then becoming debt-free. Make the goals realistic, but a stretch.
6. Make it automatic. Pay bills automatically, via online services. This will keep you from missing payments, which will help your credit rating. Don’t forget: make paying yourself automatic as well.
7. Check your credit score: Credit scores range from the 300-range to 850. A higher score will get you better access to loans, and at better rates. Plan to actively work to keep your credit score high. Check Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion once per year each.
8. Correct any credit errors: Inaccurate credit reports can cost you considerable time and energy to rectify, but you could save yourself considerable time, energy, AND money if you clean up your record. Don’t let an inaccuracy impact your ability to get back up on your feet and reach your goals.
9. Improve your knowledge of personal finance. Invest your time in learning many aspects of personal finance: the basics, philosophies, and specific strategies. Read multiple primers on personal finance, to gain different perspectives. Then, on specific issues, drill down further and develop a better understanding to the point that you become confident in your decision-making in that particular area. For example, if you don’t know much about Roth IRAs, read about the subject to the point that you could lead a conversation about the topic and actually make intelligent recommendations to others.
10. Invest in your career. Simply put, for most people, your earning power is one of the greatest assets you have. Most people have a lot of room to increase savings, but there comes a point where you can only limit your expenses so much. Its better to focus on living within one’s means and make that a habit, but really devote your energy and intellectual efforts toward your career.

Overall, being positive, taking action, and taking personal responsibility for your future financial success will be a big help in helping you reach your overall life goals. These 10 steps are a good start in that direction for those who are getting back on their feet

Check Out Your Local Public Library

By Squirrelers 1 Comment

Do you like to practice continual self-improvement? Do you like to expand your mind, learning about different topics? Do you like to read for entertainment? Do you subscribe to magazines or other periodicals? Do you like to rent movies or CDs? Do you like to save money?

If the answer yes to any of the above (I know the part about saving money is a given!), then you may want to take another look at your local public library. Depending on where you live, your library might surprise you with what it has to offer.

I do realize that some communities have mediocre libraries, or might even be in locations where the nearest library is quite a drive away. In such cases, a public library might not be the best use of one’s time. In other locations, where the facilities are decently funded, your library might be worth your while. In fact, it could be much better than you think.

Last year I paid a visit to my local library, which is in a solid, middle class suburban location. I recently moved to this community, and had heard good things about the library, so I thought I would check it out. My expectations were really modest – I thought I would see current periodicals, but mostly dated books and audio-visual material. Basically, I thought the library might be a place where I could go to get some things done, as an alternative to a coffee house. I like to periodically go to a coffee house to get some things done in a relaxed work environment.

Anyway, I did find it to be a quiet environment, with WiFi and comfortable surroundings. Much better than libraries I remember from being a kid, or from back in undergad days or from graduate school. But what really surprised me was the high quality of the materials the library had to offer. They did have current periodicals as I expected, but had a much larger variety that I would have thought. And the books….well, that was the big surprise. Instead of a selection of dated books with only a few newer releases, the library had a selection of dated books which was also accompanied by a surprising inventory of newer releases. The newer releases cut across topics, and the depth of the offering was very impressive. What really impressed me was that most of the top best sellers, fiction and nonfiction, were stocked and available. If not, the wait wasn’t long at all. Best yet – you could have up to 50 items checked out at one time! Not that I have the time to read that much, but its good to have the flexibility to have 5 or 6 good books with you.

For those of you who regularly patronize your local library, this might not be news. But for myself and I am sure many others, it is good to remember that your local bookstores aren’t the only places to get some of the new releases you want to read.

From a financial point of view, as a squirreler, it can save you a significant amount of money. For example – if you buy a book per month at a bookstore, either in person or online, you might be looking at $20 per month or $240 annually. You might be able to get half of those books at your library, and save $120 per year. Remember, you can usually renew books, so if you can’t read it all in a few weeks, you can often get additional weeks so that ultimately you have 6 weeks or more to read a given book. Additionally, as I mentioned, you can frequently check out a large number of books at one time, so this provides more opportunities as well.

Its a great deal – read, learn, and save money. And if you read on personal finance or career growth, you can save money while learning to save or make more money. So your savings can be compounded! Its worth checking out, especially since your hard earned tax dollars are already paying for these books. Technically that’s a sunk cost so it shouldn’t influence your decision to use the library from that perspective, but its something to think about!

The Thoughts Behind this Blog

By Squirrelers Leave a Comment

Here it is in a nutshell: I want to be safe and secure financially. It would also be great to have some luxuries in life. And it would be great to feel financially comfortable to the point of being able to contribute to people and causes that are dear to me. All of this sounds great.

Is it even possible to do? I suppose it depends on where you are in life, in terms of age, current financial situation, education, career, health, etc. Some of us end up pretty well with this equation, others not as much.

Where am I? Well, I’m 39 with 2 kids – both young. And I have some accumulated savings, but not nearly enough to feel anywhere near secure, let alone live in luxury or be as giving as I would like to be. I have had a career with a Fortune 500 company, and have earned an MBA from a top business school. Then, in 2009, my position was eliminated.

This has given me some perspective on things. I used the situation as an opportunity to to reevaluate my goals and my approach to personal finance and its role in my life. I am energized and excited about it!

I have, for much of my adult life, been focused on being conservative with spending and savings but not as focused as I could have been. Don’t get me wrong, I have always cared about personal finance. But I always assumed that job promotions would occur periodically (thus meaning jobs kept), cash flow would always be coming in, and my savings would be accumulating and growing in value. And I didn’t assume any financial calamities.

As one gets older, you realize a couple of things:

1) You have to expect the unexpected. It will happen, but you might not know what form it will take. It could be good, but many of these unexpected events are challenges that cause us to alter or reconsider our plans, as they make things more difficult than they would be in their absence. Job Loss, Divorce, Medical Conditions…these are the types of things that I’m talking about. Most of us will have something in this category happen in our lives, and it will be a challenge…..and will be something that will be unnerving because it didn’t fit into our vision of things.

2) If you want something to happen, you have to make it happen. YOU have to MAKE IT HAPPEN. I repeated that because its a key insight. If I want something, I need to make it happen…it won’t happen out of the blue for me. You just can’t rely on surprise good luck, and you can’t just say, “someday I will do X, and someday I will get around to doing Y, etc.” You have to make it happen without procrastination. If you know what you want, there is no better time to get working on it than now, because life moves fast!

Anyway, these are my key insights that have come to me as I am taking stock of where I am financially and how that fits into what I want out of the rest of my life.

I know what I want – I talked about it above – but have not been focused up to this point. I now realize that unexpected things happen – they should be expected, in a way. And, I realize that I need to take stock of what I want, and go after it.

OK – I’m talking a lot about what I want. ME. Fair enough…what about YOU. Well, what is it that YOU want? If you are interested in just some or even all what has been described here: security, aspiration, and benevolence with your finances – then I welcome you to join me in the quest to meeting our goals.

How can we get there? We can share information, motivate each other, and work together. Much of this can be through our own personal experience, reading, blogs, financial websites, advisors, etc. On this site, I plan to facilitate discussion of topics such as:

– Financial philosphy

– Investments

– Savings strategies

Basically, the idea is to get us to be knowlegable – both intellectually and in a street smart way – to the point of being able to confidently go after our financial and bigger life goals.

Let’s roll….

Welcome to Squirrelers!

By Squirrelers Leave a Comment

Squirrelers is dedicated to helping you save, protect, and grow your hard-earned money.

I know that you devote considerable time and energy to your efforts to make a living, and want you to be able to do more than work to pay bills to get by in day-to-day life. I want you to work toward financial PEACE OF MIND, where you don’t have to worry the basics for you and your family to survive. I want you to work toward financial ACHIEVEMENT, where you can have the means to enjoy some of the finer things in life. I want you to work toward financial BENEVOLENCE, if you choose, where you can comfortably give toward helping the causes and people that are dear to you.

In short, I want help you “squirrel away”, or save your money, so you can protect and grow your nest egg – which will enable you to transform your finances from being a cause of stress to being a vehicle to help you achieve your life dreams.

These are all goals of mine too, and I hope that we can all reach these goals while enjoying the journey and having fun with it!