Houses

We are going through the process of getting our house ready to sell. This was the first house we ever owned. Here are some reflections and advice for those young folk who may be pondering purchasing a house:

1. The house you live in is not a very good investment. You might get lucky and buy when the market is down and sell when it is up, but not many people are that lucky. Also, owning a house requires a lot of money in maintenance, upkeep, and upgrades. Real estate investing is a great way to make money, but I would recommend doing so with homes/land that are not your primary residence.


2. Never, ever buy a house in the suburbs. It sounds like a good idea, but I don't know of anyone who doesn't want to live either closer in to town or farther away in the country after living in suburbia for a few years. Suburbs are soul-sucking. You have to drive to do anything and you are still surrounded by people and their annoying chihuahuas.


3. Get one less bedroom than you think you need. There is no reason to have a guest bedroom. With the money you save on less square footage (in the price of the house, taxes, heating/cooling, and upkeep) you can put your family up in a nice hotel when they come to visit.


4. Don't buy stuff to fill your space. It is hard to have a lot of empty space when you first purchase a home. Learn to love the empty space. Acquire decorations from your travels and create art that pleases you. Save for furniture you really want and only get enough for you and those who live with you to use. Get rid of seldom used or unwanted items periodically.


5. Check the maximum height of foundation shrubs. If it is taller than your window sills, dig them up and plant them on the edge of of your property. Otherwise you will be stuck pruning shrubs every two weeks during growing season to keep them from blocking out the sunlight. You will also get a lot of blisters.


6. Plant trees and shrubs within the first year or two of owning the property. Pick the ideal locations based on what they will look like full grown. The faster you get them in the ground, the better the chance you will get to enjoy their shade and beauty instead of the next owner.

Taxes

I have been doing our taxes by hand for several years. Our federal income taxes are fairly straightforward. Aside from itemizing deductions, we are pretty textbook: normal jobs, own one house, typical investments. However, I am surprised that we always seem to owe money especially when we give away 10% of our income to a non-profit. In a way I guess it is a blessing to make enough to be in a position to owe money. Also, we own a lot less house than we could technically afford, so I'm sure the smaller property taxes and mortgage interest are a big part of why others who make similar money seem to always get a refund. That and the fact that when it comes to taxes children are little cash cows!

This year I took the plunge and purchased TurboTax Deluxe software to see if perhaps I was missing something. It turned out to be worth the $30 investment. Using TurboTax I reduced the amount we owed by $733. I had missed a reduction in income from stock losses (one company we had invested in went belly up so the stock was worthless) and a deduction from the sales tax we paid when we bought a car with cash last year.

For previous years, I doubt the software would have been worthwhile. This year it paid off. Overall, I would say that it is worth the money to buy tax software if you feel like you might be overpaying. Worst case, you are only out $30 (less if you choose TaxAct or H&R Block software).

Even without the financial benefit, it was nice to not have to read through the 1040 instructions and fill out the bizarre forms to calculate things like what amount of tuition I could deduct. Those forms are maddening (multiply by a percentage, subtract row 3 from 5, take the lesser of row 6 and 7, if row 4b is more than $80,000 use form X, and so on)!

Glasses

I had an eye exam back in January. My vision has been fine, but my glasses are two and a half years old and pretty well shot (I wear them every waking hour). The prescription changed only slightly. My eye exam was on a work day, so I came straight back to work without buying glasses. The following week I went to the mall to shop for frames. I was really disappointed. None were made in the US. None were particularly special. All were pretty pricey (I’ve noticed that the plastic frames that used to be the economy frames are now popular and cost as much as the metal frames). So, I decided to purchase online.

I had never purchased glasses online. I was extremely trepidatious. Part of my concern is due to my dislike of the hassle of returning products. I have a few co-workers who regularly purchase glasses online, but I think their prescription is weaker and therefore easier to fill.

I discovered there are two US manufacturers of a complete line of eyeglasses:

• Kala: http://www.kalaeyewear.com/
• Shuron: http://www.shuron.com/

A few others manufacturer a few frames or non-prescription sunglasses domestically.

I ordered one pair of sunglasses and one pair of regular glasses. They cost a lot more than Zenni Optical or other online discount sources. It remains to be seen if they are worth the cost. I have only ever purchased high quality frames. They last about 2 years of regular use with lots of outdoor activities. My current frames are technically still perfectly fine. I have never had loose screws or other problems. They are only “worn out” in terms of surface scratches.

The expression kind of captures my uncertainty

But, I am digging the shades!

I am still up in the air about the regular glasses. The nose bridge extends into my field of vision and is about to drive me batty. Glasses are Shuron Regis I and shades are Shuron Freeway.

Labeler

I haven't blogged recently because I really haven't bought anything lately. And it had been so long since I bought anything that I "fell off the wagon" so to speak when I finally did purchase something. I purchased a labeler (for filing) upon the recommendation of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280. The labeler was made in China and the tapes are made in Japan. Oh well, one lapse is no reason to abandon the experiment.

The lapse does bring to mind the time in 9th grade when we were breeding fruit flies for our biology class. We had 2 strains and after they had babies, we had to gas them to make them sluggish and then separate them by type. My partner and I forgot them at school over a holiday weekend. Needless to say they were a giant mess of interbred flies. Pretty much killed the intended genetic outcome. However, we still made a good grade because we went into great detail about the havoc our lapse wreaked on the experiment, which ultimately involved more research than just determining which traits were recessive and dominant. Point being, I'm sure this experiment will turn out fine. The lapse is already a good reminder to think before I buy. And whilst lamenting my failure I discovered that I could have gotten a seldom used one just for the asking!

It remains to be seen if my labeler is a success or failure (and how well the book's methods work).

Lunches

School lunches are an interesting topic that hits both on the buying local issue and buying better products issue. If you have kids in school, I would advise eating a tray lunch with them from time to time. You may be surprised.

I have fond memories of school lunches. I was the weird kid who loved them. I bought school lunches all the way up through high school. While mentoring this past year I have bought a school lunch every Tuesday. The adult lunch is the exact same as what the kids are eating. Let me just tell you that they are not the same as I remember!

Austin school lunches are technically pretty healthy. They are low fat and there are lots of whole grains, fresh fruit, and vegetables. Sounds good, but in practice it falls apart. The vegetables are usually mushy beyond belief so they don't get eaten. The main dishes use very little real meat and seem to rely heavily on soy blends. They are often carb heavy and seem to consist of lots of packaged, processed foods. There are plenty of refined sugars in sugar-added milks and yogurts.

At the school I mentor at 90% of the kids get federally funded free lunch. That means you and I are paying for these lunches. I would rather pay more to ensure kids get real meat and local, fresh produce. I would rather pay more to have cooks prepare the food from scratch at the cafeteria. In the long run it would mean lower health care costs by showing kids how good real, healthy foods can be.

Sadly, I don’t think many of them get much better at home. I have a voyeuristic habit of checking out what other people are buying at the grocery store while waiting in the checkout line. Every week there are people with kids in tow buying poor quality food. I’ve seen families load up on nothing but white bread, baloney, ramen noodles, and sugary cereal. If there were no additives these people would all have scurvy!

Grocery bills are our second biggest expense (behind the mortgage). It is worth every penny to buy better food. This includes eating out. We all have to eat so we should make it an enjoyable experience! I'm all for budgeting, but living in an affordable house with affordable vehicles and few expensive habits means you can eat what you want when you want and enjoy to the fullest one of life's most basic pleasures.

Break

In a recent conversation with a coworker lamenting the lack of Spring Break for adults, I started thinking about how nice it would be if everything shut down for awhile. I was reminded of a trip to the Netherlands several years back...

 

My husband and I went to the Netherlands a couple of times for his work. I had the entire day to myself while he worked. I got to see a lot of the country during that time. They have amazing public transportation and are flat enough that you can easily walk or bike long distances. If you ever get a chance you should go. Just make sure you venture out of Amsterdam to see the rest of the country (it is much less touristy).

The first time we went was in the dead of winter. They are much further North than the continental US and have very short days in the winter (and amazingly long, glorious summer days). On one occasion I was dropped off at some city for the day and I was to meet my husband and his coworker back at a certain location for dinner later on. I went all over town and had a great time. I came back to the commercial area where I was supposed to meet them just as it got dark. All of the shops were already closing. This was around 4:30pm. It was pretty close to freezing outside and my plan to browse until they arrived was thwarted. It was an unpleasant hour waiting for them.

I found out the hard way that most of the shops and counter service eateries close before dinner time and only the restaurants are open at night. It was terribly inconvenient at that moment, but overall that idea was refreshing. After work you have a little bit of time to swing by the grocer before they close. Once it is nighttime you can go out to eat or to a bar, but that is it. You are somewhat compelled to relax!

Now, I have complained many a time about stores closing too early. I work a later schedule, so I have a hard time finding anything but grocery stores or Wal-Mart/Target open after work. If I stop and think about it, though, I am inclined to admit that shopping after work is seldom an enjoyable or profitable experience. It is usually something I don't want to do anyway. Even if it is a needed item I am purchasing, I am not likely to make good decisions at that point.

Part of buying better stuff is being somewhat thoughtful about purchases. As I weed through our stuff and get rid of a lot of sheer junk we have accumulated, I realize we could have saved a lot of money not buying this stuff in the first place. The desire to cut back on possessions combined with my endeavor to buy only American made products has curtailed my purchasing. This past weekend I tried to find a picture frame for my diploma. I went to three stores and when I couldn't find one not made overseas I ended up re-purposing a seldom seen frame in our guest bedroom. Turns out I wouldn't have needed to spend the money or add to our possessions after all.

Although I don't think we will ever see a Spring Break for all of us, maybe we could be more accepting of shorter business hours. Seems like it would be healthier for all of us. I have to say that the Dutch are far fitter and more attractive than Americans. A little extra non-commercial leisure time might do us all good.

College

Recently I have read several articles on whether a college education is worth the cost. I will wholeheartedly agree that tuition has been increasing at a rather impressive rate. Having been around universities a lot, I think part of the problem is that universities spend money like it is burning a hole in their pocket. They are always under construction and a lot of that construction is re-doing perfectly sound buildings. I'm not too worried about it, though. Eventually they will raise prices enough that enrollment will drop because students can't justify the cost. Then the universities will cut costs and reduce prices. In the interim, more high school students may choose to start a career first. I imagine some will discover that they wouldn't have needed college anyway.

That being said, I am all for higher education. I don't think college is for everyone, but lifetime learning certainly is. I for one really like structured learning. While I enjoy reading, there is something about the collaboration and exchange that college courses offer that is stimulating. I also like the feedback of being graded on my work.

I just received my Master of Engineering diploma in the mail today. Was it worth the cost? I would say yes. It will pay for itself in about 2 years. Even if I hadn't seen any financial benefit and all I walked away with was the knowledge and experience, I think it still was worthwhile. It cost as much as a car, but I can't think of anything else I would have wanted to purchase more.