Now, that post doesn’t come out and say that you should wait until a certain point to have kids — it merely gives things to consider during your pre-children years.

I’m probably going to ruffle some feathers in saying this, but I don’t think you should base your decision on whether to have a child on your finances. You’re welcome to respectfully disagree with me.

As much as many of us would like, we simply cannot “pencil in” having children on our calendars. For some, pregnancies are a total surprise. Or, some of us might decide to try to get pregnant and find ourselves with a positive test result just a few weeks later. For others, that day may never come. Babies might not come when they’re “convenient” for all involved, but I can tell you one thing — babies are born exactly when they need to be.

I’m due with our first baby on December 30 (plus or minus a few weeks, of course). With my due date so close to the new year, it’s possible he’ll be born in 2009. Sure, it would be nice to have an ‘08 baby for tax purposes, but if it doesn’t work out that way, we’ll be fine with that. He’ll likely be born around one of the busiest times of the year at my husband’s work. Oh, well.

And yes, it stinks that we won’t be able to travel to Indiana for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. But you know what? That’s ok with us! It’s a great reason not to travel. I’m sorry my due date is inconvenient for some, but it works for my baby, Shane and me, and everyone else can just deal with it :).

I’ve even had people tell me, “Oh, I hope he’s not born on Christmas. That would be terrible.” Are you kidding me? Who better to share a birthday with than Jesus?

When we announced that we were expecting, we caught some grief from some family. We were told that we should have waited until we were older, had more money, had more work experience, lived closer to family, etc. etc. It was incredibly upsetting and insulting to hear.

Of course it would be nice if we had no debt right now. Or if we lived less than 8 hours from the grandparents. But we’re fine and we’re going to be fine. It’s not like I would tell my baby, “Oh, sorry son. I’d rather be in a better financial situation than be your mommy.”

If people wait until they’re in the “perfect” situation to have children, those children might never be born. I wasn’t born at an ideal time for my folks, but I’m really glad I was born when I was. God had picked my birthday for a reason. If I was born just a few days or so later, I would have started school a year later, as I was born right near the cutoff date. That would have affected everyone I’d ever meet. I would have started college later, and perhaps wouldn’t have met my husband when I did.

So ask yourself, were you born at the “wrong” time? Do you wish your parents waited until they had more money or lived in a bigger house or had some other situation going on? Maybe you’ve had a particularly hard life, and if that’s the case, I’m sorry. But I’m willing to bet that most people are glad to be alive — no matter their circumstances.

For people who want to have children when it’s most convenient to them, I have to ask, “Have you met a baby before? Because nothing about babies are convenient.” Babies don’t care if you haven’t slept more than two hours in months. They want fed now. They want changed now. They want cuddled now. They don’t care if you have an important meeting at work. They get sick at random, inconvenient times. They have explosive diapers in public when you find yourself without an extra outfit for them. It’s the way of the baby. “Convenience” isn’t part of the deal.

We can’t always know why babies are born when they are. But God knows. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a profit to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV).

So who in the world do we think we are, to get in the way of God’s plan?

I’m not saying we shouldn’t try to give our children the best circumstances possible. Yes, we should be good with our finances. We should pay off our debts and increase our savings. We should buy life insurance policies. We should save for retirement. If that means that we need to make sacrifices in other areas (maybe not taking vacations, downgrading our lifestyles, being total tightwads) then that’s what we need to do.

But these financial things shouldn’t be deal-breakers. If you’re in debt but desperately would like to have children, why should that stop you? Perhaps you can turn your focus to building up your savings rather than paying down debt at the present time. You can likely pay down debt later. Can you have kids later? It’s hard to say.

Being a good parent doesn’t necessarily mean being debt-free. It doesn’t necessarily mean having a lot of money in the bank, or a four-bedroom house, or a great career. In fact, I don’t think the ability to be a good parent has anything to do with those things. Wealthy people can be total morons with their children, and broke people can be the best parents a child could ever hope for. It depends on a variety of factors.

Children don’t need fancy clothes, a roomful of toys, or 529 plans. They need attention and love. If you will provide those things, then don’t let some financial planner tell you when you should have kids. It’s not up to them, anyway.

If You’re 18 and Asking This Question

You’re in a place that 99.9% of the world wasn’t or hasn’t been at. You’re taking your financial future by the horns, congratulations! First off, you’re starting off on the right foot by asking yourself the question.  Ideally you’re probably not too bogged down with debt at this point.  Maybe a car loan, a first credit card with a bit of debt.

At the same time, you’re probably getting into your first job and/or steady income.  So thinking about having to give away a part of that to be used in 50 years doesn’t sound like that great of an idea, but you asked!  ;)  If I were to take a time machine back to that stage in my life, I’d love to start putting away 10% of each paycheck.

Even if you’re only making $20,000 per year, 10% of that money is $2,000/year and in 50 years you’d be sitting on about $2,500,000 at 10% (yes, that is 2 MILLION 5 HUNDRED THOUSAND off someone that makes $20,000 per year). You’d have put in a total of $100,000 and the beauty of compound interest would have accounted for the other $2,400,000 of it. Compounding interest is pretty slick.

Furthermore, think about how your salary is likely to increase over that 50 year span. You’d likely be moving up in salary at a few different points in your life, and yes, inflation would rear its ugly head each year too but there’s not a good way to battle inflation yet.The big thing is, get in early.

If You’re 50 And Asking

You may be thinking that you’re too late in the game to start investing.  You’re wondering where to if it is worth your time.  You’re certainly going to need some catch up against the 18 year old putting in 10%; to match with the 18 year old investing $2000/year, you’re going to need to put in $17,000 per year to hit that 2.5 million plateau.  Attainable, yes.  Preferred, probably not.

Every financial advisor you talk to will tell you that it is never too late to start investing.  Yea, I see their point as 2 fold, they may try to sell you something you don’t need and figure you’ll act on it out of fear of having nothing at the end.  You “could” start tossing a little money towards your retirment in 20 years, but  at 50 years old you shouldn’t be expecting the the world.  With the same scenario as above, $2000/year you’re still going to be pocketing $112,000 of which $40,000 is your own cash.

True, it doesn’t hold a flame to the 2.5 million that your 18 year old counterpart is dumping, but it isn’t chicken scratch either.  In my honest opinion if I were in this situation, i wouldn’t be counting on “investing” as my sole nest egg; I’d be looking to other (non-stock market related) investments, business startups, inventions, partnerships, etc to bump up my chances of retiring sooner than later.  At 50, you need to have something else unless you have a spare $17k to hit that 2.5 mil bucket in 20 years.

If You’re Anywhere In Between 18-50 And Asking

A good rule of thumb is 10%.  Depending on your level of creativity, 10% is a good place to start.  I say “creativity” for the fact that it’s the most common way to bump up your funds.  It’s open to everyone who has money.  There are hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to bump up your nest egg.  Finding them is a little more difficult than contributing to a 401k or ROTH IRA.

Think of the people TAKING your money for the 401k plans.  They’re not just making magical money out of yours and giving you a sweet deal.  They’re putting your money to work for them and giving you a small portion of it back in return.  They’ve got the ideas and people that are using it.  Try to think like one of them.

I’m not saying it is a bad path though, people have done it for decades now and have done well with it.  Depending on your final goal, maybe slow and steady is the way you want to take it.  Personally I’m going for both.  I put money in my 401k and ROTH as a starter, but am always looking for new ways to grow my money faster than 8-10% a year.

The defaults that seems to be a consensus if you’re tacking down a baseline and only using the stock market for your nest egg are:

18-30 years old - 10-15% of your salary
30-40 years old - 12-18% of your salary
40-50 years old - 18-25% of your salary
50+ - 25% or more of your salary

Conclusion

I’m of the mindset that Tim Ferriss brought up in the 4 Day Workweek - “Retirement is worst-case-scenario insurance. Like life insurance, it should be viewed as nothing more than a hedge against the absolute worst case scenario: in this case, becoming physically incapable of working and needing a reservoir of capital to survive.“

I’m not saying to ditch your 401k and ROTH for better waters, if you have these 2 options, use them. Keep in mind that you’re going to be in the “slow and steady” boat and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s all part of your investment threshold. If slow and steady keeps you comfortable, it’s your bag; do it how you do it.

Right now in both my 401k and ROTH I’m putting in a few more dollars due to the time I have till retirement, and the recent slide in the US economy. I think I’m buying now low at bargain prices and plan on being around the market for another 30 or 40 years.

This is not the only nest-egging that I’m doing though. I’ve got a few spare bucks out there feeling out other opportunities hoping that one of them will be my REAL net egg and my retirement accounts really WILL be my worst-case scenario insurance.

The new option shows up in the GMail settings menu to the right but if you go to look and they aren’t there, check back later as Google has a tendency to move things around or remove and replace quite frequently.

Google (GOOG) closed yesterday at $280.18 a share.  A year ago at this time they were approaching $700.  Might be time to start getting some of that!

Six months ago I shared that my company ESPP had become my property tax escrow.

ESPP Information

A quick refresher…an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) is a benefit offered by some publicly traded corporations.  It’s basically an account you stash money into for a specified period of time (6 months for me), and at the end of the term, your funds are automatically used to buy company stock.  Where’s the benefit, you say?  Well, you get to buy the stock at a discount (for me, 85% of the price).  That’s a 15% return.  Nice!

Flipping an ESPP

“Flipping” the ESPP is when you immediately sell your company shares upon purchase.  I plan on flipping my ESPP for a couple of reasons.  One, I have too much of my portfolio and livelihood invested in my company already (i.e. too many eggs in one basket).  Two, I need this money to pay my property taxes, due in January 2009.

Are ESPP Flips Ethical?

Some have questioned flipping as unethical.  I challenged that idea initially, and have been validated by my company’s recent move.  The brokerage firm that handles our ESPP process allows you to sign up for ESPP Quicksale.  The Quicksale is what it sounds like: by activating Quicksale, the broker will immediately sell my shares of stock in the company upon purchase.  They are essentially doing the flip for me.  Hardly unethical I’d say.

The ESPP Flip Proceeds

The cash proceeds from the Quicksale will be deposited into my account or sent to me as soon as the transaction settles.  We’ve signed up for the next round of ESPP as well.  I see this as another great short-term savings vehicle we’re likely going to use every time it’s offered.

Do you have a ESPP like me?  Do you flip it?  If not, why?  Do you see it as unethical?

Related Posts

• All About Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP)
• My Company ESPP Has Become My New Property Tax Escrow
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The kids had so much fun putting the ornaments on. They are considerably shorter than the tree is though, so the top 2 feet of the tree has no ornaments. I think it’s cute

I would show you a photo of the tree complete but I am lazy. And hurt. Because of what I am about to show you next.

See those lights that are strung there below the shelf? I was walking along, stringing them up and there was a crash. It was me. I lost my balance and although I can’t really remember what happened, I fell backwards and couldn’t catch myself. I crashed backwards into that table where that big plant is, knocked over a lamp that was on the table and some other plants that were sitting there because hubby brought them inside because it was supposed to freeze that night. That was quite a run-on sentence. I am a bit fuzzy still, sorry. So, I fell backwards, banged up my arm, twisted my ankle and apparently hit my head (on the couch arm? coffee table? floor?). I don’t remember. I wasn’t even on a ladder or wearing cute heels when it happened either. That would’ve made it slightly more chic or understandable. Or something.

I woke up yesterday really sore and spent much of the day fuzzy, with a headache and snippy with the kids. Started to feel nauseous and a few friends on Twitter convinced me to go to the doctor. I went yesterday and have a mild concussion. And a tweaked back. And woke up this morning with a very sore neck and shoulder. The doctor said to expect a few other aches to pop up as time goes on. I am not as young as I once was and this old body is hurting.

But…the lights look nice, right?

I put all those wooden men on that shelf despite all the screaming in my brain for minimalism. I think it looks terribly cluttered but they were my grandma’s and I wanted to display them. This was a good way to do that and keep them away from tiny hands.

Let’s see, what else did I do?

Oh, I strung pine cones from ribbon and hung them in our eating nook windows. Simple. Cute. I think?

I know that these are all horrible photos but they are from a copule days ago and I just cannot bring myself to stand up and take new ones. So these will have to do. Just try to imagine how much cuter everything looks in person.

Another easy project I did this week was to take this

and this

and painted it black, wrapped it with a little red ribbon and filled one with pinecones and the other with shiny ornaments.

I have a couple more little terracotta pots to do that with once I am feeling better. And when I can take more photos, I will show you our tree, complete with glittery pinecones that my daughter and I did together.

Please visit Remodeling This Life to read more great content or to leave a comment!

• Finally Some Answers
• New Patio
• Window Trim, Furniture Rearranging and a Ditch
• Painted House
• Decorating Corkboard

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

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• Personal Finance Bible Verse of the Day: Uncertain Times

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.

My earnings for Cash Crate so far in November: $124.93! Start earning now!

Personal Finance Bible Verse Of The Day: Your Value

**EVERYBODY PANIC!!**

Deflation (the opposite of inflation) is starting to happen as energy prices are falling and the demand for various consumer products are decreasing. Lately, many of us have been able to put gas in our cars for well under $2 in many cities. Compare that to the $4+ we were paying earlier this year, and you really can feel the difference.

In the short term, folks are getting more for their money at the gas station, grocery store and more. And, many are starting to actually put money in savings and reduce their spending. Frugal living is so hot right now, ya know?

So what’s not to love? People are being more responsible and they’re paying more reasonable prices for things.

Well, economists are here to tell us that lower prices can result in even more layoffs and businesses closing. Businesses might be having a harder time breaking even or making a profit. And, if consumers think that prices are going to keep on dropping, they probably are going to hold off on all “unnecessary” purchases. Why buy a fancy TV now, when it’ll be $300 cheaper next month?

More people out of work means even fewer people spending money, which means more businesses could go under. Bad.

Of course, in the long term, lower profit points could mean that companies need to become more efficient with their finances. Less wasteful spending, less overextending their credit, etc. That would be good.

The New York Times reports that construction on new houses has dropped by about 4.5 percent. All-time low levels, folks.

Two ways to see it: “Good! People aren’t building McMansions they can’t really afford. They aren’t creating expensive houses that the banks will foreclose on in a few years. They’re living within their means and buying existing houses.”

Or: “Construction workers might find themselves out of work. They might lose their own homes and have trouble feeding their families. Fewer construction loans affects contractors, construction workers, banks, the local economy, taxes, and more. A planned subdivision, now sitting vacant, means businesses won’t move to the area, prohibiting further economic growth.”

A tough situation, indeed.

I really do think that things will be fine in the long run. In the short-term, I’m worried about people who are losing their jobs and their houses. But, eventually, I have hope that the economy will correct itself and things will be better than they were before.

How is that going to happen? Haven’t a clue. I just want it FIXED.

I know my family will certainly be spending less this year, since we aren’t traveling and we have less people to give gifts to. It’s going to be a very simple holiday season around here.

How about you? Are you doing the same as usual, or planning to spend more or less?

Please visit Remodeling This Life to read more great content or to leave a comment!

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• Sunday Link Love
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I don’t know if the embedded video above will work, so if not, go here and watch from 2:25 through 3:49 (or the whole thing, if ya want).

This whole economy stuff is really making my head spin. Various industries collapsing all over the place, GM wanting help from the government, people losing their jobs and their homes … it just goes on.

I don’t know what should happen, but I want someone to FIX IT now!

I can understand why that is I guess, they make a tiny bit more money that way, even after taking some of the penalties off.  Multiply my scenario by zillions of people and it just seems silly to not do it that way.  Either, way, I am not terribly grumpy about it since I am steadily bringing it down.  Before the gentleman got off the phone he asked if there was anything else he could help me with: poor guy didn’t realize that he was talking to a personal finance blogger and that I think about this stuff all the time.  After giving him my list of demands, i heard him sigh and I looked at the clock.  Poor sap was probably about to get off work, so I told him that I would call back with this little To-Do list on Friday.  I can’t wait.  It’s in my Outlook calendar and everything.  Heres what we are going to do:

1. Lower my interest rate on my credit card.  Its already pretty good, but I am going to give it a shot anyway.  After all I am their best customer right?
2. Increase my car payment.  Yes, my vehicle loan is through them as well.  I want to add a hundred or two to the monthly payment as that automatically gets applied to the principle.  I ultimately want to find out how much faster I can pay it off.
3. Whats the advantage of their checking account?  How does the whole deposit online thing work?  What are the terms for ATM fees?  When can I tell Suntrust to go and …. well you get the idea.
4. Money Market competitive?  Minimum to get in?  
5. What are the terms for their CDs?

photo credit: pfala

I hear a lot about savings lately. Whether it is people telling all of us to save money (which I always take to mean to actually PUT money into a savings account and leave it there), or if it’s hearing people talk about how much money they saved on this that or the other purchase.

But you haven’t saved money on anything unless you walked into a store and expected to pay $60 and only paid $20 and then proceeded to plop $40 into savings.

You aren’t saving money if you walk into a store and buy something you wouldn’t have bought anyway but buy it because it was 75% off. You just spent money.

I just found out that next year’s taxes are half of what we expected them to be. I am not saving that money off my taxes unless I actually SAVE IT.

I was listening to NPR a couple months ago and they were interviewing a woman who coupons. She even claimed then that she was buying things because they were on sale and not because she even needed them or would have bought them otherwise. Well, even in you’re getting great deals whether it’s at your grocery store, or a drugstore or the dollar store, it’s only saving money if you are buying things you’d have bought anyway and you are spending less than you budgeted and put the savings into your savings account.

Here are some great posts I have read recently about savings.

2 Reasons People Are Not Saving Enough Money
Specific Savings Goals to Increase Accountability
Five Concrete Ways to Pay Yourself First

What do you think? Do you consider that you saved yourself some money whether you actually put it into savings or not? What do you do to make actually saving money easier?

Please visit Remodeling This Life to read more great content or to leave a comment!

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I’d Like to Save More Money, Please

Everyone wants to save more money: whether for short-term needs and wants, a safety net, retirement, or for financial freedom.  It’s hard to imagine a person who doesn’t want more money stashed away.

So, why are there so many people with so little savings?  Can they really not afford it?  I suppose there are some people who barely scrape by…and it’s understandable that some people would be unable to save given their situation. Still, I believe most Americans bring in enough income to be able to save some of their money.  Can’t we all agree on that?

So, if we can save, then why aren’t we?  Is it because we’re lazy? Unmotivated? Undisciplined?

I say…none of the above.

Here are two key reasons people aren’t saving enough money, even if they really want to:

1. They Aren’t Making Savings Automatic

This is my number one tip for saving more money.  Not to try *really* hard, think positive, or wait till I make more.  Those are failed mantras.

The best way to truly save more of your money is to setup a direct deposit from your paycheck directly into different savings accounts.  One for retirement and another for short-term goals.

Don’t know how to do the direct deposit thing?  Ask your company’s human resource representative.  Want to know where to put your money?  See my second point…

2. Their Savings is Too Easy to Access

Money in a savings account attached to your regular checking account is just begging to get raided.  No one has enough discipline alone to keep their hands off of cash savings in a regular bank savings account.  Well, maybe some do, but those people are few and far between.  Most of us struggle with this.

Short-term savings should be kept in a High-Yield Online Savings Account or a Certificate of Deposit.  Both of these products make your money harder to access, increasing the chances that you’ll leave it alone.

Long-term or retirement savings should be kept in a tax advantaged account like a 401k or and IRA.  Both accounts come with big disadvantages for early withdrawal, more motivation to just leave your savings alone.

Now, Just Spend the Money that’s Left Over

The beauty of this setup is that you can literally spend the rest without worry.  If you’ve got your retirement and short-term savings taken care of prior to you even getting your money, then you’re set.  No worries, right?  Pay your bills and spend the rest.

It’s not fool proof, I know.  But, I’ve found it’s the method that’s easiest to stick with.  It’s worked for me.  Give it a go!

Photo by:Georgios Karamanis

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An article in the Washington Post announced today that democrats have put plans for a full scale stimulus package on hold,  at least until after Barack Obama is inaugurated in January.

Congressional Democrats yesterday abandoned plans to offer a wide-ranging economic stimulus plan next week, putting off any chance that the federal government would provide a major jolt to the economy until after President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in Jan. 20.

A smaller package that would include an expansion of unemployment benefits and aid to struggling auto manufacturers has been proposed, and will be brought to the floor this week.

Democrats have scaled back their proposal to a package that will include a $6 billion expansion of unemployment benefits and a $25 billion cash infusion for the struggling auto industry, setting up a confrontation with Senate Republicans over whether the government should expand its rescue program beyond the financial sector.

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) plans to offer that package Monday, the first day of what is slated to be a week-long lame duck session of Congress. A key vote could come Wednesday and if that fails, Democrats may have to settle for the 13-week extension of unemployment benefits as the only economic measure approved before they close until January.

Sounds like not a lot of useful measures are going to get passed in this last session.  In some respects that may be a good thing, the less that congress does, the better off we’ll be.

When it comes to the cash infusion for Detroit automakers, a lot of legislators are opposed to such a measure.

A growing number of Republicans — upset that the TARP program has resulted in the largest intrusion of the federal government into the private marketplace since the Great Depression — are opposed to an auto bailout or the inclusion of other industries in the rescue plan originally designed for the financial services sector.

“When is enough enough?” said Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), who is slated to take over the GOP’s campaign committee next year. ” . . . With the very first vote after the election, Democratic leaders in Congress want to pass a $25 billion handout to Detroit with no promises of reform, accountability or transparency by the automakers and their union base.”

“You’ve got to let them fail,” Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said at the group’s annual meeting in Florida. “They made some bad bets, and there ought to be a marketplace consequence.”

To a degree I have to agree with this sentiment.  When companies make bad decisions, they ought to feel the consequence of those decisions when their companies go through hard times.  Bailing out all of these companies in the financial sector, automakers, etc just results in companies feeling like they can make bad decisions without too much consequence.  If they get in trouble, the government will just bail them out.

What are your thoughts on a proposed bailout of struggling automakers?  Do you think that a stimulus package not being passed this year will have ill effects - or in the long run be a good thing?

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Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.

My earnings for Cash Crate so far in November: $124.93! Start earning now!

Full Scale Stimulus Package Pushed Back Until After Inauguration

Stocks experiencing these tumbles often look attractive because 1) they appear to be an unbelievable value and 2) their yields look ridiculous.  Be cautious before jumping on board because if the yield looks too good to be true, it probably is.  Often times you will see a company lower their yield shortly after they take a hit.  Companies may be able to sustain such yields for a few quarters, but in the end, it’s probable the yield will shrink and you will end up with a busted stock.

Generally, well established companies with a history of increasing yeilds are your safest choice.  Dividend heavy ETF’s are also an option to avoid some risk, by spreading your money accross multiple stocks that all provide a decent yeild.  $

We use our checking accounts to pay bills and do our regular shopping. Pretty basic, yeah? We don’t earn much interest from it, but that doesn’t matter since the money isn’t in our checking accounts for long, since hey, bills are due every month, ya know?

There is a small rewards program linked to our accounts, and from time to time we’ll get a gift card to a restaurant or store.

We try to do “zero-based budgeting,” where every dollar has a specific purpose. There’s not really extra money laying around. If it were just hanging out without a task, we’d send it to a specific savings account instead. That way, we won’t be tempted to spend it on something we don’t really need or want.

We do most of our banking with a traditional brick & mortar bank. Our accounts are set up like so:

- Kacie’s checking
- Main checking
- Charity
- Baby savings
- Car savings
- Emergency fund and additional savings

All of these accounts are linked to one another.

My checking account has a debit card specific to the account number, and I use it for groceries, gas, and general household shopping. Keeping it separate from the main checking helps us to track where the money is going. We don’t keep much here — just a few hundred dollars, as that’s all it usually takes per month to shop for our needs and wants.

Shane has the debit card for the “main checking” account. The bills are paid from this account, and we also have paper checks for this one. We pay most of our bills online, but it can be handy to have an actual checkbook. Shane gets paid monthly, so as soon as the money is in that account, it’s sent all over the place.

We take 10 percent and send it to our charity account, $277.33 to our car savings account (that’s enough for one double payment, and we’ll increase that after the new year if we can), some money goes into my checking, some money goes into savings, and a small cushion of $150 to $200 is left here to cover unexpected changes to our budget, and for Shane to use as he pleases.

At the end of the month, our checking accounts are both quite low. We do this intentionally. If we had more money left there, we might be more inclined to spend it on things we don’t really need. That’s why we make a conscious effort to put extra money aside into savings early in the month and as we get little windfalls.

Our charity savings is where we sock a percentage of our income as we receive it. We don’t always give to the same cause, so having it separate from our other funds helps us to remember to donate it, instead of it being absorbed into the day-to-day spending.

The baby savings fund was originally created so we’d have about $1,000 to buy whatever we needed for our son. There’s a few hundred left, and I don’t plan to add to this account unless it looks like we need to. We have pretty much everything we’ll need for those first few weeks (and longer, I hope!) so we can use that money to buy more diapers, nursing things, or whatever else we decide we need. It has been tremendously helpful having this account separate from our main checking or savings accounts.

Our car savings account is probably going to change soon. As I mentioned, right now we’re just sending double payments to our car loan for the time being. Instead of setting it aside, I can just write a check at the beginning of the month and send it on its way, rather than let it earn a wimpy .4 percent interest or whatever. Once we’ve decided to send all extra funds to the car loan, we can then reinstate this separate savings account.

For now, I think we might just put our “insurance savings” there instead. Rather than make monthly payments to our various insurance companies, we pay our policies in full and pay ourselves each month. Right now, the insurance savings is being sent to our emergency savings account, but it’ll be better to keep that separate.

Finally, our emergency fund is earning 4 percent interest and is available to us if we need it. I’ve been putting additional money in that account to take advantage of that interest rate, but it doesn’t have a specific purpose at this point. We might use the extra for things around the house, some new clothes, or maybe we’ll eventually send it to our car loan. Not sure.

We used to have our emergency fund in ING Direct, but I transferred it when this 4 percent interest offer came about, and I’m glad I did. ING Direct is now offering just 2.75 percent interest (I think). Our 4 % offer ends in March, so depending on what the rate is, it might be worth it for me to move it back (or somewhere else, even).

Whew! So that’s how our accounts are set up. How do you do yours?

A while back I posted “7 Ways To Use Twitter to Promote Your Blog And Build Traffic” and talked about why Twitter was such a great place for bloggers to hang out, promote their blog, network with other bloggers and do research for new articles.  If you haven’t read the article already, you can check it out at the link above. I consistently find that twitter.com is one of my top 10 referrers of traffic to this blog.  It is a powerful medium to generate traffic if you use it in the correct way.

How do I get started?

• Choose a username connected to your brand: To get started with twitter you just need to go to their website and setup a new account. When setting up a new account you’ll want to choose a username that speaks to the brand you’re trying to promote with your blog, and keep that name and brand consistent across all the social media that you’re using (if you can). For example, for this blog I setup accounts across many social media sites under the name “moneymatters” because that speaks to the name of the blog, describes the content of most of my posting and enforces my brand.
• Start twittering to build up content: Once you’re signed up, the next thing you’ll want to do is start posting to your twitter account.  Just like on a regular blog, having some content on your account will mean more people will be likely to follow you.  Having content means more than just posting “I’m eating cheerios right now. Yum!”.  It means having some useful twitters, engaging those who follow you to interact with you, and sometimes enticing them to click on links to your blog or other sites. Give them useful information, or interesting twitters. In other words - give them a reason to follow you.  If I find a twitter user with only 2 twitters with no real content, I never follow them.
• Start following other users in your niche: Find other twitter users in your niche (for me that means personal finance), and start following the people who they follow.  Often they’ll be people who will be interested in your niche, and they’ll often start following you in return.  If you prefer you can even just start following one of the big lists of people using twitter at sites like problogger.net.  He has a post titled “538 Twitter Users that Blog“.  If you follow the people in that list it’ll give you a nice start on a big list of engaged Twitter users.
• Get a custom background image: And now, for the subject of this article - add a custom background image to your twitter page to help promote your brand.  Most folks don’t take advantage of all the tools at their disposal to promote their blog and their online brand.  One underused way to do that on Twitter is by creating a custom background image for your twitter page where you can promote your blogs, your contact info, and even connect a bit more with  your readers.  Problogger had a guest post on his new twitter blog recently that stressed the importance of adding a custom background image to make you stand out.  Let’s look a little bit more at adding a custom background image below.

Adding a custom background on Twitter

First, let’s discuss the mechanics of adding a custom background to your twitter page. It’s relatively easy to do, just follow these steps.

1. Select the “Settings” link in the row of links on your Twitter page.
2. Click on the “Design” tab and then click on “Change background image“.
3. Select your new background image, and click “save changes” to upload.  (Images must be smaller than 800k. GIF, JPG, PNG.  The smaller the file size, the better in my opinion)
4. Change the color settings of your twitter page to complement your new background image.  Click on “change design colors” and select colors that complement your design.
5. Save your changes, and enjoy your new custom background!

What goals should I have with my custom background?

When I setup my new custom background image, I had several goals I wanted to achieve.

1. Build my brand:  I used the custom background image to build my brand and stress my online presence.  To do that I kept the colors and design consistent with the colors and design on my blog, biblemoneymatters.com.
2. Personalize your page and connect with readers:  To personalize the custom background I added a picture of myself to make it seem like the person they’re chatting with on twitter is a real person.  They can click on my username and actually see a picture of me.  You may or may not want to do this, but I’ve found it helpful.
3. Let them know how to connect with you by including a “business card”: On my custom background I have a “connections square” or “business card” thanking people for connecting with me on twitter, and letting them know of a few other places that we can connect. I’ve included the urls of my 3 websites, urls to my plurk and friendfeed profiles, as well as an invitation to consider using me to design a logo for their website through my design blog at http://www.logosforwebsites.com.  In addition to adding contact info to your background image you’ll want to add your main site URL to your twitter profile as well.  I’ve found quite a few people connecting to my sites this way.
   
4. Make it pleasing to the eye:  I always want to make my twitter profile pages pleasing to the eye.  While having a nice looking background image may not get people to follow you or keep them around, the lack of an eye pleasing design can definitely keep them from sticking around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve decided not to follow someone because their profile background image is cluttered, distracting or otherwise offensive to the eye.

Want your own custom designed Twitter background?

I have designed quite a few custom Twitter background images now through my other website, logosforwebsites.com , and people have been pretty happy with the results. Here are a few of the designs that I’ve done:

• http://twitter.com/moneymatters
• http://twitter.com/thatonecaveman
• http://twitter.com/jnickles
• http://twitter.com/frugaldad
• http://twitter.com/ncheapskate

Want to get your own custom background image designed for your Twitter page?  Just go to this page and click on the link to purchase a “custom twitter background” for $19.  Once you’ve paid, go to this page and let me know what things you want included in your custom background.  You’ll have your new background image up and running in no time!

Even if you don’t use me to design your custom background, you should consider setting up a nice background for your twitter page.  It’ll make your presence seem more professional, help people connect to your online presence and in the end bring more people to your blog.

What do you think about adding a custom background image?  Do you think it makes a difference?  Do you have one on your twitter page?

Related Posts

• Quick Tip: Post to your blog when you’re away!
• Is It Just Me Or Is The Weekend Too Short?
• Guest Post: How to Lose $100,000 in Ten Easy Steps
• We Bought A “New” Car This Weekend
• Do Your Civic Duty Today And Vote!
• Another Easy Money Maker: Write Reviews

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.

My earnings for Cash Crate so far in November: $124.93! Start earning now!

Enforce Your Brand On Twitter: Use A Custom Background

It seems like last week just ended, and the weekend just started, but I wake up this morning to find that it’s Monday morning already!   Not only that, when I woke up this morning, I woke up late, and had to rush through the shower and morning routine to make it to my carpool on time.  What a way to start the week!

Now that the week has started I’m sure it’s going to be another great one!  To get the week started off right here is some stuff that I read and enjoyed over the weekend:

Links Roundup

• Xbox is updating all consoles this week - should be interesting
• Stimulus checks may be coming to those who didn’t initially qualify! @ Ptmoney.com
• Nevermind an economic stimulus package — save yourself! @ freefrombroke.com
• Now is a great time to convert your traditional 401k to a roth 401k @ milkyourmoney.com
• Beware of this fast food marketing ploy @ myinvestingblog.com
• I’m so creative! @ remodelingthislife.com
• Free stuff @ sensetosave.com
• Recession proof your job @ moolanomy.com
• Don’t ALMOST save @ mrsmicah.com
• Are you ready to lose your job @ mydollarplan.com
• The benefits of a cash christmas @ beingfrugal.net
• A review of the 7 baby steps @ thehappyrock.com
• The secrets to successful blogs @ getrichslowly.org
• How to make money from your blog @ stevepavlina.com
• I’ve made $125 on Cash Crate in November already. You should get started now too!

Related Posts

• Monday Morning Roundup - Are The Markets Starting To Recover?
• We Live In Turbulent Times - Roundup
• Monday Roundup and Cruise Preparation!
• Friday Roundup And Photos!
• Happy Monday Morning!
• August Top Referrers and Traffic: 100,000 Page Views!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.

My earnings for Cash Crate so far in November: $124.93! Start earning now!

Is It Just Me Or Is The Weekend Too Short?