stuff

Here are a few interesting money facts about some hairy business (quoted from these sources). It’s just wonderful to know the incredible number of ways the east meets the west.

• Every year hair worth about $136 million is shipped from India, one of the largest exporters of human hair, to factories in China. There, Chinese hair is mixed with Indian hair to make wigs and hair extensions for Western markets.

• [with reference to Indian hair market] Wholesalers sort hair into five categories. The kind that is black and longer than 6 inches is the most sought after. This “remy” or “black gold” category sells for as much as $160 per kilogram [1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds]. The second category of black hair, between 8 and 16 inches long, sells for around $44 a kilogram. The third category of black hair, shorter than 8 inches, sells for under a dollar a kilogram. The fourth and fifth categories are gray hair shorter than 8 inches, which sell for about 10 cents a kilogram.

• At the high end of the market, the biggest competition to Indian hair is European hair, which is more expensive and more difficult to find. Still, it’s not perfect for everyone. Susan Lipson, who specializes in procuring and inserting hair extensions for movies, says “European hair is too slick” for many actresses to use.

• The temple at Tirupati, one of India’s busiest, is doing a brisk business selling hair. Many of the temple’s 20 million visitors each year shave their heads in gratitude for some blessing in their life. Last year, the temple says it took in $5.6 million through hair auctions.

• Exporters say buyers from countries such as the United States pay $1.50 for a strand of hair that expensive beauty salons may then weave into extensions or wigs that can sell for between $1,500 and $3,000. Exporters say that Hollywood is one of the biggest consumers of human hair.

Any entrepreneurial ideas about your hair? Probably, if you keep collecting all your hair after the numerous haircuts, you could almost give your net worth a little boost in a few years.

After you sufficiently amuse yourself with some hairy ideas, proceed below to read through some of the interesting articles posted over the financial blogosphere this week.

• Trading Off Your Financial Security For Your Kids by Flexo @ Consumerism Commentary. Retirement or kids? Your life or their life? Keep your kids out of debt by giving them your retirement money? How far would you go to ensure your children’s financial security?

• Curb Appeal: One Of My Best Investments Yet Or How I Turned $80 Into $5,000 With Minimal Risk by SVB @ The Digerati Life. Planting appropriate trees in your yard might actually turn out to be a very lucrative activity. I had no idea the *value* of the trees is counted in evaluating the worth of your house.

• Use An Age-Based 529 College Plan To Save For College by Henry @ Binary Dollar. Some thoughts on automatic adjustment (in terms of bonds, equities, etc.) of an age-based 529 college plan portfolio.

• Ten Financial Matters I Wish I Had Discussed With My Wife Before We Got Married by Trent @ The Simple Dollar. Trent suggests initiating some financial discussions between couples before getting married - towards happily ever after

• If Personal Finance Is Easy, Why Isn’t Everybody Rich? by JD @ Get Rich Slowly. Now, that’s a million dollar question. Theoretically it’s very easy - increase your wealth in X steps, decrease your debt in Y steps, and become a millionaire in Z steps, read this book and achieve success in life, etc. It’s the practical implementation part that makes all the difference.
  

• Borrow Money & Lend Money at Prosper by Lazy @ Lazy Man and Money. Lazy summarizes a few reasons why Prosper is an attractive place to borrow and lend money.

• Sub-Prime Teaches Us: Always Shop Around by Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. Although Jim specifically talks about shopping around for mortgage, the advice can be easily extended for all your big purchases. Don’t get ripped off - always shop around.

• Are Real Estate Agents Worth the Money? by Ben @ Money Smart Life. Ben wonders if the services provided by typical real estate agents are worth the 6% fee that some of them charge.

• Eco-Friendly Energy Savings by Nickel @ Five Cent Nickel. Seven simple ways to save money and environment.

Planting trees in smart locations around your house is a great investment, as it not only improves your curb appeal and overall property value, but as the trees grow their shade will translate into major savings when it comes to keeping your house cool.

• Book Review: On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance by Jeremy @ Generation X Finance. Although the book’s title claims to be a “Girl’s Guide”, Jeremy’s positive review says it’s applicable to everyone. It’s funny he claims this in his first paragraph “..this one really struck a chord with me and I am not even a woman”.

• Renting Out Your Creditworthiness by MBH @ Mighty Bargain Hunter. This is interesting - did you know you could borrow someone’s credit history? Man…people would do anything to borrow money - and get into debt (?).

• My Continued Problem with AMEX and the Unauthorized Charges by Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary. Sun is not very happy with some dude in Netherlands who has initiated recurring charges on his (Sun’s) credit card. He is also unhappy with American Express for not handling the situation properly.

• Wal-Mart: Love Them or Hate Them? by FMF @ Free Money Finance. Read the interesting comments on this discussion. Here is an example:

I have never had a good experience at Wal-Mart. Every time I have shopped there, I’ve been met with ineptitude, shoddy conditions, shoddier merchandise, and rude clientele. It had gotten to the point where I would lose my patience with the store just by going into the parking lot!

Carnivals:

• Carnival of Personal Finance #103 - The 24 Edition was hosted by Clever dude and featured my article on David Bach and his misleading real estate math.

Hair image source: div.dyndns.org

If this doesn’t make you stop eating those burgers, I don’t know what would.

Here is an excerpt from a conversation in the movie “Fast Food Nation” - the movie is based on Eric Schlosser’s 2001 book with the same title.

[Background: Mr. Anderson (Greg Kinnear) is sent on an investigative trip, by his boss, to a meat packing factory to figure out how fecal coliform bacteria were found in some of their burgers]

According to EPA website - “fecal coliforms and E. coli only come from human and animal fecal waste.”

*****
Anderson (to Rudy): How…could cow manure get into the meat?

Rudy (to Rita): Mr. Anderson here would like to know if the meat over there is clean. He wants to know how cow manure could ever possibly wind up in his hamburger.

Rita (to Anderson): Well, there’s lots of ways. My brother used to work at the gut table…and, you know, they have to pull out the intestines and the stomachs…and they just don’t have enough time to do it right. The line is moving too fast. So when they are pulling the guts out - and they make a mistake - all the poop and stuff just pours out all over the meat.

Anderson: Okay, okay, okay…all right. But, really, how often does that happen?

Rita: Everyday…anything else you want to know?
*****

I sense some indigestion in my stomach right now.

There is another interesting converstation between Mr. Anderson and Harry Rydell (Bruce Willis), but before that here is a quick video on a hamburger’s journey from the cows to your car - in a fast rewind mode.

[youtube]V_eN0FogI6Y[/youtube]Click here to watch the movie from the source.
Now, on to the juicy conversation between Mr. Anderson and Harry (while they are savoring some burgers).
*****
Anderson: Harry the meat is filthy. Do you know they got untrained people working at the gut table? Yeah, I mean - Harry, there is sh*t in our meat.

Harry: I think there might be a little bit of sh*t right here in this meat. Just a teeny little bit. Microscopic. [Later] There’s always been a little sh*t in the meat. You’ve probably been eating it your whole life.

[After a few more lines]

Anderson: Listen, there is cow sh*t in our meat because we are running the lines too fast.

Harry: Just cook it. That’s all you need to do. You see? That’s one of the things that’s bugging me about this country. really bugging me. Americans have become these great big fraidy cats. Afraid of everything. Everything’s got to be sterile and germfree. Well, everybody needs to grow up. That’s what they need. [Later] Just cook the meat and you will be fine.
*****

There..now how do you like them burgers?

Now, this is Eric Schlosser’s side of the story (dramatized in the movie) - and obviously the fast food industry refutes his version. To counter “Fast Food Nation”, some folks have come up with a website called “Best Food Nation” (you won’t see any big fast food names here - they are probably hiding behind these guys). Best Food Nation categorically claims that “Ground beef is contaminated with cattle feces” is a myth. But you know, they also claim that “Fast food is a major factor in the increase of obesity in the U.S.” is a myth.

I am sure my wise readers know who is lying and who is not.

To bias you a little bit, on Sunday, USDA reported a Class I (high risk) recall of about 75,000 pounds of ground beef on the suspicion that it might be contaminated with E. coli. So such things do happen. Probably, there may be cases in which stuff like this goes unnoticed in burgers (unlike the spinach episode) - just because people cook them before eating.

Anyways, before we bring this post to an end, here are some money facts as claimed by the book/movie:

• Americans now spend more money on fast food - $110bn last year - than they do on higher education. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music - combined. (the movie which was released 5 years after the book reported an updated number of $134 billion)
• Fast food industry leads the US in low pay jobs while fighting any minimum wage increase.
• Meatpacking is some of the most dangerous work in US, but pays 24% less than an average factory job.

Did I save you some bucks on future fast food expenses?

Image source: www.wisconsin.co.nz

Here are some more interesting photographs from our Philly/NY trip - photos which did not belong in the last post containing money photos from New York City.

The first two snaps were taken in NYC (right below the National Debt Clock shown in the previous post) ~ without more words, I will let you savor the moment.

Closeup of the situation:

The next photograph below was taken on our way back to Philadelphia airport ~ notice anything amiss?

Moving on to the Sunday Review, here are some interesting articles of the week.

First, I want to thank my loyal soldiers who held the fort while I was happily clicking away on my camera in New York. Here are the posts they contributed in my absence:

• Open Letter to a High School Graduate by PT @ Prime Time Money.

• Practicing Basic Tax Diversification by KMC @ Advanced Personal Finance.

• Simplify Your Life To Get Ahead by Leo @ Zen Habits.

Here is the rest of this Sunday’s reading (sorry, I am skipping on the description this time; hopefully the titles will faithfully describe the contents of the articles - if they don’t, you know where to complain )

• Don’t Be Fooled Into Thinking an Oil Change Every 3,000 Miles Is Necessary by Jeremy @ Generation X Finance.

• Personal Finance Tips - Country & Western Style by Super Saver @ My Wealth Builder.

• Traditional Jobs For Men And Women And The Gender Divide by SVB @ The Digerati Life.

• Don’t Get Taken Advantage Of By Your Mortgage Broker by JLP @ All Financial Matters.

• Should You Pay Your Mortgage With a Credit Card? a contemplation by Flexo @ Consumerism Commentary.

• Money Question: What Would you do with a Windfall? asks Lazy @ Lazy Man and Money.

• How to Talk Your Way into Debt by Ben @ Money Smart Life.

• Create A Budget That’s Easy To Keep by Henry @ Binary Dollar.

• Cash Out Roth IRA to Pay Off House? by Nickel @ Five Cent Nickel.

• First Trading Experience with Zecco by Sun @ The Sun’s Financial Diary.

• More on Traditional IRAs Versus Roth IRAs by FMF @ Free Money Finance.

• “Would you prefer plastic or nothing?” by MBH @ Mighty Bargain Hunter.

• Paying Your Way: Rules for Chipping In, Splitting Checks & Buying Drinks by Jim @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Lastly, the only carnival I participated this week:

• Carnival of Personal Finance # 102 hosted by Ben @ Money Smart Life - included my article “Forcing Credit Card Awareness: There Should Be A Credit Card Qualifying Test“

We spent about half a day in New York City during our little vacation getaway last weekend. Like the last time we were in the city, we enjoyed just aimlessly roaming around - observing (and appreciating) landmarks, and people, and food. Trying to capture the soul of this great city in a tiny camera is a futile exercise; however, in the spirit of reliving the experience in future, we did click hundreds of snaps. Here are a few of those photographs that had “$” tags attached to them. [The resolution of the photographs has been reduced and some of them have been cropped to make them more manageable. If you want the original (2592 x 1944 resolution) versions - for any reason - just send me an email.]

• Parking rates: this is the first thing you will notice if you drive into NYC - incredible parking rates. Here is an example - check out the rate for exotic cars - see “Mthly _{Exotic Cars}“:

• However, after driving around for a while, we were fortunate enough to find a *cheaper* place a couple of blocks from Times Square (on 44th street):

• Below is another interesting parking option (offered by J&R Music Stores) ~ although not very feasible ~ it would probably take you more than two hours to just walk around the whole store:

• Fine for honking. If I were to collect $350 for every honking incident that I came across while I was in NYC, I wouldn’t be far from being a millionaire.

• Fine for idling. This is the first time I saw something like this. Man… $2000 sounds really steep:

• This is how we got around the city ~ the $7 “1-Day Fun Pass” that gives unlimited rides in the metro (glossy screen is not a good photographic subject):

• Taxi fare ~ sounds pretty reasonable. May be you can even call it *cheap* if you consider the traffic that these guys drive in.

• Buffet-by-the-pound. Nice way to limit buffet-hogging This is also a first-timer for me.

• The city is not always expensive ~ here are a couple of snaps to that effect. There are a lot of roadside, open-air, vendors who sell “cheap” stuff for cheap.

• The city is not always cheap either. Here is a $333,000+ Rolls-Royce Phantom (6.7L, 12 cylinder) waiting outside a hotel near Central Park.

• The richness is beautifully complemented by the National Debt Clock hung outside the IRS building:

• I walked a few steps and just couldn’t take my eyes off the debt clock - here are the updated numbers after a few steps (seconds later) - looks like somebody got a car loan in that time :

• Fortunately, for those who are in debt, and/or those who drive Rolls-Royce (and certain other people who own the Trump Building, etc.), the US Bankruptcy Court is not very far away (a few yards from the famous “Wall Street Bull” statue).

So there…just a small part of The Big Apple in a nutshell for ya.

I was reading this book “Living Well on a Shoestring” the other day and came across some amusing penny-pinching tips. The almost-400 page book is full of smart and frugal things to do, but at times, some of the tips made me exclaim - What!? Here 10 frugal solutions from the book that I thought you folks would enjoy - all of them are ingenious, but some of them are ridiculous, and some are just…ewww. A couple of them seriously require a *feasible* alternative - they just wouldn’t cross the psychological barrier in many people.

1. Growing tomatoes in a bra

This is the first time I heard of anything like this…although, it seems to be well-known among folks who grow tomatoes (read this for example - look for the heading “Large tomatoes will require support”). Tomato plants don’t have a very strong stem and usually bend (sometimes break) under the weight of the growing tomatoes - especially due to the larger tomatoes. Generally, “stakes” are used to provide some support to the stem (see the image below) - so as to keep the tomatoes off the soil. The book goes a step further and suggests tying a used/worn-out bra between two stakes, in such a way that the cups supports large tomatoes. If that’s difficult to visualize, here is a quick schematic that I sketched in Powerpoint.

Now, imagine you are having an awesome BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) sandwich and totally appreciating the juicy tomatoes - and then your host, very considerately, announces “Oh those?…those were grown in a bra“. I would love to see the expression on your face after that.

2. Getting your flowers from the dead

This comes under the heading “Even funerals have a bright side”. Flowers used in a funeral are usually dumped in the trash after the proceedings. It is illegal in most states for funeral homes and florists to resell or reuse these flowers (thankfully!). The book suggests that you get in touch with a funeral home and ask them if they can send the flowers to you instead of throwing them away. Now, I consider myself frugal as far as the conventional definition of “frugality” is concerned…but this thing goes beyond me.

3. Using diapers as water reservoirs for plants

This is again in the context of tomatoes (is tomato gardening so popular? - there are a lot of tips and tricks in the book about growing tomatoes). According to the book, you can reduce the frequency of watering tomato plants by placing the absorbent material from a disposable diaper underneath the soil, and then planting your tomato plant on the top. Whenever you water the the plant, some of the water will be absorbed by the soil and the rest will be absorbed by the diaper material. When the soil dries out, the roots can still suck up water from soaked diaper (scientifically, when the soil dries out, the soil itself sucks up the water from the diaper - which is analogous to how a candle wick draws up wax - by capillary action). This way you could probably get away with watering just a couple of times a week.

4. Cleaning a not-so-valuable painting with your spit

Don’t try this with valuable paintings - your saliva will devalue it (?). Here is what the book suggests:

“Moisten a swab in your mouth and use it to brush away the dirt from the paint (your saliva will work as a mild cleanser). Take a drink every so often to keep your mouth moist (in other words to generate more saliva!) ….and be careful not to put the used swab back in your mouth.”

The next time your hand extends to feel a nice painting in your friend’s home - think about this.

5. Selling pigeon droppings to raise funds

The book narrates an interesting story about a church in Hartford that made $30,000 by selling 1,500 pounds (these must be holy pigeons) of pigeon droppings as fertilizer. Apparently, pigeon droppings are rich in nitrogen and hence are valued as fertilizer. The church’s product was marketed under the name “Sign of the Dove” - after these names were rejected: “God’s Guano”, “Gifts from Above”, and “Heavenly Droppings”.

6. Using tea bags on your eyes.

Used tea bags that are still moist can be placed under your eyes to reduce puffiness. The bags need to be cool, so don’t try them right after finishing your tea. Also, if you are in a habit to squeeze them till you get the last drop of flavor is out (I have seen people do that), they won’t be of much use since they will lack the necessary moisture. Recommended usage: “Just put one bag over each eye and leave in place for 10 to 15 minutes.”

7. Using mayonnaise as moisturiser

Mayonnaise contains all the essential ingredients required to maintain a good skin - oil serves as a moisturizer, eggs to firm the skin, and vinegar to maintain pH (acidity) levels. So if you run out of your skin conditioner - just use the mayonnaise. Or better still, just visit your nearest McDonald’s and grab your day’s quota in those little paper cups - for free.

8. Using milk and tomatoes to remove stains

The authors just love tomatoes for some reason. Here is a tip to remove stain from the ink of a ballpoint pen using tomatoes:

“Saturate a ballpoint pen stain with milk, and rub it with the cut side of a tomato. Since milk and tomatoes can leave their own stains, soak the whole garment in a mixture of enzymatic laundry detergent and cold water, then launder as usual.”

9. Using crayons to hide furniture scratches

This remedy is for those nasty (but not too big) scratches that take away the varnish (or polish) and reveal the white-ish insides. Find a crayon - of generally matching color - and rub it in the scratch. Finish the job by buffing the area with a soft cloth. If you are not sure about the color, the book recommends that you start with a lighter color and gradually darken it till it looks good enough.

10. Using pencils to fix zippers

You can try to make a sticking zipper work smoothly by rubbing the tip of a graphite pencil on to the zipper’s teeth. Zip and unzip a couple of times so that the graphite spreads over the entire zipper and you will be ready to roll. This works because graphite posses lubricating properties. May be you could also use a drop or two of some vegetable oil (like I did for this lock) - btw, on that post, in the last comment Jennifer suggests rubbing the graphite portion of a pencil on the key as a solution.

Relevant reference page numbers in the book (just in case you want to look some stuff up): 117, 133, 136, 140, 147, 148, 228, 230, 289

Image sources: mayo - www.lunaticworks.com

That’s a part of my junk mail pile (neatly arranged) from the last few weeks. Finally, after much procrastination (as usual), I got to shredding the damned things yesterday. This time, I documented the rogue mail senders, so that I can systematically hate them according to how much junk they send me. Here are the results:

Chase was the undisputed winner in our little junk mail contest. With 27 letters - some pre-approved offers and some of those stupid $10 checks - in a span of about 3 weeks, the king of junk mail seemed to be hell-bent on ruining our cheap paper shredder.

Bank of America, Citibank, and Discover also sent some junk to our mailbox, but they don’t come anywhere close to Chase. However, Citibank and Discover still managed to aggravate the shredder by sending over-sized junk mails. Verizon didn’t really send *financial* junk, but I included it nevertheless since it ranked among the top 6 contenders. It should be noted that these junk mail numbers do not include pieces of mail that carried genuine financial information like transaction summaries, changes to account terms and conditions, etc.

Junk mails are not just trivial irritants, they are a burden on a lot of resources - precious paper, time, peace of mind, and shredding machines. Plus, there is that ever-increasing risk of identity theft. I just don’t understand these companies; on one hand they have started encouraging paperless billing for increased security and reduction in paper usage, and on the other hand they just keep dishing out these junk letters which ironically invalidate the very advantages of paperless billing.

I did try to stop this nonsense sometime back. I remember registering with OptOutPreescreen.com (if you want to get rid of those unsolicited *pre-approved* offers, this is the place to go…supposedly) a few years ago and observed a decline soon after that (perhaps it was just a coincidence), but things are gradually back to the earlier junk status.

Apparently, using OptOutPrescreen.com does not eliminate all junk mail. In their FAQs they mention something to that effect.

I’ve submitted Opt-Out requests through this website and to the Direct Mail Association (DMA), but I’m still receiving offers.
Opting-Out will not end solicitations from all local merchants, religious and charitable associations, professional and alumni associations, politicians, and companies with which you conduct business. To eliminate mail from these groups - as well as mail addressed to “occupant” or “resident” - write directly to each source.

Ok, so I am getting all this spam from “companies with which you conduct business“. Seems like I will have to get on the phone with Chase regarding this.

Btw, for those who want to cut out all the crap, there is something else you should do in addition to registering with OptOutPrescreen.com; register with Direct Marketing Association’s “Mail Preference Service” (there is a $1 fee for this!). The website doesn’t appear professional and/or *pretty*, but it is a legit place to get rid of some pesky advertisements. However, even this does not guarantee a junk free life.

Although the typical consumer sees a great reduction in the unsolicited mail he or she receives not all commercial mail will stop. You will continue to receive mail from companies with which you already do business and from non-DMA member companies that do not use our service. In addition, you may continue to receive mail from local merchants, professional and alumni associations, political candidates and office holders, and mail addressed to “resident/occupant.”

So you could try all you want with those two stop-junk portals, but basically it seems like you will still need more than a few hours and more than a dozen phone calls to stop all that junk mail after all.

Need to rant about your junk mail troubles? Feel free to leave a comment.

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released some interesting crash results in a report published in March this year. The report summarizes the damage and the costs involved for numerous vehicles when crash-tested at 3 mph (corner impact) and 6 mph (full impact) for bumper performance, in tests that were designed to simulate real-life vehicle-to-vehicle impact scenarios. Just to put things into perspective, the average human walks at about 3 miles per hour….so we are talking of really low speeds.

[Image source:www.iihs.org]

The results of the bumper tests are not very encouraging. Here is how IIHS president Adrian Lund summarizes them in the report:

The whole purpose of bumpers is to keep damage away from head-lights, hoods, and other parts that are expensive to repair, but this purpose was accomplished in only 2 of the 68 tests we conducted. In the rest, what we found is that bumpers aren’t up to the job.

When bumpers fail their functional requirements, safety issues and damage and repair cost issues will arise. Here are some post-crash repair costs for various vehicles that were tested.

[Data source:www.iihs.org]

It should be noted that costs in the above table are just repair costs, incidentals are not included. For example, if your headlights are damaged in a night-time crash, you won’t be able to drive the car home. This means additional costs of transportation and some priceless headache.

Note the numbers on the 1981 Ford Escort. Apparently, it seems to have the best bumper ever designed. So what if it looks a bit ugly (see image below). Ugly is better than thousands of dollars in repair costs.

The Best Bumper Ever: 1981 Ford Escort

One reason for the 1981 Ford acing the performance is that it was built before the federal standards for bumper tests were slackened in 1982. Before 1982, all bumper crash tests were performed at 5 mph (with stringent checks on damage to safety equipment); now they are being performed at 2.5 mph and allow unlimited damage (man…how many times people crash cars at 2.5 mph or slower?).

According to IIHS, the two main factors that drove up the costs for some of the vehicles were: 1. just poor design resulting in extensive damage, and 2. prices of parts that were damaged. The report suggests that manufacturers may have been compromising on bumper performance in favor of style. Hmm…talk about the general human tendency to assign undue importance to external appearances.

Yeah, insurance can cover the costs…but keep in mind that this study is conducted by IIHS, which is wholly supported by insurance agencies. Any results published by the institute are bound to influence insurance costs. So, in a way, you will be paying more for poorly designed bumpers, whether you are in a crash or not.

Click here to read the entire report (pdf file).

Here is a list of potentially problematic things that grow exponentially if you do not pay attention to them on time. These are all commonplace things that have just one lesson associated with them: a stitch in time saves nine. Perhaps there are more lessons involved like: procrastination is a thief of time …and money, and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…it’s the same thing all over; look at it any which way you like.

Bills: Everyone must have gone through piles of bills at some point of time in life. Pay your bills as soon as you get them. When you get into a habit of “ah..it’s not due for another month” they start piling up and then we conveniently start forgetting about them.

Debt: The best time to attack debt is right when it shows signs of existence. Remember, compounding and time are debt’s best friends. Together they can wreck a havoc in your life. Prepare a plan of action (lifestyle adjustment, increased income, reduced spending, etc.) and start working against it right now.

Junk mail: Don’t follow my example here. I wait for the weekend to shred the junk mail and it piles up till then. Sometimes I forget about it and then I spend a couple of hours on the following weekend shredding stuff like crazy. Shred it as soon as you receive it…it won’t take a lot of time and it will prolong your shredder’s life.

Dishes: A few dishes are easy to wash and don’t take too much time or efforts, but a few days of dishes take an awful amount of resources. If everyone washes their respective dishes after every meal…probably there won’t even be a need for a dishwasher. Piles of dishes in the sink are also an open invitation for cockroaches…and then you have to wash the dishes and kill the roaches…and then keep killing the roaches.

Stitches: The origin of all do-it-on-time advice. It saves clothes, efforts, and embarrassments by stitching damaged stuff on time. You don’t need a sewing machine…just a needle and *generally* matching thread will do.

Car repairs: Again, I have fallen into this pit more than once. If you don’t repair your car on time, you will pay more later. “I hate going to car mechanics” …is a valid complaint, but it’s not a valid excuse to avoid taking care of your car.

Health issues: What applies to car mechanics also applies to doctors (hate them..but need them). If you are concerned about an health issue, go to your doctor and get things clarified. There are a lot of things that could be remedied with a few bucks of pills (and free medical advice) if administered on time …or you could wait and pay thousands for a surgery later.

Emotions: If you have strong feelings about something…talk to someone about it as soon as possible. Flush it out of your system when you can and don’t let them pile up for too long. At times, built up emotions blow issues out of proportion and cause irreparable damage to relationships.

Anything else on your mind that should go in this list?

Image sources: Bills: www.pueblo.gsa.gov; Debt: starbulletin.com; Junk mail: www.sandysknitting.com; Dishes: www.boojee.org; Stitches: www.thefreedictionary.com; Junk car: www.albany.ga.us; Doctor: www.benedictfamily.org; Emotions: waa.uwalumni.com

Let’s play a sarcastic devil’s advocate for a minute and view the world from the perspectives of four different dads. I will try to keep this short and simple.

Rich dad: Life is all about cash flow. Income producing things are assets and everything else is a liability. Accordingly, food, clothes, cars, homes, computers, TVs, kids, love, and non-earning spouses are liabilities. You should have a net worth of $10 million before you die, only then you will be wealthy. Get rich quick (?). All other dads are stupid.

Poor dad: Life is absolutely not about money. Spend as you like and live paycheck to paycheck. Never have a backup plan for financial disasters. Consumerism exists for the benefit of the universe. Never get rich. All other dads are stupid.

Smart dad: Life is about happiness. Do what you think you are good at. If you prefer to stay employed rather than own a business yourself, then stay employed. Look for ways (within your means) to increase your wealth, but don’t overly obsess yourself with money. Always spend less than what you earn. Get rich sensibly. Observe and learn from other dads.

Stupid dad: Life is all about money. Do everything and anything you can to earn more money. Leave your day job even if you are good at it, and start a business even if you suck at management skills. Net worth of $10 million is not enough, always try for more. Get rich quick. Rich dad is your friend, everyone else is stupid.

Any thoughts? What kind of dad you want to be?

Update: What if you are a mom? Would you have some additional (in addition to dad’s) advice for the kids when it comes to money? [thanks to Plonkee for this thought]