I’ve come to the heartbreaking decision that I’m not going to blog anymore.  Not here anyways.

I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.  At first I thought I was just overwhelmed with school and the kids and the business… and I was.  But now that school is out I see that my heart just isn’t in it anymore.  Not like it used to be, and I don’t want to write a half hearted blog.

I can honestly say that I’m leaving to “pursue other activities”.  Like creative writing, reading for fun, losing weight, household projects, ect.  I know that according to a schedule written on paper I can probably do all those things and still write here.  But in reality I can’t.  I only have so much brain power.

Since I made the final decision to quit I have felt a feeling of relief, which tells me I’m doing the right thing.  I have been feeling guilty that my site has been slipping.  If I do get a great post idea I’m sure I can write it as a guest post for a friend, so you might still see me around.  I plan on keeping current on all my favorite blogs.

Before I go, I want to say a genuine and heartfelt “Thank You” to everyone who stopped by, commented on, subscribed, or linked to my humble little blog. If I had to sum up everything I know about personal finance it would be to live within your means.  The rest is details.  It’s either about how to live within your means (debt reduction, frugal living, income growth, budgeting) or what to do with the extra (saving, investing, giving).  Its amazing how much can be written on such a simple idea.

If anyone wants to keep in contact with me please shoot me an email.  The thing I’m going to miss the most is keeping up with all the friends I have made here.  I have a small personal blog that I am going to continue, if you are interested in that I can send you the link.

See you later...

Ashley

pic by: Ryan McD

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I had the honor to post a guest post over at Ultimate Money Blog today.  It’s actually a post I wrote about a year ago about how to say no to your kids at the store.  I think it’s even more timely now than it was when I originally wrote it.  Impulse buying for you kids can be a big drain on your money.

So take a few minutes and go check out my post.

Have a great day!

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I apologize if you get a pop up/ floating ad.  I believe they are coming from my BlogHer ad.  I have specifically opted out of these types of ads so I’m not sure why I’m getting them now.  I’ve sent an email and am waiting to hear back.  Please don’t hold it against me.  I’m working on getting them removed.

Thanks for your patience.

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We were watching the news the other day and I learned something that blew my mind.  There could be a clause in your mortgage that allows the bank that holds your mortgage to take any money you have in a “retail account” (checking, savings, ect.) with their bank to pay past due amounts on the mortgage.  They can do this without a court order or your permission.

On the news there was a guy who had gotten behind on his mortgage, it was in foreclosure and he was going to let it go back to the bank.  (Watch the news here) He was a Realtor and his income has gone down dramatically since the market has crashed.  He just plain and simple couldn’t pay it.  He was also getting married.  His mother had given him $2,000 for their honeymoon.  He deposited it in his checking account and a few hours later the bank emptied both his checking and savings accounts, leaving him penniless.

This is legal because of a clause in his mortgage called a “set off”.  Do you have this clause in your mortgage?  I don’t know either.  Luckily I don’t bank with the bank that holds our mortgage, with our first mortgage anyways.  I do bank at the bank that holds our equity line of credit.  While I don’t plan on defaulting on any of my loans, it’s still a nice piece of information to have.

And it’s also good to note that they can claim funds in accounts you hold jointly as well as individually.  Which is doubly wrong.  For example, my husband is listed on my mother in law’s checking account.  It’s 100% her money in that account, my husband pays one bill a month for her out of that account.  Her account is also at the same bank as our accounts.  So if we default on our home equity line, they have the right to raid my mother in law’s account too.  That’s crazy.

It’s so wrong that they can just take every dollar you have without any kind of judgment from a court.  Who knows what you could need that money for?!  Let’s say that my husband got laid off, the sole wage earner of our family of 4.  Let’s say that he couldn’t find a job and we ended up having to foreclose on our house.  Which would be terrible enough, but imagine if the bank then took every penny we have before taking our house.  Can you imagine?  So our family would be without a job, a house, or a dollar.  Terrible!

So the moral of the story, kids…. Do NOT keep your money with the same bank with which you have your mortgage.  And if you do… move it as soon as there is a possibility that you might default.

pic by: Woodleyswonderworks

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I doubt you remember but a while back I wrote a post about how my husband is saving his change for a new TV for our living room.  Well, all that saving finally paid off.  He’s been putting all his change into a five gallon water bottle in the closet for almost 5 years and about two weeks ago he went out and got himself a shiny new TV.

We got this one.  That might not be the exact model number, but that’s basically it.  It was on sale for about $1,500.  My husband had $900 in change saved up.   He got the rest of the money from a pool of money him and some friends had been saving up for a trip to Vegas.  They have been saving the money here and there for about a year.  Unfortunately, everyone that was going on the trip got laid off, except for my husband.  So they decided they would cancel the trip and all split the money evenly.  So between his share of that and some slush he had in his personal checking account he was able to come up with the balance.

But the costs don’t stop at the TV.  Our old entertainmet center wouldn’t work with the new TV.  So we needed to buy a new one of those.  And we pretty much needed it right away.  Target happened to be having a sale, so I found one that works for $160.  And of course we can’t go without the HD service now that we have an HDTV.   Which we didn’t even have digital cable before, so it’s quite the upgrade.  I even splurged on the DVR service, which we may or may not keep.  I will give it a couple of months and see if it’s worth the money.  But all in all our cable bill went up $25 a month.

pic by: Kecko

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This is a guest post from M is for Money.  She started her blog in 2008 after pulling herself out of $20,000 of debt.  If you like this article make sure you head over to her site.

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“You can get loans to pay for college but no one will lend you money for retirement”

Many parents struggle to balance saving for the future and providing for their children. Saving enough for retirement is difficult even without the added expense of kids and most people are woefully unprepared. But a college degree is the new high school diploma, a must to land a decent paying job. Any well meaning parent wants their kids to have the best possible start in life, a basic education. That leaves many parents with a difficult choice, should they take care of themselves or their children?

The opening quote is an often repeated piece of financial advice, advocating that parents should take care of retirement since there are alternative ways to pay for school. Many parents risk their own financial security so that their kids can have a better future. They put off saving for retirement so that little Susie or Johnny can attend the college of their choice. Since there is no substitute for retirement savings, they have instead jeopardized their own future.

Unfortunately there is a flaw with this advice, our system assumes that parents will help with college costs even if they do not. Most colleges use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine financial aid eligibility. This form collects information on the parent’s income and assets and is used determine the family’s share of the cost. The government and school will then help fill the gap with a combination of grants and loans.

Assets like retirement accounts and the family home are not included in the calculation, but any other savings and investments are expected to be used. Even if you have no assets, you will still be expected to contribute based on income. A family without assets, a taxable income of $60,000 per year, both parents working and two children would be expected to provide $4000 per year towards college. This is a simplified estimate based on the 2007-2008 guidelines. Assets or only one parent working would increase the amount that parents are expected to contribute.

If your family is expected to come up with $4000 per year for college and you don’t provide it, where will your child get that money? The college won’t reconsider aid because of a family’s unwillingness to help. From the FAFSA website – “Under Federal law your family is primarily responsible - to the extent they are able - for paying for your college expenses.” Your child will have to take out additional loans, most likely private loans at a higher interest rate, to cover your portion as well. Currently those loans are hard to find, college aid is drying up. What happens then?

I don’t think that parents should put off saving for retirement to pay for college. The money in your retirement accounts won’t be considered when they calculate your child’s financial need. In fact, maximizing your retirement savings will shield more of your assets and make your child eligible for more aid. But unless your income is very low you will still be expected to cover some of your child’s college expenses. It’s important to know how much your family’s contribution will be based on your finances and be prepared to provide that amount. There are online calculators that will walk you through the steps and give you the current expected family contribution.

I know many parents count on their kid receiving scholarships to cover the gap, but this is poor financial planning. What happens if the expected scholarships don’t materialize? By planning ahead for college you can cover your share of the costs without jeopardizing your retirement or your child’s education. Huge student loans are a burden on young adults, I know most parents want to help as much as possible. While covering the entire cost of a college education may be unrealistic, parents can be prepared for their expected share.

pic by: Schlusselbien2007

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Hey guys!  No real post today.  I’m feeling totally overwhelmed with life right now and didn’t get a chance to write yesterday.  I now have a rule in my life that I’m only allowed to have 3 major responsibilities at a time.  Right now I have 4 (my kids, school, this site, and the business) and it’s really too much.  Something has to give.  I was running at a very nice level of busy before we started the business.  That little gem tipped the scale.  I feel like I’m on a treadmill that is going a tad faster than I can comfortably run.

But I can’t really complain because everything is going so well.  I’m thrilled with the growth of this site, the business is going swimmingly, school is fine, and obviously my kids are awesome.

With that said… I would like to make another call for Guest Posts.  I could really use as many as I can get.  I’ve gotten several already which is a great relief but the more the merrier for awhile.   I’m determined to get through this period without giving anything up.  I want it all!… But I need your help.

Also, I wanted to let you know that the Festival of Frugality is up over at Funny About Money and my post Costco vs. Sams Club was chosen as an editor’s pick. Yay!!

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I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  I have two quick announcements.

First, I want to put out a call for guest posts.  I will have company at my house for a week so I could really use a couple of guest posts to get me through this especially busy time.  If you would like to write a post for me shoot me an email at diaperbagdiva [at] gmail and let me know.

Secondly, I have a guest post up over at Ultimate Money Blog about the cash back I’ve received from my credit card and Costco Executive memberships.  So check it out!

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Hey everyone!  I wanted to let you know today’s post is over at Prime Time Money.  Prime Time Money is a site about frugal living, debt reduction, and saving.  He talks about his own experiences with money in order to get discussions about money rolling.  (Hmm… sounds like another site I know you read. :))  If you like what you see, considering subscribing to his site.

Anyways, please go check out my post I wrote for him.  It’s about the rule of 72 and why it doesn’t work.

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We’ve been mulling over a business decision for the past few days.  We got some good news this week… but of course, it came along with some bad news.

First the good news:  We have an opportunity for some work!  Yay!  It’s even a steady position, however it’s not full time.  The company that has hired us to provide their temps has a full time guy that they are no longer able to support.  The work as slowed dramatically at his site and they are going to lay him off.  They would like us to hire him and then send him over to the site as a temp.   They believe he will be needed one day a week.

Yay!  This is exactly the kind of thing we want to do.  Obviously I wish it were for more hours a week, but whatever.  We’ll take it.  The work could certainly pick up and we would be in the perfect spot to take full advantage of it.  Before the economy took a dive there were 4 or 5 full time techs on site.  So there is potential for a lot of work down the road if we can get our foot in the door now.

The bad news:  The job is in California.  Which makes everything more complicated.  And being our very first job I’m already treading in unknown waters.  Moving the whole carnival 400 miles away kinda makes my stomach go in knots.  But besides my self defeating fear lies some extra costs of doing business out of state.  First off I need a whole other workman’s comp policy.  Which I’ve priced at about $1,500 a year just for this one guy working one day a week.  (Which means taking another $1,000 out of our emergency fund.  OUCH!!)  Plus, we may need to go to California at some point.  (Hello Disneyland!) But I guess we could get around that for the time being.   The workman’s comp policy is our main concern.

Best case scenario would be that this job turns into a full time position (or maybe two or three or even four!).  Worst case scenario would be that the work is only a couple of hours a week and then fizzles out into nothing, or the guy we hire decides it’s not worth doing and quits.  It could be hard to find someone else.  Especially from a distance.

But we’ve decided to go for it.  When we first got the opportunity, my husband and I both balked.  But the more we thought about it and ran the numbers we decided that we can’t really pass it up.  Ok, yeah… I don’t know anything about doing business in California.  I don’t really know anything about doing business in Arizona either… but I’m trying it out anyways.

Just the other day I wrote a post about the importance of showing up.  In that post I told a story about a guy who took advantage of an opportunity even though it was outside his experience and got rich doing it.  When I write a post like that I hope it will help motivate someone who is at a cross roads.  I hope someone out there will read it and it will give them the boost they need to go for it.  I had no idea that person would be me.

pic by: fdecomite

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