Month: August 2014

Frankly Frugal Finance: Weekender Edition #8

Posted on by Kipp

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Time for another weekend roundup!  I am thinking about doing things slightly differently, where I will post more than 5 blogs in weeks that I have had more time to read, such as this one.  But still probably cap it at 7 so it isn’t too extensive.  It is difficult sometimes, there are alot of good posts and content out there being created on a weekly basis, but not always time to read them all!

First off, here are my most recent posts from this week:

The Layers of an Emergency Fund

With this post I went into detail about where my money is to cover emergencies if one should arise.  I go into detail about several different accounts and how they can layer on top of each other to be a more effective emergency fund.

Can a Nissan Leaf Save Me Money?

I did a detailed analysis comparing the costs of a new Nissan Leaf to a slightly used car.

With that out of the way, here we go with the roundup: Continue reading →

Frankly Frugal Finance: Weekender Edition #7

Posted on by Kipp

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Happy weekend everyone!  Summer weekends are just busy as usual.  Can’t work on the deck because of all the rain throughout the week, may not be quiet dry enough yet.  Other than that visiting family and just enjoying the weekend.  I did get a book in the mail Friday, Outsmarting the System, if you wonder what it is about I won it from a giveaway over at Debt Discipline.  So feel free to read the review over there, I am still working on finishing the library book so I am not sure when I will get around to it, but I plan on it soon(ish).

Anywho, I had another couple posts this week, they are:

August Stock Purchase and Dividend Update

Why you Should NOT Delay Parenthood

So if you haven’t read them yet, take a gander.  Well, I have a busy rest of the day, so I will be frank and get some of the articles i liked this week: Continue reading →

August Stock Purchase and Dividend Update

Posted on by Kipp

MoneyTreeInitially I was not planning on purchasing stock this month.  But a single investment stuck out to me and made me think if paying off debt faster than the minimum payments is the best move financially.  That stock is AT&T (T).

I purchased 29 Shares of T for $34.91 a share after fees, $1012.51 total, after fees.  This purchase will increase my annual dividend yield by $53.36.

If you looked at my most recent net worth update you will see that currently I have just over $117,000 in various forms of debt.  However, on that page I did not include interest rates, one of the reasons is because the student loans are at 3 different interest rates.  The one student loan I plan on paying off next month carries a 5.35% interest rate, and is the higher rate loan I have.

After that my rates are 5% for the mortgage, my weighted average student loan payment will be at 3.52% interest (original amounts at $5,500 at 4.25% and $11,000 at 3.15%).  So why is that important in making a decision on buying this particular stock? Continue reading →

Why you should NOT Delay Parenthood

Posted on by Kipp

BabyIn the world of finance you hear many reasons to delay parenthood, such as a recent article on the costs to raise a child now exceeding $245,000.  So you may find yourself asking the question, when IS a good time to raise a child?  Besides that, if you are an only child or the only married child of your parents, is delaying parenthood depriving your parents the joy of grandchildren?  I have been married just over three years while my only sibling is not married so my parents have no grandchildren.  There is no guarantee how long anyone lives, am I denying them some enjoyment in their life?  Also, if you put off having kids are you denying YOURSELF immense amounts of joy from parenting?  With that said, when IS the right time to have children?

Obviously, the longer you wait, the closer to financial independence you will should be, which is what some may advocate as the “right time”.  But just how do you determine when isn’t or is the right time if you cannot wait until you are financially independent?  I am not going to cover reasons you should delay being a parent, you have probably heard enough of that.  Instead I am going to cover why there is no reason to delay. Continue reading →

Frankly Frugal Finance: Weekender Edition #6

Posted on by Kipp

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Normally I have been getting these out on Saturday’s, but it is a busy weekend+ it seems!  Still trying to finish pressure washing the deck to repaint it, which is a little more tedious process than I like.  Also went to my Grandma’s 80th birthday party yesterday, have plans with my brother tomorrow, and then with my parents on Monday.  Busy but good!  Anyways, this week my latest posts were:

Net Worth Update – July

Save Over $25.00 a Hour Making Your Own Laundry Soap

 

Next week I don’t have specific plans on what will come up, I have a few articles that I have been working on or I have ideas for.  It doesn’t help I have been trying to plow through a book, Snowball, that I got from the library while still trying to do everything else I normally do.  Doesn’t work too well :).  So I haven’t browsed the blog world as much as I normally do, but here are five that I came across this week that I enjoyed:
Continue reading →

Save Over $25.00 a Hour Making Your Own Laundry Soap

Posted on by Kipp

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During the last couple of months I have been looking for a large stock pot casually as I went to thrift stores to make my own laundry soap.  Well now that I found one for $6.00 at Goodwill, I figured it was time to do it.

I have only ever used liquid laundry soap, which takes a bit more preparation than making a dry laundry soap.  I used a recipe I found at Wellness Mama after doing a google search.

So, yea you can make your own laundry soap, but is it really worth your time?

To be frank… it is definitely worth your time.

 

Continue reading →

Net Worth Update – July

Posted on by Kipp

networthWell it is about time I updated this for all those people coming from Rockstar finance, huh?  Well, to be honest I didn’t want to just squeak by last week doing an article on my Income and Expense as well as my net worth update.  I would rather get out an article with some of my personal finance philosophy out as well.  It makes me a bit less dry in my opinion.  So you may wonder, why do I track Net Worth?  For me it is the best method to see if I am on track for reaching financial independence.  I am not too worried about market fluctuation such as we experience at the end of last month, but I do like to see that my efforts are moving in the right direction long term.  Being the majority of my net worth is going towards reducing debt currently, it is a bit difficult not to experience growth even with the recent pull back in the stock market. Continue reading →

Frankly Frugal Finance: Weekender Edition #5

Posted on by Kipp

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Time just seems to be flying by, now on my 5th weekend and 1 month birthday of this blog!  Crazy!  First of all, here are my recent posts from this week:

Income and Expense for July 2014

Valuing Your Time

Next week I plan to have my latest Net Worth update along with another post, hopefully on one of my recent frugality experiments.  Throughout the week I tweet articles that I find interesting, but I like to highlight a few that I really enjoyed on the weekend.  As always follow me on twitter or check out the blogroll if you are interested in reading more of what other bloggers have to say. Continue reading →