Financial

As for so many weekends, I end up having to make a shopping trip run, either to Target or to the local grocery store or both. So, with my list on my phone (Out of Milk app for the Droid is awesome) I ran over to both Target and the grocery store. The primary objective was baby food from Target and food for the crock pot from the grocery store.

20 bags later, I am home and my wife asked how much I spent, to which I replied, total, $215 for both stores. And to give an idea, there were 3 bags of baby food, no formula, just the solid foods. We now have enough baby food for 3 months and we have enough food for 5 meals in the crock pot. And, best of all, I was able to save $75 for the trip.

So, watch your sale ads and if you get a chance, stock up on the things that you know that you will need for the future. Save money today, for tomorrow.

All in all, I think that it was a successful weekend shopping trip.

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The last time that I checked, life is too short and we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. But even so, we can plan ahead and protect our loved ones as best we can. As a father, I feel that it is my role to lead by example and to make sure that my family is always provided for, even if something were to happen to me.

The week after the boys were born, I added them to my Life Insurance policy at work, which guarantees $20,000 each. I also increased the individual life insurance policies that my wife and I both have as well. And then I added them to my other two policies that I had taken out with USAA. If I were to die tomorrow, the boys would be taken care of and all for a few dollars a month. There is a peace of mind knowing that if I am not here tomorrow, that they will be provided for.

I highly recommend sitting down with a financial planner and discussing with them your options and protecting your family and their future.  Taking an hour or two out of your busy schedules, is worth the security for when you need it the most.

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Now that the new year has started and it is time for the dreaded tax season, remember to take a look at the IRS 2011 Child Tax Credit deductions.

This is also a good time for a teachable moment with the kids too. One of the things that we are doing this year, and even though the boys are too young this year to understand, we will be away some of the boys toys and donating them to charity. Ask your CPA, but this should fall under a standard donation and can come off of your taxes as tax credits as well.

I want to make sure that we raise the boys to be humble and remember that they can help those that do not have as much as they do.

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Marriage is hard, but the first year of marriage with kids, is pretty rough too. Focusing on each other is important and shouldn’t be overlooked. Yes, the first priority should be the kids, but then, you still have to spend time for each other.

Here are some things that we do:

  • Date night is important and we have tried to focus on going out once a month. To help save money, find another couple and offer to baby sit for free so that they too can enjoy a date night and then they can watch your kids when you need a night out on the town.
  • Eat dinner together after the kids go to bed and talk about our day. I think that this will change once the boys are able to talk, as I hope that we will all eat together at the dinner table together.
  • We talk, and we try to avoid the basic small talk, but we talk about the kids, work, if we are on track with our goals for the year. And actually listen, not think about 10 things that have to be done tomorrow.

Remember, before there were kids, it was just you two and you have to spend time on each other as well.

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As many people start the 2012, New Years Resolutions are being made and most will be stopped by March, as mine have in years past. I hope that by publishing my resolutions, I can keep track of them easier and focus on them more. So here goes:

1) Spend more time with my boys
2) Save more money – both for the boys College but for the family & I am hoping that by cutting down on eating out, using more coupons and the boys switching from formula to milk in a few months, that this will be an achievable goal.
3) Exercise more – I would like to start doing 2 – 3 days a week of cardio, which should be doable since there is a 1 mile walking path at work.
4) Pay down debt – Pay down at least 3 credit cards and finish paying off 1 college loan for my wife.

So, as we start the new year, let’s hope that I am able to do better this year than in previous with my 2012 New Years Resolutions.

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To help prepare our two boys for their future, we setup a savings account for them at our credit union. To start off, we put $25 a month, per child to open the accounts, but have tried to maintain depositing another $50 per child a month. We have also been able to add about another $200 per due to gifts from their christening at church. This year, instead of gifts from both my grandparents and also my wife’s grandparents, they will be giving them money for Christmas to help with our long term savings goals for the boys.

A few things to consider:
1) Setting up an account at your local credit union. The benefits that I found were: no monthly fees, higher interest rates, and they provide a monthly newsletter, so when the boys get older, they will be able to color the handouts and also learn more about saving money.
2) Ask parents/grandparents for money for your children than a gift, esp. when the children are young. Why get a toy that will have a short life span, when money can grow in interest over the years.
3) You are teaching your children a valuable lesson about money and saving money. Our goal is $50 a month per child, not factoring in interest, gifts from others, etc. So by the time the boys are 18, that will be a nice starting point for the boys.

Hope these help.

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In this economy, I think that everyone has to budget their money. And with twins, it is even more important, because their Doctor visits, Diapers, Formula, clothes, daycare, etc. So my wife and I sat down and looked at where we were financially and started making some tough decisions on what we needed to cut out. I will break out what we did before the boys were born, what we have done since the boys were born and what we are working on now.

Before the boys we did the following:
1) Read the Dave Ramsey book The Total Money Makeover
2) Used the Debt Reduction Calculator and we keep this updated on a monthly basis. This allows us to know where we are at any point in time each month.
3) After we found a nanny and decided on a price for her to keep our boys, we started taking what we would be paying her each week and putting it into savings. We needed to see what life would be like without that money. And because I have been asked a few times, we used Care.com to find our nanny and were very pleased with the service.

What we have done since the boys were born:
1) Canceled our gym memberships and instead, we take the boys to the mall and use that as our family exercise. This has saved us approximately $80 a month.
2) Cut back on eating out. We are fortunate that our boys are pretty well behaved and are very laid back when we are out in public, but cuts needed to be made and that was an easy one. So instead of eating out 2 – 3 times a week, we only eat out 1 time every two weeks. We now cook more at home and cook more so that we have enough leftovers for 2 – 3 meals. (I’m working on an entry on recipes and sites that can help with cooking) This has saved us approximately $80 a week, and actually probably closer to $100 a week if you factor in taking our lunches now.
3) Coupons and more coupons. See more about what we our coupon experience. This has saved us approximately $25 – $30 a week.
4) I would stop at Starbucks at least 5 days a week and wouldn’t think twice about it. Now, I only go once a week. A savings of $20 a week.
5) Hand Me Downs – Don’t judge. The reality is that kids only wear clothes usually a few times before they have outgrown them. With twins, double the cost, it only makes sense to hook up with someone with older kids that have outgrown their clothes, it definitely saves a lot of money.

What we still need to do:
1) Almost 2 years ago during a snow storm, pre-twins, my wife and I upgraded our Comcast package to the $200 a month plan. Now, we watch only a few channels, primarily The Food Network and sports, so we will need to scale our cable package down.  And we love Comcast and the service that we have gotten thus far, we just don’t need to spend $200 a month right now.
2) Signup for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class.
3) Learn how to process our own food to cut down on paying for solid foods.
4) Increase our coupons, as this appears to be a huge savings for us.
5) Buy in bulk. Unfortunately for us, our house is small, which makes buying in bulk very limited, but when we can, we do stock up on the essentials, like diapers, formula, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.

I hope that these tips help. I have a feeling that this will be updated on a regular basis. If you have any ideas/suggestions, please feel free to share them with us.

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The day that we found out that we were pregnant, my first thought was “How much is this going to cost me? Weddings, college tuition, etc.” Then a few days later we were told, be open minded to twins and then it really hit, 2 weddings, 2 kids going to college at the same time, etc. With all of the added costs, we are limited in what we can do financially, but college is important and the cost is only rising.

Instead of my wife and I carrying the entire burden of paying for our son’s college tuition, we have asked that our parents contribute instead of buying them Christmas gifts and Birthday gifts. And since I have been a member of USAA for the last 20 years, we are looking at the USAA college savings plan.

Talk with a financial planner and ask what they recommend for the best way to pay for your children’s college tuition. But start as soon as you can, as the cost of college is only raising.

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