Not cheap, Fiscally concerned

I put on a great post yesterday and expected some traffic, unfortunately blogvis.com were in the process of getting a new server. So you couldn’t read about it. Just FYI to those who would like to read my content in the future - if this site does not load, I will try to export/import my content at some rate to this site:
withinmymeans.freehostia.com

Cheers!

I’ll be heading on a road trip to DC at the end of this week and will probably not blog anything new until a couple of days after I come back. DC has been on our list of places we would like to visit and we are proud of ourselves to have been able to save for this vacation as we planned to when our family reorganized our finance. We are sitting with websites right now making our final plans. The hotel is already booked, van has been serviced at the repair shop and we are really excited on going there.

Alongside our budget spreadsheet on sheet.zoho.com, we have another one with vacation destinations separated by desirability and cost. We planned ahead how much money we will need annually to put aside and have looked in the long run at going on the more expensive ones. I detest going on a vacation on a credit and planning on repaying it over time with interest - it’s just wrong. Also, planning on a tax rebate for that purpose is just as wrong - you can usually reduce the amount you set aside for taxes and keep it in a money market account so that it earns you some interest. I prefer not getting a tax rebate, but paying taxes owed. Earning interest on my money - instead of having the government hold on to it seems like the smarter choice for me.

Since I’ll be on vacation - I will probably not post a blip on this young blog for a while - probably not until mid August. Having said that, I still have many ideas for posts - but those will have to wait. Still intend on organizing a couple of summery pages with links to posts regarding how we spend less than we earn, how we plan, where we as a family are financially and where we are heading. So come back soon - post a comment, spread some posts around to friends and link back here. It will be greatly appreciated and will encourage me to continue blogging.

Regarding the blog, I must admit - sometimes, I get disparaged. It’s not that I have nothing to write about - but that it feels like writing to a blog is like writing into a black void. Without feedback - it feels like stuffing your letters into a mattress. Do you like what you find here? If I don’t have any way of knowing that - I get the feeling it pretty much sucks - and I should stop for my own good. Writing into nothingness feels like what happens at the end of the following video:

Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit…. if you haven’t ever seen that video - you should, just for a small laugh. It’s a pretty old one too.

Anyhow, signing off for a while - wish me Bon Voyage…

Since starting to post on this blog – about a week ago – my wife’s been frowning at me. I sit too much time in the evening in front of the laptop and I’m not talking enough. I agree honey – and I’m sorry. I believe that communication is the key to a successful marriage. One of the examples given in the book “Dealing with people you can’t stand” is of a mature couple where the husband says nothing and the wife is frustrated. It seems that for many married couples, that situation is at least the perception of reality – if not the reality itself. The book gives a good strategy on how to improve upon the situation by engaging in inquisitive conversation and insisting on getting answers. A conversation has two sides, and if you think your partner is not saying much – be assertive and muscle out some answers. If your partner is drowning in his newspaper, book or laptop and you feel left out, reach out – touch – and stare at his/her face from a short distance. You will get that kiss your face is demanding and it is the right opportunity to talk about something. Don’t hesitate to start the conversation.

At our first years as a couple – finance was a touchy subject. Whenever I raised the issue I came out as a villain and as cheap. I avoided talking about it altogether and I silently observed as our tiny savings account shrunk further and further. We didn’t have a plan, we didn’t agree, we spent on what we thought we needed. It wasn’t selfish; whenever my wife would buy something she would feel guilty and try to explain to me how it is for the family. I struggled for years to reach an understanding between us on our money.

About two years ago I did something very sneaky. We both enjoy going to book stores and browsing through the selection. Our kids scan through their section and we take turns on looking for what might interest us. I picked up two personal finance books – “Smart couples finish rich”, and “The automatic millionaire”. I suggested to my wife that we each read one book, and when we are done we exchange and read the other. The result was stunningly good. We both learned more about managing our money and we finally began thinking together on how we should plan and execute together. My wife came up with the program discussed here in “How to spend less than you earn, in a nut shell” and I added the electronic part to it – “How to spend less than you earn, part II”.

The books introduced us to the idea of setting goals. For me it was always a given that we should save money. Even if we don’t get rich, money would be there for us when we need it. My wife, coming out of Russia and seeing how inflation and political turmoil can render yesterday’s money worthless always assumed that money is there for us to use now. We now have an understanding of why we save and how we will use the money in the future. Money isn’t accumulated so that we could count it greedily – it is there for a purpose and we have already seen the fruits of that strategy. Before – we would charge our credit and I would act frugally. We have begun taking annual vacations with money we save each year and we enjoy it so much more.

Since then, we regularly discuss where we stand on a fiscal basis. My wife no longer feels guilty she buys things when I don’t. We have turned the corner and have begun saving more. As long as our income and health do not change – we know where we are heading financially and are pleased with it.

Communicating about money between couples is key to a happy marriage.
Communication in general and expressing fondness and love is what ties it all together.

I’ve been looking a few days now into starting a new blog, I’ve read through different options, opened and deleted several blogs with the same name at different providers to check the waters and this is where I landed. Blogvis, was good enough for me. Wordpress.com didn’t even consider allowing ads, and you have a very limitted design options. I like wordpress as a software, I like blogger better - but I have my reasons for choosing a wordpress platform for now, mainly the ability to export the blog and continue elsewhere.

I looked into paid hosting and to tell you the truth, I don’t see the point of putting money upfront. Sure I have intentions with this blog, but only if it does well and pick up readers will I want to pay for the premium services available at a monthly charge like AN Hosting.

So I kick things off while saving those 7$ a month fees and setting up some simple ad-sense links. No plan to get rich here, just to prove a point. Writing a blog without the remote possibility of making some nickles on it is senseless. You’re here, you’re reading, go ahead and help keeping it coming by clicking on the ads, like this one:

This site is still under construction and I promise you will find very useful things here in the very near future. For the meanwhile, I raise my beer to you and say “Cheers!”.

See you soon.