I am excited. We are now less than two weeks away (September 14) from hosting the Financial Peace University seminar. As the Coordinator, I have been very busy these last few days. We have over 50 people signed up to attend!

I will begin previewing the sessions (one of the perks of being the coordinator is that I have access to the DVDs) next week. The preview video which we have shown twice so far to two different groups is really good, and it was only about 20 minutes. The preview highlights the topics that will be covered and gives a brief glimpse into Dave Ramsey’s background, and gives a few stats concerning American Finances. The average length of the actual  seminar video’s is one hour.

13 weeks is a long time – from September 14 through December 7th. I hope I can keep motivated giving up so many Tuesday nights in a row (I already give up my Wednesday nights for church / work). But if a few people can get their finances in order, then it will be worth it. Plus, maybe I will get a few blog articles out of it!

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Vacation is over and I am swamped at work! But I am glad we got a chance to get away as a family. We went to my parents cottage and it was relaxing. This vacation was a two-for one: it was a great time and we spent very little money! That is extremely good since we have some medical bills coming in the near future.

At home I am busy painting this week. I am doing our hallway which has desperately needed painting, and I am doing the lower level bathroom (we live in a bi-level). These two “rooms” had ugly wallpaper and now that we finally got that taken care of we can paint! My wife is so excited! Of course painting the bathroom will mean getting new flooring I am sure! Painting is cheap until you count the cost of “decorating”!

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My computer was finally up and running on Saturday after having crashed earlier last week. Fortunately it was just a hard drive – we were able to save all the information. But it was a good reminder why I take the time to back up everything important!

On Saturday night I starting feeling ill, and throughout Saturday night and through Sunday evening I was sick with a fever. I didn’t even get out of bed on Sunday until after 3:00 p.m. Yuck.  Then my wife started having bad coughing spells so we had to take her to the doctor. She is doing better now but it was pretty rough.

So obviously blogging has been light, okay, nonexistent! And that will continue through next week – we are going on vacation! I don’t think I have needed a vacation so badly in a long time. We are going to my parents cottage. The weekend will be a family reunion, and then we will just chill for a few days. I am really looking forward to some down time before the busyness of the Fall kicks in.

Speaking of Fall, it’s less than a month before I begin leading a Dave Ramsey Seminar at our church! As I said, I will give updates weekly on what I think of his seminar.

Have a great week!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. What a week! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

I went to start my computer on Friday and all I got was the “blue screen of death”! I have a friend looking at it but it could be a few days until he can get it up and running again (I hope!).

Our computer is over four years old – I guess that is ancient in computer time. Time to start saving for a replacement.

Blogging will be light until I get my computer back! Sadly, I feel lost without it!

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The other week I received a call from a local Funeral Director asking me if I would perform a funeral for a family that did not have a pastor. I agreed and met with one of the family to work out the service details.

The funeral was for an older person who did not have children, and was only married for a short time before they died. The person had a will, but it was written before they were married. Also, shortly before they died, they changed  executors of the estate. Talk about setting up fireworks for when you pass away! Part of the family was mad because they switched executors. Part of the family was mad that the person married. Then there was confusion because the will was outdated because they had gotten married. So some of the family was scrambling to make sure they “got what was coming to them”.

When I did the funeral, some of the family stayed outside until right before the service started – they didn’t want to speak or see the other part of the family! Fortunately there was no fighting at the funeral, but it was tense. It saddened me that the individuals were more concerned about the estate than about the deceased.

This was a reminder to me and now to you – make sure your will is up to date! And choose your executor wisely. Also it was a reminder to me that if there is something I definitely want to give to someone, if I can give it while I am still alive that is the best – then I know that they will get it!  A final thought that I had was that I want to live in such a way that my family and friends will miss me and not just wish for my money.

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My wife had to back to the hospital for three days last week for testing. She has been nauseous ever since her surgery at the beginning of June. Then last week she started to get pains in her side and cold sweats. After conferring with our family doctor it was off to the hospital.

After a battery of tests, they don’t have an answer, which was disappointing. On the bright side, she is in very good health except for the nausea. The doctors have scheduled two more tests for next week (outpatient). Hopefully they can find something and that it is not serious and that can be addressed.

Because of the uncertainty of her health right now, we made a big decision. We have decided not to Home School next year. We will be putting our girls in public school. Although this is disappointing for us, it will be the best for my wife and for the girls – in fact the girls are very excited! I wonder how long that will last! The elementary school they will be going to  is highly recommended and we have talked to parents who are very pleased with the school, so that is good. We will be talking to the school officials soon, and hopefully give the girls a tour in the next few weeks.

As a side note, financially, this will free up some funds in our budget to put towards the medical expenses which will be helpful. We will take it a month at a time and see how my wife and the girls are doing.

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A week ago a friend from church stopped me and said that because of everything our family has been through (medical issues and expenses, emergency house repairs, car dying, etc.), he was trying to line up some individuals to help us reshingle our roof that needs done! Wow! What a wonderful surprise. By having these individuals do our roof, he estimated that we could save about 40-50% on the cost of doing the roof (labor is about half the cost of any project like this). He was hoping to do it this fall when the weather is cooler.

If everything comes together, I would just need to order the supplies – actually I think two of the volunteers are self-employed consturction workers so they would order the supplies which is good since they could maybe get a discount plus they would be more accurate ordering than I would be. I am estimating that the cost of materials will be around $3000.

Because my emergency fund and house fund is tapped out, I will probably need to get a short term loan. So I have begun looking around locally and online to see about a line of credit. Since I will not know the exact cost, and I need to have something in place so I can pay for the materials, a line of credit is my best option. That way I can tap as much, or hopefully as little as I need. If we don’t have any more “emergencies”, I should be able to pay off any loan in about 6 months. Although I hate the idea of going into debt, the savings of having volunteers do the roof will far outweigh the interest I will pay – I will still be saving thousands of dollars!

Hopefully I will know one way or the other by August so I can line all the financing up!

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A few days ago I received an “Information Update” from the Hospital where I went to have a stone removed from a duct. They wanted me to know that the total charges for my three day visit amounted to $17,455.40! I must admit my heart skipped a beat when I read that. Under the “Amount You Now Owe” it said pending insurance.

I know that I grumble about insurance, like everyone else. But this year, with all our medical bills, I am so glad to have insurance. I am expecting that I will only have to pay the $750 deductible: our actual deductible is $1500 per individual, $3000 for family, but my employer picks up half the tab – Thank You! Since my wife already met her deductible, and I think we had already had some expenses toward the family deductible, my part may even be a little less.

This has been a crazy medical year for us. My wife had surgery in June, I had this three day hospital stay, my daughter had braces, plus we have all been to the family doctor for several illnesses that swept through the family (strep throat, etc.).  The good news is that we have been able to pay every bill without going into debt! The bad news is that we are currently living paycheck to paycheck until I can get the emergency fund built back up (which got depleted because of all the household emergencies – well pump, water heater, leaking windows, used car purchase, etc.).

More than ever I am a believer in both health insurance and in having a well funded emergency account!

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The other day my wife was talking with some of her girlfriends and they were talking about houses. One of them made this comment that just surprised my wife completely. This women said that her family did not own a house (they rent one) because they did not want to pay real estate taxes. My wife couldn’t believe that comment and I know I can’t.

Now there are many good reasons to not own a home and to rent. Depending on particular circumstances, renting may be a financially wise choice. But to make a decision to rent verses buy because you don’t want to pay taxes is not a good reason. It is wrong financial thinking. In the first place – they are paying taxes, albeit not directly. The landlord / owner of the house, his goal is to make money. When they come up with a price for rental, it will include covering the mortgage payments and taxes. So the price of the rental will have those items, among others factored in. Her family is paying the taxes, but on a monthly basis to the landlord verses a lump sum to the city.  

Although I am surprised at thinking like this, I know I shouldn’t be. Everyday people are making wrong financial decisions out of ignorance, foolishness, or just carelessness. I do not want to be one of those people, and if you stopped by today to read this, hopefully that means you also do not want to be one of those people. It was a good reminder for me to keep learning and growing in this area, so that I do not fall into traps that have caught others by surprise. Let’s keep learning together!

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I had to go to the Emergency Room on Saturday Morning because I was extremely sick (had been having on and off pain for about a week). Doctors determined that I had a gallstone – even though I had my gallbladder removed in 2006! The stone was stuck in one of the ducts. I am one of the people who can still get stones even after having their gall bladder gone. Lucky Me. So I am now at home after being in the hospital for three days. I am not to work until next week, but other than that I have no restrictions.

The doctors are telling me since I am prone to stones I need to change to a low fat diet and keep my sugar down. More fun! But I will probably follow their advice – trust me, stones are no fun. So soon their will be a new, slimmer me!

I will get back to blogging about financial issues in the near future! I just need to get through taking these medications that make me feel wonky!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Emergency Room Visit is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.