I wrote an article a few weeks back asking you for input on an Apple vs. a PC. First off, thanks for all the input, you all gave me a great deal to think about and consider. I ended up buying an Apple Macbook Pro 15″. It was really a tough decision, especially given the price difference, but here’s why I ended up going with the Mac:
All of us come from different family financial backgrounds and those experiences shape who we are today. I was brought up in a household where money was in scarce supply, but even more scarce was any discussion of money. My parents almost never discussed finances. Even though they were successful at handling this important tool, they did not do the greatest job in teaching their children about money.
I previously mentioned that I have been with the same girlfriend since the age of 15. We actually moved in together at a young age. As I was the only child in my family, I was fortunate enough to have my parents’ basement entirely to myself. I had a small kitchen, a pool table (that was actually my dining room table ;-) ), my TV with PlayStation and a huge double sized bedroom. I had asked my dad if we could remove the wall between 2 small bedrooms. I was lucky enough to have my own entrance and garage (the previous owner was renting the basement as a bachelor apartment). Life was great as a 16 year old teenager :-D
As our economy continues to sputter along, wise people will do everything possible to reduce debt and hold down costs. If you happen to be someone who is or lives in a household that is subject to very little debt, you have an opportunity to take advantage of some of the bargains that are out there. This is a great time to be in the market for a car, a house, clothes, food or almost anything else.
I want to thank everybody for commenting in our first contest. I must admit that I am really surprise about the number of comments. We actually recievec 146 comments! There was some great feed-back. Your input will help us keeping GLBL one of the best PF blog!
The winner of the iPod touch is….Joel!
The winners of the 2 gifst certificate at Amazon for $25 each are:
Patrick from Cash Money Life and Kim.
I will be sending an email to the winners during the weekend so they can get their prize.
I enjoy reading other bloggers and here are a few posts from around the personal finance blogosphere that I enjoyed this week:
Being Frugal wonders if there is ever a moral obligation to pay more. The reason cited in the post is related to employee compensation, i.e. should we choose Company A over Company B simply because their employees are better compensated – even if Company A costs more. I believe that a product or service is worth only what the market will bear. If Company A wants to charge more, they must demonstrate why their product or service is superior.
We’re almost half way through summer break and I don’t know about you but our kids are getting bored to death already. We’re constantly on the lookout for frugal or fairly frugal things we can do with our kids. We’ve been hiking, visited the library, visited historical areas and a number of other things. My wife had a great idea a few weeks ago: build the kids a fort.
I changed jobs over a year and a half ago and I still have not developed a frugal lunch routine. There are certain characteristics of my job that force me to eat out more than I like. At my last job, I always bagged my lunch or ran home for lunch every day. My former workplace was more structured and the people that I worked with had a high level of frugality. Much of that rubbed off on me. Since our move, I have not yet developed the discipline to make sure that I pack a lunch everyday.
At the beginning of the month, the most recent unemployment statistic was published. The USA reached double digits while Canada was close behind with 8.8% (as of June). The scariest aspect about these statistics is to think that once you stop receiving unemployment support payments; you don’t count as “unemployed” anymore. Therefore, the unemployment rate might be 10% in the States, but it is even higher in the “real world”. People stop receiving unemployment support but not necessarily because they have gotten a job.
Sometimes it really can be hard to control the small, impulse purchases. You know, the ones where you are just craving a burger, or a iced mocha or just one tiny, little candy bar. Maybe the temptation is not food for you. Perhaps you purchase the occasional movie through your cable service – just a couple of buttons on the remote for a great movie and just a small charge on your cable bill. What about that extra shade of lipstick or the scarf that matches only one outfit . . .but it looks great with your eyes?
