Another Birthday

I turn another year older today. To celebrate, I will be utilizing a hotel hot tub and swimming pool, to relive some of the pain in my always aching back and neck.
Two nights of relax in comfort, not to mention air conditioning. I am so looking forward to it. I know it's not very frugal, but I saved for months for it, and even paid for it in advance.

I get off work early this afternoon, and then am off until tomorrow afternoon. As such, I will be a way from the computer for a couple of days. May God bless this wonderful time to get away from everything (except my full time job).


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America's Thriftiest Cities

Eve wonder where people that save the most live? No? Well, I never really thought about it either, but I found this story interesting enough, that I had to let you all know about it to.

For many Americans, instant gratification has taken a backseat to long-term financial security. In May 2009, the U.S. personal income savings rate increased to 6.9 percent from 0 percent a year earlier. This is the highest level since December 1993, according to the Commerce Department.

Given the recession, it's understandable that Americans are hording more cash by spending less. Some, though, are doing a better job than others.
- ABC News

Well, the article is misleading. It's actually about credit card debt vs Median Household Income. In that category, Washington, D.C. comes in first, because as ABC News reported,

Government jobs attract those who are conservative about personal finances, suggests Alice M. Rivlin, an economist at Brookings, a Washington, D.C.-based independent research firm. What's more, this is a relatively prosperous metro area with a low unemployment rate of 6.2 percent (the national average is 9.5 percent). The District of Columbia also has high concentrations at the top and bottom of the income distribution spectrum--with 20 percent of residents below the poverty level--and a smaller middle class.

So what are the Top 5 cities with the lowest credit card debt?

5. Kansas City, MO

Percent of Income Owed to Credit Card Companies: 12.07%

4. Boston, MA

Percent of Income Owed to Credit Card Companies: 11.75%

3. Nashville, TN

Percent of Income Owed to Credit Card Companies: 11.73%

2. San Jose, CA

Percent of Income Owed to Credit Card Companies: 11.46%

1. Washington, D. C.

Percent of Income Owed to Credit Card Companies: 11.43%

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Reader Having Difficulting Keeping Up

Sometimes readers, will write the Prince Of Thrift with questions. Such was the case when Cheryl (not her real name) recently wrote and asked:

My DH and I are thinking of restructuring our debt so we can get out of debt and afford our current payments. Right now it's more than difficult to keep up. Do you have any suggestions about where we should start. There are so many companies, it's hard to know who to trust.
Thanks for any info you can share.
- Cheryl

As I always do in such situations, I am thoughtful of what they are are asking and answer to the best of my ability. Since, I am not a certified financial counselor nor do I have any other licenses, I have to be careful with what I say. I do try to refer them in the right direction. Below, is my answer to Cheryl:

Thanks for the email. Do not mess with any of these debt settlement places that advertise on TV or the net. If you can't get a debt consolidation loan through your bank or credit union, there is only one place to trust in Topeka. Consumer Credit Counseling. They are trustworthy and if I remember correctly the fee is only $20. The only thing is they can't do anything with your secured debts. Only your unsecured debts, will they be able get lower payments (paid through them) for you. It will however, put a ding on your credit report.

As for the debt consolidation, option, Dave Ramsey calls it debt CONsolidation, and for good reason. Most people that go that route, ends up using the freed up money to get more debt and then they are in worse shape then before. If you use debt consolidation, you must give up all other credit. The only debt you should have would be the one debt, that now has a lower payment and should have lower interest to.

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$20 a Gallon

$20 a gallon? We scoff now, but some experts say it is coming sooner then you think.

Forget the classic road trip. Americans are abandoning afternoon drives and summer getaways, thanks to the recession and an unemployment rate that's hovering dangerously close to double digits. The American Automobile Association estimates that the number of drivers traveling over the Fourth of July weekend—that penultimate holiday weekend of the summer—dropped by 10.5 percent over the last two years. And, while gas prices have fallen since the record high of more than $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008, filling up the tank can still set people back considerably.

In his new book, $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better,Forbes writer Christopher Steiner argues that the increasing cost of fuel will radically change the way we live, from the cities we choose to call home to the way we grow food. NEWSWEEK'S Nancy Cook spoke to Steiner about why he thinks Americans will be forced to restrict plane travel to once a year at most, why solar panels will line the rooftops of apartments, and how gas prices will force suburbanites back into cities.
- Newsweek

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Sporadic but Hopefully Great Posts

You have probably noticed that my posts have become a bit more more sporadic again. Well there is a reason for that. Most all of my free time, from work, I am either spending time with or am on the phone with my girlfriend.

I have promised her that I will set certain times to be online, because in no way do I want her to feel like a second fiddle. I am not married to the computer and I don't ever want her to feel that I am.

I do plan to try to write several posts at once, and schedule them to appear and other times throughout the period that I'm not online.

I still plan to make a huge push to be debt free by the end of the year, but I now have a budgetary line that was not originally in my budget. So because of that, some of my best laid plans may not happen as I had planned. It's all apart of that gazelle intensity, but even with that I have to have a life. That includes finding the person who will one day be my "princess of thrift."

The nice thing about my current girlfriend, she is supportive of my efforts to get out of debt. Unlike other women I have dated, she understands, that if I am out of debt, I can have more money later on.

So with that, I will say have a good day, and stay tuned in to this website for great updates on my personal finances and terrific news bites and anecdotes that I learn on related personal finance issues.

For now, I need to go and finish mowing the yard, cleaning the house and cooking dinner for my girlfriend who is coming over tonight.


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Time for new shoes

In Oct of 2007 I posted about getting new shoes. New shoes that should help my suspected Plantar Fasciitis. Well, here it is July and I am just getting another pair to replace those old shoes. Something, that shows how much better quality they are over the shoes I had bought previously at Payless Shoes.

These new shoes cost me rigt around $60 for New Balance, and the inserts which I again bought cost me another $35. All in all, I spent right around $100 for my new shoes.





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