401K, Sounds Like a New Steroid Cereal

Good Morning FFD(Finance and Fitness Dreams),

As the year ends and we start thinking about Christmas, New Year's Resolutions, and Taxes  I thought it might be a good time to run down my thoughts and directions on a 401K and Roth IRA, two of the best investment vehicles around.  I don't pretend to be an expert and despite my stays at the Holiday Inn, I am not any smarter on the matter because of it.  But what I can do is give a brief common sense picture of what each one is and how I use them in our investment strategy.

First let's start with the 401K.  This is the definition from Investopedia, it's a little wordy but it gets the job done.

Definition of '401(k) Plan

A qualified plan established by employers to which eligible employees may make salary deferral (salary reduction) contributions on a post-tax and/or pretax basis. Employers offering a 401(k) plan may make matching or non-elective contributions to the plan on behalf of eligible employees and may also add a profit-sharing feature to the plan. Earnings accrue on a tax-deferred basis.


So a 401K is a place where you keep your investments, depending on what your company offers as a selection it's usually mutual funds and index funds.  What happens for most people is they make a selection when they first start working to take out a % of there pay.  The good news is this is all done pre-tax before the government takes out Federal, State, and Social Security.  So for example if you get paid $1000 each pay period and you have elected to have 1% taken out this would take out $10 from each paycheck and be put into the mutual fund or index fund you have chosen.   By taking this out before taxes it also decreases your tax bill overall since the government has less to be able to tax .   The 401K part is really just a way of saying this is how we are going to tax or not tax your investments.

Your 401K is for the long term, we are talking retirement and when I say retirement this time I mean the earliest you can take this money out is 59.5 years old, otherwise they penalize you and we don't want that.  I won't get into to many specifics on each rule because that's not the purpose of this little blog.  The main points are this money is growing from your pre-tax money so it's a little larger % then if it would be taken out if Uncle Sam got a hold of the pay check first.  Your investment grows tax-free, so when you pile up all this money it's growing and growing and you are adding more and more, which allows it to become a huge monster snowball along the way.

One of my favorite features that a lot of companies utilize is what they call the company match.  I like to call it my Retirement Bonus, they give it to me every year as long as I promise to not spend it till I get to be old and don't want to work anymore.  What they say is OK if you put in 3% of your money all year, you know what we will match that and put it in your 401K account at the end of the year, free of charge.  So using the example of someone who makes 50K, you would have put in 3% or $1500($300 for every 10K), they would then put that same amount of $1500 in your account and congratulations you just got a Retirement Bonus!!!  They most commonly put this in as cash or some form of the company stock, but either way it's yours.

Here's a little summary of the Pro's and Cons of 401K so far:

PRO

• Money is taken out pre-tax allowing you to save a little extra(this also decreases your tax bill)
• The investments grow tax-free
• Company match or Retirement Bonus
• Automatic way of Saving Money

CON

• This is a retirement account and you will be penalized if you take out this money before you get old and want to retire
• You do have to pay taxes on the money(Death and Taxes people), so whatever your current tax rate is when you retire, you have to pay Uncle Sam
• Limited Choices of Investments and Not very much guidance from investment professionals on what you should invest in

Here's another option becoming more and more available with employers, but first a definition from Investopedia.

Definition of 'Roth 401(k) 


An employer-sponsored investment savings account that is funded with after-tax money. After the investor reaches age 59.5, withdrawals of any money from the account (including investment gains) are tax-free. Unlike the Roth IRA, the Roth 401(k) has no income limitations for those investors who want to participate - anyone, no matter what his or her income, is allowed to invest up to the contribution limit into the plan.

So the main difference between the 401K and Roth 401K is the money is funded after tax money, which limits the initial investment, but like the 401K this is allowed to grow not only tax-free, but when you decide to take your withdrawls after 59.5 these are also taken out tax free!  For me on this one it's a horse a piece as an old saying goes, since you are contributing to a retirement investment account, I would worry less about which one you are investing in and instead rather that you are investing period.

So what do I do?

Currently I invest 4% of my salary, which is what my company matches as well, I have no plans of changing this now or in the near future.  This is my retirement account, so I treat it like an old man, quiet, nice, and a little boring.  I invest in index funds, which are low cost funds that mimic the stock market.  I have them spread over a broad range, but I have them split between 3 or 4 investments, including the S&P 500, International, Small Cap, and a Target Fund(this overlaps some of the previous index funds).  These funds are low cost, boring investments just how I like it for my retirement.  I don't plan on touching this money until I am at the earliest 59.5 and if my plan goes as I have it drawn up, this will actually be money that I do not rely on and instead is more of a bonus account when I get to when the world thinks you should retire age.

My suggestion is if you have a 401K option at your place of employment  that includes a company match, start it today and put your investment percentage to receive the maximum your company offers.  I believe the 401K is a great tool to help you in retirement.  Even better ask a few people you know who are in the retirement age and see what they did.  Are they living off Social Security?  401K?  Real Estate?  Still Working?  Pensions?  Annuities?  Would they have done things differently if they knew what they knew now?  I'm a believer in the 401K I don't think it's the answer to everyone's retirement problems, but I certainly think it should be apart of everyone's and it's apart of mine that's for sure.    Here is a link to a short video that encourages you to invest as well, take a look it might get you excited to start one today!!

http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/understanding-your-401k/

Why I Hate Mr Money Mustache

Why I'm Jealous of Mr Money Mustache and Hate Him at the Same Time Part I of Many. 



Let's keep it simple I think retiring at 30 is amazing and I'm jealous.  Now here's why I think many of the concepts used don't work for the majority. 

Riding a bike to save $10,000 just doesn't happen.  Here's how this scenario works for someone who lives in Chicago.  I like 8 miles from work, I jump on my bike and ride to work sweating like a mad man in the 20 degree weather.  I get to work after my hour long trip, take of my coat and drenched shirt, well I don't want to spend any money so I go to work and smell like I haven't showered in days.  This doesn't work!  What do you expect people to shower in the sink?  Move closer to my place of work.....Great idea I just raised my 
rent/mortgage by about $1000, new article would how I spent $12,000 year but Bike to Work.  I'm not even going to mention people who live in the Suburbs or Rural Area. 

Here's a better article title and one that appeals to the every day person.  How I Saved 1 Million Dollars Riding the Train, Walking to Work, Driving a Beater!!! 


Here's the 3 options you will run into and here's how we can save some money doing it. 

1.  You live far enough away from work and public transportation that you have to drive, not peddle 30 miles to save $10,000 and die of frost bite on your way to work, your not Lance Armstrong, this ain't happening.  


So in my eyes having a car payment is just about one of the worst things you can do to get stuck in a rut for probably the rest of your life, check out my decision and pros and cons of selling my Benzo de Lorenzo).  So I had the luxury of living in the city and selling my vehicle, most people don't.  So if this is you we need to downsize, sell your car and get a beater, like a 1997 Mercury Tracer perhaps, a fine vehicle if you ask me.  In my Blog(http://financeandfitnessdreams.blogspot.com/2013/05/money-mindset-owning-nice-car.html)  which says that if you have a car loan that it should be only 10% of your income, so if you have 1 car and make 50K(average American Income), you are allowed to have a $5000 loan, the rest must be paid for in cash.  If there are 2 members and 2 cars are needed this would still be the same since there are 2 vehicles, assuming the house hold income is 100K, the total car loan allowed would be 10K.  But that's my criteria if you were to buy today.  If you want to really WIN, you can't have a car payment, I don't care if it's 0%, you owe some rich guy at the bank money, period.  Sell your car and get a cheaper one, that's it 1 sentence.(Side note I'm not including Van or Car Pooling but also great ways to save money)

2.  You live in the City, but you can't or won't Ride your Bike or Walk to Work.  That's cool, you are going to save money and be almost as cool as Captain Planet. 



So you are most likely taking Public Transportation, train or bus or fairy for those really cool people you are saving money and the environment.  Using Chicago as an example it costs $100/month for  a pass to ride every in the entire city of Chicago, which is amazing in itself.  But get this my work says we like the environment and want to save you a couple extra dollars we will give you $30 month to get to work.  That's crazy I'm now down to $70 month to get to work, but wait there's more(Insert Realllly Cool Infomercial Here), any money that is taken out is taken out pre-tax which is not only reducing my overall taxed income but lowering the cost of the monthly pass.  Based off the criteria I filled out on rideshare.com( I have no idea what tax bracket I'm in, 25% just felt correct.  So I'm paying $52.50 month to travel in the city and if you live in Chicago this covers pretty much everything.  So what you spend on a tank of gas I spend on getting to work, it's worth hanging out with strangers for 45 minutes while I listen to a podcast or read my book. 

 

3.  You Do Live Close Enough to Work to Bike or Walk, and apparently save $10,000 a year, spend this on Twinkies and Malt Liquor please. 

Being able to walk or ride your bike is pretty exciting, it doesn't work for everyone, but if you have the option to make that choice consider yourself in a good place.  It can certainly save you a few dollars in expenses and get you a little exercise which is what FFD(Finance and Fitness Dreams people, getting the FFD tattoo tomorrow?) is all about.  I would not however pick up where you are living now and move closer to work, but if it's an option to consider in your purchase or rental decision.  For example when I first moved to Chicago I had 2 options, both similar places in nice neighborhoods, 1 was a 10 minute walk and the other was a 20 minute bus ride, made my decision so much easier, but remember that every one's work can change from year to year, which it did for me, less than a year later.   

So in Summary I think Mr Money Mustache is correct that you can save some money by riding your bike to work or wherever, but that's just not a reality for 99% of the population.  Henry Ford and George Stephenson invented cars and trains, whatever mode of transport you are using let's make sure it's paid off or is a low number on the budget.  Comments are appreciated even if you think I'm crazy or agree with me completely.  Thanks for reading. 

Creating a Business Multiple Revenue Streams-30 Day and 45 Day Update

Well I haven't created the next Google or Nike, but I have doing well with my side hobby(can't call it a business just yet).  My goal if I didn't type it the computer("the files are in the computer", name that movie?)  was to sell 1K worth of items on eBay, i switched that about 2/3 of the way through to make 1K profit, because for all anyone knew I could be spending 4K but selling 1K worth of items, that's not very impressive.

Well Said Sir, Well Said

I am happy to report I failed!  Well not exactly, I did reach my original goal of 1K in sales, but it did take me and extra 5 days to reach the 1K mark.  I have had over 100 items listed in my store called GQ Casual , give it a look if you would like, pretty much all Men's Clothing.


I would love to say I bought some used clothes yesterday and threw them on eBay the next day and I made a killing.  I have been doing this off and on since college, mostly with new clothes in college and used clothes over the last couple years.  I used a lot of trial and error, research, and knowledge about brands, sports, and what guys like to wear(hint I don't buy skinny jeans).  It took me time to develop a template for the items and change things like adding logos, telling why I sell on eBay "the man fund", and I even used to wash and steam almost every item I had, crazy amount of time.

Headquarters, Beats Me

EBay is not for everyone, taking the pictures, finding the items, shipping, listing the items this all takes time, but I enjoy 90% of it(listing it, not so fun).  As of right now I know this can make me money, not quit my day job money, but enough to have some extra money on the side to be used for whatever I want, whether it's paying off debt, going to a comedy show, or buying something I like and want.  Only time will tell on what I plan to do with this stream of revenue, but I do know it's currently coming in and I'm happy doing it.


Is there a business or hobby on the side that you do that makes money?  Tell me more about it, I love to see comments.

Making Money, Making Money, Making Money-Paying off Debt

I would say if you follow simple rules of make more than you spend you win the game of finances, but if everyone did that we would not be here reading or writing in my case.  So I want to point out some of the things I have done and I am working on to Make Money so I can Pay off Debt, not buy new things, Pay off Debt.

Currently the sprint is going to plan, still sprinting, and yesterday over a beer from Half Acre(I love these guys http://halfacrebeer.com/  I'm not an investor but be ready for a future blog about Venture Beer Capitalist!)  I made plans to focus on the next debt and go a little more Dave Ramsey on this one and pay off my smallest debt next, but I'm focused Sprint #1 I wanted to write down all of my future financial goals of paying off debt and saving, I've posted on here before but I want to have every single thing paid for in 7 years, considering there is 2 homes in this equation it's a mountain sized goal!

Back to what I'm doing to make extra money and things you can to.  First I work hard at my job or smart or at least I show up everyday, I applied for a Manager position and while being a Milwaukee Bucks underdog I have learned a lot from this experience.  So don't be afraid to apply for other positions that have higher pay, I mean if you make 20K a year and get that 25K job, congrats you just increased your monthly income by about $400 extra a month.  If your job is hourly and they offer Overtime, soak it all up, I mean up until now it was 32 degrees and cloudy, what did you need more a drink after work or 1.5 times your hourly rate?


I also sell things on eBay, I call it my Man Fund.  Like the good financial blogs and books tell you I sold some of that stuff I just didn't need or wear anymore.  I sold a backpack that I used in Europe, clothes that I didn't wear and a few other things that I can't think of right now.  I also love to shop for bargains and deals so even when I was in college I would buy stuff from Nike Outlet and resell it on eBay, made some extra funds there without a lot of risk.  I also shop at garage sales, thrift stores, anywhere that has name brand stuff for cheap that I can sell(Here's an example http://www.ebay.com/sch/fiudonovan/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686 )

So there is ways to make extra money, maybe you fix up cars, take great photos, or have a bunch of junk you don't need, sell it make some money and Pay off that Debt!!!

Lastly I reference financial blogs and things I read that keep me motivated, check these out, they have some great material, whether it's about being frugal, making money, or a little bit of everything.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

http://affordanything.com/

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/

Night Out on the Town

So my wife and I decided that we eat out far to much, it may have helped that for 2 months we didn't have a kitchen, literally!  So for the first 2 weeks of September we were in our old habits of grabbing a pizza for delivery on Friday night and if we didn't feel like cooking to go grab something.  We did budget a small amount to go out to eat, but usually we would just ignore whatever money we put in and go way past the budget whether on my wife's tab or our joint checking account, for some reason if it goes on the wife's card it doesn't cost anything in our minds, we in fact are crazy!  So here's our plan of attack to stop from spending so much on going out to eat.

The envelope plan well sorda.  So we decided to not use our debit/credit card for any meals where we eat out(with the exception of lunch for my wife).   So every 2 weeks we will take out $60 and put it aside for going out to eat(side note don't search eating out in google images, not what I expected, I'm a little scarred).  The goal is to stop us from eating out so much and as an incentive any money that we don't use will go towards our Hawaii trip in November.  So far we are 1.5 weeks in and that $60 is still sitting in my headphone bag(our version of the envelope), so far so good, I will let you know.  Is there anything you do that helps you to save money instead of eating out?  Share baby, share!

Money is Always on Mind, Every Morning at Least-Thanks Dave Ramsey

I like many of you out there are a creature of habit.  Some must have that morning coffee, bowl of cereal, leave at exactly in between 7:00 and 7:05, or in my case I change my routine to create some sense of spontaneity, but it's still a habit.

Right now I have been going with the morning coffee, made at home(trying to save that $10 a week and I prefer to be all jacked up by the time I get to work) and Dave Ramsey podcast every morning on the train.  I like Dave Ramsey and my other options are listening to Pandora cut in and out like a bad DJ or staring outside(p.s. the buildings or walls don't change much).  So about Dave Ramsey..................

I like to listen to someone telling me to pay items with cash, stay away from credit cards, and that he has made mistakes but here is why you should not do what I did.  It creates a mindset that if you spend money with bad decisions, you are going to pay for those bad decisions.  He is a strong believer in debt makes you a slave to the lender, I couldn't agree more.  I struggle everyday to get in this mindset, this is another reason why I listen to Dave Ramsey every morning.

Here's what I want to do with my money.  Put tons of money in my 401K, pay off every cent of debt I have today, fix up my house, pay off the house, and invest in stocks, other houses, take tons of trips.  This morning dose of Dave Ramsey reminds me to keep things in check, Rome was not built in a day, cliche yes, but very true.

I have a budget, I have a plan.  I don't want a 30 year mortgage, I want my mortgage to be paid off in 7 years, is it possible, absolutely I ran the numbers to know.  I read something by Zac Bissonnette said and I'm summarizing here, but poor people think about how financial decisions affect them this month or this week and wealthy people think in 5, 10 and 20 year blocks.  That makes sense to me, when buying a car the poor guy is thinking can I afford the payment of $200 month, the wealthy guy is paying cash and thinking how much money per month he is saving over a 5 year period.

So in summary every day is a battle with money, but the key thing is I may lose a battle today and go buy my lunch or spend money on something I don't need, but I will win the war, with God's help and with great influences around me.  Right now my biggest influences on money are my wife(smart lady and cute to), her family(they have great advice that gets funneled through my wife),  and personal finance blogs, podcasts, and books.  Make sure to surround yourself with great influences, if your brother likes to drive his leased BMW on his Wal-Mart cashier hourly wage, you might want to find a better influence. 

Just Thinking About Money-Spending Money is Getting Old

Our house is getting very close to finished with what we have included in our mortgage(FHA 203K).  That is a great thing! I'm ready to live in a house without dust, strange men coming in and out(sounds bad intentionally), and things that are half done.  This is not to say the house is done.  Like any house you want to do so many things.  For example we had the contractor create a couple closets, but in reality it's just a door with an entrance, more work to be done, more money to be spent.  But like many people we can deal with what we have.  A fan where a light should be, closets with just a pole to hang clothes, slowly we can take care of this and the key is do little by little and keep it in just our unit.

So we have decided for the most part(no big projects expected) we are done with spending money, honestly I'm sick of it.  So until we get some rental income in our pockets we will be making good with what we have, which is a lot, we have been blessed.  The only money we will spend is to create income.  We will take whatever rental income we receive and use the money to fix up our "Garden Apartment" aka the basement.  I knew coming in this was going to be a process, it's been 2 months and I feel like we are on the right track.

So let's not spend money this Labor Day weekend, let's clean up and fix up what we have and be thankful for what we have.

 

Automatic Plan-Make things Automatic-Debt, Savings, and Investments

1. Figure out Where all of your Money is Going
2. Make things Automatic-Debt, Savings, and Investments
3. Make paying off Credit Cards a Priority
4. Add additional payments to the Debt you like the least
5. Pay off home early
6. Make sure you and your loved ones are taken care of
7. Build wealth and give!

Make things Automatic-Debt, Savings, and Investments

There is a reason companies want you set up on an automatic plan, whether it be student loans, car payments, or a gym membership.  If you set it up to come out automatically versus writing a check and doing it yourself, there is much higher probability that the company gets paid.

So let's all be really smart and copy exactly what companies have been doing for years to get our money. 

• Most important thing, Pay Yourself-Even if it's $25 every pay period set it up to come right out of your check into your savings.   
• Because you know where all your money is now going from Step 1, you should have a good idea of your expenses.  The easiest thing to do is have everything set up at one central location.  You can set up your Bill Pay and all of your Savings Transfers.  After you have that set up there may be one or two bills that is easier to go through that company.  An example is my student loans, if I set up an automatic debit through my student loans I get a discount in my rate and still automatic, good for everyone.
• So if you haven't already start or set up your 401k with your work.  I have read many different ways to look at this, but I recommend starting with whatever your company matches.  If they match 3%, set up 3%, it really is a foolish thing not to use this.  Let's say you make 100K to make things easy.  You set aside 3% of your pay before taxes and have 3K in your 401k at the end of the year, well at the end of the year they match this total, so you now have 6K.  That's a good amount of money for just agreeing to save!

So you know where your money is going and now you have everything set up to where you want your money to go and even better yet it's automatic.  I think this is a great start, just make sure to monitor the comings and goings.  I like to make sure right before I get paid to make sure everything looks right and is going

Automatic Plan-Figure Out Where All Your Money is Going

Automatic Plan.  So you have to start somewhere, no it doesn't instantly make you rich, but it can in the long run.

You need to know exactly how much is coming in and more importantly in Step 1 is Going Out.  For some people it is easy, they use online banking so they can take a look at the last 3 months of transactions and get a great idea of what they are spending.  Even download it to Mint.com, Excel spreadsheet(personal favorite) or whatever financial software or online tool you use to figure if your money is going towards groceries or new clothes. Just remember to make sure you keep an eye out for ATM and Bank withdrawals, chances are you don't remember where that $60 went on Friday night after work, well maybe you do, but you have chosen to suppress that memory of buying everyone you recognized a "Happy Friday Cocktail".

By my calculations this is f***ing impossible.  It's not this is a weather spreadsheet, let's just do plus and minus today.

So you have some tools that you can use, but being old fashioned in this case works as well.  Save all your receipts for 30 days, every receipt, write it down because it matters.  Buy a special notebook to keep track of everything, don't forget you need a receipt for that.

OK great you have written down everything that is going out, Congratulations!!!  I mean it, this was so tough for me.  I knew I was spending to much, I didn't want to admit it, but when I looked at the numbers I knew something had to happen.  Well almost done with Step 1, we just have to figure out how much is coming in, should be pretty easy take your last month's paychecks that are for normal hours and add them up.  Easy to say if you are working a 9-5 for a company, if you are Self-Employed take whatever you pay yourself in a given month and if you don't do this do it now give yourself a salary.

So by my calculations all we have to do is take What's Coming In (Minus) What's Going Out=What We Have Left.  Seems simple enough, just have to sit down, take some time and figure these numbers out.  I know it seems like this isn't that important, but we are building a house and we need a foundation, no cracks in this fine looking base(Slapping the Base reference here).  Also I don't care if your number is negative $4,000, negative $40, or positive $400, we really are looking for our base number something that we can use for that fine looking base.

1. Figure out Where all of your Money is Going
2. Make things Automatic-Debt, Savings, and Investments
3. Make paying off Credit Cards a Priority
4. Add additional payments to the Debt you like the least
5. Pay off home early
6. Make sure you and your loved ones are taken care of
7. Build wealth and give!

Here's another more experienced blogger's perspective.  Here is a great article by J.D Roth from Get Rich slowly.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/09/22/track-every-penny-you-spend/

Money Matters

So I have been talking a good game about making more money but i have not done enough to bring in the necessary money. I am waiting on a position that I truly want and would solve a lot of the shortage of money that I have. I recently have been doing well at my current position with sales, but this is not enough to pay the bills.

If the position does not come through that I would like, I really need to consider other options. The lawn mowing which is speratic at best(as it picked up after I wrote this), I would like to use that for credit card payment only. Other options that I need to look into include working at a restaurant as a server or bartender. This will give me flexibility and bring in immediate cash. I applied for a couple of positions at the golf course and plan as soon as I find out more about the position I am waiting on to start asking about caddying in the mean time. Plus caddying could put me in touch with more business contacts. Those are the 2 main jobs that I could see myself involved in.

So many things depend on the position I am waiting for. I don’t just want a job, I want something I really would love to do. I saw a sign that said we work 66% of our lives do something you love. I couldn’t agree more. God always knows what is best for you, I will put it in his hands and doing my best in the mean time. Yours Truly, Steven Donovan

Coupons

Now recently I have read some great material on how much people have saved and use coupons. Great blogs like Get Rich Slowly and I Will Teach You to be Rich. So yesterday I did the grocery shopping and here are some things that happened with coupons and saving money.

> First I went through and looked what we needed, made a general list while looking at the Publix shopping ad online, which allows you to start a grocery list. So I really focused on the Buy one Get one Free deals and fruits that were on sale.

> Next I looked for coupons that would save money on the brands that I usually buy. For instance we buy Horizon brand chocolate milk(best tasting stuff out there you should try it). I was able to sign up on there website and save .55 on a 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk. Although it was difficult finding a coupon for certain grocery items like Chuluha Sauce, but I was able to find a couple of good coupons.

> So I sent the grocery list to my email and went to the store. Overall I did a good job in buying only what was on the list. Whatever was not on the list I put in the child seat to give myself a chance to think it over. My goal was $90, my total was $113. So I stayed close to budget.

> Always check your receipt before you leave the store. I found 3 different errors, where I was able to save $8.00 on my grocery bill. So I went over my budget only $15, which I considered a small success.

> What I learned is you find a good sale make sure to buy it even if you don't need it. For example, I bought Crystal Light because it was Buy One Get One Free, now I already had 3 or 4 in the pantry, but getting them at half price only makes sense. So some items I purchased were not necessities, but will save money over the long run.

> So overall I consider it a success. My total savings according to Publix was around $37 and with the $8 they put back on my debit card, I would say I saved $45, which really makes the frugal me very happy.

So remember it's ok to cut out or print coupons and save money. My lesson is frugal=value=cutting coupons=making a grocery list=saving money.

A Day at the Ballgame

Sometimes life is not about how much money something costs or how much you saved it is about living life and having a good time. I recently had a birthday and one of my presents was 2 tickets to a baseball game. It was a great evening at the game, despite a little rain and the team I wanted to win did not pull out the "W". Here is how the night went and I will also share some money saving techniques along the way that made it even better.

The evening started out with dinner at a restaurant with a sandwich and a beer. Don't forget the concessions at a professional sporting event are astronomical. I mean $9 for a hot dog, $6 for nachos almost seemed like a deal. So be smart eat before the ballgame. If you have time and the resources tailgate and grill out with beers and brats from your own house, saving lots of cash.

We had great seats, we were in row 10 and because of some great research by my girlfriend we did not even pay face value for the tickets! We enjoyed a great game all the way down to the last pitch to decide the game. We avoided the concessions, although a close call and did not even buy a poncho with the rain that started(I did forget the umbrella in the car, my bad). But it was a great game not too many people, it's the Marlins it's never too many people.

After the game we were walking back to the car and noticed the team entrance was on our way so we decided to wait and watch the players come out in there fancy cars and nice suits. There was a small crowd waiting for autographs and pictures, but no more than 50 people, make that no more than 25 I'm guessing. I did not have a lot of interest in many of the players, but I was definitely a fan of a select few. The Milwaukee Brewers have some great talent on the roster and I enjoy watching Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun along with the rest of Wisconsin. After waiting for some time some of the players that I recognized came out. Now I am not an autograph type of person unless it has some meaning or I met the person and had a conversation with him or her. For example I caddied for Michael Jordan if I was able to get to sign a scorecard or a picture of us that would have meant something, but to never meet the person and have them sign a ball or picture doesn't really do it for me. One of the better players was Prince Fielder however he was not signing anything today, but later Corey Hart came out a fan favorite of many and began signing. I think he is a good player but my friend Molly would have liked it much more than me. As we were getting close to leaving Ryan Braun came out and we happened to be standing next to someone he was friends with so he came our way. It was a feeding friendzy, I even had some old lady scold me for not getting out of the way. She said "If your not getting an autograph can you move", I basically laughed at the lady and moved my foot about 3 inches. She also began arguing with a 10 year kid how much better she liked Ryan Braun. It was funny to say the least. What I really wanted was a picture and as he signed everything for everyone it did not seem like I was going to get a picture. I stood on the side of him while he signed autographs so I got a picture or two that I was happy with. He then proceeded to be checked in for the bus and I asked the girlfriend if we could wait just a moment while he got on the bus. I happened to catch Ryan Braun's eye and asked Ryan if my girlfriend and I could get a picture with the All-Star Left Fielder. Security actually stopped him and told him that he could not go and he could not touch anyone, but he came over and took the picture with us as close as possible without touching. Although I thanked him afterward and shook his hand anyways, but all in all it was a lot of fun. Ryan Braun was a classy individual who signed autographs for everyone and even took a couple pictures that made some little kids day and maybe even some big kids.

So the Brewers lost but I felt like I had a winning day(yeah kinda cheesy I got it). I should have the facebook photos coming up here very soon.

Weekly Update

So after looking over my budget it has come to my attention that I need more than just a part-time job, go figure right. While I am doing everything I can with mowing lawns, selling things on ebay or amazon, trying to work basketball camps. The fact remains that I need more money coming in. Can I transfer debt around for awhile to stay alive, probably, but I need something that works for 40 hours a week. I need to go on another job hunt. Selling the car is in the works, however I have not received any calls from the listed price. The price I put is probably to high, but that is what is needed to pay off my car. I am considering going to a Ford or Toyota dealer and trading in the vehicle for a cheaper car. This way I can save on payments, insurance, maintenance, and probably gas. I want to have a different vehicle by June 15.

Overall I have spent to much in gas money. I did a great job last month keeping my total under $100, but now this month is over $150, not good. I need to either watch it more closely or come up with a different way to budget the $100 that I have planned to spend.

Another money transgression I have made is I went over my cell phone bill(terrible I know). I usually have bonus minutes to cover this so I don’t give it much thought, but I ran out on the last month. I went $70 over, but with a simple phone call I was able to save half. So one phone call saved me $35. I will do my best to get rid of the entire total, email or even another call, it’s not like it could hurt anything.

Sell My Car and Ride a Bike? Mercedes or GMC Denali Bicycle

So I own a nice car and make payments on it. I bought a used car through my work because my other car was ready to die( I miss you Tracer you Can’t Replaca). So i found a used Benz( Now Benzo De Lorenzo) for 2K under Blue Book. If I would have stayed with my current job I probably wouldn’t be saying anything, but life is full of surprisesso I have to at the very least bring up this topic.

Pros of Selling the Benzo de Lorenzo

· I save over $300/month not including the $100/month insurance and $100/month maintenance. OMG when I say it like that this, $500/month that is a lot of money

· I will get great exercise, I mean it is about 10 miles on a bike to work each way, plus any other trips I would make to the library, grocery, etc....

· I would have a great tan and be in the best shape of my life, think Lance Armstrong with 2 testicles, sexy isn’t it.

· Never pay for parking, not that I spend a lot on parking, but I’m sure it amounts to at least $10/month and I rarely park in the paid areas, I will walk a mile before I pay $5.

· Vehicle registration, speeding tickets(I’m fighting one right now), tags, car washes, lots of extra hidden costs.

· Pay off my debt that much faster, I mean basically an extra $500/month or more

Cons of Selling the Benzo de Lorenzo

· I drive a really nice car, it makes me feel good about myself, I own something nice.

· I would have to take the bus/train/bike/walk everywhere, everywhere

· It costs money to take the train and bus, it’s not a lot but it would certainly prevent me from going a lot of places.

· I would need to wake up much earlier to go anyplace. I figure a 15 or 20 minute trip could take take an hour or two just to get there.

· I truly believe in keeping cars for a long period of time after you have paid the vehicle off. I had my first car since high school and drove it for at least 3-5 years after it was paid off.

· I put a lot of miles on when I first got it, so like all cars the value has decreased and for me a little faster than I expected. So currently I owe about 2K more than the car is worth. So I would need to sell the car for a higher price than it is worth, which would be unlikely.

· It could affect my job/future job. I plan on getting into financial advising/education whether it be now or in the future

I’m sure there is more things to consider and please comment if any come to your mind. I’m sure many of you are saying trade it in and get a less expensive car where I would still be saving $200/month and yes I have considered that also, but life is full of choices make sure you weigh all the pros and cons!!!