All posts by 1MansMoney

I am a guy pushing 40 that is married to a beautiful woman in her 30's. If I can only have as much luck with our finances.
Deals and Bargains

Bought A New Mattress

My wife and I have been sleeping poorly on our old lumpy mattress, and have been keeping an eye out for a good deal on a new mattress. My wife found a queen size Sealy Posturepedic mattress at Costco for only $699 + tax (delivered). A great price, but the mattress is only available in a pillow top version that my wife and I find sleeps too warm.

We visited our local Sleep Train Mattress Center and found the same mattress without the pillow top, but they were asking $1,599 + tax (delivered). While chatting with the salesman, my wife mentioned Costco’s great price and the gentleman said they can beat it by 5%.

So, with that one comment, my wife got us the mattress we wanted (non-pillow top Sealy Posturepedic) at a great price $665 + tax (delivered) – a 58% savings. Plus, God willing, we should be able to sell our old mattress for ~$100.
Investing

Market Ups and Downs

I update our net worth in our spreadsheet almost daily, but only post updates to this blog on the 1st of every month.

That being said, it drives me a little crazy when the stock market does great all month, and then, just as I get ready to post our new net worth on the 1st, the market drops. I know it doesn’t matter long term, and in fact, it is better for us because we are buying mutual funds at a lower price. However, I wish it would just wait until after I post the update on the 1st. The numbers would have looked great.

Oh, well, the market can always rebound before then. . .Dang it, I just checked and it’s down again today.

Career

Wife’s New Job Benefits

My Wife’s new job compensation and benefits are awesome. Here they are at-a-glance:

Salary
$40,000 base salary during 12 months of training + bonuses + commissions + travel + expense account + laptop

Insurance (starts in November)
Health insurance:$48.00/month vs $84.01/month previously
Detal insurance: $3.23/month vs $8.08/month previously
Vision insurance: $2.08/month vs none previously (paid 100% of contact costs)

401(k) (starts in January)
401(k) match of 50% up to 6% of her salary (4 year vesting schedule)

Misc (starts immediately)
Less driving will save us ~$100/month
Better training
Nicer/more qualified boss
Exciting new field

Business Travel

Considering Adding Another Dog To The Family

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I just returned from my business trip and am happy to be back home. Our neighbor’s dog is over our house and our dog and him are having a lot of fun playing. My wife and I have been discussing getting another dog so that our dog has a playmate and to help with home security while I am away on business.

My wife’s old job allowed her much more time at home to entertain our dog. We’re blessed that her new job will as well, but not for another 1+ years. The new job is going to keep her in the office 10+ hours a day for the next 7 months. Once she’s back out in the field, it is likely that she will have to spend considerable time away from home initially to set up accounts.

We’ve always wanted to get another dog, especially one that would be suitable for home security. Our little dog (13lbs) is very protective of the home, but the most he can do is sound the alarm, he doesn’t have much to back up the bark with.

We plan to spend a couple of hours online tonight researching breeds and discussing the pros and cons. A new dog will cost us a considerable amount of time and money to purchase, train, and care for. Our condo is pretty small, so we’re debating whether or not to wait until we have a house.

Entertainment

The Big Idea

I really enjoy watching Donny Deutsch’s television show, The Big Idea. This show introduces you to men and women who have made millions with their Big Idea. It is truly inspirational to hear about entrepreneurs that had a great idea, saw it thru to an actual product, and did not take no for an answer.

My “Big Idea” is to create a show called The Big Idea That Failed. Just like it sounds, the show would highlight great ideas and hard working entrepreneurs that fell flat on their faces. With most businesses failing within the first year, there is an endless supply of material for the show.

I picture the show segments flowing something like this:

Explanation of the big idea
This segment will be very much like Donny Deutsch’s The Big Idea, with the entrepreneur discussing the hope and excitement of making their idea a reality (most viewers will think “dang, why didn’t I think of that?”).

Step-by-step business analysis
This segment will go over the business model, distribution network, cash flow, etc. The first hints that there are problems with the business will crop up in this segment.

Melt Down
This segment will give the why, when, where, and how of the business failure. Essentially, it will be 15 minutes of the entrepreneur crying uncontrollably and explaining what went wrong in nonsensical gibberish.

Where is he/she now?
This segment will show the hopeless state that the entrepreneur is in after dumping their life savings, time, blood, sweat, and tears into a failed business. The closing statement will be, “Well, at least they tried”.

Okay, I was just having a little fun. I am totally impressed with people that have the guts to follow thru with an idea. If everyone were afraid get an idea off the ground, where would we be today? If you get a chance, check out the The Big Idea website. You can click on entrepreneurs they have highlighted on the show and read the details of their success.

Early Retirement

Target Retirement Date Update

It’s been a half a year since we first started down the path towards our goal of early retirement. While our goal of retiring in 2027 may still be a stretch, I’m more optimistic than ever. We have enjoyed great success thus far in growing our net worth, while having fun along the way.

There are still many years and major events between now and the possibility of early retirement. We would like to purchase a house and have kids in the next few years, both of which will impact our goal. We hope to offset these costs by increasing our earning potential and investing more each year. Oh, and it would be great if the housing market turns around and we can sell our condo in a few years for a profit.

Maybe I should say that we’re cautiously optimistic.

Business Travel, Career

Busy Week Next Week

I will be out of town from next week for a business trip. It will be nice to get out of the office for a few days, same some money on food and gas, get some cash back rewards for charging business expenses to our rewards card, and rack up a few more frequent flyer miles.

My wife starts training at her new job next week, while finishing up the first of her last two weeks with her current employer. They are going to be long, but exciting days for her.

Money Musings

Airline Credit

My wife was planning to join me on a business trip next week, but is unable to now that she is starting a new career. We had purchased her plane ticket online and received special pricing, so I was sure we would have to just right it off. I was wrong. She called the airline yesterday and they told her that we can apply the value of the ticket to another flight as long as we did so within 12 months. I’m going to miss her on the trip, but it’s good to know that the money spent on her ticket was not just thrown away.

Career

Career Change

My wife has been eager to leave her current company because her new sales manager is difficult to work with and doesn’t know anything about their industry. She also has seen indications that the company’s profitability is way down and there may be major problems ahead.

My wife has been interviewing with a great company for the past 1-1/2, and completed her 3rd and last interview with them today. The final interview was with a panel composed company upper management. As part of the interview, she was required to give a detailed sales presentation to the group. She nailed it. The group told her that she was one of the strongest candidates they have ever had. Needless to say, they offered her the job and she gratefully accepted. She starts with the company in 2-1/2 weeks, just enough time to tie up loose ends with her current company and give them proper notice.

The new job offers a much greater commission/bonus potential and better benefits than her current company. She should know more about the benefits next Tuesday, when she completes new hire paperwork. However, she has already learned that the health insurance is great and they offer a company matched 401(k).

I’m so proud of her. Not only did she get the job, she is joining the company as one of their top candidates, having already caught the eye of upper management.

Budget

So Far, So Good

1 Comment

We’re about 1/4 of the way thru July and my wife and I have done a good job thus far in keeping our expenses down. Our goal is for July to be our lightest expense month yet. That shouldn’t be too hard since we’ve spent an average of $7,110/month in the last four months. I’m hoping we can keep our July expenses in the vicinity of $6,500.

My wife and I are treating ourselves to a dinner date tonight, but to keep true to our goal, we’re taking advantage of a buy one, get one free coupon at an Italian restaurant in our neighborhood that we haven’t been to. We ordinarily spilt a meal when we go out, since the servings sizes in restaurants are usually huge. So, with a buy one, get one free deal, we’ll have a nice meal tonight and leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Got to love a deal.