From Blog Photos

Yesterday, I spent 35 minutes of my lunch hour putting groceries in my shopping cart and drooling on the box of brownies I was going to bake.

Fortunately before I put my stuff on the conveyor belt, I looked in my wallet for my debit card because I hate when people reach the cashier and act like they do not know they have to pay. You know they want your money, give it to them! Have your MOP (method of payment) ready!

Oh and don’t write a check and ask who to make it out to! You’re in Shop-Rite, take a guess. I can’t work with the public, I have a low tolerance for questions and would end up beating somebody with a loaf of bread. Okay pet peeve.

However, after realizing that I had neither paper or plastic MOP, I sheepishly spent the next 5 minutes putting some of the groceries back and left the rest in the proverbial “Isle 5.”

So, while most people were leaving with smiles and a few days worth of groceries, I left with a bottle of Tide and a box of Junior Mints. I am 37 today, what was my excuse yesterday?

I’m in the process of trying to integrate my personal website or at least give it the same look as my blog: my cut and paste version. My photographs have been moved to Flickr and can be viewed there or through this blog, the link is up top.

Anywho, a few days ago I got an email from Yahoo saying that their domain renewal will increase from $12.95 to $34.95. I have 8 domains registered with Yahoo and four with another registrar. I’m giving up the ones I don’t need.

As for the rest, I’m moving to another company, which registers them privately (something Yahoo charges extra for) for under $10. I don’t know why a domain name would cost $34.95, but if that is the going rate, someone please enlighten me. How much do you pay?

PS – Oh, I forgot to mention, that in the future if my blog is down, it’s because I’m changing registrars. I’ll be back. I’m testing a transfer now on a domain I want to keep to see how things work out.

Is there a such thing as being too successful for a mate? In this case I’m talking about a successful woman.

Of course. women have no problem dating a successful man and when I say successful, I mean doing well financially.

“Typically” the man is thought of as the breadwinner or the financial provider in the relationship.

That’s not so much the case today, women have their “stuff” together. We are smart, driven, we have careers, we own homes, we’re educated and may not be financially dependent on a man.

However being successful and dating doesn’t always go together. Some men are intimated and insecure about a woman who has achieved a measure of success that out weighs his own. He may feel that if she has all these “things” then why is he needed.

I came across this quote from a guy on this topic and he said: I’m not intimidated by successful women, but I’m not exactly comfortable with them in the long-term, neither.

Is the thought of being too successful an “issue” that women create or is it time for the men to get over their insecurities and learn to embrace her success?

Photo by LongHairBroad

Below is a brief and somewhat comical soap opera-ish video on this disease.

{vidavee id=”8178″ w=”320″ }

In a poll released last week (there’s a poll and study for everything, which I find to be a waste of money, but then we’d have no numbers) it showed that because of debt “23 percent of people had severe depression, 51 percent had muscle tension and 27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems”. Debt not only affects people financially, but also physically.

I will admit, it’s not easy delaying pleasure when it comes to spending money and buying stuff. I love nice things, I want nice things, I feel I deserve nice things, but I’m not willing to go into debt (any more) to get them. Not wanting to continue making payments on stuff for the rest of my life keeps my Affluenza bug under control. How do you go about keeping your life simple or have you been bitten? Has debt caused you any health (loss of sleep) problems? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

]]> http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/do-you-suffer-from-affluenza/feed/ 23 http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/friends-and-money/ http://thinkingoutloudblog.com/friends-and-money/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:30:24 +0000 Natural http://valeriemorrison.net/blog/?p=217 Q. What’s the quickest way to destroy a friendship?

A. Lend them money.

Okay maybe this is not true with everyone, there are some friends that we can lend money to and then there are friends that we shouldn’t lend money to, but we do anyway because: we’re friends, until they don’t pay us back.

Last week a friend of mine called, and I won’t mention any names, but their initials are Pat Johnson (ha ha, couldn’t resist, not their real name) and asked to borrow a couple thousand dollars. When I was resuscitated we continued the conversation and I said I don’t have it to lend, but I would be happy to sit down with them and help get their finances in order. I know that wasn’t the response they wanted to hear and I felt bad but trying to borrow our way out of debt just digs us into a deeper hole that’s harder to get out.

Personally, I don’t lend money. I have in the past, but IF I have it and you need it, I rather just give it to you. I can’t deal with lending someone money and then watching them not pay me back. They do and buy everything else with money and all I can think about is when are they going to pay ME back.

How would you have handled this situation? Have you ever loaned money to a friend and not been paid back? Are you still friends? Would you do it again? What about lending money to family members?

“Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an extremely important role in human societies.” Wikipedia

Several times while listening to a personal finance radio show I’ve heard callers call in about their inheritance from parents who are not even dead yet. It amazes me how some people feel a sense of entitlement just because they breath air, like they did something truly remarkable to deserve their inheritance.

I thought an inheritance was a gift and not a right.

This just got me thinking, how do you feel about what your parents have accumulated, if anything? Would it be ‘okay’ if they left you with nothing or would you feel like you’ve been jipped.

Do you ever wonder if your parents are spending your inheritance?

Whether you are married or single with significant other, discussions about money are bound to come up. Often times, these discussions turn into arguments, sometimes fights and even possibly divorce. Some couples avoid the money topic completely to maintain peace within the relationship, but that won’t work forever. So just how do you avoid arguments about money?

Communicate. If you want to avoid arguing about money, then you can’t be afraid to talk about it. Don’t wait until you are months into a relationship to at least start talking about some aspect of money. Some married couples have found it helpful to have frequent discussions about the family finances. If you are dating and marriage is imminent, don’t wait until you say “I do” to find out if you’re on the same page financially. If you’re single and dating, don’t wait until the check is on the table to decide who’s going to pick up the tab. Try to establish as much as you can before you’re faced with the situation.

Avoid Blame. Replace you with I. I’m no counselor of any kind, but I find this works with most arguments. Instead of pointing the finger at the other person saying: YOU spend too much, or YOU don’t know how to manage money try talking about your feelings. I feel scared about our financial future or I feel that we can do better with our finances. You can relax a person’s defenses by not starting a conversation with their faults. Avoid placing blame, nobody likes to be accused, even if they are in the wrong.

Be Satisfied. Be content with what you have instead of spending money on things you don’t need. Before you buy, ask yourself some questions: Is it really necessary to upgrade to the latest model? Do we really need a 52″ HD TV? Learning to be satisfied will help you live within your financial means without the added stress and money fights. Sometimes good enough really is just that, good enough.

Set Goals. Money is like time, if you don’t have a plan for it, eventually it will be gone. Setting financial goals as a couple or as a single person leaves less room for haphazardly spending money on stuff. Set specific goals, i.e. we would like to save $10,000 in 5 months or I would like to save $15,000 in 6 months. Keeping your goals in mind will help stave off frivolous spending.

These are just my top four ways, how do you and yours keep from having arguments about money? Do you mingle the money together or do you believe in yours, mine and ours?

Photo of couple by: Rojo.com
Photo in poll by DatingDames.com

If you are reading this in your RSS Reader, there is a poll within this post on my blog. Be sure to cast your vote!

Opinion Polls & Market Research