prepaid

PREPAID
if i am riding around in my car in the afternoon
between 100 pm and 300 pm i turn my radio on to
the station that is airing the
dave ramsey show

i really wish that i discovered his show years and years ago
when i first went into private practice at the age of 40 years

now
gradually over the years i have done what he recommends
most of it i learned myself from trial and error
well most of it was error
yes we made all the mistakes
thats how you learn i guess

now into retirement where we have to watch our money
a little closer than when i was in practice
since we were making a good income
ok i was in the top 5% income
wouldnt have wanted to be in that top 1%
they get all the credit for whats wrong with us financially
us i mean usa

now in retirement i have dropped to a much lower %
now we dropped ourselves there several years before
retirement
in order to be ready financially for retirement
since i didnt start practicing having to finish a 3 year
federal committment first
when i was 40

most folks are around 26-28 when they start practicing
so i had a 14 year delay
i was behind 14 years
i had to play catch up

lucky for us
we did

so
now we live conservatively
we are totally debt free
we use a credit card only because its hard to buy things online
hard to make reservations without it
i use them whenever we buy large purchases
since we get consumer protection with the card
plus
we get 1% back on our purchases
but
i pay it electronically as soon as i use it
so
theres no end of the month surprise

now i never ever carry cash
i use a debit card
but whenever i use it i feel uncomfortable
knowing that just one purchase can lead to the hacking of
my checking account
wiping out all our money and more
at least until its discovered by me or the bank

so
i am selective where i use my card

now my wife she operates off cash only
she takes out money once a week to use
i tried that but have trouble with getting to the bank etc
so
i use my debit card
knowing that one day its gonna happen
ill find my account all cleared out


so
my plan is to use a new prepaid card
that loads a weeks worth of expenses on my card
ill use it wherever i used my debit card
i plan to use the american express card one
since american express has a good reputation for
customer service

eg
we recently bought a new electric stove
i paid for it with the american express card
got a defect stove
got a new one
got a replacement stove that was defective
contacted store and national office got the run around
contacted american express
they removed the charge
i called the store said you need to come get this bad stove
thanks american express

so
i plan to use the new prepaid card called american express serve
to do my cash purchases like groceries gas garden supplies etc
instead of my debit card
if it gets hacked they will only get whats in there
which should have a  max balance each week of $300

we will pay all our bills electronically
we will continue to use our credit card to make reservations and
do online purchases and to pay for restaurants

i wonder if dave ramsey would like my method

theres more on how i manage our finances
its a little complicated
my wife shes eyes get blurry eyed when i describe it to her
she sort of fades away into her facebook vortex

but it works for us
keeps us on budget
yes we have done all of what dave ramsey says do
we just added more
well not we but i did

my wife shes
she just along for the joy ride

so far its a good one

the organicgreen doctor

burning advice

BURNING ADVICE

scott burns is a columnist who writes a financial column that
appears in the austin and san antonio papers

hes a financial guy who is better known for his couch potato
approach to investing
basically he recommends investing in index funds or etf funds
and let them do all the work for you at a reduced cost

last march he wrote an article on how we all need to change
our behavior and by doing so it will encourage america and
congress to do whats right

heres are some of the points he made i think we should be
all doing with some ogd editing


borrow less or none at all
get rid of credit card debt stop using them
pay off your student loans
defer buying that car or home
our economy has been based on consumer spending
one which we can not sustain
then use that extra money saved from paying off your loans and
pay off your house or your car

houses and cars and other things we buy are not going to
increase rapidly in value as before
those days are gone

that game is what has got us in the mess we were in

spend less than you earn
thats bode well for us here at the country n and has
left us in good sound financial shape as we enter our
retirement years
weve always lived financial conservatively
lived in a smaller home
drove not a mercedes but a toyota
it gets better mileage anyway
controlled our vacation but did take them
and did not ever live off credit cards

no matter your income level at the end of the month
if you overspend you are all at the same level
in debt

retain your investment return
we are all red meat for the financial institutions
the government has allowed them full hunting rights
so its them or us

he suggests using index funds and etf funds for your
retirement money and to move your money from the
high fee banks
both of these ive done
my ira funds charge me 0.15%
if you could really see what your ira or 401k was taking from
you each year you would be shocked
some fees are as high as 2+%

eg if i have $100,000 in my ira i pay $150 a year in fees
in yours you may be paying $2000 a year in fees
multiple that by 10 or 20 years and thats a lot of money
$1500/$3000 for me and $20,000/$40,000 for you


learn to share
its a not money way to make those around you better
i try to do this with this blog my involvement with the alzheimers
association habitat for humanity meals on wheels talking about
alzheimers and helping with gardening

there are things even one thing you can do too
cost is zero dollars
a good investment good return
for you and for society


be energy efficient and energy local
he says its oil not imports from china thats our biggest
economical threat
drive a more energy efficient car
drive less
support green energy as well as us energy production
decrease electric use
these are things we can all easily do
it seems more of us are listening as our energy conservation
and green production of wind and solar energy and our
energy production of gas and oil has decreased our
reliance a lot on foreign oil

he says the best definition of wealth he has seen is

you are wealthy when more money wont change where you live
what you eat what you wear what you drive or who you sleep with

we should all heed some of his advice
i know i have
but i was before i read his article

the organicgreen doctor

debit cards risk, habitat house

DEBIT CARD RISK
i never have cash with me any more
the first time they gave me change with the new
$20 dollar bill i thought it was a counterfeit one

i use to always use my debit card for everything
until the banks started screwing with us on those
debit card fees

then i also read this article from bankrate.com on 4 risky places
to swipe your debit card
oops i was guilty of three of the four
ok i have done the fourth one too

one place i never ever use my debit card is the
gas station to buy gas
apparently its a common place for scammers to steal your
debit card information

outside atms are risky
ok so im guilty for that one too
the recommendation is use an inside atm in a high traffic area

next is online
dont ever use your debit card online as there
are too many ways your information can be stolen

if youve ever had it stolen and then had to fix things then
you know what a hassle it can be

had $500 jerked out of my banking account once
yes it was guaranteed
but its not like a credit card where you can refuse to pay
with a debit card its already taken out of your account
and it can take months before the bank will put it back
it took several weeks for my account to be corrected
in the mean time you just go without that money

another place is restaurants
basically if the card leaves your sight then use a credit card
not a debit card
before you get out of the restaurant your debit card info can
be in the hands of someone  half a world away who is
emptying your account as you are starting up your car

even when you use your debit card at a large retail store there
is still a risk for fraud
there have been a lot of reports of personal information stolen
from thousands and some cases millions of people

heres what i do
i use my debit card to get cash only at my bank but i do use
the drive through atm
i use my debit card to do purchases inside stores where i can
see my card at all times
i use my credit card to buy things online and to buy gas
i keep only the money each month in my checking account
that i need for that month
i monitor my account regularly to make sure its accurate

even when you do all this correctly they can still steal your money
so be careful

HABITAT HOUSE
we started this house last saturday
the slab was done by a concrete contractor
we do the rest except for the plumbing, electricity and the
sheet rock applications
thanks to the economy there are sheet rockers that put it up
at a low price and do a good job so its cost effective to just
pay them
although i was hoping to learn how to do this

here is a picture of the house with the walls put up
osb siding placed and all the trusses installed
all done in 3 days with volunteer work

thats not me on the roof to the left but i
was in that spot a few minutes before i took this picture

no we didnt build the house crooked
i just had the camera at an angle

the organicgreen doctor

beware, nascar, oa

BEWARE
beware the new credit card deals
they are fraught with gothchas

have always had a credit card that has to be paid off
each month
but because of the new credit card deals i decided to try to
make some money off the credit card companies with their
new 3% and 6% deals
so i signed up
$75 a year to have the card
it will take $2500 of gas to pay for that $75
this is about half of what i pay for gas in a year
so 3% of the 2nd $2500 would be $75
6% of groceries would be worth about $450 a year
so i should make about $500 a year on the deal if
i pay the balance off each month
the first month i had $1000 on the card and the minimal balance
staring at me on the bill was $35
if i pay just that then i pay 22% interest on the other $965
thats where the hope on their part is that i pay the minimal amount
and the money making shifts to their side

sorry im more disciplined than that
will pay off the $1000 and make $30-$60 on the deal
dang that feels good
(plus my credit union is paying me to keep my money there with
out any fees)
must be how that 1% feel all the time

better be careful it may be contagious as i dont want to become one
of them

my suggestion to you is dont do this unless you are absolutely
disciplined enough to pay these cards off each month
failure to do so will make you their financial slaves again

beware

NASCAR
love nascar
love those uniforms and cars they have
am surprised the cowboys havent got logos all over their uniforms

thomas friedman in a new york times article came up with this great idea

us congressman should have to dress up like nascar drivers and wear
all the logos of the banks, investment companies, insurance companies,
and real estate companies that they are taking $$$ from
wouldnt be much uniform left to see on most of them

yes nascar congressmen
we know who really drives this country
most of us dont like it either

OA
the occupy oakland was successful
interesting that a lot of business down town had signs up supporting
the march
teachers, union workers, students, government employees, and school
children all marched that day
it was peaceful thank goodness
the port stopped working later in the day
the message was sent
we in america those 99% are ready for a change

this movement will probably affect the next election
especially for those who are incumbents on both parties
change of fresh faces probably will be evident in the new congress

we need change its time for this to happen
working americans need some breaks

get involved some way in the next election no matter what party
you are with and ask for some changes to take place

tomorrow the mirror, the advocate, the talk

the organicgreen doctor