It is the last day in 2008 and a time of reflection, I thought I would do a recap of what is standing out to me this past year. You knew a list was coming, right?
1. To start off on a cheerful note, we had the best Christmas ever with close family I haven't seen in 3 years. That was such a blessing and we had the most wonderful time ever.
2. I was able to spend the beginning of the year with my parents who are 10,000 miles away and that was an incredible blessing too.
3. As a family we had some painful experiences -one as a couple, and another more personal for me when my uncle went home to be with the Lord in June. It is hard to believe he is no longer with us as he was one of the most dynamic and full of life person I have met.
4. Two families at church whom we are very close to moved/is moving. Their absence has left such a big hole in our lives.
5. We were able to travel to a bunch of places that we always wanted to and made some cherished memories.
6. A lot of family and friends visited us this year and we were blessed by their stay here with us.
7. I started the "Saturday unplugged tradition" and the days we did it, it has been such a sweet time. I just cook something extra nice or special, bring out the nice dishes, light some candles and have dinner. It could be just hubby and me or sometimes we have people over. But we turn off the tv, and computer and phones. We read, or play board games or go for a walk, or just talk.
8. I was able to read 53 books this year thanks to all the doctors that I had to see and the subsequent waiting at the office. My goal was 50 and I do feel a sense of accomplishment. I know you all probably read 100, just pretend like I did something, okay?
9. And with all that has happened in 2008, personally, professionally, the hills and valleys, ups and downs I can say with certainty that God is good all the time and all the time God is good. His mercies are new every morning.
And to the One who does exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think to Him be all the glory. I wish all my readers a wonderful Year 2009.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Highlights from my week and thoughts running through my head
1. Wrapped gifts under the tree
2. Half clean house
3. Sick hubby who needs a lot of TLC
3. Eating leftovers for myself and soup for hubby to make time for cleaning
4. Hoping I haven't gotten sick as well
5. Wondering where all our guests are going to sleep
6. Keeping DH away from work and trying to get him to rest
7. Thrilled and looking forward to spending time with family.
8. Hope they would like my cooking after being used to my sisters awesome food.
9. Praying that I won't sing off-key during the cantata
10. Wondering why I could not come up with a shorter title for this post
2. Half clean house
3. Sick hubby who needs a lot of TLC
3. Eating leftovers for myself and soup for hubby to make time for cleaning
4. Hoping I haven't gotten sick as well
5. Wondering where all our guests are going to sleep
6. Keeping DH away from work and trying to get him to rest
7. Thrilled and looking forward to spending time with family.
8. Hope they would like my cooking after being used to my sisters awesome food.
9. Praying that I won't sing off-key during the cantata
10. Wondering why I could not come up with a shorter title for this post
Monday, December 15, 2008
Two Income Trap - Part 2
See Part 1 here
In this long-awaited (yeah, right!) post, I will address the argument about Mom being the safety net that was put forward by the authors in Two Income Trap. The basic premise is that when there is only one income, couples buy house based on that, and since mom is a safety net, if dad loses the job, mom can go into the work force until that time dad gets another job.
There are three (broadly) reasons why moms stay at home while dad goes to work.
1. Religious reasons
2. Lack of education, so no good job choices
3. Educated, but prefer to be home with the kids
I think choices 1 and 2 are self explanatory and so I am just going to focus on the 3rd choice. There is an argument that is commonly put forward for moms staying home which is that if they go out to work, the family have to pay for child care, gas and maintenance on the second car, clothes, and all the trappings that come with a second job. I recently read somewhere that the mom needs to make at least $50,000 annually to make a contribution to the family finance. It sounds reasonable since many jobs do require all of the above. So many of the families who keep Mommy home do think of this. The cost benefit analysis show that it is better financially that a Mom remains home since for some jobs it takes money for her to be in the workplace.
So let us consider such a family. Jane is reasonably well educated, has 2 kids, never worked. John has a good job which brings in $50,000. They manage the home with that. She is frugal, watches the pennies, they don't eat out, do not go for vacations. She sends Junior 1 to public school and Junior 2 who is a toddler stays home with her. Now the economy turns bad (not hard to imagine now, is it?) and dad loses the job. Now, according to the book, this is when mom steps into the work force and rescues the family until Dad finds a job. Maybe I am being naive here, but I don't think there are a lot of employers out there offering anyone a $50,000 job with no experience, is going to be there only until the husband finds a job. (which could be one month to 6 months or maybe even more) A good job is not something you walk in and out of. And it is not rocket science what happens when putting an inexperienced mom suddenly into a work situation. In majority of the cases, she cannot hack it.
So John's and Jane's situation has changed. Jane is working at store X as a a clerk. The economy which cost John his job is not kind to Jane either. That is all she got since she has no experience and is not there for the long haul. She needs new formal clothes, she can't get home until late evening, so they need child care. John has interviews to attend and jobs to apply, so he cannot look after the kids while Jane is at work. Jane is tired coming from work, and looking after children, so she has no energy to cook, clean or pinch pennies. Expenses are more, and she brings in nowhere close to what John used to bring. I don't really think there is any hyperbole in the situation that I presented. It is a very possible outcome of such a situation.
Another problem I had with the book was that it does not give really good solutions as to how to get out of the Two Income Trap, a lot of families find themselves in. The book is good reading to understand how people get into saddening life situations, but I feel it doesn't do much good for a family already there. The overwhelming feeling I got after reading the statistics that the book provided was sadness. The answer to a crisis such as Dad losing the job is not to send a Mom who has never worked before into the workplace. I don't think it will work in real life for the reasons stated above.I am not saying I have the answers. But there are some things which I believe are good tips for a couple starting out in life.
1. If both husband and wife work, buy a house with a mortgage+utilities which you can afford to pay with one income. If you cannot afford to do that, you are not financially ready to buy a house. The book touches on this about keeping your fixed expenses below 50%.
2. Live WAY below your means. It means different things to different people. But you know where you are. Save well.
3. Don't worry about what other people are making or not making or emulate their lifestyles. Look at successful people and learn what they are doing right. Take control of your OWN finances.
4. Learn about investing. E.g. A car is a depreciating asset and is not a wise investment choice.
5. Above all, don't forget the source of every blessing.
Since I cannot say it any better, I leave you with Amy's words. If you are poor, let it be becasue the Lord wills so, and not becasue of your foolish choices.
In this long-awaited (yeah, right!) post, I will address the argument about Mom being the safety net that was put forward by the authors in Two Income Trap. The basic premise is that when there is only one income, couples buy house based on that, and since mom is a safety net, if dad loses the job, mom can go into the work force until that time dad gets another job.
There are three (broadly) reasons why moms stay at home while dad goes to work.
1. Religious reasons
2. Lack of education, so no good job choices
3. Educated, but prefer to be home with the kids
I think choices 1 and 2 are self explanatory and so I am just going to focus on the 3rd choice. There is an argument that is commonly put forward for moms staying home which is that if they go out to work, the family have to pay for child care, gas and maintenance on the second car, clothes, and all the trappings that come with a second job. I recently read somewhere that the mom needs to make at least $50,000 annually to make a contribution to the family finance. It sounds reasonable since many jobs do require all of the above. So many of the families who keep Mommy home do think of this. The cost benefit analysis show that it is better financially that a Mom remains home since for some jobs it takes money for her to be in the workplace.
So let us consider such a family. Jane is reasonably well educated, has 2 kids, never worked. John has a good job which brings in $50,000. They manage the home with that. She is frugal, watches the pennies, they don't eat out, do not go for vacations. She sends Junior 1 to public school and Junior 2 who is a toddler stays home with her. Now the economy turns bad (not hard to imagine now, is it?) and dad loses the job. Now, according to the book, this is when mom steps into the work force and rescues the family until Dad finds a job. Maybe I am being naive here, but I don't think there are a lot of employers out there offering anyone a $50,000 job with no experience, is going to be there only until the husband finds a job. (which could be one month to 6 months or maybe even more) A good job is not something you walk in and out of. And it is not rocket science what happens when putting an inexperienced mom suddenly into a work situation. In majority of the cases, she cannot hack it.
So John's and Jane's situation has changed. Jane is working at store X as a a clerk. The economy which cost John his job is not kind to Jane either. That is all she got since she has no experience and is not there for the long haul. She needs new formal clothes, she can't get home until late evening, so they need child care. John has interviews to attend and jobs to apply, so he cannot look after the kids while Jane is at work. Jane is tired coming from work, and looking after children, so she has no energy to cook, clean or pinch pennies. Expenses are more, and she brings in nowhere close to what John used to bring. I don't really think there is any hyperbole in the situation that I presented. It is a very possible outcome of such a situation.
Another problem I had with the book was that it does not give really good solutions as to how to get out of the Two Income Trap, a lot of families find themselves in. The book is good reading to understand how people get into saddening life situations, but I feel it doesn't do much good for a family already there. The overwhelming feeling I got after reading the statistics that the book provided was sadness. The answer to a crisis such as Dad losing the job is not to send a Mom who has never worked before into the workplace. I don't think it will work in real life for the reasons stated above.I am not saying I have the answers. But there are some things which I believe are good tips for a couple starting out in life.
1. If both husband and wife work, buy a house with a mortgage+utilities which you can afford to pay with one income. If you cannot afford to do that, you are not financially ready to buy a house. The book touches on this about keeping your fixed expenses below 50%.
2. Live WAY below your means. It means different things to different people. But you know where you are. Save well.
3. Don't worry about what other people are making or not making or emulate their lifestyles. Look at successful people and learn what they are doing right. Take control of your OWN finances.
4. Learn about investing. E.g. A car is a depreciating asset and is not a wise investment choice.
5. Above all, don't forget the source of every blessing.
Since I cannot say it any better, I leave you with Amy's words. If you are poor, let it be becasue the Lord wills so, and not becasue of your foolish choices.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Christmas Banquet
Just like Titanic, only different...
The little man was trying to wriggle his way down as fast as he could.
And then, the updated family pic with my blonde-haired blue-eyed baby from the Christmas Banquet at church.
I just love him to pieces. And that goes for the man and the baby.
The little man was trying to wriggle his way down as fast as he could.
And then, the updated family pic with my blonde-haired blue-eyed baby from the Christmas Banquet at church.
I just love him to pieces. And that goes for the man and the baby.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Hubby,stop reading, others help!
I will do the second part review of the Two Income Trap soon, but for now I need some help. If my husband is reading, PLEASE STOP READING RIGHT NOW. Dearest Husband, you have managed to squish every single surprise I have tried to put together for you over the years, so please give me a fighting chance and stop reading right now. If you don't I will cook fish and okra for every single day for the next one month. I am well aware how much you hate it.
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Ok, back to my dear interpeeps. This is my dilemma. Hubby has about 1000 songs in cassette tapes that he wants to convert to mp3/cds. While we were shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond one day, we saw a converter and it was for $150. He said he wanted that, but we decided to shop around a little bit. I just thought about that last week, and decided to gift it to him for Christmas and accordingly looked it up on Amazon.
Bear with me, the story is going somewhere.
It was $136 and then when I read the comments, I found that, it was not worth it and all you need is a Y connector ($4.99) and a software called Audacity (free download). We already have a tape player. And then I googled it, and there are even you tube videos showing you how to do it. So being thecheapskate frugal person I am, I would not shell out $130 for something I could do for $4.99. Anyway, that is when I ran into this dilemma. I dont know what is the audio line-in jack for my computer! Where is it, what is the symbol? I tried asking hubby, but he got suspicious. Have you heard "curious as a cat"? Hubby has nothing on the cat. He likes to get to the bottom of things. And I am not a very good liar. He already suspects something is up, and I have been avoiding him today.
So if you know, can you help me? Pretty please?
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Ok, back to my dear interpeeps. This is my dilemma. Hubby has about 1000 songs in cassette tapes that he wants to convert to mp3/cds. While we were shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond one day, we saw a converter and it was for $150. He said he wanted that, but we decided to shop around a little bit. I just thought about that last week, and decided to gift it to him for Christmas and accordingly looked it up on Amazon.
Bear with me, the story is going somewhere.
It was $136 and then when I read the comments, I found that, it was not worth it and all you need is a Y connector ($4.99) and a software called Audacity (free download). We already have a tape player. And then I googled it, and there are even you tube videos showing you how to do it. So being the
So if you know, can you help me? Pretty please?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Two Income Trap- Part 1
I recently read the review of Two Income Trap by Amelia and Elizabeth Warren at Elizabeth's blog and started asking so many questions that she encouraged me to read it for myself. Hubby and I make mostly sensible financial decisions, so I figured there wasn't much the book could offer. I was right and wrong. Right that the book does not offer anything much new in terms of personal finances, wrong that there wasn't much that I could learn. I learned quite a bit and received a fresh perspective on issues affecting two income middle class families.
Now here is where I have to admit my ignorance. I haven't been in the US for that long and there are some things that I don't understand. One is electoral college and the other is school districts. Why is there a rule that only people who live in certain areas can go to certain schools etc.? I was aware that was the case since my niece and nephew are in public schools, but I never understood why. Can someone explain me that? The book explains very well the problems arising from that. People go for better schools for their children, max out their mortgage for buying a ridiculously high priced house in that school district. But why should that be allowed to happen? Why is there a rule prohibiting kids to go to their school of choice? Logically, without knowing anything about the issue, I would think that kids leaving for a better school (if there were no restrictions) would inspire sub standard schools to get their act together. Maybe I am missing something. I would love to know. Also another thing is, the authors keep comparing a current couple with a 70's (I think) couple to show why families are more in danger now. Was there no school district delineation for education then?
Another aspect she talks about is regulating predatory lending. A big hearty Amen to that. It would be great if there are more rules in place so that credit card companies can stop lending to people who are incapable of paying them back. The whole sub-prime crisis is becasue the companies wanted to make money and gave money to people whom they could charge high amounts of interest. "No discrimination for home buying based on money". (Don't even get me started on this screwed up statement) Started interestingly by Jimmy Carter. Followed through by Clinton and Bush administration. Anyone with half a brain could see that, the way the real estate market was going, it was not sustainable.
A third aspect the books talks about is Mom as a safety net. This is what started me on this book. It sounds great in theory. Dad works, couple buys a home based on Dad's income, mom stays home, takes care of children, crisis happen, mom goes to work until dad finds job, mom comes back home to former SAHM life, hunky dory dosy. What is the reality? Why do I disagree? What is the fallacy of the argument? I will explore that in part 2.
Now here is where I have to admit my ignorance. I haven't been in the US for that long and there are some things that I don't understand. One is electoral college and the other is school districts. Why is there a rule that only people who live in certain areas can go to certain schools etc.? I was aware that was the case since my niece and nephew are in public schools, but I never understood why. Can someone explain me that? The book explains very well the problems arising from that. People go for better schools for their children, max out their mortgage for buying a ridiculously high priced house in that school district. But why should that be allowed to happen? Why is there a rule prohibiting kids to go to their school of choice? Logically, without knowing anything about the issue, I would think that kids leaving for a better school (if there were no restrictions) would inspire sub standard schools to get their act together. Maybe I am missing something. I would love to know. Also another thing is, the authors keep comparing a current couple with a 70's (I think) couple to show why families are more in danger now. Was there no school district delineation for education then?
Another aspect she talks about is regulating predatory lending. A big hearty Amen to that. It would be great if there are more rules in place so that credit card companies can stop lending to people who are incapable of paying them back. The whole sub-prime crisis is becasue the companies wanted to make money and gave money to people whom they could charge high amounts of interest. "No discrimination for home buying based on money". (Don't even get me started on this screwed up statement) Started interestingly by Jimmy Carter. Followed through by Clinton and Bush administration. Anyone with half a brain could see that, the way the real estate market was going, it was not sustainable.
A third aspect the books talks about is Mom as a safety net. This is what started me on this book. It sounds great in theory. Dad works, couple buys a home based on Dad's income, mom stays home, takes care of children, crisis happen, mom goes to work until dad finds job, mom comes back home to former SAHM life, hunky dory dosy. What is the reality? Why do I disagree? What is the fallacy of the argument? I will explore that in part 2.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Mish Mash
My sister and family are visiting us this Christmas and staying with us for 8 days. To say I am excited is putting it very mildly. I have not seen them in three years and I am literally counting the days. To plan their fun week here was glory to my organizing soul and Excel and I had a grand ole' time. I talked to sis today and told her about a tentative schedule I had prepared. Then I also mentioned that I made a menu plan. She listened to me very kindly, but was probably thinking I was slightly off my rocker.
Organizing is great and it is one of my strengths and weakness as well. After all the planning and organizing, if things go awry, I start twitching. That is where I am really glad I have the DH next to me. Otherwise I will have to take to clenched fists, and gritted teeth repeating to myself "I am calm, I am calm." That would not be very convincing or helpful I think.
I have been on a reading binge for the last 2 weeks and now I am feeling a little burnt out. I read The Poisonwood Bible, Same kind of different as me, Two Income Trap in about 10 days. This was with a full time job, guests, and cooking. Which means I was reading every spare second I had. Like reading while stirring the soup. Right now I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I will review Two Income Trap soon. I do have something to say about the book.
Our house is all done with respect to new countertops, flooring, carpet etc. I have to paint the bathroom and I will be done. I am excited. I will try to put pictures after I take them, sometime in this millennium.
I also have the tree up and the decorations out. I still have not finished buying all the gifts. And our travel plans have been cancelled. I am actually kind of relieved. With all that has been going on, planning for that has been a wee bit too much.
This has been a pretty hodgey podgey post and I apologize.
Organizing is great and it is one of my strengths and weakness as well. After all the planning and organizing, if things go awry, I start twitching. That is where I am really glad I have the DH next to me. Otherwise I will have to take to clenched fists, and gritted teeth repeating to myself "I am calm, I am calm." That would not be very convincing or helpful I think.
I have been on a reading binge for the last 2 weeks and now I am feeling a little burnt out. I read The Poisonwood Bible, Same kind of different as me, Two Income Trap in about 10 days. This was with a full time job, guests, and cooking. Which means I was reading every spare second I had. Like reading while stirring the soup. Right now I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I will review Two Income Trap soon. I do have something to say about the book.
Our house is all done with respect to new countertops, flooring, carpet etc. I have to paint the bathroom and I will be done. I am excited. I will try to put pictures after I take them, sometime in this millennium.
I also have the tree up and the decorations out. I still have not finished buying all the gifts. And our travel plans have been cancelled. I am actually kind of relieved. With all that has been going on, planning for that has been a wee bit too much.
This has been a pretty hodgey podgey post and I apologize.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Thanksgiving notes
So, thanksgiving weekend went well. We had the guests with the food restrictions, but it went remarkably well. I managed to cook stuff that could accommodate everybody, so no one had to starve. We had thankgiving dinner at a friends place. It was lovely. And here is a photo I stole from her blog.
We did an eat and run as we had to get the house and food ready for our guests. I have no idea how the four days went, but it just did in a flash. Our Oaklahoman guests left very early Monday morning and in the night we had some other guests from Milwaukee.
Unfortunately since it was a Monday and both hubby and I work, we were not able to provide as good a dinner as we wanted to. On top of that hubs had a dentist appointment and since we are a one car family, the logistics did not work out the way to facilitate an elaborate meal . There was just pulav, raita, and fish fry. They ate well, but I feel it was inadequate. Hubby told me to get over it and that majority of the people would have just eaten out if they worked full time and had guests on a weekday. They brought us wine, and two kinds of chocolate all wrapped up in nice bows. I am not sure who is going to eat all that chocolate. It will take us three months to finish that. Since we don't drink, we had the guests drink the wine themselves. I realized that a bottle is not much at all since they managed to finish it between them.
I have not been able to put up any Christmas decorations and now I am in the process of making a to do list for all the things to be done before the end of the year. There is Christmas, family visiting for a week, our wedding anniversary, a tentative travel plan, hubbys Microsoft certification exam, and some birthdays coming up. I think the organizing/scheduling part of my brain just went into overdrive.
It is a good thing that I love the busyness of everyday life. Recently I had a friend tell me (nicely) that if she tried to do all that I do, she would go crazy. Aren't you glad that God made us all gloriously different with unique capabilities and talents? I know I am.
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