GPOB - SCIENCE!

GEEK PARENTING ON A BUDGET – SCIENCE!

Geek parents love to imagine their children growing up to be chemists, physicists, astronomers, and mad scientists. We teach them about math, the elements, and wormholes. The best way to grow a love for these things is through fun science experiments. But science isn't cheap.

Have you ever looked at the prices of a chemistry set or a self propelled rocket kit? Yikes!

I love reading experiments geek parents do with their children. But I wonder how they can afford all the materials. I can do the vinegar and baking soda volcano, but after the first couple of times, my little geek is whining that he already knows what will happen.

So in the interest of science, I have found a couple of ways to play and experiment while on a budget.

1. Slime. Whether you're creating a baby for the Blob or some ecoplasm, kids love slime. It's very easy to make too. All you need is some water, glue, borax, and food coloring. You can find borax-free recipes online as well. It's easy and fun to make, and you can make all different kinds.

2. Cloud jars. Learn how clouds hold liquid. All you need is water, a jar, shaving foam, and an eye dropper with colored water. The foam will float on top of the water in the jar like a cloud. As your little geek drops the colored water into the cloud from the dropper, it will eventually become too heavy and rain.

3. Gummy bear torture. Oh yes, they're yummy and can teach us about science! All you need is gummy bears. Put them in various containers of liquid like water, salt water, vinegar, and liquid nitrogen (if you have any around!). You can eat the bears and watch as the candies bloat and explode. Researching this, I didn't realize how popular torturing gummy bears was. There are tons of videos online.

What fun and cheap science experiments have you done with your little geeks?

Christine Rains is a writer and geek mom. She is married to her nerdy best friend, and they have one adorable little geek. All of them are too smart for their own good, even their cat who knows how to flush the toilet. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood but make her a great Jeopardy player. She has one novel and several short stories and novellas published. You can visit her website here.


It was so wonderful having Christine here this week! These are terrific ideas - and almost all of these activities were done without electronics - it CAN BE DONE! Thanks, my geeky friend - GEEKS RULE!

GPOB - Family Outings

GEEK PARENTING ON A BUDGET – FAMILY OUTINGS

It's not cheap to take the family out for a day of geeky fun. The admission to comic book conventions, science museums, and zoos are high. And that doesn't even include the price of food and parking. Around here, it costs more than $120 to bring the family for one day at the children's museum in the big city.

My wallet won't even consider opening for that. But I have ways of making the poor thing feel better.

1. National and state parks. We get a park pass every year. It's more than worth it. Take advantage of their nature centers and free programs. We all get to be outside and explore nature. A great opportunity to fill your little geek's head with fairy lore and wilderness survival in case there's a zombie apocalypse.

2. Ask for adventures as gifts instead of items. Every year, my Nana gives my son a yearly pass to our small local children's science museum. We've spent countless hours there having fun learning. They have free programs for people who are members too. Last December, my little geek was on stage with a reindeer. He still talks about it. Zoo and museum memberships usually only cost the price of two or three visits. We go at least twice a month to our local museum.

3. Geo-caching. All you need is a handheld GPS and the determination to find treasure. Another awesome way to have fun outdoors. Go to the geo-caching website and find caches in your area. Punch the coordinates into your GPS and go hunting! Some caches are small like a photo film canister while others are big like old ammo boxes, and they contain items to trade. Old coins, key chains, and toys. Children young and old love the rush of finding treasure.

What budget friendly things do your family like to do together?

Christine Rains is a writer and geek mom. She is married to her nerdy best friend, and they have one adorable little geek. All of them are too smart for their own good, even their cat who knows how to flush the toilet. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood but make her a great Jeopardy player. She has one novel and several short stories and novellas published. You can visit her website here.

GPOB - Dress-up Time!

So excited to have CHRISTINE RAINS guest post with us this week! She's sharing some economical tips from her cute geeky point of view!

GEEK PARENTING ON A BUDGET – DRESS UP TIME!

Every kid loves to play dress up and pretend they're someone or something else. As a geek parent, this is one of my favorite things to do with my little geek. We pretend to be superheroes, robots, and talking cats.

Costumes are expensive, though. Never mind all the special props like a sonic screwdriver or Green Lantern's lantern. I'm jealous of those geek parents who can afford to buy the awesome outfits so the whole family can be the crew of Serenity or the Power Rangers. And those clever nerds were are talented enough to make spectacular costumes.

Every time I try to sew something, I end up with bandages on all my fingers. We also live on a budget. There are still tons of ways to have dress up fun. Here are a few tips:

1. Post-Halloween sales. Costumes, make-up, and accessories all on sale for 50%. And if you wait a week, it'll be 75% to 80% off. I stock up on the face paint because my little geek loves to pretend he's different animals. Children's costumes do sell out fast, but no worries. Buy adult ones and cut them to fit the kids.

2. Recyclables are your friend. You might only see trash, but through a child's eyes, an empty tissue box can be turned into a treasure chest and the paper towel roll into a telescope. One of my favorite recyclable-made accessories is a jet pack. Grab two 2 liter plastic bottles and tape them together. Have your little geek decorate them and use construction paper to make straps. Then blast off!

3. Second-hand clothes. Whether you get them at a yard sale, a thrift store, or from the back of your closet, don't underestimate the value of these old duds. Adult size button-up shirts make excellent robes. Black for a Hogwarts student and white for White Mage from Final Fantasy. Big t-shirts can be tied around the waist with ribbon or string to make them tunics for knights in training.

What costumes have you made on a budget?

Christine Rains is a writer and geek mom. She is married to her nerdy best friend, and they have one adorable little geek. All of them are too smart for their own good, even their cat who knows how to flush the toilet. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood but make her a great Jeopardy player. She has one novel and several short stories and novellas published. You can visit her website here.

5 Tips for Surviving Cyber Monday

A TV worth braining Granny for in the UK last year.
Courtesy Daily Mail.com

Did everyone survive Black Friday? If you're reading this, I'm assuming you haven't fallen to the zombie hordes during a fight over portable electronics or accessories.

And if you are one of the lucky ones who made it out alive (and with some remnants of currency left in your pocketbook), then you're probably already embarking on the joy and terror that is... *enter Rod Serling impersonater* CYBER MONDAY.

Even though you'll be doing it from the relative safety of your a computer screen at work or at home (possibly even in your jammies and you lucky SOBs know who you are), there are still plenty of perils to be avoided and on this spendiest of weekends. The biggest of those perils is too often overspending. Just because it saves you $100 now doesn't mean you really NEEDED that combination Roomba/Coffee Maker/Wine Decanter, right? So here are some quick tips to help get you through Cyber Monday with sanity AND money intact:

1. BUTCHER THE HELL OUT OF YOUR LISTS. Make lists, check them twice, then ditch anything you don't really need. Now think about everything you just hauled off to Goodwill during your last cabinet and attic raid and remember how excited you were to get those gadgets on sale. NOW go through the list again and try to imagine how long before you shove this year's gadget of your dreams to the attic... and then to the Goodwill pile.

2. STAY ON TASK. Those ads, those beautiful colors, the flashing lights... all telling you how much you need this multi-function foosball/ping-pong/air hockey/puzzle table to reinvigorate your family game nights. Ooooh! Or this at-home soda maker with healthy and all natural additives, and some nearly natural colors. DON'T GET DISTRACTED *whiplash*. If you go into your Cyber Monday shopping knowing that you need a Star Wars present for little Becky, vacuum for Mom, or to replace your threadbare towels in the guest bathroom, stick to it. No buts, just do it.

Edina and Patsy are fabulous, but
probably poor choices.

3. DON'T SHOP ALONE. There's no shame in admitting it - it's hard to police ourselves. If nobody sees us cheating on our diet, or splurging on that little item, it doesn't count, right? Wrong. And we know it. That's why this tip is true for every day of the year - don't even go to the grocery without a watchful eye if you can help it.

4. PICK A RESPONSIBLE SHOPPING BUDDY. It should go without saying, but make sure that the person you choose to help keep you honest this shopping season isn't a shopaholic fashionista in faux-Target slacks.


And last, but not least...


5. DON'T SHOP HUNGRY. Did you think that was just for grocery shopping? Heck no. As any Snickers commercial will tell you - hunger makes you crazy. At the very least, hunger can make you rush decisions and react more negatively to situations that normally wouldn't ruffle you, like when the website inevitably crashes and makes you start over just as you're buying the shopping cart you painstakingly filled. (ah, technology...) Make sure you start your Cyber Monday on a full and happy stomach, otherwise you'll be adding a monitor to your list to replace the one you just threw out the window.

Until next time - HAPPY SHOPPING!

Mortgage Straight Talk - Choosing a 15-yr or 30-yr term

HI EVERYONE!!! I’m Ashley, and I’ve been looking so forward to sharing this first post with you guys. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart and it's a little bit long (in true soapbox fashion). But I promise it'll be worth it!

Here’s the scenario: Think back to your experience buying your first house, maybe even your second or third house. At any point during your purchasing experience, did the mortgage consultant or sales rep really give you the full picture of a 15-yr vs a 30-yr loan? OR give you the tools to make the analysis yourself? Chances are you, like most Americans embarking on purchasing their first or second home, never heard the difference between the two aside from the monthly bottom line, let alone the myriad reasons why one might be better for you than the other.

And that, my friends, burns my biscuits.

If you’ve heard much about them at all, you’ve probably heard the common wisdom that you can keep your payments flexible and lower by choosing a 30-yr and making extra principal payments each month to pay it off in 15 years. And if you’re planning on staying in the house for more than 10 years and having payment flexibility is a concern in your budget, this is a rock solid plan. HOWEVER, there are two big caveats that keep this from working for the majority of the population:

•        The average length of time homeowners stay in one house now is only 5-8 years, and
•        It takes a lot of discipline to keep ignoring the calls of life redirecting your extra cash to the mortgage when it isn’t required on the bill. You know what calls I mean.... We are waaaay to good at justifying purchases to ourselves, especially when it’s something for the household and not directly for us. That shiny new TV was for the family, not us, right? RIGHT? 

So what considerations do you really need to keep in mind when deciding if a 30-yr or 15-yr is right for you? I’m glad you asked! The following checklist assumes 100% financing since it’s the most common loan for first time homebuyers.

A 30-yr mortgage is probably right for you if:

• You can only afford the payment on a 30-yr for the loan amount you’re seeking.
• You plan to stay in the house for at least 10 years (even better if you can make the extra principal payments)
• You plan to invest the payment difference responsibly in retirement or other funds that will yield growth at least relative to the difference in the interest payments
• POSSIBLY for the income tax reduction. See the notes on Taxes below to help you weigh the impact of the added deduction.

A 15-yr mortgage is probably right for you if:

• You can afford the difference in payment easily – then take the 15 hands down. No contest!
• You only plan to be in the house 5-7 years. Even if you think there’s a chance you’ll have to put your house back on the market in that time. See the chart below for the evidence as to why a 15-yr knocks a 30-yr out of the water in the short term.
• You are close to retirement and foresee a need to reduce living expenses. Home equity lines of credit can be powerful financial tools in the case of emergency or illness, but they require equity.
• The interest rates are higher. When the rates go up, the benefit of a 15-yr over a 30 really explodes.

Taxes (AKA, payin’ the Man):

I’ve had the conversation with many friends who were convinced that they needed the higher interest for the income tax deduction come April 15^th.  After we did the math, that only turned out to be true for about half of them. If the higher interest will reduce your taxable income enough to lower your tax bracket, then this is probably a strong consideration for you. If not, you can estimate the value of the higher deduction to your tax savings as:

(Taxable Income2 x Tax Rate) – (Taxable Income1 x Tax Rate) = Tax Savings

In other words, if you make $75,000 a year in a 25% tax bracket with anticipated itemized deductions of $13,500 with a 30-yr loan or $12,000 with a 15-yr loan, your tax savings for paying $1,500 more a year in interest is only $375. Surprising, eh? And not in the awesome finding-money-in-the-laundry kind of way, either.

The Really Real Numbers - Finally!

WHEW! Time for a breather! If you’ve hung with me this long – you are a rock star. Finances are never fun reading, but our home is the biggest asset most of us have, so knowing how to get the most out of it is crucial to our family’s financial well-being. So, if you’re the finance-savvy rock star I think you are – this next part is for you! To play with the numbers and make them match your circumstances, download the full amortization schedules here for each of the scenarios demonstrated below.

Below is a summary of what to expect from the first 5 years of 3 different $150K mortgages:

• A standard 30-yr loan with no extra payments
• A 30-yr loan with extra principal payments (the total additional payment is the average of the principal payment cost over the 5 years)
• A standard 15-yr loan with no extra payments

The loans use the current rates listed on a national bank site as of 10/23/2015 and assume 0% down payments with a start date of Jan 1, 2016. Total Escrow (insurance/property taxes) + PMI has been estimated at $245. 

Terms: *Equity Earned = Original Loan amount less the Principal Balance After 5 Years

**Net Gain = Equity Earned less Total Interest Paid. Interest Paid represents the cost of the loan. The goal is to minimize the cost of the loan while maximizing Equity Earned.

Still hanging in there with me? Then you probably just noticed that Option A left you in not much better shape than having paid rent for 5 years. Granted, your sales price may be higher than what you paid 5 years ago, but in this buyer's market there are no guarantees. Then you get to add in the cost of any repairs you'll be required to do (that can include appliance and carpet replacement, roof repairs, costly structural issues, etc), the 6% broker's fee, and the other closing costs sellers are expected to pay in markets like we're in now. Even after paying down your mortgage nearly $15,000 in 5 years, you could still end up paying out of pocket to sell your house. And I can promise you that it really does happen. In fact, it happened to me just a few years ago. 

That was when I vowed that "With God as my witness, I will never go [uninformed] again!" And hopefully I can also use these experiences to help others make the best decision for them along the way.

Thanks for sticking out my first post with me, friends! I promise the next post will be more light-hearted ;-)  In the meantime, don't forget to download the amortization schedules tool for your own use!

Being Cheap and Easy

Okay, not quite what I meant, but since I have your attention:

Here are 7 great ways to save money without sweating, or heavy breathing.

Money-Saving, Get-Lucky 7!

At Home:

1. Repurpose old clothes into rags. I probably buy less than four rolls of paper towels a year. Instead I have a "rag bag" of old clothes, sheets, and towels cut into squares I use for cleaning. They're cheap and usable over and over.

2. Rubbing alcohol to clean the bath. I get bottles of rubbing alcohol from the dollar store and put it in spray bottles for quick bathroom clean-ups. It's a disinfectant, so a quick shot on handles and door knobs assure me I'm in a germ free spot- and it cleans mirrors squeaky clean!

3. Save those grocery bags! I don't buy kitchen can liners. I have a grocery bag-sized garbage can under my sink, and I line it with the store bags. When it's full, I carry it to the curb, which gives me plenty of free exercise walking back and forth.

Online:

4. Don't buy today what you can get a coupon for tomorrow! Online shopping? Log into the site with your email address, put what you want in the cart, and then walk away. Usually withing twenty-four hours a coupon will arrive via email. Now, go and buy what's in your cart.

5. Got to buy it today? Do an internet search for the site you're buying from. Let's say you're buying jeans form American Eagle, before you buy, search "American Eagle Discounts". Groupon and Retail Me Not are two of my favorite spots for reliable discounts.

6. Ebates! Have you tried this? While online shopping, start at the Ebates site and put in what you need or the store you plan to shop at. If it's a participating store, all you do is follow the link provided, shop, then later get a check in the mail. You can even get more money back by referring friends, such as: Click this link (Ebates) and I get credit. Pretty sweet for me, right?

7. While shopping in stores, keep your internet-linked phone handy. Before making a purchase, scan the product bar code and look at competitors' prices. I needed a printer, so I went to Wal Mart, scanned the bar code (there is an app for that!), and found one listed cheaper at another retailer. I showed the cashier and got a price match.

There you go, how easy is that?