Simple Money Honey
Second Hand
Wealth
10/10/10 Work Parties
Have a great weekend!
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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.
In case you’re not plugged into the movement already, this weekend
is planned to be the biggest global work party in history. 350.org, the inspiring global campaign bringing people together to draw attention the most critical issue in planetary history. Here is a quick reminder to inspire you to bring your family to a work party in your corner of the planet.
One family can make a difference!
Is your family planning to attend a climate work party?
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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.
Wealth belongs to the person who enjoys it and not the one who keeps it.
-Afghan Proverb
The notion of wealth always feels a bit like a chicken and egg conundrum. I like to think of wealth as a feeling rather than a thing. I would much rather enjoy a massage than see more money in our bank account. Yet, every family needs to save in order to build wealth.
There’s the question of timing in every personal finance decision: “If we spend now, will we have enough later?” My strategy is to have faith in the abundance of the world, not dwell on the potential scarcity. Yes, you should always question your motivation, the personal and global impacts, short and long term consequences…but in the end spending money comes down to your gut feeling. Act as if you’re wealthy, and chances are you’ll feel wealthy.
What do you think makes a person or family wealthy?
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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.
Before our Big Guy was born I bought almost solely consigned clothes in all the neutral frogs and duckie onesies. But as he grew up I realized how much harder it was to buy matching items in the right season and size. There never seemed to be any boy pants, and now I realize that it’s because they all get holes before they outgrow them!
It simply turned out that setting a budget and buying twice a year was just easiest, and not all that much more expensive with Gymbucks. I always shop sales in advance and buy large, so I seem to save…although I would hate to tally up how much we’ve spent on clothing kids.
Yet, I do worry about the precedent that I’m setting, especially when I let our Big Guy pick out his own clothes online when we was sick a few weeks ago. We call him a fashionista and he cares a lot about what he wears. Not always what I would choose, but he cares!
Do you have a hand-me-down connection?
Do you buy consigned clothing?
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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.
Our recent “Money Honey” chat was really a series of chats following up on some financial loose ends for our short term goals. I’m happy to share that Hubby finally closed out his primary bank account! It took so long, because instead of simply transferring all the money over to our single account, he opted to just switch the bills/deposits over and use the leftover cash for his spending money. The amazing part is that it took him almost six months to drain the account! He’s a pretty frugal guy. I also suspect that he was hanging on to his last vestige from his former single life 😉
Hubby also just closed a credit card that he only used for back-up purposes, so the $40 annual fee did not make any sense. Instead, we’ve added him on to a frequent flyer platinum card that offers some real benefits. I also have this account set up to pay some monthly expenses and autopayment.
Lastly, we recently met the threshold for removing Private Mortgage Insurance. This has been like a monkey on our backs for the past two years, and it will be so nice to no longer waste our money on PMI. We are also looking into the option of refinancing and will let you know if we go that route. After that we’ll need to set some new goals…
Have you chatted lately about your finances with your spouse?
What helps you set the mood?
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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.