Money Monday - Secure Your Identity

I know we're supposed to be talking about budgeting today, but due to the happenings of today, I have changed our topic to identity theft.

Either I have completely misplaced my brain today OR my wallet was stolen for the 2nd time in 3 years. Although the first scenario is highly likely on any given day, I'm still going with the second one.

I was shopping at Meijer this evening. For some reason, all the time I was shopping I kept thinking about my purse. (Perhaps I should have listened to this intuition). While I was standing in line, I considered the possibility of the woman behind me stealing my wallet when I turned my back to pull my groceries out of the cart. But she was on the phone. I even considered the possibility that talking on the phone would be a great intentional distraction. Nevertheless, I left my purse sitting in the cart. (I know...I'm an idiot).

After I had loaded all of my groceries, clothes, diapers, etc onto the belt, I went to grab my wallet. NOT THERE. Great. Did I leave it at home? I never leave my wallet at home. Highly unlikely. Did it fall out in the van? I'm pretty sure it was zipped shut. I eyed the lady behind me who seemed to have no interest in the fact that my wallet was missing.

I explained to the clerk that I could not find my wallet, loaded everything back into my cart, and went out to check the van. Not there. Called my husband and had him check at home. Not there either.

I will not draw out the rest of the story BUT - despite the efforts made by the security team at Meijer (Thanks, by the way!), I still believe the woman behind me in line stole my wallet. But what was I really going to do? "Hey, um....you didn't happen to steal my wallet just now, did you?" isn't exactly an ice-breaker if you know what I mean.

The last time my wallet was stolen, I made the mistake of thinking I must have just misplaced it and waited to call my credit card companies until there was hundreds of dollars in charges (only 2 hours later). So this time, I called my bank immediately.

On the upside of things, I only had my debit card as I no longer carry credit cards. On the downside, I had about $80 in cash in my wallet. (Yeah - thanks, Dave Ramsey!) That was the rest of this month's grocery money as well as a doctor's office copay for this month. I do understand that carrying cash is safer in some ways. On the other hand, I sure wish I hadn't had any on me tonight.

At any rate, my wallet is gone and - unless it suddenly shows up - I am pretty upset that I didn't pay more attention to my intuition this evening.

I always thought identity theft protection was kind of a rip-off, but I'm starting to question my thinking now. They handle all of the paperwork for you. And the paperwork is the WORST part.

Some things I am thankful for: I did not have my social security card in my wallet (like I did last time). I have no credit cards in there. I JUST gave my husband $100 in cash last night for this month's gas budget, so that wasn't in my wallet. (Just the OTHER $80 - lol). I have a state ID card, so I won't have to go through so much of a hassle to get another license (which, by the way, I JUST got renewed to the tune of $40).

Downers: My T.G.I. Friday's card has one more free appetizer on it. Now gone. My CVS Extra Care Bucks were in my wallet (because there's a higher likelihood that I will forget my coupon book in a cart than there is that my wallet will get stolen...again - HA!). My checkbook ledger for most of last year is now gone. (I like to look back and see how far we've come). I have to go through the hassle of filing a police report. I have to find a way to get to the license branch to renew my license during business hours - and without driving there.

I guess the purpose of this post is just to encourage you to find ways to secure your identity. NEVER carry your social security card. Have a state ID card in case your license is lost or stolen. It's SO much less of a hassle. Consider getting Idenity Theft Protection - it's extremely inexpensive. Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to your intuition. Make a copy (front and back) of all cards that you carry with you so you have phone numbers to cancel/reorder/replace in the event of a lost/stolen wallet. (This was a LIFESAVER for me the last time my wallet was stolen!)

Do you have other ideas for how to protect your identity? I'd love to hear what you and your family have done to protect yourselves from the identity predators of the world.

I will return to our topic of budgeting next Monday when all of this has cooled over in my head.

Weekend Worship - Slow Down!

Instead of writing a full blog today, I just want to suggest one thing: This week, figure out a few ways to simplify your life. Americans are so busy! We are always rushing around looking for our lost keys, trying to get to the mall to meet our friends, running to the laundromat, getting the dog his manicure, going to the latest movie......

The list goes on and on. All of our busyness takes the place of time that could be spent in prayer, reading the Word, fellowshipping with other believers, or spending time with our families.

Take a few moments out of one of your busy days this week and decide where you can cut back. A few ideas to get you going...

Watch less TV. (It's mostly trash, anyway).
Leave early for work.
Don't mop the floor this week.
Read with your children - not just to them.
Throw out some junk. (Clutter doesn't make anyone happy).
Turn off your cell phone for family time.

Have other ideas? Leave them in the comments section and let me know what you're doing to simplify your life.

My plan for simplifying my life this week: Sort through our bedroom (drawers, shelves, etc.) and throw away all the crap.

Fitness Friday

How are you doing with your walking challenge that I gave last week? Since I issued the challenge late Friday night, I considered the challenge effective at the beginning of this week.

Monday night, it was warm here in Indiana - about 50 degrees. (The weather here is so bizarre). My family took a 20-minute walk with me around the neighborhood. It was nice to be out in the fresh air.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are pretty chaotic around here, so yesterday I remembered that I needed to get out and go walking. Since I had playgroup in the morning and my kids nap in the afternoon, I was considering taking a walk in the early evening. I ended up having to unexpectedly take my youngest child to the doctor's office, so I didn't get home until close to 6pm. By that time, I had pretty much given up on the thought of a walk. I was meeting a friend at T.G.I. Friday's for dinner, so I parked as far away as possible (well, ok - not as possible - and also, I didn't really have a choice, but ANYWAY....) and walked the 2 or 3 minutes to the door.

I realize that may not sound like much, but keep in mind that I also had to walk back to the van after dinner. Lol.

Alright, so I'm failing miserably. But let's face it - when life is crazy and you have 2 toddlers and an infant, finding time to do much of anything is nearly an impossibility.

But the day is young. And perhaps I'll get in 2 more real walks between today and tomorrow.

Throwback Thursday - My Dad & The Beatles

On This Day In History: (1964) The British rock group the Beatles arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to begin their first United States tour.

When I was a kid, I used to rollerskate at a particular roller rink in my hometown. I had seen pictures of my parents when they were engaged. My mom had long brown hair and my dad HAD hair. Classic Beatles style.

There were rotating pictures on the wall at this roller rink. There was a particular picture of a group of guys that I would see on a regular basis and I couldn't help but think that that one guy looked JUST like my dad. Since my dad had grown up nearby, I assumed he had probably skated there as a child also. And would it be that strange to take pictures of people who were skating?

For years, I thought that picture was of my dad and some of his friends. But looking back, I'm pretty sure it was just a picture of the Beatles.

Wacky Wednesday - Stories From My Life

I am working on getting some more material to post for today, but for now I will simply refer you to a few stories I have written on my other blog:

Stupid Me!

Poop!

Tasty Tuesdays - Blue Ribbon Dessert!

Well, first off, I have to apologize in advance for the formatting of this blog. Apparently inserting the picture screwed everything up, so just pretend it looks as beautiful as normal! :)

Every year our church has a picnic with a contest for the best dessert. I had not pariticipated in the past but this year I decided I wanted to bring something that was knock-your-socks-off good. I searched online for the most delicious-looking dessert I could find. I found one that was very aesthetically pleasing but I didn't care much for the ingredients. So I switched a few things up and came up with one of the easiest, most beautiful and DELICIOUS desserts I have ever made!

I call it...Heidi's Blue Ribbon Pudding Thing! Lol. Alright, not really. But I never did come up with a name for it, so call it whatever you like. For today, I will refer to it as Oreo Deliciousness. :)

Oreo Deliciousness

(This is not an exact picture of the one I make, but very similar).

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix

1 large package instant chocolate fudge pudding

1 large container whipped topping, thawed

25 Oreo cookies

Directions:

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely. Cut into 1-inch squares.

Crush 20 Oreo cookies. Save remaining 5 cookies for top.

Place half of the brownie chunks into the bottom of a trifle bowl or glass serving dish. Prepare pudding* according to package and pour half of the pudding over the the brownie chunks. Add half of the Oreo cookie crumbs. On top of that, layer half of the whipped topping. Repeat brownie chunks, pudding, Oreo cookie crumbs, and whipped topping. Arrange the remaining 5 Oreo cookies on top.

Cool at least 8 hours to allow pudding to soften brownie chunks.

*Be sure to have everything ready before you start your pudding because it will begin to set immediately and you want it to flow into all the spaces between the brownie chunks.

Please let me know if you try this! I would love to know if other people enjoy it as much as my family does!

Oh, and by the way, I did win the best dessert contest! Hands down! :)

Money Monday - Budget, Part 3

As promised, today we will discuss (in more detail) the emergency fund and the debt snowball. If you are just joining in on this topic, you may want to skip back to the first and second parts of this series to catch yourself up.

Have you decided on how much you are going to have set aside in your emergency fund? As I mentioned last week, it all depends on your employment circumstances and your level of comfort.

Our family has chosen to keep an EF (emergency fund) of $1000 since my husband works 2 jobs and could conceivably pick up extra hours at either one if the other were to be suddenly terminated, which is unlikely in his field of work. Once our debt is paid off, we will "up" our EF to 6 months of living expenses.

Once you have determined how much you will be keeping in your EF, the next step is deciding where you will keep this money. The idea of an emergency fund is this: you may ONLY dip into the EF for a TRUE emergency. True emergencies would be unexpected car repairs on a necessary vehicle or your furnace going out in the middle of January - NOT a really good sale at the mall.

That being said, in case of an actual emergency, you need your money to be accessible. At the same time, you don't want it to be so accessible that you would constantly be justifying a reason to dip into it and providing yourself with that temptation. A separate savings account would be a good idea. A CD would not. You want to make sure that you will not be charged a fee for taking money out of your EF if you really need to. So keep it somewhere that fits that definition. Accessible, but not too accessible.

Throw every penny you have at your EF so you can have that in place while you are paying off debt. It is extremely important to establish the EF first because if you hit a financial bump in the midst of paying off your debt, you will have no choice but to put yourself into MORE debt in order to pay for your emergency. (And don't you DARE open a new line of credit!)

Once you have your emergency fund in place it is time to ATTACK your debt with a vengeance. If you do not feel hatred toward debt, you better work on it. Debt is a life-sucking, joy-stealing monster! Don't believe me? Get rid of it and see how much better your life is!

Now, for how to go about getting rid of your debt...
Our family is using a method called the "debt snowball" and it is the only method I can personally recommend. Do you remember when you were a kid and you used to roll snowballs all around the yard until you couldn't push it any farther? You started out with a tiny little ball and, as you rolled the snowball, it picked up more and more snow, faster and faster because it was gaining in size so quickly. The same theory applies to the debt snowball. Here is how it works:

List your debts from the smallest to the largest balance, excluding your mortgage. (We'll come back to the mortgage thing later). Please note: This is not the smallest payment nor is it the smallest interest rate. It is the smallest balance. What you're going to do is pay minimum payments on all of your debts AND at the same time, put every extra dollar you have into the smallest debt payment. When you have paid off the smallest debt, CLOSE THE ACCOUNT and add that payment amount to your next smallest debt. When that debt is paid off, do the same thing with the next one. See how your snowball is increasing in size?

For those of you who are visual learners like me, let me give an illustration:

Let's say you have the following list of debts:

1 Credit Card 1: $250 (min. payment: $10)
2 Credit Card 2: $700 (min. payment: $35)
3 Credit Card 3: $2300 (min. payment: $90)
4 Furniture Loan: $2450 (min. payment: $50)
5 Credit Card 4: $3100 (min. payment: $150)
6 Consumer Loan: $4600 (min. payment: $45)
7 2nd Mortgage/HELOC: $18000 (min. payment: $365)
8 Auto Loan: $23500 (min. payment: $450)
9 Student Loan: $26750 ($300)

And now let's assume that, after paying all of your minimum payments on all of your debts, you have $150 each month left over for your debt snowball. In less than 2 months, you would knock out the first debt. You would then have $160 to in your debt snowball. (Add your minimum payment from the first debt on your list and the debt snowball amount: $10 + $150 = $160). In about 3 more months, you would wipe out your 2nd debt. You would then add that minimum payment ($35) to your current debt snowball amount ($160) and put all of that money into debt #3. You get the idea.

You would continue this process until all of your debt (minus the mortgage) was completely gone! If, along the way, you encounter an emergency and have to dip into your EF, simply stop the snowball (but continue to make minimum payments) long enough to cover your emergency and then replenish your EF.

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call the debt snowball.

But wait! I'm sure by now you're wondering: Why don't I pay off the highest interest rate first? Doesn't that make more sense for my pocketbook?

Well....sometimes, yes. But studies show that the motivation gained by seeing the momentum of your growing snowball gives you much more encouragement to keep paying off your debt than waiting 8 months to pay off your highest interest card first. Oftentimes, people who go that route end up losing their motivation quickly (because they do not see any quick results and therefore feel like their debt is not going anywhere) and giving up altogether. It may not make sense on paper, but trust me - once you get going, you will understand exactly what I'm talking about.

Now, about the mortgage....
The reason you do not include your mortgage in your list of debts is that most people's mortgage is a significantly greater amount of money than any other individual debt on their list. After you pay off all of your non-mortgage debt you will begin saving and investing and, since compound interest is a key component to saving, it's important to start saving before it's too late.

We will pick up with the mortgage further down the road in this series.

For this week, continue building your EF. If you already have your EF in place, then start listing your debts in order of smallest to largest and run some numbers on a debt calculator. You will be excited to see how quickly your smallest debts will disappear!

Coming next Monday: What do I do with my money when I'm debt-free (minus the mortgage)?

Links to the rest of this series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Money Monday - The CVS Game

I'm SO excited about this new task I've taken on. Spend a tiny bit of money to get a HUGE amount of stuff, and in the process, get things to give away to those who are in need! This particular journey is sometimes referred to as "the CVS game".

For those of you who are not familiar with "the CVS game", let me take a moment to explain:

CVS has a program called Extra Care Bucks. It is simply an in-store rebate that can be applied to any future purchases you make at CVS. In essense, CVS-only money. Each week, there are several items in the store that, when purchased, will give you a full refund in ECB (Extra Care Bucks). So, as long as you plan to buy something - anything - at CVS in the future, it's like getting your purchase for free. In addition to these ECB, you can also use manufacturer coupons on top of any current CVS coupons (usually something like $3/$15 purchase).

Oftentimes, with coupons, you can actually make money by shopping. (Again - not real money, CVS money).

Once you get the ECB rolling, you pay hardly anything out of pocket for your purchases - that is, as long as you stick to things that have ECB rewards and things for which you have coupons.

I have been collecting coupons for a few weeks now and yesterday I made my first trip to CVS to try out this "game".

Here is what I bought:

1 bottle of Garnier Fructis shampoo
5 large tubes of Colgate Total toothpaste (which happens to be my FAVORITE toothpaste!)
2 large bags of M&Ms
1 Maybelline trio eyeshadow kit

All of these things had ECB rewards and I had manufacturer coupons for all of them, along with a CVS coupon, so in the end....

Total before coupons: $23.48
Total after coupons: $14.23
Total ECB earned (remember - CVS money): $16.48

In addition to getting all of those products *technically* free, I "got paid" $2.25 to shop at CVS! The way the game is played, though, has little to do with what you actually need. You simply buy things that will be free with ECB that you also have a coupon for in order to earn ECB to spend on things you actually DO need. Then, you can give away all those things you got that you didn't need to charity!

Coming later today: Money Monday - Budget, Part 3

Weekend Worship - Brotherly Love

Today's sermon at church was about how to live out the love of God. Our pastor eluded to several Scriptures in his 7-point sermon, but there was one in particular that stood out to me.

The sermon point was: God's love honors/defers to others. The first verse that was referred to was Romans 12.10, which states, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor." Our pastor went on to explain that the term "brother love" in the Greek language was a family type of love - the way you would love your spouse or your children.

I started thinking about what kind of love that would be if it was played out in our relationships with others....

We would bring meals to those who were sick, hurting, or going through personal struggles. They would not need to ask us. We would simply know it was needed and would happily fill that need.

Our homes would always be open to anyone who wanted to stop by. We would not let the dirty dishes in our sink or the crumbs on the floor stop us from ministering to a neighbor.

We would volunteer to help others move or watch the children of a couple whose marriage was struggling so they could go on a date.

Our Saturdays would not be spent lounging around the house, watching movies and munching on popcorn. But rather, we would donate our time at a homeless shelter or grocery shop for a single mother.

Life would be so different if we treated everyone as if they were a part of our family - the way God desires us to live. This week, practice loving others as you love your own family.

And on that note, I have to get back to my family. I have a child who is quite sick, not sleeping well, and running a fever.

Fitness Friday - Challenge #1

Challenge #1:

Walk outdoors at least 3 days a week for the month of February.

Everyone knows that walking is good for your figure. But what you may not know is that walking is also good for your mental health and your physical well-being! Walking outdoors has been shown to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression (something easy to get caught up in during these long winter months), as well as to reduce the risk of heart attack, diabetes, colon cancer, and bone fractures in later years. Walking seems like a pretty small task with a lot of rewards!

This challenge is mostly for me to get in shape, but I encourage you to join in and do the challenge too! I'll post an update next week to let you know how I'm doing.