Below is my family’s expenses for January:

• $840.39 - Mortgage
• $759.20 - health Insurance
• $507.48 - Groceries
• $450.00 - Preschool
• $382.55 - Electricity
• $305.88 - Contacts
• $168.36 - Clothing
• $134.07 - Household Misc
• $120.00 - Student Loan
• $111.22 - Dining Out
• $108.65 - Phone & Internet
• $85.00 - Tennis
• $65.00 - Donations
• $63.43 - Water, Sewer, & Garbage
• $61.91 - Bedding
• $42.94 - Gas
• $41.34 - Hair Care
• $40.00 - Pearl Jam
• $39.12 - Medical
• $34.08 - Gifts
• $30.53 - Yoga
• $23.50 - Kids care
• $22.26 - Dance Class
• $22.01 - B-Day Party
• $14.06 - Movies & Videos
• $14.00 - Babysitting

For a grand total of $4,486.98!

Even though we missed our $4200 goal that I just set last month, I’m not too disappointed.  You see, the $300+ spent for contacts was actually spent on Dec 31st. So if it wasn’t for that we would’ve made our goal, barely.

Biggest Budget Busters:

1. $507.48 - Groceries - Over a year ago I started paying cash at the grocery store. The last three months I’ve been charging my groceries to take advantage of credit card rewards. Sure enough we started spending more on groceries.  But as I mentioned before, I can’t blame it on the plastic. Instead the blame falls on Tony Gonzalez  and his all-pro diet. Hemp Milk Smoothies are expensive!
2. $382.55 - Electricity - Not only is this a high electric bill, it also means that we didn’t pay very much down on the student loan.   While it is a high bill, it this is way better than last year.
3. $168.36 - Clothing - Things really got our of control in this category.  It started out simple enough with taking unwanted Christmas items back and picking up a few other items.  Then a clearance sale was hit, then another.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

1. $65.00 - Donations - Yes I know this is a little higher than it normally is, but like many of you probably did, we gave a little extra to help Haiti out.  If you’re looking for a quick ay to help out a little more here’s my recommendation on how to help.
2. $40.00 - Pearl Jam - Last January I was raked over the coals for spending $180 on my favorite band.  S0 clearly this is a huge improvement.   It helps that there is not a special edition album coming out.
3. $0.00 - Dog.  Timing has been biting us in this category the last couple of months.  But with no medication and no food needed to be bought in January, we finally catch a break.

~Let’s do the Time Warp~

As I’ve already mentioned, last January I received plenty of feedback on my Pearl Jam spending.  In addition to that, it was also the first month that we started paying our health insurance.  So now at least  these month-to-month time warps will be fair.  And in the first “fair” comparison, we spent $4205.68 last year vs. $4486.98 this year.

Darn contacts!

Until next time,

-DD

I figured it being January and all that it was time I gave a look to see how we are sitting debt-wise.  Last January when I did this we still had $99,625 in debt. This was comprised of:

• $94,274 - Mortgage
• $5,350  - Student Loan

As of today we now owe……..drumroll……$96,055, which is comprised of:

• $92,534 - Mortgage
• $3,521 - Student Loan

So in the last 12 months we paid down $3,500+ of debt.

Pathetic!

Even though I’m going back to school and barely working, I still thought we’d do better than that.  But looking back, I don’t see why I should be disappointed.  You have to make payments to actually pay the debt!

When our mortgage increased, I started only paying the minimum (I use to pay a couple of bucks extra before to make it a round number).  Which meant that our only hope of seeing any improvement was in paying down the student loan.

We started out in good shape in 2009.  I routinely paid an extra $75-100 a month.  But then for some reason in the summer I stopped this and went down to only paying $20-$50 extra.  And that is how we ended up only taking a $3,500 bite out of our debt.

What’s sad is that by this time next year I’ll have my own student loan to pay back.  I really wanted to be done with Mrs DD’s loan before mine kicked in.   That definitely won’t happen with my willy nilly payback plan.

So I came up with a new one.

Starting this month I’m going use a system where I designate $500 a month for our electric bill and our student loan payment combined.  For example in January the electric bill is $380, so I paid $120 on the student loan to come up with the $500.

Last year we spent a combined $4620 on these two categories ($2575 on electricity and $2045 on the student loan). So committing to increase this total to $6000 next year is a pretty big jump.  But I think it will be worth it.

Admittedly there is a slight problem with my plan.  What happens when I get socked with super high electric bills?  If that happens (which I’m pretty sure it will next month) I plan on paying the minimum on the loan and then make up the spending difference in future months when our electric bills are lowered.  So while a few month’s total might be over $500, the total spent on the year for these two categories will be $6000.

If I stick to this plan, it would be smart to utilize the budget option that my energy company offers so my payments would be stable and I’d know what they’d be in advance.  But where is the fun in that?

So, what do you think?  Am I crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

Do any of you have any irregular debt payment/saving plans that you feel like sharing with the rest of us?  Do you think that the “goofy” nature of  a plan helps or hinders the results?

I can see it both ways.

1. By making an individual plan it could provide extra motivation by giving a feeling of ownership over the idea, instead of just using a tried and true method such as the debt snowball.
2. But I also think strange plans could be a sign of a lack of focus and discipline, so a person could find themselves getting off track easily.

Hopefully #1 will be the case for us.

Until next time,

-DD

I don’t know about you, but I have been having a difficult time getting back into rhythm after the holidays.  Hopefully I can get back on track soon.  Until then here is my family’s spending report for last month.

• $840.39 - Mortgage
• $759.20 - Health Insurance
• $637.27 - Christmas Presents
• $472.44 - Groceries
• $450.00 - Preschool
• $223.42 - Household Misc
• $211.99 - flip video camera
• $155.83 - Gas
• $152.66 - Dog
• $150.00 - Student Loan
• $148.35 - Boots
• $146.64 - Electricity
• $145.79 - Bed
• $103.65 - Phone & Internet
• $70.00 - Donations
• $66.78 - Clothes
• $65.20 - B-Day Gifts
• $63.67 - Garage Door Repair
• $55.00 - Babysitting
• $53.32 - Utilities (Water, Sewer, Garbage)
• $53.00 - Yoga classes
• $50.98 - Dinning Out
• $44.52 - Dance class (2 months)
• $25.00 - Club membership
• $14.00 - Haircut
• $13.86 - i-tunes
• $13.45 - Kids care

For a grand total of $5161.41! We have absolutely no business spending this much.  When I told Mrs DD the damage, her response was,”Wow.”

Biggest Budget Busters:

1. $637.27 - Christmas Presents - If you combine this total with what we spent last month ($152.56) We almost spent $800 on Christmas gifts this year. Last year we only spent $600. A big difference is that we spent a lot on our kids this year. It seemed like there was always one more thing to get.  Another reason why this seems high is that we bought presents for 25 people this year.  We need to shave this number down next year. We were able to cut out a few, but they were replaced with others.
2. $223.42 - Household Misc - I should’ve kept track, but well over half of this was for Christmas decorations.  We hit up the after Christmas 50% off sale, so I guess that means that we’ll be set up for next year.
3. $211.99 - flip video camera - My wife doesn’t make very many impulse purchases, so I won’t jump down her throat when she does.  Gwyneth Paltrow blogged about these cameras, and it made my wife realize that we don’t video tape our kids enough.  We did use it for the holidays, hopefully we’ll use it all year long.
4. $148.35 - Boots - Mrs DD takes another hit.  But this is South Dakota and you need a good pair of boots for winter.  She’s been complaining about hers for years so she went out and got herself a pair.  I didn’t even notice until the we went back to the store and the sales clerk asked her how her boots were treating her.
5. $145.79 - Bed - We decided it was time for our 2-year old son to get out of the crib. So a quick trip to the furniture store(twin mattress), then the Hardware store (plywood board instead of box spring), and one last trip to Target (Race Car sheets) made this rite of passage complete.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

1. $146.64 - Electricity - Since we spent over 5k last month I don’t think there are any budget breakthroughs, but somehow our electricity came in at a reasonable amount. This will change next month because thanks to the Christmas blizzard we are now living in an icebox(had a record low of -30 degrees two days ago), but I will enjoy the lower bills while they last (won’t be long).

~Let’s do the Time Warp~

Last December we only spent $3903.52, so clearly the wheels fell off this year.  Sure last year we didn’t pay for our health insurance, but quite a few other categories were higher last year (Daycare, Groceries, Electricity).  We just plain spent a lot this year.

In fact in 2009 we spent $54,659.91 ($4554.99/month).  I’d like to see this number drop closer to $50,000 next year, so we need to reduce our spending to the $4200/month range.  It’s going to be difficult, especially seeing as how we spent $4300 or less in only 5 of the 12 months in 2009. But I think it’s doable.

It’s fortuitous timing that The Simple Dollar is running a series on how to trim the family budget. Although in our case the best advice would probably be to stop buying so much stuff.

Until next time,

-DD

You guessed it, she wants Zhu Zhu Pets!!!

For those of you who are lucky enough to not know what they are, watch this commercial:

She first told me about Zhu Zhu Pets a couple of months ago, after she saw a commercial for them during Saturday morning cartoons (darn cartoons). She made me come and watch it with her so I knew what she was talking about.  They seemed cute, but nothing special.

They didn’t look like they’d be very expensive, so at first I encouraged her, saying things like, “We’ll add it to your list” or “Make sure to and tell Santa.”

I never would guessed how much those words would come back to bite me!

I was right about them being cheap($8-$10), but that is only if you are lucky enough to find them.  They’ve been flying off the shelves for weeks.

A Mom in my daughter’s dance class told us the story of how she got lucky and found some for her daughter.  She was walking by just as they were unloading the boxes.  She grabbed two for her daughter, then continued her shopping.  But she quickly went back to grab two more for her nephew.  When she got there she found a lady putting all the rest into her cart.

Here’s the best part, she told us that she figured that lady must have a pretty big family.

Yeah right.  We may live in the sticks, but we have ebay in South Dakota and that lady is making a killing right now.  They may be hard to find in brick & mortar stores, but they are available online, such as Amazon marketplace (For added enjoyment, read the comments on Mr Squiggles).

I don’t blame people who scooped them up for $8 and are trying to make a quick buck.  Heck, my Dad did this during the cabbage patch kid craze in the 80’s. He got stuck with some extra, so I got one even though, as a young boy, I had no interest in those dolls (Honest to God I had no interest. OK, OK, maybe there was a slight level of curiosity, but that was it!).

I’m sure there are many people who will pay plenty to make sure that Santa doesn’t disappoint there precious little angels.   Just today my wife’s step-sister called to tell us that she talked to Toys R Us and was informed of a great deal.  A couple of the Zhu Zhus and some accessories for only $100.

What a deal!

The funny thing is that we’ve already bought our kids their presents.  But the grandparents are freaking out about not being able to find them.  My folks ended up buying some generic hamster in a wheel (hoping that my daughter won’t notice).  And my in-laws have enlisted almost everybody they know to find one.

It’s all rather comical really.

How about you Happy Rock readers, have you been sucked up in the Zhu Zhu matrix?  Or have you managed to escape it somehow?

If you promise not to tell I’ll let you in on what my daughter IS getting.  I have it on good authority that Santa is bringing “my precious little angel” a Yo-Yo.  And there will also be a letter from Santa informing her that if she’s really really good, she’ll get a Zhu Zhu pet in the spring*.

Until next time,

-DD

*Our local Target has discontinued Zhu Zhu Pets due to the fact that the company that makes them is too small to keep up with demand.  They expect to start carrying them in March.

As you long time readers know, I track my family’s expenses.  Below is the damage from November:

• $840.39 - Mortgage
• $759.20 - Health Insurance
• $600.32 - Dishwasher (Repair & Replace)
• $520.49 - Groceries
• $450.00 - Preschool
• $176.73 - Household Misc
• $155.00 - Student Loan
• $152.56 - Christmas Presents
• $148.19 - Electricity
• $141.73  - Beauty Products/Services
• $114.06 - Dog
• $103.65 - Phone/Internet
• $89.98  - Contacts
• $85.00  - Eye Exam
• $77.92  - Dinning Out
• $67.72  - Gas
• $56.00  - Utilities (Garbage, Sewer, Water)
• $42.40   - Gift
• $42.35  - Vehicle maintenance
• $36.96  - Medical
• $34.00  - Donations
• $14.51  - Kids Care
• $4.81   - Kids fun
• $2.00   - Tennis
• $0.17   -  Music (i-Tunes)

For a grand total of $4717.14!

I’m a little surprised this total wasn’t higher.

Biggest Budget Busters:

1. $600.32 - Dishwasher (Repair & Replace) - In the middle of the month we noticed that the dishwasher wasn’t getting dishes that clean anymore.  Then it quit draining.  So we had it serviced ($85).  Then after a week, it acted up again.  Instead of putting more money into it, we replaced it ($515).  Not how we wanted to start the holidays
2. $520.49 - Groceries - Hey, we spent $10 less than last month!!! But it’s still way over what we normally spend.  The $50 I spent on Hemp milk probably didn’t help (We’re still having smoothies for breakfast).
3. $152.56 - Christmas Presents - I’m including this here, because while this total isn’t so bad yet, I fear it’s the tip of the iceberg.  As much as I want to stimulate the economy, I think its best to nip this category in the bud before it gets out of hand.
4. $141.73  - Beauty Products/Services - For once none of this is for me  Half of this is for skin care products for my 2-yr old son (he has horribly dry skin) and the other half was for my lovely wife.
5. $114.06 - Dog - This seems high, but half of it is food (big bag) and half of it is for eye drops.  Luckily both of these things will last for a while, so it’s not like we spend this month every month.  Although I did notice that she’s due for some shots.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

1. $14.51  - Kids Care - The above mentioned 2-yr old, the one with really dry skin, is getting closer to being potty trained.  I can’t wait until I don’t have to buy diapers anymore.
2. $0.17   -  Music (i-Tunes) - This is the first time I have ever listed an expense in this category.  You know why?  iTunes gift cards.  Two Christmas’s ago I made out like a bandit and I haven’t spent a non Pearl Jam dime on music since.  Well they finally ran out (hence the strange total), so I’m on my own again.  Hey, speaking of Pearl Jam, did you catch them on Austin City Limits?   ROCK ON!!!

~Let’s do the Time Warp~

Last November we only spent $3129.00!   Holy European Carry-all Batman, how can that be?

Before I freak out too much I should point out that if you take out Health Insurance and the Dishwasher, we’d be looking pretty spiffy this month too.

And lets face it, looking spiffy is what it’s all about.

Until next time,

-DD

This is where my idea for 5 Simple Things comes into play.  The plan is to create 5 simple goals, one for each of the most important roles/areas in my life.   And when I say simple I mean very simple.  Simple enough so that you can get your victory juices flowing again.    Simple wins that help get you keyed up for larger changes.  Its very similar to the psychology behind the debt snowball.

Here are the  main areas that are important to me:

1. Husband
2. Father
3. Disciple(Christian Faith)
4. Entrepreneur
5. Employee
6. Outside Relationships(Friends and Family)
7. Personal

Obviously I am not going to address all of those with 5 simple tasks and honestly that isn’t the point.  The purpose is to see what is important to you and make an intentional decision as to what you will tackle to get things moving in the right direction.  Below are the 5 simple things I chose to accomplsih in list form so that I can cross them off as I go.

There you have it.  Uber-simple.  Easy too accomplish.  Very important to me and in a relatively short time frame.

I didn’t overextend myself, yet it will still require dedication and effort.    I will reevaluate this weekend to see how I feel and what I think the next step will be.  If anyone is interested in joining in with their own 5 simple things, I would love the company.

Update: I call the experiment a success even though I technically failed. Twice my littlest son woke up sick at about 11:15 right once during my work our and once on my way to bed. I did accomplish everything on the list, although bed times were slightly off due to circumstances out of my control. The success did give me a boost; unfortunately I am crazy busy at work which will cause a life imbalance until the month is over. I think I will have to wait until the new year until I will have the time and energy to kick some more todo butt.

Here is the latest installment of my family’s monthly expenses. Below are the results from October:

• $840.39 - Mortgage
• $759.20 - Health Insurance
• $675.00 - Life Insurance
• $531.67 -  Groceries
• $450.00 - Preschool
• $166.51 - Halloween Party
• $160.00 - Student Loan
• $158.18 - Gas
• $120.35 - Electricity
• $113.50 - Donations
• $103.71 - Phone & Internet
• $89.00 - Books
• $75.82 - Dinning out
• $61.02 - Utilities (Water, Sewer, Garbage)
• $47.07 - Car Maintenance
• $42.38 - Cookware
• $31.26 - Clothes
• $28.60 - Shoes
• $26.60 - Kids Care
• $26.53 - Gifts
• $22.26 - Dance Class
• $20.00 - Medical
• $14.00 - Hair Cut
• $10.74 - Beauty Products
• $10.54 - Household Misc
• $8.00 - Kids Fun
• $2.00 - Tennis

For a grand total of $4594.33!

Actually considering that we paid our life insurance premium this month.  I don’t think this is all that bad.

Biggest Budget Busters:

1. $531.67 -  Groceries.   Go back a couple of posts and you’ll see me talk about how I’m using my credit card for the next three months instead of cash to pay for groceries.  I said I hoped it wouldn’t alter my average spending on groceries which had been $381.43.  HA!  I blew that right out of the water.  But here’s the deal, I can’t totally blame this increase on using plastic.  A couple days after I wrote that post my wife & I decided to give Tony Gonzalez’s “All Pro Diet” a try.  The big thing for us was the smoothie for breakfast which will hopefully give us energy.  It involves hemp milk, protein powder, and a bunch of natural/organic foods.  Needless to say this increases our grocery expense. (My preliminary estimates are $55.41)
2. $166.51 - Halloween Party - Back when Mrs DD & I lived in the Twin Cities a friend of ours threw amazing Halloween parties.  So when we moved back to South Dakota, my wife wanted to throw one herself.  I fought her off for years, but she finally wore me down.  It was pretty fun. We had great food (another reason this month’s budget is out of whack), games, and some fun costumes.  But the best thing is, my wife decided it wasn’t worth all the hassle, so we’ll stick to plain old “trick or treating” next year. When I told her this total, she was surprised on how quick everything added up.  But at least it was cheaper than my B-Day party.
3. $89.00 - Books - I know what you’re saying, “DD how can someone who professes to love the library end up spending so much money on books?”  Well I’ll tell you how. Killing time in a Barnes & Noble is how.   My wife had an engagement shoot in Sioux Falls and I thought I’d waste some time in the bookstore.  Time wasn’t the only think I wasted. Actually only one of the books was an impulse buy.  The others are super cool and I’m glad I got them.  For example one is an historical account of my home town, and there is a picture of my house in it (with a horse & buggy going by).  How could I pass that up?  Of course this total also reflects the above mentioned diet book.  Time will tell if that ends up being a waste or not.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

1. $75.82 - Dinning out - It seems strange to me saying that spending $75 on eating out is a breakthrough, but with two out of town trips and a “girls night out” this total could’ve easily been much worse.  That is the breakthrough.
2. $8.00 - Kids Fun - I already mentioned our family fall weekend that set us back a whopping $6, but I also wanted to bring up the best $1 I spent all month.   My mother in law was in town for Halloween(I think there was a witch convention or something) that meant a trip to the mall.   A mini arcade has gone in right next to the food court, so I thought it would be a blast to have our kids play the car racing game.  I was right! With my 2 year old son on my lap and my 4 year old daughter on my wife’s, my kids put on a clinic on how to drive.  It was hilarious.  I haven’t laughed so hard in a long, long time.
3. $2.00 - Tennis - This is how much a can of balls cost me.  And thanks to four straight cancellations in my tennis league, that can will last a long time.  Hopefully I remember how to play.

~Let’s do the Time Warp~

Last October we spent $4211.94.

Considering that we weren’t paying for our own Health Insurance then, I think we’re right in line with our spending from last year.  I see that I complained about a high grocery bill last year too.

499.75 - Groceries - We’re getting too close to the $500 level for my comfort.  But I have good news. My daughter’s food allergies have weakened enough so we no longer have to avoid wheat & dairy.  This should help lower the cost of groceries going forward.

So clearly we like to eat high on the hog in October.

Until next time,

-DD

Late October is an exciting time for sports fans.  Football is in full swing, we get the World Series and the NBA season tips off as well.  A little something for everybody.

With that in mind a couple of stores in today’s news caught my eye.

The first is nothing new.  It is one of seemingly limitless talent being greatly rewarded with riches beyond most of our dreams.

Antoine Walker was an NBA superstar.  In his 13 year playing career he made $110 Million dollars.  The Boston Globe is now reporting that he is trouble for writing $1 million in bad checks to Vegas casinos. Not only that but it also tuns out that he owes other creditors upwards of $4 million. Even his old agent is after him for unpaid bills.

Off the court, there were the cars, the jewelry, the houses, the suits, the gambling. He liked to move in an outsized entourage; his mother estimates that, during his playing days, he was supporting 70 friends and family members in one way or another. And speaking of his mother, he built her a mansion in the Chicago suburbs, complete with an indoor pool, 10 bathrooms, and a full-size basketball court.

Maybe he can move back in with his Mom.

In the middle of stories of Walker living the high life there was a line in the article that stood out to me:

NBA agents and players contacted for this article say an annual “burn rate’’ of $2 million to $4 million isn’t unusual for the living expenses of an elite player.

Yowsers!  ”Burn” rate is right.

While I shake my head when hearing stories like this one, I also can see why this sort of thing happens.   A lot of superstars (not just athletes, take Nicolas Cage for example) are elite at what they do, but they don’t know squat about money.  They don’t spend their time perusing PF blogs.

A good example of this can be seen on the show Hard Knocks.

Hard Knocks is a show that gives you an inside look at an NFL team during training camp. This year the Cincinnati Bengals are the featured team. Chad Ocho Cinco is their star wideout. They show him talking with his coach about what to do with his money.   Check it out here. (Go to the 4:57 mark…WARNING, there is plenty of explicit language)

I don’t know about you, but after watching that clip I have a feeling that he isn’t set up for retirement (although maybe he will be fine since he doesn’t waste money on contraptions).

But something tells me that Phil Coke will be.

Phil Coke is relief pitcher for the New York Yankees and according to a Yahoo article he is also one of the lowest paid members of the Yankees.   Granted his salary of $400,000 is way out of my league, but I’m still impressed with how down to earth he is.

His first full season of big league paychecks doesn’t mean he’s moved into a penthouse suite on the Upper East Side. Coke rents a furnished apartment in New Jersey, one that runs him about $2,500 a month.

Now that is something that I can relate too.

He may never end up making HUGE money, but something tells me he’ll be just fine when he is done playing baseball.

The lesson these two stories demonstrate is simple. Live within your means. 

Until next time,

-DD

Or does it?

Baker at Man vs Debt, recently posted on why he doesn’t use credit cards. His personal morals don’t allow him to support an industry that he doesn’t agree with.  I thought he made a great case and I applaud his ideals (I can relate since I’m an occasional idealist as well).  But will it change my mind on credit cards rewards?

Hmmm…that’s a tough one.

I primarily use a Discover card. As many are aware, Discover card offers cashback on all purchases. In addition to that, they run quarterly specials that offer 5% cashback.  This quarter’s(Oct-Dec) special is for two of my favorite things:

1. Food (Grocery stores & restaurants)
2. Movies (Movie theaters and video rental stores).

You long time readers might remember that my Christmas budget is financed through my cashback amount. This system has worked out great for us. Last year we had $420 to spend thanks to this system.

The same long time readers will remember that I started paying cash for more of my purchases than I used to.  While I love the fact that my credit card bills are much lower then they used to be, this has reeked havoc on my cashback rewards.  It looks like we’ll only have a little over $200 this year.

But $200 is better than nothing right?

While I do love my rewards, I get to also see the other side of the equation.

My wife is a photographer.  Her clients sometimes pay for her services via credit card.  Even though she has a super low transaction fee (1.5%) which comes to chump change, she hates paying it.  I don’t blame her, as the silent partner, I get to see how the “chump change” can add up in a hurry and take a bite out of a small business.

With the passage of credit card reform, it was clear that plenty of people have similar feelings to Baker when it comes to the credit card industry.  I’ve seen the darker side of the industry first hand.

After my father died we went through his paperwork and found out he had recently declared bankruptcy a 2nd time. His mail was then forwarded to me.  Almost all of it was credit card offers.  I couldn’t believe it.

So will I join Baker’s cause, cut up my cards and stop supporting the credit industry, or will I stop paying cash and start charging groceries for an extra 5% off?

I signed up for the quarterly special.

I guess I fall into the camp that thinks credit cards are like tools (Which is funny because I’m not handy at all). If you use them correctly, they can make things easier. If you use them incorrectly you can really screw things up.  And as ESPN taught me, “A good craftsman doesn’t blame his tools.”

On a personal note I’ll be curious to see if I end up spending more by reverting back to credit cards at the grocery store.   Over the last three months I’ve spent an average of $381.43 on groceries.

The extra rewards will be worthless if I end up spending more than I normally would.  Which is exactly what Discover and my local grocery store want me to do.

So where do you stand in this debate?  Are you cutting up your cards, or are you swiping away?

Unitl next time,

-DD

Normally you won’t hear me say too many good things about North Dakota. As a resident of South Dakota, I’m hard pressed to name anything good coming out of North Dakota besides Hwy 281(I stole that line from Tom Brokaw (former South Dakotan)).

But I feel I must tread carefully.  After all I don’t want to upset any of the North Dakotans who can actually read, so I’ll quit poking fun of them before it’s too late.

It pains me to say this, but North Dakota has a lot going for it.

Their economy is doing great.  They have a budget surplus and an unemployment rate under 5%.

I first remember seeing this back in June on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brian:

Then in August I heard this report on the NPR show Marketplace.

And then just the other day this was on Fox News (so it must be true):

They must be up to something up there, because I see this commercial on my TV almost every night:

So there you have it, if you need a job, move to North Dakota and you’ll be “whistling while you work” in no time.

Until next time,

-DD