Some people think they’ll be financially set if they made X more number of dollars. Being broke or having debt is never their fault; it’s just because they don’t make enough money.  If they get that better job or a big raise, they’ll be set.

I don’t think so.  If that was true why would people that make millions, yes millions, of dollars have money woes (and so publicly)?  I can think of three celebrities who recently displayed their lack of monetary savvy.

1.  Last week Nicolas Cage lost two New Orleans homes to foreclosure auctions. Other homes in California and Las Vegas have already been foreclosed and are awaiting the auction block according to the CNN article.  Cage says it’s his former business manager’s fault, but I think he’s on the hook for at least not having better oversight and probably overspending (remember Superman and Elvis Presley obsessions?).

2.  If you are being sued by five construction firms for unpaid bills would you deny struggling financially? Apparently Pamela Anderson thinks she’s fine because she owns real estate in Canada. Oh, that makes sense. NOT.

3. The most shocking example of being a celebrity financial dummy was the late Ed McMahon.  I can’t imagine how much money he earned during his long successful career.  It was only last year that McMahon faced foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home. 

Donald Trump offered to buy the home and rent it back to the McMahon’s so they wouldn’t be out on the streets.  I don’t know how it ended up, but it was very sad to see the tale unfold on Larry King.

 Most celebrities, like most folks, are able to manage their finances well enough to at least keep out of the news.  Some have great business smarts.  50 Cent has even cut back and sells his older jewelry before buying more diamonds.  He has even offered to advise President Obama on the economy.  Even though that’s good strategy on jewelry purchases 50 Cent; thanks but no thanks on the national economy.

Now you know it doesn’t matter how much money you have or make.  Either way you can be a financial brain or dummy.  Which one are you?

Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009. All Rights Reserved.

Now that the usual flu season is here the swine flu, officially known as H1N1, has gained momentum in North America.  I’ve noticed many of my favorite personal finance bloggers have been infected this month.  They’re not the only ones.  President Obama declared a national emergency over the weekend to aid health care providers in responding to the influx of patients.

What’s the flu got to do with personal finance?

Although this is a health issue, it is also an economic one. Most companies are running pretty lean these days and our fragile economy might not handle it well with thousands of Americans out of the work force due to their or family members’ illness.  Less money earned is less money circulating. 

The health care cost of treating those that need more than self-treatment may leave some with more debt and less discrentionary income as they struggle to pay their share.   

What can I do? 

 1. Use common sense.  Wash your hands often, use a tissue when you sneeze or cough, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth and stay away from sick people.  Most of all, please stay home when you’re sick.  Your co-workers and customers would appreciate not being exposed.

2. Get vaccinated.  If you don’t have a health reason that disqualifies you get both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccines when available.   My employer offers free vaccinations to all employees each year.  It’s not offered just to make it convenient for employees.  This is to help prevent a flu wave from disrupting the company’s ability to do business effectively.

3.  Be cautious.  Whenever there is fear, there are people that take advantage of others and the “swine flu” scare is no exception.  There are a lot of people selling products claiming it will protect you from the flu.  Unless it’s soap, hand sanitizer or vaccine — I don’t think so.

Get more information on all things flu at the government website flu.gov.   Let’s be vigilant and healthy this flu season.

 Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/nishidaryuichi/ / CC BY 2.0

 Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009.  All Rights Reserved.

Mr. Boomer and I own a 1998 Ford Windstar that still runs fine, but is getting up there in mileage and age.  I seriously investigated the Cash for Clunkers program but the van’s MPG value was 1 over the program’s allowance. Since there was no longer any “free” money on the table, we decided to just keep the van as long as it lasts.

Now we find out that our vehicle, among 4.5 million others, has a new recall that if ignored can result in a vehicle fire. This fire can occur even when the car is turned off, unattended and parked. It’s so dangerous they asked owners not to park their car in the garage until the faulty cruise control switch is replaced.

This recall affects vehicle models as far back as 1994.  All I can say is, what took them so long!  I mean 15 years people have been playing with “fire” and putting their homes at risk by parking in the garage.  Yeesh!

Ford will begin formally notifying owners this week on the recall and how to get it resolved.  The free repair includes installation of a new cruise control deactivation switch and inspection of the ABS control connector for problems.  We’ve moved since our Ford was purchased as I’m sure many others have since 1994.  The number to call if you’re not notified is 800-392-3673.

We’ve had recall repairs done to this car and others over the years.  I just don’t recall one so dangerous and so late in the ownership.  If you have a Ford, check the list to see if your car’s model is listed.  If you don’t own a Ford but do not have your car regularly maintained at a dealer, you might want to check the manufacturer for recalls on their website.  You just never know.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/dok1/ / CC BY 2.0

Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009. All Rights Reserved.

The regular baseball season ends today and this coming week will be the start of postseason play.  My beloved Padres were not a promising team this year and they held up to that prediction.  But the wonderful thing about baseball is that hope springs eternal for next season!

My week was busy at work and home after returning from vacation.  To add to the usual post-vacation catch-up I will be traveling all week for business starting today so I had pre-trip preparation.  Oh well, it makes life interesting.  On to the week’s reading and carnivals!

Editor’s Picks

1.  Why (and How) You Need To Review Your Credit Card Statement. A few months ago, I had difficulty getting a credit from Amazon.com for returned merchandise (due to an inaccurate address).  Despite being told multiple times, I would have a credit somehow it never happened.  I disputed the charge with American Express and was successful in getting a refund.  

Based on my own experience, I think you should read this article by Craig Ford @ Moolanomy Personal Finance which includes the importance of reviewing credit card statements and how to handle inaccurate transactions.

2. Dealing with the Recession. This past week I wrote about my family’s fallout from the recession. I thought this post by Living Almost Large was a good overall look at how people have dealt with the recession in general.  She also has a post this past week on joining accounts which is something Mr. Boomer and I will probably due before I retire.

3.  101 Ways to Give. Giving is a topic I’ll write about later this month. Craig @ Money Help for Christians offers 101 ideas on how to give of your money, time and talents.  It made me look at giving as not having to be big to make a difference.  You may find you give more already than you knew!

4. 5 Ways to Win the Race to Retirement.Having walked a marathon in the past I appreciated the analogy of the journey to retirement as to running (or walking) a marathon. Jtopp@ Redeeming Riches writes about this longer journey and how to stay on track.

5. Retirement Planning and Social Securitycountdown.  I had to include this article by Mr. GoTo @ Go To Retirement (after all Retirement is part of this blog’s title).  Of note is the five milestones on the social security timeline.  I’ve hit the first one!
 

Carnivals

I participated in the Baby Boomer’s U.S. (The Blog) Carnival for the first time.  This is a blog dedicated to all things baby boomer.

Baby Boomers Blog Carnival Seventh Edition/ @ Baby Boomer’s U.S. (The Blog)
Festival of Frugality 197th Edition @ Funny About Money

Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009. All Rights Reserved.

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Faun Family by Claude Michel, 1785

 I came back from my girls trip last week to find the recession had hit close to home while I was having sun and fun. My daughter-in-law was laid off from her job she’s been at for 10 years. This news dimmed my post-vacation glow as she and my son have a 2 month old son (who is the cutest baby in the world according to this grandma) and with that comes extra costs and responsibility.

This isn’t the first time the recession has hit family.  A sister’s husband was laid off nearly a year ago and has still not found permanent work.  A couple of nephews have been laid off in the past year.  Other family members still have jobs have had cutbacks in hours.

While the recession may be on the road to recovery, it doesn’t feel like it to these family members and millions of other Americans.  And people are still losing their jobs.  Over half a million new claims were filed last week.

Survivor Guilt

I feel a little guilty that the recession has not really impacted Mr. Boomer and I.  It’s been written about many times that this is a common feeling at workplaces with layoffs but it also happens in families and social circles.  Even though my employer is in a secure niche related to healthcare technology I worry that if it can happen to them, it can happen to me.  At the same time, it feels selfish to be worrying about myself.

Supporting Family

 Earlier this year, the state of Washington posted this article written by Susan Gilpatrick from the Centerstone Wellness Program about managing job loss grief which has some good tips on being supportive.

1. Before giving advice acknowledge the loss and the emotions that accompany it.
2. Be their cheerleader and offer emotional strength.
3. Be on the same team.
4. Join in on the journey.
5. Take a breather now and then to remain healthy.
6. Ask how you can help.

I can’t say I’ve been the  best letting my extended family know how much I empathize and care.  This is definitely something I plan to work on.  I am grateful that so far we’ve all managed to survive, are not homeless and are healthy.  How have you and your family been impacted by the recession?

Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009.  All Rights Reserved.

When I first read that the recession had hit men harder than women I didn’t think much about it. It made sense because the job fields least affected by the recession (education,  government and health care) are dominated by women.  Although probably not long-lasting, women are expected to be the majority employed gender in the next month according to the US Bureau of Labor and reported by USA Today. 

Role Changes

What does this mean to the American culture in general and today’s men and women specifically? Francine Huff @ WalletPop wonders if there will be more househusbands.  Although I’ve never seen the show referenced, “Househusbands of Hollywood“, I know a househusband.

In fact if your a regular reader, you know him too.  Yep, Mr. Boomer is a househusband.   He had already had his career when we met and was starting an early retirement.  Cupid had other plans and marrying me meant raising two more kids.  Since my job involved travel for days at a time and sometimes long hours, Mr. Boomer staying retired worked best for us.

Many men managing the household now might totally relinquish the role or move to a shared role with their partner once they are gainfully employed again.  But some families might decide the husband staying home is the best solution for their family. 

Cultural Changes

Does this mean that the breadwinner role is now gender-neutral? I hope so.  More and more women were already outearning their partners before the recession.  Now that the women have often been the primary wage-earner people may be getting used to it.

What about the role of household manager?  Will this get rid of the idea of  men’s work or women’s work?  Again, I hope so!  Mr. Boomer’s mom never could quite understand our situation even though it clearly made us both happy.  I’m sure there are many other family members and friends that think the same way.

The important thing is that couples work together as a team no matter who earns the money or minds the home.

Content © Bucksomeboomer  2009.  All Rights Reserved.

Related Posts:
Have We Moved from Recession to Recovery
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It’s the first anniversary I’ve celebrated on bucksomeboomer.com.  I can’t believe it’s been one whole month of blogging.  I’ll be sharing my thoughts on my experience to date in the next post so please stay tuned!
Buck$omeboomer’s Financial Path to Retirement
As usual my peers and masters in the personal finance blogosphere published valuable material again this week.  Here’s my top 5.

1. Book Week 2009. Craig at Money Help for Christians kicked off his book week with 5 reasons why people should read more.  Mr. Boomer and I are lifetime readers so this selection was obvious to me.  Later posts in the week include top christian financial authors, where to buy books for less and the best way to sell books online.

2. Emergency Funds. I couldn’t resist the fire truck image for this topic! Craig at Suburban Dollar included this in a article series on back to basics.  Although I don’t agree with his representation of Dave Ramsey’semergency fund philosophy (which is 3-6 months of living expenses in baby step 3), he offers good information that can’t be heard too often in this post and the series.

3. 55 Ways to Simplify your Finances.I have to include Wojciech Kulicki of Fiscal Fizzle’s list just because of the sheer volume, let alone the fact that these many little things can make a kaizen difference.  Plus number 55 is reading personal finance blogs which means you need to continue tuning in!

4. Spend Time to Save Money. I learned two new things in this post which are how to use a price book and getting the most from CVS shopping.  But that’s not all… Mrs. Micah also includes several sites for online coupons to help you save on necessities.

5.  Songs about Money. I loved this unique post combining pop culture with personal finance. Frugal Dad lists top 10 songs having to do with $.  Even if you don’t think about the meaning of the lyrics listen to these and enjoy the music!  My personal favorite is “Money Talks” by AC/DC.

Have a great week and happy anniversary!

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Week in Review: Inaugural Edition

Image courtesy of Cobrasoft

With a couple of bright spots in the economic news lately, is the United States economy on the road to recovery?

Jobs. The national unemployment rate dipped from 9.5 to 9.4 in July.  Bolstering the importance of this news is the fact that this decrease was the first time in 15 months.   Employers cut significantly fewer jobs in July  than June.

Housing. The housing market seems to have turned a corner in many US markets and overall. The pace of sales is picking up with a 6.7% increase in June from the previous year. Home prices also seem to have hit bottom and in some areas new construction is scheduled to start impacting our economy positively in third quarter reports.

Debt. I think most Americans put the brakes on unnecessary spending during the past year regardless of their employment status.  Just the thought that we might need those savings accounts led us to spend less and save more.  Interestingly, this debt reduction may slow the recovery, but it’s a good thing overall for Americans.

No one is predicting a quick recovery, but the signs are encouraging and seem to point to a recovery nonetheless. Are you personally experiencing the benefits of better economic indicators?

What a crazy week for the CARS program otherwise known as cash for clunkers but officially named Car Allowance Rebate System. I had this as a draft topic and with the brief suspension of the program thought I missed my opportunity. Well, thanks to the government’s quick action yesterday (when’s the last time you saw that!) it’s back in effect for at least another few days.

Even though my goal is to pay off debt, the cash for clunkers program recently passed by Congress intrigued me. While I wouldn’t call it a clunker, Mr. Boomer drives an 11 year old van that has seen better days. The CARS program has several requirements for eligibility. We met the following:

• Owned it at least 1 year (we are the original owners)
• Licensed and insured for at least past year
• Less than 25 years old and running

The only question for me was whether the gas mileage was low enough to qualify as the official government number must be 18 MPG combined city/highway driving.  I went to the official website, www.fueleconomy.gov and found my car’s year, make, and model and found out that we got 1 mile per gallon too many.  Yes, my number was 18.  Although I didn’t personally qualify I think there are some good and not so good things about CARS.

Pros of CARS.  The purpose of the program (or at least what I think is the purpose) seems to be met.  If $1 billion worth of rebate was spent in four days that’s a lot of new cars sold or leased.  With such a high demand it looks like the addtional $2 billion will probably be spent as well.  That money will first to the dealers and eventually trickle down through the economy to stores, restaurants, etc. 

This program also incentivized people who must have had a need for a newer car but weren’t willing to take the step yet open up their wallets now when our economy needs cash circulating.

Cons of CARS. One of the byproducts of the program is what nearly happened to me and Mr. Boomer. It could have derailed us from our plan of not taking on new debt. How? Well if someone offers you $3500 or $4500 towards a new car purchase and you know you will be buying one in the next few years BUT the deal is now or never, then sometimes you grab that brass ring while you can.

We have billions of dollars of new cars sold in this time frame, but what happens next to the car industry. Is this a short term fix and next month the car lots will be bereft of buyers once again? I don’t know but hope there continues to be a steady demand although I know it won’t be as high as with the rebate.

Did the CARS offer tempt you?

When reading other blogs recently, I ran across one with the subject of recession hair. It was a term I hadn’t heard before but a quick google search showed it being used by many writers. Basically, it means selecting a hair style that requires less maintenance with the end result of saving money during this recession.

I started thinking about what changes I’ve made that some might think is a result of going to “recession hair”.

There are differences in my hair this year. One change was a deliberate conscious one and the other was a controlled by mother nature.

Hair Length. Out of the last ten years the majority of the time I’ve had short hair. I like short hair because it’s easy and if I ever get brave enough to cut it as short as I’d like (think spikey), it would be memorable.

Mr. Boomer likes longer hair (like a lot of men I know) so I decide to grow it out now and then. 2009 is one of those times. I figure this might be the last time I grow it out so I’ll give it a good go. The budget benefit of growing my hair out is that I only cut it every 7 weeks instead of my usual 4 week interval with short hair. Over a year, this adds up to six less haircuts a year saving approximately $250.

Color? Mother nature has gifted me with many more strands of gray this year. As a younger (more idealistic) woman, I decided not to color my hair because I’m not good at high maintenance beauty rituals. I must say it’s gotten harder to stick to this decision at times but my sister (love you sis) has beautiful silver gray hair that I would be proud to wear. I hope the final result is nearly as nice as hers and I’m not incurring a large expense every year for this item.

Other Beauty Maintenance. There are several personal care budget expenses that are really discretionary and should be reexamined when trying to trim the budget. These include waxing, tanning, manicures, pedicures and more.

Although I won’t share what I do or don’t do, suffice it to say it’s a good move to axe these optional expenses from the budget or at the very least lengthen the time between treatments. Also shop around to see if there’s a better long term deal (not just a one time change to use a coupon).

Have you made any changes to your beauty regimen as a result of the economic situation? Do you have recession hair?