Gather Little by Little

In today’s busy and hurried society, we want everything now. Think about some of the “instant” things we have in life.

On-demand TV programming. 30-minute 30-second meals. Instant messengers. Drive-thru options for just about any store (because who wants to get out of their car for anything?!). The list goes on and on.

We want what we want, and we want it now.

Welcome to America.

But if we were to go through each of our closets, dig under our beds, or browse around our attics, we would find plenty of items that would fall into the category: “I just had to have it.”

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We have read short-story books to our children since they were able to sit still, but lately we have been sharing longer books with our daughters in the evenings. We are reading a chapter a day from the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and our five year old and six year old are currently enjoying Farmer Boy. Laura Ingalls Wilder books are certainly not cutting edge fiction or drama, but they have a charm that winds up being a good way to end the day. The stories are from a simpler time when all one had on which to depend was family, neighbors, God, and the ability to work, work, work. The accounts of the amount of labor required just to make a meal, much less run a farm is nothing short of amazing. The Wilders farmed in upstate New York in the 1850′s and everyone in the family worked long hours from the earliest age. The story is set when Almanzo (Laura Ingall’s future husband) was nine years old.

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I signed up for Netflix online movie rental a few weeks ago. So far we love it and are very happy with our decision and their service. We did wonder about Blockbuster vs. Netflix though for a while. I thought I’d share some details about Netflix with you and offer it up as a great way to potentially save money. We’re looking at it as one of the options for getting rid of our monthly satellite TV service.

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With increasing budget restraints, I have been struggling with health insurance premiums just like many others in the current economic situation. However, being in the business, I am considering some options to lower my rates while making sure I still have the best coverage when I need it.

Although it is more difficult, it is still possible to find affordable health insurance, you just have to know what to look for! As you probably know, your rates for individual health insurance will depend upon many factors. We need to examine these to determine what we can control.

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Adam and Dave were the best of friends. They met sometime during middle school. They lived in the same neighborhood, road the same bus, and had the same interests. Both came from well off middle class families.   Their fathers even worked for the same company.

When they became of working age, they both obtained jobs and that is where one key difference emerged between the two of them. See, Adam was a spender and Dave was a saver. Turns out this small difference became a huge difference as they grew older.

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I am new here! Please be nice.

I am a husband and father in my mid-thirties. My life experiences are relatively broad for someone of my age. If you are not careful, I might try to sound like an expert in several areas, but don’t let that fool you. I don’t claim expertise in anything. Mostly, I just know enough to be dangerous. The best way for me to communicate who I am is with a list:

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• I attended private schools throughout grade school and high school. My parents were teachers in all of them.

This article is part of the Ask the M-Network series. Helen submitted a question and asked:

Should we put our 401K into Flexible Premium Deferred Variable Annuity, Flexible Premium Deferred Variable annuity or an IRA?

Pinyo from Moolanomy responded:

IRA, period. Actually, this is a good question that deserves further explanation. Deferred annuities allow you to invest tax-deferred for retirement, similar to an IRA. But there is one important difference to recognize. Annuities are insurance products sold by insurance companies, whereas an IRA is an investment account with a special purpose (for retirement) and tax status (tax-deferred). Once you recognize this, you’ll understand why I answered “IRA, period”. Now, let’s look at this further.

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Earlier this year, the organization where I work was forced to lay off ten percent of our full time workforce. I survived this particular round of layoffs, but  I knew that I would have to make a conscious effort to make sure that I stay employed. I am not necessarily scared of unemployment, I trust that God will find a way to meet our needs. In fact, there is actually a part of me that looks forward to seeing what might unfold under such a scenario, but this does not mean that I am going to volunteer for unemployment. I plan to be thankful for and content in the job I have. I hope to be a good steward of what has been entrusted to me.

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I’ve been working from home full-time now for about 5 months and I’ve very quickly come to realize that not only is it far more enjoyable, but it’s saving me money. Here’s how it’s reduced my expenses:

Gas/Commuting

When I was driving back and forth to work each day, I was spending roughly $200 a month in gas alone, not to mention the more difficult to calculate wear and tear on my vehicle. Now, I spend about $80 for work related travel as I do go into the office once a month. Net savings: $120.00.

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I am still in a state of shock and amazement, but my article Do you appreciate what you have? made it to the final Challenge! This was of course thanks to you and all of the Free Money Finance readers who voted for me. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

Now it’s between me and Pete from Bible Money Matters. It’s truely a blessing to have both of the final articles be from Christian personal finance blogs!

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