Taxes – Love’em or Hate’em, You Gotta Pay’em

Posted by Debt Destroyer on April 15, 2009

tokyo-japan-rollercoaster I bet most of you have already received your tax return before I even filed mine. This year I waited until April 14th to send mine in.

Why did I wait so long?

Simple. I knew we’d be paying in, so I was in no rush. After all if they’re going to give me until April 15th, then by golly I’ll take my time.

Last night when I was putting all the paperwork away I decided to take a trip down memory lane and in doing so I realized that our annual income has been on quite a roller coaster ride.

Since I’ve been writing for the Happy Rock I’ve been showing our monthly expenses, well here now is the last 8 years of our annual income(with some commentary):

$58,787 – 2001 -” Let’s get married!”
$64,674 – 2002 -”Hey we’re making lots of money, let’s buy a house!”
$50,651 – 2003 -“Oh oh, I just got laid off…”
$45,442 – 2004- “Let’s move back to SD and have a kid!”
$37,469 – 2005 -“Maybe we should rethink that idea of you staying home?”
$39,939 – 2006 -“Yes, You would make a wonderful Wedding Photographer!”
$51,021 – 2007 -“Hey I got a new job, Let’s have another kid!”
$64,165 – 2008 -“Since you have a successful business, I’ll go back to school!”

I was a little surprised to see that we were back to our 2002 income levels even though I lost my job this year. But my wife’s business has been stepping up when we really needed it to.

But we’ll be raising our hands and screaming next year because there’ll be a mighty big drop in income for 2009.

Hopefully it won’t be too bad and we can somehow manage just fine. But as I alluded to earlier, the phone has been silent the last couple of months, so we’re starting to worry about future bookings. Perhaps the economy is hitting close to home, or perhaps it’s just a coincidence?

Whatever the case be rest assured that we’ll continue to try to DESTROY as much debt as we can while we learn to live within our means. That way we’ll be in a great spot when I get done with school and enter the workforce again.

So thanks 2008 you were great, but it’s time to shine in 2009! And we’re really going to kick butt in 2010! (sorry…I couldn’t think of a rhyme)

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Salary

In Search Of Financial Perfection Or Seeking Honesty And Growth?

Posted by Debt Destroyer on March 3, 2009

I guess I’ve arrived.

I knew I’d catch hell when I posted that I spent $180 in January on Pearl Jam related expenses. But I was surprised by how much that little morsel caught on with others.

A couple of weeks ago LuLuGal asked if I was a frugal fraud (She chose the Happy Rock too – for the $400 stroller).

To tell you the truth, I was honored to be on the list. She was poking a little fun at some fellow bloggers and I’m tickled pink that my act of super fandom made the cut.

A few days before that, Simplyforties used my love of all things Pearl Jam to make a point between wants and needs. I kinda dug where she went with it (Especially since I thought she was going to bury me like everyone else did).

And just the other day Pants in the Can was inspired by my Pearl Jam purchase to see how much he spends in a month.

But all this attention to my act of “unfrugalness” got me thinking…

Do readers of PF blogs expect perfection?

I have to admit that I’ve only been reading these type of blogs since I’ve been writing for one (8 months now). And in that time I wouldn’t say I’m looking for perfection, but I do have things that I am looking for:

Money Saving / Debt Reduction / Investing Tips – Heck, who wouldn’t be looking for these.
Inspiration – This is a big one for me. I mean really, lets face it, we all know how to live within our means. But for one reason or another some of us struggle with it, and occasionally we need a “wake up call.”
Community – I know “misery loves company”, but it also feels good to know that a bunch of people are working on the same “positive” goals as you are.
Entertainment – We probably are all reading the same blogs. If you are anything like me you like it that some of them use a little humor to help make their point.

When I accepted the gig as a writer here at The Happy Rock, I knew that people would be constantly judging me and my behavior. And I’m OK with that (for the most part). I guess the point of this post is to remind people that I’m here to share my journey out of debt. But keep in mind, that if I knew what I was doing I wouldn’t be writing about being in debt would I? (probably good advice to keep in mind when reading a lot of PF blogs).

So if you lost confidence in me because I spent too much money on a CD, I totally understand. I realize that some of you can’t spare $180 a month on such frivolous expenses (If this is the case, I hope you’re reading this on a library computer).

I think one of the best ways to learn is to make mistakes and then learn from them.

And I make plenty of them. So please, PLEASE, keep pointing out things that I could be doing better (Trust me, I need all the help I can get). And if you thought me spending money on Pearl Jam was bad wait until you see what I did in February.

I end almost every post I write by asking you readers for feedback. This isn’t some gimmick I use to get comments. I REALLY want to know what people think and how everybody else goes about doing the things that I do (I’ve already changed my phone/internet provider thanks to the feedback I got).

So…

What do you look for as a reader of PF blogs? Do you get anything from my ramblings about my finances? What type of topics do you wish were written about(not just here but in general)?

And I know I probably have never said this before, but thank you very much for taking the time to read this blog. I know how busy we all are, and it means a lot that you took a moment to read what I have to say. I hope you keep coming back.

Until Next Time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Financial Succes

I’m going to Disney World! (In seven years)

Posted by Debt Destroyer on February 7, 2009

Millions of us just watched the Superbowl and its tradition to have a player yell at the camera and say that he’s going to Disney World (This year Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes got to go).

We here at the DD household have also caught Disney fever. You won’t be seeing us scream into cameras or anything like that. But we are very excited none-the-less. In fact, we just added it to our Wish List.

Yep, well be there sometime in…2016.

Well, we figured there’s no rush.

I’ve been there a couple of times in my life. First with my family and then later with my High School Marching Band. Both trips were a blast! But my wife has never been there, actually she hasn’t been too many places. So I figure it’s time that she gets out & about.

But how cruel would it be to go to Disney World without the kids?

My kids are of course big fans of the movies. We’ve recently checked out The Lion King from the library and now the only game my daughter & I play is called “Lion King” (We act out scenes from the movie with a stuffed Simba).

So we figured we better wait until they get older so they too can enjoy the trip. The way we figure it in 2016 our kids will 11,9, & 6. The six year old is a mythical child who doesn’t even exist, but I’m picking up some subtle hints that they’ll be joining us sooner rather than later. Such as:

“Lets have another kid.”

“When we have 3 kids next year…”

“Lets shoot for a February birthday this time.”

You can make fun of most husbands for not being very observant, but I’m a sharp one.

Now, I can only imagine what it will cost for a family of five to go to anywhere in seven years, much less Disney World. But this timeframe will give us plenty of time to save up and study up for the best deals.

If any of you out there are planning a trip sooner than me, be sure to check out Mousesavers. It looks like it’s full of great ways to save money on a Disney Trip.

I hope to be able to take lots of family vacations. We’ll start out with smaller ones like trips to the Black Hills and Wisconsin Dells. Then after the Disney Trip we’ll mix in Wash DC, NYC & Hawaii. When the kids are gone, the Mrs & I would like to travel outside the country (Europe & Asia).

Hey if you’re gonna dream, dream big right?

So trusty readers, do you have any travel plans that you’re saving up for? They can be short term or long term? It’ll be fun to see where everybody is going.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Psychology of Spending

Your Money or Your Life? Choosing Between Family and Career

Posted by Debt Destroyer on January 27, 2009

As I mentioned in my About Page, “Your Money or Your Life?” is my favorite personal finance book that I’ve read. But this post isn’t about the book.

This is about a decision that my wife made today.

As you long time readers know, I’m going back to school, so we’ve been depending on my wife’s wedding photography business to bring in the bacon around here for the past 6 months or so. And while we’ve had to tighten our belt to make it work, so far it has been just fine.

Today I took a message for my wife from a potential bride who was wondering if her date was still available (a tip for those of you getting married, it’s never to early to line up the photographer). After I passed on the message I had to go to work so I didn’t get to hear whether or not she booked the gig. But before I left, we joked that it would be the weekend that we’re trying to reschedule our NYC trip (late Aug-Early Sept).

I told her if that’s the case that she should book the wedding because we’ve already canceled the trip once, and it’s questionable if we’ll be in a position to go this year.

During supper tonight she brought up the call. Instead of the NYC trip weekend, it was for the weekend after.

The weekend of my cousin’s wedding.

My wife & I are quite found of this cousin. Her parents were wonderful to us when we lived in the Twin Cities. During that time we became very close to their family. But we’ve moved back to SD five years ago (OMG! it’s been that long) and now we only get to see them a couple of times a year.

We were quite pleased to hear the good news over the holidays. This particular cousin had once been the “black sheep” of the family. But as she matured she changed her friends, her surroundings, and her lifestyle. In a very short time, she turned into the “normal” one (if there is such a thing in my family).

In an ironic twist, when my cousin first told me the good news, her original wedding date conflicted with a wedding my wife is shooting. I figured that me and the kids could take a fun little road trip without Mommy around, but my wife was devastated. But when my wife called to inform my cousin that she couldn’t make it, she found out that the date had changed.

So now we have a cousin’s wedding with a moving date. Would she book the wedding or go to one? What would you do?

It’s a tough call for me. As much as I’d like my wife to come with us, I’d also like her to have a few more weddings booked too. That’s one of the problems with this line of work. All the early calls are for the dates you don’t want to work, but you feel pressured to book them in case the phone stops ringing. Especially in a recession where you are the sole bread-winner.

My wife told the bride that she was unavailable.

While I’m quite proud of her choosing family time over working, I’m also nervous that phone won’t ring and that we’ll regret this decision later. But that’s just who I am. In reality it’ll probably just mean that our NYC trip will transform into a trip to the Twin Cities.

And that wouldn’t be all that bad.

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Financial Succes

I’ve talked the talk, but have I walked the walk?

Posted by Debt Destroyer on January 13, 2009

With a name like “Debt Destroyer” it’s kinda implied that I’m spending my waking hours destroying debt. I wish that was the case. But I have to admit that I spend much more time watching “Arrested Development” on DVD, than I do destroying debt.

But before I declare myself a fraud, I thought I’d take a second to check if my six months here at The Happy Rock has lowered my debt.

Back in July of 2008 we owed:

$95,108 – Mortgage
$11,843 - Car Loan
$6,130 - Student Loan

For a total of $113,081*

*I originally included a credit card balance in my initial debt total. But I always pay off the balances, so I decided to not include it as debt in this recap.

And as of today we owe:

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

For a total of $99,625.

That means that we’ve paid off $13,456 in the last six months.

Not too shabby.

Of course that total is misleading because $10,992 of it came in the form of a gift. You long time readers out there will remember I was the benefactor of a personal bailout. But the other $2500 was all us!

But DD, didn’t you say that you took out an additional $7750 in student loans to go back to school?

Um…yeah I did. Thanks for paying such close attention.

But as of this writing I haven’t been granted those funds yet, so I didn’t include them in my debt total. I wanted to savor the feeling of owing less than $100,000 for a little while. I should be getting my grubby little hands on that money in a very short time, once again putting our debt in six figure territory.

Of course I shouldn’t have expected to make great strides in the beginning of this journey. Heck I’m still trying to get our expenses under control. In fact, I’m tickled pink that we paid close to $2500 ourselves during this time. When you consider that I no longer work full time and am going back to school, I’d say we’re off to a good start.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I’m not alone in my debt reduction journey. How are you doing? Are you pleased with your progress? Have you come across any unexpected roadblocks?

Remember, we’re all in this together!

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Debt Elimination

Seasons Greetings From The Debt Destroyer!

Posted by Debt Destroyer on December 24, 2008

Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noel
Feliz Navidad
Mele Kalikimaka

These are the ways I know how to say Merry Christmas (My wife threw in the French one).

But lets not forget:

Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Happy Boxing Day

Happy Holidays!

Whatever you are celebrating this time of year, I hope you can make it special.

In my last post I mentioned that I’m not looking forward to the BIG Christmas Dinner with my extended family. Well, I need to get over myself.

This past weekend was spent with my wife’s parents. They originally were only going to make it a day trip, but then got stranded here for the whole weekend due to the weather. At first I was disappointed in this because it was going to mess up our plans. Not only that but…

They’d eat & drink everything we had (they did)
Their dogs would poop & pee all over my yard (they did)
They’d fill every square inch of our house with their stuff (they did)

But in the end, none of that mattered.

We had a great time with them. OK, “great” is stretching it, but lets say it was an enjoyable time.

In fact, after we had so much fun with my wife’s family, I’m actually looking forward to spending some time with my side (key word is “some”). And while every holiday spent with family and friends is meaningful, I think this year with the economy taking a beating, it will be even more meaningful.

The fact that a lot of us are broke this year will help us understand that the holidays aren’t about finding that perfect present.

In my Black Friday post I included a video that brought up how Christmas has turned into a big commercial mess. I wish I could say that I don’t fall into that mindset but I do. While we spent less this year than we have in years past, we still spent more than we should’ve on a stuff that will be forgotten as soon as it is opened.

I think next year I’ll utilize sites like: www.redefine-christmas.org or www.charitygiftcertificates.org for the people who I can’t think of a unique and meaningful gift. I think they’d appreciate that more than just some random gift that they have to pretend to like.

Using Redefine Christmas, I just bought my little sister a last second $10 donation to “Root of Peace”. She’s a hippy going into agriculture so hopefully she’ll enjoy it.

This year though I’m going to try to make the best of whatever situation I’m in. Whether it’s my Mom complaining about everything or my Aunt Ginny passing gas and blaming it in on the dog.

Whatever comes up I’m going to make it special.

Happy Holidays,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Holiday Wishes

Christmas Came Early for the Debt Destroyer Household

Posted by Debt Destroyer on December 21, 2008

Did you have a merry Christmas? What, it’s not Christmas yet?

Whoops my bad.

You see we’ve already been given so much that I got confused for a moment. In the course of a week we received a new couch ( a hand me down) and some insulated curtains.

curtains-sofa

The curtains were an early Christmas present from my wife’s parents and I have to say they are one of the best gifts we’ve ever received. Not only are they somewhat stylish (dark purple) but they do an excellent job of keeping the drafts to a minimum.

Since we’ve put them up we haven’t had to adjust out heat up once this year. And seeing how we’re in the middle of a long stretch of sub zero temps that is a pretty big deal.

You gotta love gifts that help save you money!

Our new couch is about 20 years old, but it was still an improvement over our last one. It’s a sectional, so it doesn’t quite fit our house as good as our couch and love seat did. But other than a little wasted space, I really like our new setup. Now I can actually stretch out when laying on the couch.

We’re not fans of the flowery print, but we learned a long time ago to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, thats why they make couch covers, right?

We donated our old couch and loveseat to the Salvation Army. So hopefully somebody finds good use for it (I hope they pay a pretty penny for it too).

In addition to all the great stuff we’ve been getting, it just feels like Christmas around here.

Which is odd, because normally it doesn’t feel like Christmas at the DD house until we watch some holiday movies(Christmas Vacation, It’s a Wonderful Life, Scrooged, Family Man, Die Hard).

But let me tell you, it doesn’t get much more Christmasy than last Saturday. The day started with my daughter’s preschool holiday concert. One word describes that…CUTE !!!

But that was only the beginning after that we…

Baked christmas cookies
Made a mixed CD of Christmas tunes (4th in a series I’m working on)
Drove around and looked at lights (while it was snowing)
Had hot chocolate (daughter’s first time as a “big girl”)
Watched “Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas” (rented from library)
Read Christmas stories before bedtime

I know next week I get to enjoy the real thing, but I don’t think it will measure up to last Saturday. But how could it? Eating ham with a bunch of old people just doesn’t scream Christmas to me. But it’s tradition, so we’ll smile and act like we’re having fun.

But the traditions that I want my family to have are listed above.

Well…There is one thing I want to do on Christmas that isn’t on the list. After we get back in town from having Lunch with my extended family I want to have dinner that night at a Chinese Restaurant ala The Christmas Story Family.

bowlingsmovie1

We don’t have anything as nice as the Chop Suey Palace in town, but there’s a nice buffet a few blocks away.

So how about you? Have you been feeling the Holiday Spirit this season? What gets you in the yuletide mood? Or would you rather just say “Ba Humbug” and be left alone?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Giving, Holiday Wishes

DD Meets Barack Obama And Time Magazine Captures The Picture

Posted by Debt Destroyer on November 12, 2008

I know it’s been racking your brain for months…

What does DD look like?

For those of you who’d like to take the next step in our relationship and turn into full fledged stalkers, today is your lucky day!

Actually you’re only in luck if you have the 11-17-08 issue of Time Magazine. If you do you can look at page 53 and see yours truly and my kids chatting it up with then Senator Obama.

For those of you who are frugal and get your Time fix at your local library, you can just click here.

The story behind the picture is that it was taken after an Obama campaign event during the primary season. He held a speech about a block away from my house, then took a stroll. During this stroll he was talking on his cell while walking across the street from our house. I thought that was as close as we’d get, but my 3 yr old took action into her own hands.

“Hey, Obama! Hey, Obama!”

I’d like to think we didn’t raise her to think it is polite to just shout out someone’s last name at them to get their attention. But if you’re a cute little girl and the person you’re yelling at is a candidate for political office, I think it’s OK.

He made a bee-line and chatted up my little girl for about a minute before talking to me. We exchanged pleasantries and he went on his way. It was a very cool moment.

Imagine my surprise when six months later I’m sitting in my living room, flipping through my copy of Time and low and behold I get to relive the moment again right before my eyes (My wife said she thought we won the lottery I became so excited).

This isn’t really related to personal finance. I guess I could suggest the idea of if you ever want a cheap thrill, try to have your picture appear in a national news magazine without you knowing it and then discover it yourself while flipping though it.

Let me tell you, you get quite a charge!

Until next time,

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier

“The Debt Defier” meets “The Debt Defier”

Posted by Debt Destroyer on October 23, 2008

I feel silly.

I just found out that there is already someone out there blogging under the name “The Debt Defier.”

Here is her blog

She hasn’t posted anything since May. But she cold start up again at any moment since she’s already took a year long break from the blog while she was living in Thailand.

I found out about her when I googled “Debt Defier” and up popped her site. I should’ve done this a long time ago, but to tell you the truth when I got into this whole “blogging thing” I didn’t know much about it (still don’t), so it never even crossed my mind.

I feel bad using the same name as a fellow personal finance blogger (especially someone who likes The Goonies & Nina Simone). To me it’s like when people called LaDainian Tomlinson LT, when everybody knows Lawrence Taylor is LT!

Plus this blog was mentioned on NPR (click here for a listen). And I’m a huge NPR fan, so it’s settled…

I need a new name!

Actually you know what? I kinda like ending my posts “DD”. So until I have a stroke of brilliance (don’t hold your breath, it could be awhile), I think I’ll stick with that.

But feel free to throw out any ideas you have. Going by some of the names you have, it’s easy to see that the Happy Rock readers are a very creative bunch.

Until then,

-DD

The Happy Rock – Also, readers have had problems realizing that there is more than one writer at The Happy Rock. So any site changes that people could recommend that might help quickly and easily identify who is the author of a given post. My friend Ray over at Bathtub Brewery did an excellent job on this front. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Misc.

Decisions, Decisions…It Is Hard To Choose A New Career

Posted by Debt Destroyer on August 24, 2008

When I last talked about my future plans I mentioned that I contacted two local schools.

A State School where I’d earn a teachers certificate.
A Private School where I’d become a Rad Tech.

Option #1 would take 3-4 semesters. Option #2 would take 3 years. Option #1 would cost about one third of what option #2 would cost. Option #1 would also make considerably less than option #2 upon graduation.

Hmmmm.

I decided to be a teacher.

Almost everyone who I talked to this last month when I explained my choices has said, “you’d make a good teacher” or something to that effect. I think deep down I’ve wanted to be a teacher for a very long time. But various reasons have kept me from exploring this idea. I think the lack of pay was the biggest. The next biggest would be my mother.

She would always rant and rave when teachers would be on the news asking for more money (South Dakota ranks 51st in the nation for teacher pay…we must be very proud of this fact, because we’ve done nothing over the years to change it). I would always take the teachers side of the argument. At the time I thought I was just playing devil’s advocate to spice up a boring dinner conversation, but looking back I think there was more there. Interesting…two straight posts with some personal reflection.

At least that is the plan today, it could easily change by the time you read this.

I say it could easily change because there are a few concerns about going this route:

Will we be able to afford me going back to school?
Will I find a job upon graduation that doesn’t require relocating?
Will I like it

This first one is my biggest concern (probably because we will face it right away). My wife’s wedding photography business if doing great, but I think she’s still 9 months away from making “real” money.

I of course will be working while going to school, but part time jobs around here pay peanuts (heck most full time jobs do too). So I’m thinking about applying for a sanitation worker opening that is being advertised currently. This way I could work until next fall when my wife’s business should really be going strong and we’d definitely be able to afford sending me back to school.

The second area of concern is also related to my wife’s business. She’ll make more money being a wedding photographer than I will as a teacher. So it will be stupid if I have to move to get a low paying job that will require her to relocate her business and start from scratch.

The 3rd area of concern is one I have with everything. As I mentioned in a previous post I’ve never had a job where I enjoyed what I was doing. So now it’s a constant worry that I have. But I’m not overly concerned with it this time. So far I’ve never really had a job that focused on human interaction, and I think that is what I’ve been missing. Plus the flexibility of two full months off in the summer would be great.

So here I am after 4 weeks still pondering the same basic ideas:

School or Work?

Garbageman or Teacher?

What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under About The Debt Defier, Careers, Chasing Dreams

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