Old School Coinage

This building our house series of posts is going to be about what I underwent to obtain my first piece of property...and then what I had to accomplish to put my first house up. No it isn't a tiny house.  Too bad because I really like the idea and the small amount of money required to build one.  My house is a modest 3 bed 2 bath ranch.  It has a full size basement (unfinished) and a 24x24 garage.  When we moved in we did not even have a sidewalk!  Oh the humanity!  The horror.  I ended up building the sidewalk myself. In fact I put a lot more work into the place then I originally thought and the place still cost us over 200k!!!  I am getting ahead of myself.  First we must go back to where we once were... The Beginning: The land grab Getting a piece of land shouldn't be that hard.  Especially when we had someone (grandpappy) who was generous enough to deed us the property.  Well it isn't that easy and this is partially w...

Pensions.  What the heck is a pension?  A fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.: or at least that is according to THIS website.   Well hey that doesn't sound too bad does it.  I myself as a public school teacher have been part of a pension plan ever since I got my first job.  You may think I would be excited to be a part of this plan, but I am not. In fact I am downright fearful.  First of all the state that I live in is known for corrupt government officials who have been part of various schemes that involve lining their pockets with a bunch of taxpayers money.  That money is probably also taken from the state teachers pension funds...so that blows. Second, I don't have any control of how that money is invested or saved.  I would much rather have that m...

O.k.  So this post is probably long overdue.  After all I do blog a lot on personal finance and I notice most other bloggers throwing their net worth out their so I probably should to.  I guess I just have been a little nervous to do so.  I mean after all, telling a bunch of people who you may or may not know isn't exactly normal in America. Most people in America act like they have money and really don't.  I act like I don't have money and I really don't.  Then their are those who act like they don't have money and they really do.  I want to be the third option. We all have to start somewhere so I guess I will just give you the lowdown on my net worth via Mint.  The only thing I don't really agree with on Mint is that the value of my cars is assessed.  I know I can change this setting but I really don't want to, and I don't factor in the value of my house either.  I figure the house is a liability really until I pay it down, because...

What, you may gasp as you read the title.  I mean I know life is hard for me (the reader), but I just figured all you financial blogging guys and gals had it all figured out.  You may have been misled into thinking we are some sort of superhuman specimen's who never experience pain, heartache, or trial.  Maybe you think that we don't struggle like you every single day. Nay.  I say nay to this nonsense.  I in fact have been misled into this thought process a time or two.  It isn't real popular to blog about repeated failure or trial but I assure you all bloggers struggle the same as you and I. Here are some reason's that we as readers may believe that life is all peachy keen everyday for pf bloggers... 1. Highlighting the Highlights:    I think it goes without saying that most people only write about the highlights or successes.  It in fact is actually a cultural phenomenon, I mean just take a look at facebook, twitter, etc...  No ...

So for those of you who don't know there is quite the plethora of information out there on personal finance.  I am always reading new articles trying to gain more information and hoping for a leg up on the game of life. When I started this journey I read MSN money, Kiplingers, and Yahoo Finance.  These sites were easy to access and viewed by thousands of people.  I figured that these articles would surely have truthful information that would lead me to success.  Oh how wrong I was:) I don't know how or why but one day I came across Mr. Money Mustache.   Man was I blown away!  Here was a guy who laughed in the face of mainstream financial advice.  Soon I discovered GRS , 20somethingfinance , and others. These guys know there stuff and are not afraid to show their bottom line aka what they actually have in the bank.  I mean, wouldn't you rather take advice from someone who is willing to show their portfolio versus some random writer on MS...