Blog Feature: Beating Broke

02 Mar

Erin Shanendoah |  March 2nd,2013 | blogging, Finances, Writing |  1 Comment »

My favorite thing about Beating Broke is the honesty. The thing I love most about personal finance blogs is the “personal” part. If I wanted just straight finance, I’d go to the library. I love this personal part because it reminds me that we are all in very different situations and just because something is not right for me, or goes against prevailing advice, doesn’t mean it isn’t the right choice for someone.

BB reminds us of that this week, telling us Why I’m Withdrawing Money from an IRA. It goes against traditional advice, but it’s still a smart move.

Your Money Friday: Mortgage Payments

01 Mar

Erin Shanendoah |  March 1st,2013 | Budgeting, Finances |  Comments Off

A reminder today that everything about personal finances is relative. A poster with a mortgage currently of under $700/month is considering one that is $2000/month. It is a huge jump, but it is for their dream home, and it is a jump the poster can afford.

When asking if she was “crazy” for considering it, most people reacted based on what housing costs are like where they live. Those in low cost of living areas cannot imagine a mortgage that high, whereas those who live in high COLAs dream about getting that kind of house for a mortgage that low.

Just Finished Reading: The Immortals Series by Tamora Pierce

28 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 28th,2013 | Authors & Books, Tamora Pierce, The Immortals |  Comments Off

The Immortals is the second series by Tamora Pierce that I have completed. Just as with the Song of the Lioness books, these books are targeted at tweens and young teens. The protagonist, Daine, is an inspiring young woman who we get to watch from 12 to 16 years of age. She is intelligent, capable, kind, brave and loyal- pretty much everything we want girls of this age to aspire to be. It doesn’t mean she does not make mistakes or have her flaws. It means she learns from them.

This series is particularly good for kids who love animals.

Why #MythBusters Should be Required Viewing

27 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 27th,2013 | Mythbusters, Science, Technology, Television |  Comments Off

Back in 2007, Mythbusters did a show (ep 85) about bullets in an oven. Once the oven got hot enough, those bullets exploded- not with lethal force, so the myth was busted -with the shell casings causing the most damage.

Why do I bring this up now? Because just last week, a woman in Tampa Bay, Florida, was injured when she was shot by an oven. A magazine in the oven exploded, spraying her with casing fragments.

She was preheating the oven at a friend’s house, a friend who neglected to tell her he stored his ammo in the oven.

Police Brutality

26 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 26th,2013 | Dogs, Politics |  Comments Off

Another police department and one of its officers are being sued for use of excessive force. What makes this case different is that the “weapon” was a police dog.  My concern is that the attorney for the victim specifically states that the dog is the problem. And yet, if his client is to be believed, the problem is NOT the dog. The dog is not ignoring commands to stop. He is following commands of “get him boy”. The problem, as with most dog attacks, stems from the person in charge. The human officer is the one who needs to go.

Lost Continents

25 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 25th,2013 | Science |  Comments Off

Who needs to find Atlantis? It turns out there may be another lost continent currently lying underneath the Indian Ocean. The micro-continent is known as Maurita and began its journey to being lost around 60 million years ago when Madagascar and India began to drift apart. If the theory is correct than the Seychelles are the only part of this continent left above the ocean floor.

How have scientists discovered this? The answer is all in a single grain of sand. Not even a single grain- there were minerals in the sand that dated back at least 600 million years.

Blog Feature: My Life in Blog Years

23 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 23rd,2013 | blogging, Dogs, Pets, Writing |  Comments Off

My Life in Blog Years features a lovely Golden and an adorable long haired Dachshund. You should go visit just for the pictures of these two cuties. But it is more than just pictures. There are great stories about the dogs, plus, the blogger is originally from Seattle, my adopted home town.

This week she writes about the most popular and trendiest names for puppies in 2012. My confession? I have NEVER named a pet. Not once. My parents named the pets I grew up with. All other pets have come to us with names that we have never changed.

Your Money Friday: Are You Happy with Your Finances?

22 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 22nd,2013 | Finances |  Comments Off

The question this week: Are you happy where you are at financially?  Most people answered “yes but…”. The people on this board are almost certainly better off than the majority of people in this country for no other reason than they are paying attention. But because they are paying attention, they are also thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and feeling like they aren’t there yet.

My favorite response: I’m doing better than I ever thought I would.  Overall though, no I’m not completely happy.  It always seems like another $50k a year would make everything perfect.

Blog Feature: Live the New Economy

16 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 16th,2013 | blogging, Finances, Writing |  Comments Off

Live the New Economy is a blog about a family preparing for the father’s transition from military service into the civilian world , and what they need to do to be comfortable financially without the guarantee of a government paycheck. Or at least that’s what it started out to be about. Like most personal finance blogs it’s grown and changed a bit as the writer has grown and changed.

That’s not to say they aren’t still prepping for the transition to civilian life, just that the blog has become about more than that. I love this post on Finding Balance.

Westminster

14 Feb

Erin Shanendoah |  February 14th,2013 | Dogs, Pets |  1 Comment »

The Westminster Kennel Club dog show was held earlier this week. An Affenpinscher took Best in Show. They are cute little dogs, but little is the operative word, as they usually weigh under 13lbs. (We occasionally dog sit a Brussels Griffon, which is a lot like a Affenpinscher, and I’m constantly afraid I’ll step on him.)

I was thrilled that a Smooth Fox Terrier took Best in Group for the Terriers (and a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier took second). This is because, like most people, I am biased toward my dogs, and my Larry is most likely a Smooth Fox mix.

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