My prediction came true! Avoid the artificial wealth trap.

 I would like to tell you what happened today.

When I started this journey one of my main messages was and still Is "when is it our turn?" Meaning when do my wife and I get to have fun like all of those bloggers and facebookers out there. When do we get to go on a honeymoon type vacation? When will I get to go on my cruise or all inclusive resort? I don't mean to be a complaining charly but those who have had assistance through government programs church or parents have also had several vacations marked off their list due to the fact that they have more disposable income. Let me put it this way. If I (example A) make 500 a week and my friend (example B) makes 395 a week and we both have a baby. He gets his paid through medicaid and ends up paying 500 dollars while I pay 6000. He in the end makes more than I do!! How? Well besides tax factors that play in his favor when he receives Un earned income return. He has almost 106 dollar savings every week compared to me. That's not all. He will be on WIC Food stamps and housing assistance. Which makes it seem he's making more like 800 a week while I still make 500. In the end he has more disposable income to go on vacations buy a car or truck or even buy some off road vehicles. BUT, I argue the top example (me) has a better chance at being financially independent.  Example A has found ways to not waste money earn more money and while the government assistance example (B) is buying vehicles vacations and off road vehicles at full price the top example is getting them at substantial 90 % savings! Not paying interest and actually owning them. Eventually example A figures out that example B is using social services to help him out of a hardship while he continues to own not sell his posesions. Example A finds out he's donating to that social service. He stops donating to that and other social services because he loses faith that they help the poor. In his mind they reward the poor choice makers. So, he  keeps more of his money so he can go on his vacations and buy his toys. Thus the story of my life.

Anyways.

 I bring this up because my in laws who bought plane tickets to come see us who saved on a car rental because we let them use our second car who saved on gas because we filled that tank twice who got their meal payed for and entertainment payed for by us who won a lawsuit awarding them nearly 70 grand 3 years ago who have claimed bankruptcy 3 times who bought a flat screen t.v. right after bankruptcy when flat screens were 1500 dollars who bought a bigger flat screen t.v. who bought a "smart" fridge who bought a home with a pool who bought a new car for mothers day with a car payment who bought another SUV a year later because she didn't like the car she got for mothers day (2 car payments) who flew to Georgia twice flew to ohio several times flown to utah several times who went to Vegas several times California several times. Who went to the grand canyon and paid for an air flight over the grand canyon who paid for the underprivileged grandchildren to go to Disney land who gave them each 100 dollar gift cards for souvenirs while I barely bought my kids anything who paid 300 dollars a day on food that those kids wasted and then gave my wife an itallian ice for her birthday. (true story! Thats all she got for her birthday that year and it was durring that trip) not to mention bought overpriced light up ears that night! (So quick story. After my FIL buys my wife her 5 dollar birthday present on our way to world of color that night my FIL sees light up ears. He's hesitant to buy them probably because he's spending over 300 dollars a day! His wife pursuades him to buy them because he deserves them. "Just do it. Just do it" she says. This is after they get a big settlement from his former company but you soon find out that money is going to be gone!) flew to Hawaii for a 10 day 3 island vacation to have their late honeymoon who rented a convertible while there who spent lavishly on excursions snorkeling and rafting trips while there
 Who bought brand new couches even though the old ones were not that bad who got a dog then 2 years later paid hundreds of dollars for another puppy. Who out of the goodness of their hearts took their daughters x boyfriends stuff and delivered it from Arizona to Texas who got fitbit from my FIL mom decided they didn't like them returned them and forked out 100 dollars more for Google watches. ( another back storie on that! After telling us they had no money but bought plane tickets to see us while we paid for their food gas ect Christmas comes around and they tell us again they have no money!!??They give my kids 5 dollar gift cards to the dollar store for Christmas and tell us they don't have alot of money this year. Apparently they do have money if they are able to return fitbits they got from my wife's grandma who again has no money and buy Google watches which are 70 dollars more and they bought 2!! 140 dollars of money they don't have!!??)

After all that my prediction has come true!!

They have finally come to us for a loan.

In fact I wrote another journal entry on this very subject!!

Thankfully my wife and I had already discussed this. I warned her that we both are very charitable and if we loaned them money it would not help them.

Instead they asked for us to prepay our phone bill.

I'm alright with that. That isn't a cash loan they can't eat out with. It's not something they can avoid paying us back. They have to pay that or their phones get shut off.

Let me say this one last thing. I have shown how much they have bought and how much they have done. I have done this to compare our lives to theirs. We have been very frugal with our money not claiming bankruptcy and not using government programs they on the other hand have had more income went through bankruptcy got a huge financial break when they received a settlement and then spent that all within about 6 months then went further into debt to the point where they have no room on their credit cards to pay their bills. Here's the real kicker when your comparing apples to apples. I have had 4 kids 2 surgeries and 2 hospital  stays durring all of this. Add that all up that is 8 major medical bills. I have had nonstop Dr and dentist bills for 8 years. Through all that I didn't ask for help because guess what? There was no one who would help me. I tried! They on the other hand our on their 3rd medical procedure have no kids (no diapers formula clothes school lunches)to take care of) have a lower mortgage payment have a roommate that helps pay that mortgage and still have no money. That is seriously pathetic and avoidable.

Look for the warning signs and make sure you don't fall for the artificial wealth trap. If your relatives are falling for this do not let them take you for granted. Absolutely no cash loans. Do not pay their bills!! Make honest excuses like, We are saving for Hawaii or we are saving for a car!! Do not make the same mistakes they do. Don't go into debt to go on frivolous vacations! Stop getting pets you can't afford And stop getting car loans!! They ate the worst. My in laws have 2 with an estimated cost of 770 dollars a month!! That is horrible.

K I'm done venting have a great week!

Saving on vehicle maintenance. (Avoid buying penny pincher segment.)

One of my biggest pet peeves is the auto mobile market. This is from the cars you buy to the oil that helps them run. Car parts auto mechanics even windshield wiper fluid can be too pricy. Here are some automobile maintenance secrets you can try to save a lot a of money and keep your car on the road at huge discounts.
#1 Avoid buying name brand oil and synthetic oils. I am probably the only (uncertified) mechanic who will say this but listen to my reasoning. Besides the fact that oil has risen quite drastically to 6 or 7 bucks a quart. Oil hardly comes down in price when the market does. Which means those greasy  (pick your swearword) are making huge and bigger prophets while your stuck paying the same price. 2. How long do you typically keep your car? If your like me you either A. Keep it till it dies or B. From 3-5 years.My wife and I like to upgrade to something different every 3 to 5 years. If I invest in low quality oil for my oil changes and I sell my car in 5 years it will be worth the SAME if I were to use higher grade oil. Dealers and Kelly blue book don't care. If it runs and drives with no mechanical issues it will be worth the same. Lastly oil has improved. You don't need to change it every 3000 miles. Even with Supertech oil (my favorite) you can change your oil every 5000 miles. Even one more thing. Off brand oils are made by name brand companies. Look it up. Lastly buy your oil at Walmart. They are the cheapest. Again I like supertech.

2. Going along with the subject of oil. Have you ever had a car or truck that loses a quart or 2 durring that 5000 miles in between oil changes? Why not use the oil from your previous oil change to get you by till your due for your next oil change. It still has lubricating abilities and most likely you have a thousand or less miles till your next oil change. Simply make a filter out of a 2 liter soda bottle and a power aid or gator aid bottle. Cut the 2 liter in half and fill it with 4 or 5 sheets of paper towels or napkins. Place on top of the sports drink bottle. Carefully pour the used oil into the top of the soda bottle funnel being careful to not overfill. Then wait. It takes a few hours to filter but with little effort on your part. I don't do this every oil change but when I'm in a pinch or whenever I find it more valuable I will use this trick.

3. Avoid buying windshield wiper fluid. I put this on here because the ingredients in windshield wiper fluid are much cheaper than what a gallon cost. Summer blend especially is extremely cheap costing as much as a few pennies to make. Simply mix one teaspoon of dish detergent with 1 gallon of water for your summer blend. Winter home made blends do smell a little if you chose to make it with vinegar or isopropyl alchahol.  You can YouTube or look up directions online

4 Batteries. Most of us simply cannot avoid buying a battery. We will need to replace them more than once in our lives. This makes the battery manufacturers very happy. But seriously again this is another part of our vehicles that seem to go up in price without any rhyme or reason. The main materials to make batteries are lead plastic and sulfuric acid. All three are not expensive materials. So before you run to the auto parts store, try a few revival meathods. Recharging with a slow charger, flipping the battery on it's side several times and even a mixture of Epson salt and distilled water can squeeze a few more years out of a dead battery. I once bought a car with a bad battery. I tried all three meathods and was able to use that battery an additional 3 years until I sold it .
Tires. If you can learn how to change your own tires. This is by far the cheapest way to get tires. You do need to find someone to balance them but you do save alot. Tires are always being sold used with 80% and up tread for up to 50 % off. 2. Try to find a used tire place this again is a good cheap option. I once was quoted 129 dollars Per tire. That was before tax. After doing more research and running out of time I found a used tire place that sold me 2 tires for 80 bucks. That included Everything, mounting balancing and taxes. Lastly try ebay. They have inexpensive brand new tires they will ship to you free. This sometimes can save you alot of dough.

Speaking of ebay. Use Ebay and Amazon to buy your parts. They don't have the same overhead expenses that brick and mortar stores do and they offer free shipping. I typically save 50% or more over other auto parts stores.

Lastly stop buying the best when it comes to replacement parts. All you are doing is buying parts for the next owner of your car. I have hardly had to replace a part more than once durring the entire time I've owned any of my cars. Buy the most reasonable part and let the next owner take care of it. 

Hope this helps you save a few bucks.

3 year anniversary post.

So for my anniversary I decided to kind go  into why I have this blog what's it's point and where do we go from now on. I think I've made it very clear that I feel I have been treated unfairly when comparing my life's journey to some others. I felt I was making right choices such as self reliance working hard paying my bills paying my taxes and providing for my family. In the end we sacrificed and paid more than our neighbors. We have paid close to 60 grand in medical bills while others went to college and paid close to nothing. We HAD to pay for all our children. More than 50% of Arizona residents the year I had my first child did NOT. Those choices were never presented to me. If someone came up to me and said I could get a part time job delivering pizzas go to college and the state would take care of all of my wife's and baby's medical bills, I would of probably chose that. You get more benifits working half or less than half the time yet I chose the latter and paid the price.

My first year of being married I had 3 jobs. When my wife got pregnant i didn't seek government help. I went to work. My wife and I must of really loved each other because we barely saw eachother. When we did our taxes on turbo tax that year the government took my entire wages from my 3rd job. We know this because turbo tax allows you to see your return while you are filing. When we had completed our last 1099 our return dropped to us owing money and it was because I had worked that 3rd job. I WOULD OF MADE THE SAME WITH OR WITHOUT IT.

Here we are 3 years later from starting this blog. What has happened is a miracle. I'm out of debt have money in the account currently not working. I'm a stay at home dad helping my wife. She works at home. I guess you could say that my trials were meant to be and directed me on my path. I am still unsure. I believe in God. I have never doubted that I was meant to have trials yet I still wonder if he was always keeping an eye on me.

So I've decided to take this blog in a different direction. Instead of focusing on my "I can't afford it awards" I'm going to focus more on my penny pincher segments. What to avoid buying. I have a lot of ideas I would like to write about on that subject so I am going to focus more time on that. That doesn't mean  my "I can't afford it awards" are going away. I will just be focusing more time to my penny pincher segment.

Reviewing my ransom

I wrote a post a while ago of 10 things that would have to happen before I erase this blog. I reviewed those and found some of them are done! I have made progress but I still have a ways to go. A few have changed and I've added one to the list. These are the things I'm working on achieving and when they are complete I will erase my blog . They are the blog ransome.

They are, starting with the newest one.

1. Go to a MOTAB Christmas Concert.
I still believe the ticket process is corrupt. I have tried for years to go with no sucess. Politicians church leaders news anchors and church employees go every year and others have to fight for them. One more ransom to the list.

2. Go on a honeymoon! Still have not gone on an official honeymoon meaning one week to a vacation spot such as Hawaii or cancun or on a cruise! We were supposed to go in February but those plans have changed. I want to have my honeymoon.

3. A house of envy. This has officially happened. This year we moved into one of two nicest houses on our block. I seriously thought that would never happen and it did.

4. Four vacations in one year.
OK I want this every year but let's be honest. Unless I'm independently wealthy this probably won't happen so I will accept 4 vacations in 1 year. 4 1 week vacations. So within a year span I have had 2. If I get 2 more this one will be accomplished.

5. Debt free. I am in debt. I also have enough funds to pay off all my debts. I don't want to. I currently pay no interest and make around 100 dollars a month on my debts. They are paying themselves off.

6. No medical bills. I thought I was good o this one. I just realized i am not. Guess I'll be calling a Dr tomorrow.
I hate Dr bills. They should not be a constant concern.

7. A getaway place. Preferably a cabin. Have you ever been depressed or just wanted to get away even for a night. I envy those who have this. There's rejuvenation and real sychological help from being in a secluded cabin by a fire letting your stress go.

8. An affordable house payment. I would say no house payment but I know that is probably not going to happen for at least another 10 years. What is an affordable house payment? My last house was affordable. I know that. If I were to pull a number I would say under a thousand would satisfy me to say this has been achieved.

9. A trip to Alaska and Hawaii  (subject to change)
Just for the heck of it.

10. A cruise. I have always wanted to go on a cruise. Why haven't I? Because unlike my former coworker who has been on 3. I had bills he didn't. I had Dr bills for babies. He didn't. He had the state pay for his. He had another one taken care of through bankruptcy and yet he gets to go on cruises? Yep that's how the economy works. Screws the ones who are self sufficient and rewards those who are not.

To end my anniversary speach that has no organizations or rythem. (Sorry my mind has not been as sharp as it used to be) Let me say this. Through these last 10 years of grown up responsibility I have realized there are 4 things society charges us to much for. If you can control these 4 things you can have so much more authority to make decisions. Society is craving these powers. Fight for them back!
1. CAR PAYMENTS. you lose so much freedom when you become a slave to the lender. If you can't pay for a car outright don't! In emergency situations where you need a car do not go more than 110 a month. That's around a 5000 dollar car. Stop giving lenders the power to tell you what you need to do such as how much insurance you need or what your required to pay. Americans give too much power to the auto industry.
2. Dr bills. The medical industry makes too much damn money. Lasik eye surgery has continually come down while Dr bills continue to climb. Why? A BECAUSE THEY CAN. Nobody fights for lower prices. You can!! Avoid Dr's if you can but if you need to go negotiate negotiate negotiate. I've heard so many lies from their trained phone operators.  Continue trying to get a discount and they will do it!
3.Insuranse. this is both for auto and medical. Continue fighting for lower prices. When I was first married I paid 1600 a year for 2 cars. I now pay around 600 for 2 cars. Tomorrow I am going to reduce that to under 500. Why? Because I can. Insurance companies will continue to try raise your rates. They are trained to make up excuses. Continue to fight back and shop for lower rates.
4. Learn how to use credit cards. If you are paying interest you are using them wrong! Stop having the mentality that you will pay them later. You won't! I have carried balances on credit cards for 10 years. I've had an awakening last year and currently have not paid interest to a credit card company in 10 months. In that time I have earned over 1000 dollars in cash back incentives. I'm not debt free. I just realized a secret that not a lot of people know about.

Be healthy  Stay away from student loan debt and stop spending more than you make.

Here's to 2017. May it be my and your best year yet.