DISQUS

I've always believed that charity comes from the heart so that's how I pick the charities to which I donate -- from the heart. My own church is always first on my list. When it comes to material donations, we alternate between the DAV or the ARC because those causes especially personal to us. My husband himself is a DAV (disabled American veteran) and he has a son by his first wife who is mentally handicapped.

Steve,

I agree that ignorance about personal finance is a cycle that needs to be stopped. But there's surely no simple or easy solution. Kids can't be expected to understand concepts they've never been exposed to and if the people around them have no concept of personal finance (in the form of parents, teachers, and yes, even their federal government) then there's not much hope.

I'm no fan of Bush's "Every Child Left Behind" and I don't have much good to say about the public school system in general. After all, that's why I decided to homeschool my children all those years ago. Still, we have to start somewhere and requiring a personal finance class for HS graduation might be a solution.

The biggest problem I have with your logic is this statement: I’m not sure that a personal finance class in school is the answer - the answer may be getting their parents educated.

Remember, we're talking about high school seniors here. Most of these kids are only a few years away from becoming parents themselves! If they don't get personal finance info now, they will become another generation in the cycle -- passing on their ignorance of credit card debt and compounding interest to the next generation. I would think that thought educating high school seniors in even the rudiments of personal finance would be easier than rounding up the parents of those same seniors and teaching them the same concepts and then hope that they'll pass the info on to their kids.

Excellent article. I just wish that the AoM had specified that real manly men experience nature without the aid of 4x4's or other motorized vehicles. Men who don backbacks and hiking boots and commune with nature are manly men. Men who tear up the earth with loud, belching vehicles or those who can't go anywhere with a generator to power their audio and visual toys are NOT manly men.

Brett --

Good for you being a equal-opportunity hand-shaker. I believe that dead-fish handshakes are as equally repellant and "telling" from a woman as they are a man. I believe that your "how to do it" guidelines apply as equally to women as they do men.

I will tell you that a man who will look me in the eyes, offer his hand, and engage in a friendly, firm but not crushing handshake with me wins major points in my book. I'm completely in support of chivalry and all, but not at the cost of the women-as-equals progress we've made. A good handshake from a man means he sees me as an equal human being; it's a true sign of respect.

As the mother of a teenaged son whom I'm grooming to become a "manly" man, I'm confused about the "man hug" thing. Can you shed any light on this subject? I'm 43. I can easily remember the days when men simply did not hug other men. I like this advancement (man hugs) but as I said, I don't understand the rules. Your "manly" take on it would be appreciated.

I agree. If we wanted a "fair" system we'd be a socialist or communist country, not one founded on capitalism. But that's not to say that we should give up the fight and let abuses of the sytem go by with impunity. We know that there will always be new instances of $1500 toilet seats or young people who destroy their minds, bodies, and futures with drugs and alcohol and will never become contributing members of society but they are the exceptions, not the rule. For each Casey Serin, there are thousands of honest, hard-working real-estate investors. Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, again, are exceptions. With all the media attention given to characters like these, it's easy to develop a warped perception of how "unfair" things really are.

Steve,

As with so many other subjects, educating children is a topic on which I have strong opinions. Personally, I feel it is my moral imperative to send my children to college. A free ride? No. A good start in life? Yes.

My husband sent all three of his adult children to college, full ride, for their under-graduate degrees. All three went on to earn advanced degrees on their own -- one son has his PhD, another son a Master's, and the daughter, who earned a double major, went on to earn two Master's degrees. He was clear with them -- they could go to anywhere they wanted to ... as long as it was an in-state public school. Each one graduated without any student loans and all were given the used car they'd been driving to boot. I admire and respect my husband's dedication to his children. To me, he has his priorities in order. The valuation of education is something he learned from his parents -- both of whom came from humble beginnings and worked hard to better themselves. My FIL did not provide a college education for his son -- he was very young and was still trying to put himself through college when my husband graduated from high school a year early. My husband tried college, couldn't afford it, joined the Army, served his time, and finally went to school on the GI bill.

My own father, in contrast, didn't even stick around to raise us, much less see to our educations. I do not have a degree -- many, many credit under my belt and I paid for every single penny of them but no degree. Someday I'd love to go back to school. But not until my own children's college educations are provided for. I had my chance, now it's their turn.

What I really wanted to say, though, is how surprised and pleased I was to read of your interest in Waldorf education. My connections to Waldorf Ed go way back to my youth. My two younger siblings attended a Waldorf school for several years and now my daughter attends a Waldorf high school. I homeschooled both of my children using strongly Waldorf-inspired methods/ideals. The quality of education my daughter is receiving in high school far exceeds anything we could have hoped for in the local public high school.

If our economic situation remains stable, my children will mostly not qualify for any type of financial aid but I have high hopes that there will be scholarships available to them. It is our full intention to pay the balance as well as living expenses and books.

I can think of no more lasting or loving gift to my children than to have raised them in a loving and nourishing environment and then to send them out into the world with an undergraduate degree, no debts, and a dependable used car.

Sorry about the typo -- in your "name" no less :-( I'm desperately foggy this morning and maybe should stick just to reading, huh?

Excellent post, brip brap. I "know" all of this and yet I struggle with letting go. For me a huge part is remembering how much I spent on an item. I think that's at least mildly sick. I'm determined to pare down this year! I got rid of my first two bags of stuff to the DAV just this morning.

I was raised with the quality over quantity philosophy so it's second nature to me. I always buy for quality, take care of my possessions, and keep them until they die -- and sometimes long after that ;-)

Bubelah wrote: "I would not spend much money on the “quality” electronics though. B/c technology changes almost every week, you won’t keep up, the electronics will become obsolete and you are forced to buy updated versions, etc."

I disagree. I've owned the same stereo equipment since the mid '80's (Onkyo with baby Advent speakers), our 2 TV's (Zenith) are at least 18 years old, our computers (HP, Compaq, and Mac mini) are various ages but we always expect at least 5-7 active, high-use years out of them, my daughter has a 2nd generation iPod mini that's still going strong and with the help of an iHome wakes her up every morning, and I have a 1st generation iPod nano that keeps me company while I exercise and keeps my drive time commercial-free. My Motorola cell phone has to be 5+ years old -- what a work-horse it is.

If you do your research, wait until you can afford the best quality you can find, maintain and not mis-treat your equipment, and then keep it until it absolutely must be replaced, you can expect to receive the same value for your electronics money as any other product.

Half the battle with electronics is being satisfied with a product that meets your needs and not wanting the latest and greatest just because it's available.

Great list. The 401k, withholding, and frequent flyer points don't really apply in my case but they're great tips.

Just last night I transferred most of my checking account balance into a new WAMU savings account. It's tied to my checking account so I can easily transfer funds back and forth and will earn me 4.99% with no minimum balance. It was silly to carry that kind of balance in a non-interest bearing checking account.

I also love my cash rewards credit card which pays up to $300 in cash-back dividends per year.

And earlier this year we went one step further than the supermarket's frequent shopper card -- we got a Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards card which is a credit card combined with my frequent buyer membership. In addition to the special in-store prices, we regularly receive special coupons and "cash checks" in response to my shopping history. It's convenient and it saves me money -- what's not to like?

I'm not a Safeway shopper but I carry a Safeway card because it qualifies me for a $0.03/gallon discount at their gas pumps.

It is time for an eBay revolt -- and a Wagglepop revolution.

This is one Powerseller/Store Owner who's leaving FeePay forever -- as a buyer as well as a seller. I've opened a store at Wagglepop and will start populating it in earnest as soon as I have the store configured to my liking.

Wagglepop offers some exciting new features in their stores: Red Carpet -- discounts to loyal customers; InStore promotions, BuyMoreNow -- discounts for multi-item purchases, and OnTarget cross promotions. It's missing some features that I've become quite attached to though: sub-categories and the ability to list store items in two categories.

The irony of leaving eBay but continuing to use Paypal is not lost on us -- sellers or on the Wagglepop crew alike. But, honestly, it's a different fee for a different service and the Paypal fees haven't been continually raised.