“The most power force in the universe is compound interest.” – Albert Einstein
We bought a new, bigger house last December. This naturally resulted in a new, bigger mortgage. This also led to my new, bigger desire to buy stuff to fill my new, bigger house.
I think you can see the problem.
At one point, we refinanced our old house to a 15 year mortgage. So we now pay more each month and essentially added an extra 15 years to our mortgage.
To help mitigate the cost of operation home upgrade, we plan to overpay at least one mortgage payment a year. I really want to spend that money on something more exciting, but did you know one extra mortgage payment a year will significantly reduce the time on your mortgage? Compounding interest does crazy things giving enough time. Last time I ran the numbers, one extra mortgage a year would trim off more than 6 years.
This is a simple example to show much you can save over the long haul. (I'm ignoring inflation and everything else that makes the math hard.) Say you have a $2,000 a month mortgage. If you pay one extra payment a year for 24 years, it would cost you 2,000*24= $48,000. Now assuming you trimmed 6 years off your payments, it would save you 2,000*6 years*12 months a year = $144,000. Paying early saves you $96,000. That buys a lot of area rugs and throw pillows.
If you have a mortgage and you’re never played with a prepayment calculator, I recommend you check one out. It’s empowering to see what’s possible.
You can't talk about compounding interest without mentioning investing. Did you know that if you invested $13,719 at 10% when you were 20, stopped adding money and just let it grow, you would be a millionaire at age 65?
Obviously, most of us were either too broke or too busy buying cute shoes at 20 to think about such practical investments, but the point is that the earlier you start the better. If you don’t have a retirement account, check out this calculator.
(One last fact for the SAHMs before I get off my soap box, if you’re married to somebody earning income you can still contribute to an IRA even if you’re not working.)
Financial planning isn’t fun or sexy. I’d much rather be shopping, but I would like to retire someday. I know the economy is bad and times are tight, but if it is possible to find a little money now it can add up to big things in the future.
My new mantra - Nothing is cuter than financial security.
Mar 30, 2011
Mar 28, 2011
My Minions
I'm starting the brain washing early...
Bwhahaha!!!
My little people happily took over the chores this morning! It was amazing. So amazing that I snapped a few photos to look back at when they are grumpy teenagers.
Bwhahaha!!!
My in laws are coming to visit on Thursday so my usual pre-visit freak out cleaning is in full swing. This morning I had a little more help than I expected.
My son has always been a bit overly helpful. If I'm doing it, he wants in on the action. But this is the first time my daughter joined in on the "fun".
The living room has never been so dust free. I know the time will come when they won't think chores are fun, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Mar 25, 2011
A Star Dims
I like my stars larger than life.
I hate those magazine articles that talk about how celebrities are just like the rest of us. I don’t want to know that movie stars get sweaty, buy groceries and change diapers just like me. There are enough dirty bottoms and bad fashion moments in my world already.
What I want…no… what I need is a little more fantasy.
I loved it when a JLo wore a dress cut down to her belly button. Hell, I even admire the meat dress and crazy egg hatch by Lady Gaga. I’m fascinated by the brangelina bunch.
Honestly, it’s nice to be provoked by somebody other than my kids.
I want mystery and drama. I want impractical outfits and gorgeous people. I want my stars to orbit above the earth, not walk on it.
This is why I will miss the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor. She kept things interesting. The woman was married 8 times to 7 seven different men. In addition to her talent for off screen drama, she was a gifted actress with two Best Actress Academy Awards to her credit.
She was a star who knew how to behave like a star.
Rest in Peace Elizabeth. Without you the world will be a dimmer place.
I hate those magazine articles that talk about how celebrities are just like the rest of us. I don’t want to know that movie stars get sweaty, buy groceries and change diapers just like me. There are enough dirty bottoms and bad fashion moments in my world already.
What I want…no… what I need is a little more fantasy.
I loved it when a JLo wore a dress cut down to her belly button. Hell, I even admire the meat dress and crazy egg hatch by Lady Gaga. I’m fascinated by the brangelina bunch.
Honestly, it’s nice to be provoked by somebody other than my kids.
I want mystery and drama. I want impractical outfits and gorgeous people. I want my stars to orbit above the earth, not walk on it.
This is why I will miss the beautiful Elizabeth Taylor. She kept things interesting. The woman was married 8 times to 7 seven different men. In addition to her talent for off screen drama, she was a gifted actress with two Best Actress Academy Awards to her credit.
She was a star who knew how to behave like a star.
Rest in Peace Elizabeth. Without you the world will be a dimmer place.
Mar 23, 2011
This Little Piggy
My daughter is a little piggy.
And of course, I'm in no way referring to her weight. I would never comment about a lady's weight, even one I gave birth too. Plus she barely tips the scales at 10th percentile for weight so I'm happy to encourage her to pig out all she wants.
She earns the title of Little Piggy based on table manners and her ridiculous enthusiasm about food.
If I’m eating it, she wants it. Ever since she sprouted her first tooth, she’s been loudly demanding to try everything.
She still has only six teeth, yet is somehow able to eat lettuce. It’s amazing. Audrey isn’t one to let a little thing like a lack of teeth get in the way of her eating.
My son has always been a picky eater. He's had his moments of creative dining, but Audrey really takes it to the next level.
She’s has mastered the art of the double hand shove into her mouth. A meal isn’t complete without a few handfuls of food in her hair and a couple of bites stored under her bottom for later.
If you're opposed to the barnyard style of dining, you might want to decline any dinner invites to our house for the next few years.
At least she's an adorable little piggy...
And of course, I'm in no way referring to her weight. I would never comment about a lady's weight, even one I gave birth too. Plus she barely tips the scales at 10th percentile for weight so I'm happy to encourage her to pig out all she wants.
She earns the title of Little Piggy based on table manners and her ridiculous enthusiasm about food.
She still has only six teeth, yet is somehow able to eat lettuce. It’s amazing. Audrey isn’t one to let a little thing like a lack of teeth get in the way of her eating.
My son has always been a picky eater. He's had his moments of creative dining, but Audrey really takes it to the next level.
She’s has mastered the art of the double hand shove into her mouth. A meal isn’t complete without a few handfuls of food in her hair and a couple of bites stored under her bottom for later.
If you're opposed to the barnyard style of dining, you might want to decline any dinner invites to our house for the next few years.
At least she's an adorable little piggy...
Mar 20, 2011
The Reality of It
Ever notice how pretty much every reality TV cast contains a hero and a villain?
It’s kind of convenient how that works out isn’t it?
Editing sure is a powerful thing.
Take my own life. Let’s suspend disbelief for a second and say I was cast in a show. Granted it would be a very lame show, but let’s just gloss over that one.
If you needed a hero, you could easily fill an hour of footage with stereotypical good mom moments. You could catch me reading stories, playing in the sand box, baking cookies….you know…standard issue mom stuff. I like to think I have a few redeeming qualities. I donate to charity. I bake dinners for friends with new babies. I generally try to do the right thing.
But if you needed a villain, you could also certainly find an hour of not so good moments. Hell, some weeks it might even be easier to make me look like a scandalously bad person. I get tired and snap at my husband. Making dinner with the “help” of two little ones is guaranteed to provide some less than flattering scenes of me in action. You could probably fill an entire show with me yelling at my son to “just eat” his food. Footage of the food wars would be boring, but it would definitely paint me like a shrew in desperate need of taming.
It could really go either way depending on how I’m edited.
I think the power of editing extends to real life. After watching a mom melting down and screaming at her kids in the park, I don’t go out of my way to chat with her in the future. I see somebody return a dropped dollar and assume they’re always honest.
We only catch little snippets here and there, just a teaser for the real show, and we extrapolate all kinds of information about people.
I suspect if we could see people’s whole story, the lines between heroes and villains would all be a bit blurry.
It’s kind of convenient how that works out isn’t it?
Editing sure is a powerful thing.
Take my own life. Let’s suspend disbelief for a second and say I was cast in a show. Granted it would be a very lame show, but let’s just gloss over that one.
If you needed a hero, you could easily fill an hour of footage with stereotypical good mom moments. You could catch me reading stories, playing in the sand box, baking cookies….you know…standard issue mom stuff. I like to think I have a few redeeming qualities. I donate to charity. I bake dinners for friends with new babies. I generally try to do the right thing.
But if you needed a villain, you could also certainly find an hour of not so good moments. Hell, some weeks it might even be easier to make me look like a scandalously bad person. I get tired and snap at my husband. Making dinner with the “help” of two little ones is guaranteed to provide some less than flattering scenes of me in action. You could probably fill an entire show with me yelling at my son to “just eat” his food. Footage of the food wars would be boring, but it would definitely paint me like a shrew in desperate need of taming.
It could really go either way depending on how I’m edited.
I think the power of editing extends to real life. After watching a mom melting down and screaming at her kids in the park, I don’t go out of my way to chat with her in the future. I see somebody return a dropped dollar and assume they’re always honest.
We only catch little snippets here and there, just a teaser for the real show, and we extrapolate all kinds of information about people.
I suspect if we could see people’s whole story, the lines between heroes and villains would all be a bit blurry.
Mar 16, 2011
Sigh...
I was cruising Facebook recently and saw that my sister had posted this:
My mom had liked it and my step father added a comment saying that he didn't remember the Japanese goverment writing out any checks after Katrina.
Sigh....
To be fair to my family, I'm not presenting the whole discussion here. They all seemed to agree we should not send money, but that sending supplies to help with the relief effort was a good idea. But frankly the Pearl Harbor comment is pretty much lodged in my brain, blocking anything reasonable that may have been written after it.
I think the Pearl Harbor crack was fundamentally unfair. You only need to look at the cars on your block to know that our relationship with Japan is not that simple. It is true that Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor in 1941, but a lot has happened since then including the US dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese cities. Pearl Harbor happened 70 years ago. Most of the people affected by the Japanese earthquake weren’t even alive then.
Questioning the Japanese response after Katrina doesn't strike me as particularlly fair either. I don’t mean in anyway to imply that Katrina was not a significant, horrible event, it absolutely was. But it’s not really on the same scale, espcially when you consider percentage of the country affected.
About 2,000 people were killed as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the damages are estimated at $81 billion. The missing in Japan are estimated at 8,000 and there are over 3,500 confirmed causalities already. The estimate of the cost of the Japan’s earthquake is currently $200 billion , but the reality is we don’t really know yet. Depending on the outcome of the crisis at the nuclear plants, things may go from bad to worse very quickly. It’s already apparent that it’s a much more severe event than Three Mile Island and that cost $973 million dollars and took 12 years to clean up. Bascially, what Japan is facing right now is worse than having Three Mile Island occur during Hurricane Katrina, quite a bit worse by the reports so far.
And Japan did donate after Katrina. A lot of countries did. It is true that the Japanese government didn't cut us any checks, but they provided about a $1 million dollars worth of supplies. Private and corporate donations from Japan totaled over $13 million.
If people want to argue that the US government needs to show fiscal restraint right now because our economy is in the toilet, that’s fine. We should absolutely talk about if we should donate and how much we can afford to contribute if we do.
I’m all for debate and discussion. But ranting about other countries just isn’t my cup of tea. But then I guess I already knew I was the only tea fan in a family of coffee drinkers.
P.S. What may be the scariest fact of all is that my family isn’t the only one riding this train - WNBA Star Cappie Pondexter Apologizes For Insensitive Tweets About Japanese Earthquake
My mom had liked it and my step father added a comment saying that he didn't remember the Japanese goverment writing out any checks after Katrina.
Sigh....
To be fair to my family, I'm not presenting the whole discussion here. They all seemed to agree we should not send money, but that sending supplies to help with the relief effort was a good idea. But frankly the Pearl Harbor comment is pretty much lodged in my brain, blocking anything reasonable that may have been written after it.
I think the Pearl Harbor crack was fundamentally unfair. You only need to look at the cars on your block to know that our relationship with Japan is not that simple. It is true that Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor in 1941, but a lot has happened since then including the US dropping two atomic bombs on Japanese cities. Pearl Harbor happened 70 years ago. Most of the people affected by the Japanese earthquake weren’t even alive then.
Questioning the Japanese response after Katrina doesn't strike me as particularlly fair either. I don’t mean in anyway to imply that Katrina was not a significant, horrible event, it absolutely was. But it’s not really on the same scale, espcially when you consider percentage of the country affected.
About 2,000 people were killed as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the damages are estimated at $81 billion. The missing in Japan are estimated at 8,000 and there are over 3,500 confirmed causalities already. The estimate of the cost of the Japan’s earthquake is currently $200 billion , but the reality is we don’t really know yet. Depending on the outcome of the crisis at the nuclear plants, things may go from bad to worse very quickly. It’s already apparent that it’s a much more severe event than Three Mile Island and that cost $973 million dollars and took 12 years to clean up. Bascially, what Japan is facing right now is worse than having Three Mile Island occur during Hurricane Katrina, quite a bit worse by the reports so far.
And Japan did donate after Katrina. A lot of countries did. It is true that the Japanese government didn't cut us any checks, but they provided about a $1 million dollars worth of supplies. Private and corporate donations from Japan totaled over $13 million.
If people want to argue that the US government needs to show fiscal restraint right now because our economy is in the toilet, that’s fine. We should absolutely talk about if we should donate and how much we can afford to contribute if we do.
I’m all for debate and discussion. But ranting about other countries just isn’t my cup of tea. But then I guess I already knew I was the only tea fan in a family of coffee drinkers.
P.S. What may be the scariest fact of all is that my family isn’t the only one riding this train - WNBA Star Cappie Pondexter Apologizes For Insensitive Tweets About Japanese Earthquake
Mar 15, 2011
Baby Steps
I’ve been thinking about the phrase “taking baby steps” lately. Probably because I have a baby who recently started walking and I send way too much time alone. Anyway…
Usually when somebody suggests you take baby steps they mean you should start making slow progress towards your goal. A baby step is a low risk way to ease yourself into the process.
If you actually watch a baby stepping, that’s not what’s going on at all.
When my daughter walks, there is a decent chance she’s going to fall on her bottom or face. Learning to walk is definitely a high risk undertaking. There is also a distinct possibility she’ll end up moving in a completely unintended direction because she kind of wobbles around like a pint size drunken sailor.
Each step might be small compared to a grown up, but they are pretty big for her tiny size. She certainly puts more effort into walking than anybody with a few years of practice.
The most impressive thing about watching a baby learn to watch is how they deal with failure. When things go wrong, they just get back up and try again. There may be a little drama and some tears involve, but they always quickly try again.
I’m thinking there are some goals I should start baby stepping towards. I’ve been a little too afraid of falling on my ass lately.
Usually when somebody suggests you take baby steps they mean you should start making slow progress towards your goal. A baby step is a low risk way to ease yourself into the process.
If you actually watch a baby stepping, that’s not what’s going on at all.
When my daughter walks, there is a decent chance she’s going to fall on her bottom or face. Learning to walk is definitely a high risk undertaking. There is also a distinct possibility she’ll end up moving in a completely unintended direction because she kind of wobbles around like a pint size drunken sailor.
Each step might be small compared to a grown up, but they are pretty big for her tiny size. She certainly puts more effort into walking than anybody with a few years of practice.
The most impressive thing about watching a baby learn to watch is how they deal with failure. When things go wrong, they just get back up and try again. There may be a little drama and some tears involve, but they always quickly try again.
I’m thinking there are some goals I should start baby stepping towards. I’ve been a little too afraid of falling on my ass lately.
Mar 10, 2011
Rocking The Red Pump
Today I'm using my little piece of the blogosphere to Rock The Red Pump.
Every 9 1/2 minutes somebody in the US is infected with HIV.
That's less than every 10 minutes that somebody has their life altered forever. Every person infected is a child, a friend and a neighbor. These are real people living in our communities.
I live near DC, a city that has been fighting hard against the AIDS epidemic and appears to be losing ground. I'm a mother and I worry about the world my children will grow up in. So today, I will gladly dress my blog in a fabulous pair of red pumps.
March 10 is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The point of the day is to raise awareness and to encourage ladies to take action.
So take some action girls. Protect yourself and the ones you love.
It doesn't just happen to other people. And it doesn't just happen to men.
Go to this website to learn more: The Red Pump Project
Every 9 1/2 minutes somebody in the US is infected with HIV.
That's less than every 10 minutes that somebody has their life altered forever. Every person infected is a child, a friend and a neighbor. These are real people living in our communities.
I live near DC, a city that has been fighting hard against the AIDS epidemic and appears to be losing ground. I'm a mother and I worry about the world my children will grow up in. So today, I will gladly dress my blog in a fabulous pair of red pumps.
March 10 is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The point of the day is to raise awareness and to encourage ladies to take action.
So take some action girls. Protect yourself and the ones you love.
It doesn't just happen to other people. And it doesn't just happen to men.
Go to this website to learn more: The Red Pump Project
Mar 7, 2011
Whack Job
I’ve been growing my hair for a while now.
It my head, my long hair is beautiful. Think Gloria’s glorious mane on Modern Family.
In reality, my hair looks like this-
Basically, I have needy hair. It’s a frizzy mess unless I spoil it and give it more attention than my children. The end result is a pony tail every day...every single day.
So I chopped it off.
Now it looks like this-
The best part is that it just takes a few minutes. Just throw a little product in it and done! No hair dryers needed.
I actually have a “style” now and it’s easier than putting my long hair into a pony tail. It’s my own little slice of hair heaven.
I feel like a 31 year old woman who happens to have a couple of kids and a minivan, instead of the reigning queen of Frumpville.
Now I just need to tackle the sorry state of my wardrobe...
It my head, my long hair is beautiful. Think Gloria’s glorious mane on Modern Family.
In reality, my hair looks like this-
So I chopped it off.
Now it looks like this-
I don’t think the picture does it justice, but think along the lines of Meg Ryan's look when she’s rocking the messy chin length do.
The best part is that it just takes a few minutes. Just throw a little product in it and done! No hair dryers needed.
I actually have a “style” now and it’s easier than putting my long hair into a pony tail. It’s my own little slice of hair heaven.
I feel like a 31 year old woman who happens to have a couple of kids and a minivan, instead of the reigning queen of Frumpville.
Now I just need to tackle the sorry state of my wardrobe...
Mar 4, 2011
The Pool Problem
We moved about two months ago. It was only three miles, but it might as well be to a different planet. We sold our 1950s bungalow on a busy road to buy a 1970s split level in a “real” neighborhood.
(And yes, I know I’m an ass. I feel like the modern equivalent of a carpet bagger for capitalizing on the low home prices and interest rates to upgrade. It’s already added to the list of things I feel guilty about, but I still LOVE the new place.)
The new house has more room, a modern kitchen, good schools, sidewalks and a neighborhood pool.
I realized there is only one real problem. Did you catch it? There is a neighborhood POOL…meaning I will be expected to wear a swimsuit in public.
Oh my..holy…sweet.. mother… CRAP!
I for one am not excited about meeting my new neighbors basically naked. I know that I could just skip the pool, but it gets really hot here in the DC region. Chances are good I’ll lose my mind and my clothes come July.
It is time to step up the working out.
And by step up, I mean start. Right now my main form of exercise is literally chasing a toddler and having dance parties with the kids.
Unless I’m willing to surrender to the skirted swim suit, I need to go to battle against the budge. Wish me luck!
(And yes, I know I’m an ass. I feel like the modern equivalent of a carpet bagger for capitalizing on the low home prices and interest rates to upgrade. It’s already added to the list of things I feel guilty about, but I still LOVE the new place.)
The new house has more room, a modern kitchen, good schools, sidewalks and a neighborhood pool.
I realized there is only one real problem. Did you catch it? There is a neighborhood POOL…meaning I will be expected to wear a swimsuit in public.
Oh my..holy…sweet.. mother… CRAP!
I for one am not excited about meeting my new neighbors basically naked. I know that I could just skip the pool, but it gets really hot here in the DC region. Chances are good I’ll lose my mind and my clothes come July.
It is time to step up the working out.
And by step up, I mean start. Right now my main form of exercise is literally chasing a toddler and having dance parties with the kids.
Unless I’m willing to surrender to the skirted swim suit, I need to go to battle against the budge. Wish me luck!
Mar 2, 2011
TADA!
What do you think of my new look?
Does it make my butt look big?
(On a serious note, please let me know if it loads really slow or is somehow annoying to visit. Thank you.)
I still love my old template, but like so many beautiful things, it was a temperamental pain in the ass. I had to manually archive my posts and it wouldn’t work with a bunch of the new widgets. I’m still warming up to my makeover, but the new template is certainly easier to live with.
Do you like the new name?
Interstitial Life just wasn't working for me anymore.
When I picked it, I was thinking about how interstitial refers to a gap or space between things. I was convinced this time of being a nearly full time mommy was going to be a short term phase, kind of a gap between “real” jobs. But I don't think that's going to be the case. I don't see me returning to full time work in the foreseeable future. So the title “Interstitial Life” was starting to feel like a dress a size too small.
Interstitial is also kind of hard to spell. And as an added bonus it’s associated with a whole host of unfortunate illnesses like interstitial lung disease. So it is time for a new title. I also used the new name as an excuse to get my own web domain http://www.mypieceofmind.info/ so that I could change the web address without messing up any links.
I’m excited for a fresh start. Thank you all for your patience. I promise I will stop being so needy and self absorbed. No more blogging about blogging…at least for a while.
Does it make my butt look big?
(On a serious note, please let me know if it loads really slow or is somehow annoying to visit. Thank you.)
I still love my old template, but like so many beautiful things, it was a temperamental pain in the ass. I had to manually archive my posts and it wouldn’t work with a bunch of the new widgets. I’m still warming up to my makeover, but the new template is certainly easier to live with.
Do you like the new name?
Interstitial Life just wasn't working for me anymore.
When I picked it, I was thinking about how interstitial refers to a gap or space between things. I was convinced this time of being a nearly full time mommy was going to be a short term phase, kind of a gap between “real” jobs. But I don't think that's going to be the case. I don't see me returning to full time work in the foreseeable future. So the title “Interstitial Life” was starting to feel like a dress a size too small.
Interstitial is also kind of hard to spell. And as an added bonus it’s associated with a whole host of unfortunate illnesses like interstitial lung disease. So it is time for a new title. I also used the new name as an excuse to get my own web domain http://www.mypieceofmind.info/ so that I could change the web address without messing up any links.
I’m excited for a fresh start. Thank you all for your patience. I promise I will stop being so needy and self absorbed. No more blogging about blogging…at least for a while.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)