Andy Hough

Tracking Every Penny and My Non Budget

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Over at My Two Dollars last week David wrote a post arguing against what he called “Watching Every Last Penny Syndrome.” Since I track every penny I spend and earn I have to disagree with that post. This is something I started doing after reading “Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence” and I’ve found it very helpful and pretty easy to do. Apparently Trent at The Simple Dollar keeps track of every penny too.

That being said I don’t budget every penny. I just keep track of what I spend and when my spending gets out of line in a certain category I adjust my spending accordingly.  Stephanie at Poorer than You uses a similar system and Nick at Punny Money has his own variation of the system. This system works well for me but it won’t work for everybody. You need to determine what kind of budgeting system works best for you.

Frugality Picks and a Meme

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This weeks edition of the Festival of Frugality is hosted at On Financial Success. It includes my post “Do Reward Cards Actually Reward You.” Some of my favorites from the rest include:

“Inconspicuous Consumption” from Money Changes Things.  Not buying stuff in the first place is even better than recycling.

“10 Frugal and Eco-Friendly Ideas” from Monroe on a Budget. This post shows the overlap between frugal and green.

“5 Things You Shouldn’t Go Cheap On” from Know the Ledge.  I mostly agree with these but there are always exceptions.

I also got tagged for a meme by Cricket at Being Booga.  I’m a little late in replying but here are 3 random things about me.

  1. I’ve run 4 marathons despite being overweight and out-of-shape.
  2. I’ve hiked over 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail and I still have a goal of hiking the whole thing one day.
  3. I was an extra in the movies “The Alamo” and “The Ringer.”

I’m not going to tag anyone else but if you feel like sharing go ahead.

Save Money, Save the Planet, By Not Having Children?

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In honor of Earth Day I decided to post on a topic that can save money and help the environment. Choosing to not have children can do both of those things.

According to a report from the USDA it costs almost $200,000 to raise a child to age 17 in the United States. Many consider this figure to be misleadingly high. I certainly don’t know where the $200,000 I’ve saved from not having children is. Even if that figure is high there is a considerable financial cost to having children. The decision to have children isn’t primarily a financial decision but the financial consequences should be considered when deciding to have children.

The concept of not having children to help the environment seems outrageous to many but it is a logical idea. No matter how green you are you’re unlikely to be able to offset the environmental cost of adding another child to the world population. This is especially true here in the United States where individuals do much more damage to the environment than in developing countries.

This would be a voluntary decision not like the mandatory population control they have in China. Nevertheless, in the articles I read while researching this topic many people seem to think that people voluntarily deciding to not have children will lead to government mandated programs. People seem to think this idea is an attack on humanity. I don’t see it that way and think this is a reasonable idea. Most people will probably disagree so there is still going to be plenty of people.

April Credit Score

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My credit score for April is 737 down from 781 in March. The drop is most likely because of my taking a credit card advance to pay down one of my student loans. Since I don’t plan on borrowing any money other than student loans this year the drop in my credit score doesn’t concern me. A score of 737 is still pretty good and I’d probably be able to get the same credit with this score as I could get with the 781.

I Got A Summer Legal Job!

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Today I was offered an internship working for the Missouri State Public Defender’s office which I accepted. I’m looking forward to putting some of the knowledge I’ve acquired in 5 semesters of law school to practical use. Since I’m Missouri Rule 13 eligible I should get the opportunity to appear in court. I’ll be working in the town where my mother lives which is considered a rural jurisdiction. Since the state has a hard time placing attorneys in rural jurisdictions they have a program where they hire 3L students 3-4 months before the bar if the student wants to work in a rural office. After I finish working this summer I’ll know whether I want to continue to work in this field. If so then I plan on taking advantage of this program.

There are some drawbacks to the position though. The main one is that it is unpaid. I’ll have to find another job in the evening to make some money. I’ll be staying with my mom for the summer and my niece and nephew usually spend the summer with her as well. That will probably be a little too much family time for me since I’m used to living alone. My lease here doesn’t runs through the end of October though and I can’t justify paying rent on two apartments even if I could afford it. I’m sure it will work out okay and I’m looking forward to getting started.