(Did that come off dirty?)

Good morning sexy savers! Did you have a good week of bringing home that bacon? Are your side hustles going nice and strong? Pay off any more debt this week?

Let’s go back in time today, shall we… I want to know all your financial “first times” today for no particular reason other than pure curiosity :) Leave them in the comments below, and we’ll all get to know each other a bit more personally today!

Here are the 5 questions to answer:

1. First checking account
2. First credit card
3. First loan
4. First investment (stock)
5. First mortgage

I’ll start us off here as usual…

#1) My first checking account

Probably my sophomore or junior year of high school when I started taking on my first part-time jobs. Previous to that I usually just spent all the money I made off babysitting or cutting lawns, etc, and didn’t need a place to store any of it. Towards the end of high school, however, my father repeatedly reminded me that I better start saving some “spending money” for college as they’re not giving me a dime over college tuition. Which of course I couldn’t complain about since they were giving me the gift of a life time! So I started banking 90%+ of my earnings which was promptly spent by the end of every college year until I replenished it the following summer ;) Pizza and beer were no joke!

#2) My first credit card

College! Which was co-signed with my parents (and rightfully so) to make sure I didn’t do something stupid with it. It started out “for emergency use only” (this was before the invention of cell phones and online banking, and really the entire internet for the most part (back in ’97)), and over the years I successfully crept in a few goodies here and there just to see if I could get away with it ;) I did, but my parents said it was coming out of my graduation gift later, haha… Fair enough.

(PS: Remember how tricky colleges were too with allowing banks to come in and give away free t-shirts and mugs just to get you signed up to their credit cards?? Thank GOD rules came in after to change that messed up system… A single stupid shirt for years of bad debt and interest, what a scam…)

#3) First loan

I believe it was the $1,000 loan I took out from the Bank of Mom and Dad for that supped up moped I just “had to have” to get to class every morning. Apparently using my own two legs like everyone else was too exhausting for me! (Although, I must say, it did make for quite the way to pick up girls in the evenings. This thing looked like a miniature motorcycle and everyone wanted to ride on the back!)

#4) First investment

Technically it was whatever was in my 401(k) at the time I finally pulled the trigger on it, but since I don’t remember what funds I had then let’s go with XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. Like a moron I used to try day trading them thinking I was a genius (my friends and I all worked at E*Trade and everyone was doing it!), but in the end I just lost most of it and decided investing “wasn’t for me.” At least with individual stocks… Now of course I’m all about investing, but just in smarter – more logical – ways than dummy day trading.

#5) First mortgage

The time I bought a $350k+ house on a whim within 48 hours and no money down… when I wasn’t even looking to buy! Fortunately we were able to afford the payments and it completely changed my life forever (it’s the main reason this blog got started 7 years ago), but man… what an idiot. Every time I make that mortgage payment I’m reminded of the biggest financial mistake of our lives, haha… Though fortunately more good has come from it than bad :)

Alright virgins, your turn… Tell me all your financial firsts!

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PS: To see all our previous 5 for Fridays, click here. People love to divulge things :)

[Photo by Pargon // tweaked by J$]

[This post, Friday 5: Virgin Money, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Happy Friday money lovers!

We haven’t done a 5 For Friday up in here in a while, nor one of our Hits and Misses series, so today’s post is kind of a concoction of both. Inspired by a similar exact post done by the beautiful Cait over at Blonde On a Budget – one of the most sweet, and genuine, bloggers I know.

She’s always keeping it real over there, and I totally admire her for it even when (especially when!) she admits to not knowing what the hell she’s doing. Instead of hiding it like most of us do, she just throws it out there like her recent realization that she doesn’t know how to budget anymore! Love it!

Anyways, Cait inspired this post and the 5 questions below come directly off her site. I’ll be answering them first, and then I hope you guys will do so next. A fun little exercise to check up on each other and see how our goals/lives/money are doing lately. Here we go!

1. What was the low of your week? Pretty much being overloaded by the max all week-long in terms of email, projects, partnerships, and anything else having to do with my online biz… I once tried to ignore my email for 5 hours straight, only to come back to 59 unreads afterwards – oof. Turns out those one-a-day habits have some consequences to them ;) All good problems to have, really, but it doesn’t come with any extra hours in the day which makes it challenging.
   
2. What was the high? Seeing our beautiful and cozy baby!! Look at him up there just posing for y’all :) I cannot WAIT for that sucker to come out in May… my wallet can, but I cannot ;)
3. What was a favorite article you read this week? This one on the difference between being good with money and bad with money, by a blog called Raptitude. It was in my “you might like” recommendations in Feedly (the new site I use to read everyone’s blogs now), and they couldn’t have been more right. It’s KICK ASS… And fully deserving of those capitals, too.
4. What was the best money you spent all week? About $28 worth of plastic coin holder-thingies for my B collection. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with all the coins/currency I don’t really want (collection B) vs those I do (collection A) and after meeting with a fellow collector over coffee this week, I figured out the perfect plan. Collection A will remain in the snazzy cigar box I’ve been housing them in, and will be my “forever” box, while Collection B will be housed in a binder full of plastic sheets w/ holders (similar to baseball card collections) which I’ll use for trading/selling to get more stuff for Collection A :) So now rather than feeling like they’re wastes of coins, I now look at them as stepping stones to something awesome’er! And these new plastic sheets help fulfill this new plan. (Yes, I’m a nerd)
5. What are your plans for this weekend? Probably a healthy mixture of playing with my coins, playing with my baby, and then scavenger hunting at a local flea market that I hear is popping up. And soon more of them will once Spring comes, huzzah!!! Can’t wait!

So that was my week! I rate it about a 97.6%… You? Where’d all your money/time go?

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PS: We’re getting really good at making babies. And have press releases to prove it.

[This post, Highs & Lows for the Week. PLUS: My Baby!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Being at the beach all week, I’ve done a pretty good job of not obsessing about money. Sure I’ve blogged about it and done the usual calculations in my head whenever I went to buy something to make sure it was worth it, but outside of that my mind’s been a blank canvas when it comes to scheming. I even went a few days without logging into my bank account, if you can believe that! :)

So needless to say this vacation is doing the trick. And because that’s so, it’ll be easier for me to answer today’s 5 For Friday questions that I just so happened to write a month ago and now find them worthy of picking back up ;) If any of you caught the post on Clever Dude a while back, it was Brock’s frustration of always thinking about money that prompted ’em. I’m sure you all can relate:

“Do you ever get sick of paying attention to your finances? Tired of planning your spending and tracking every dollar? Yeah, me too.”

And then he goes on about a recent experience that happened with him…

So in light of all that, here are today’s 5 For Friday questions. I’ll answer them first, and then it’ll be your turn to spill your guts and tell us what’s been rollin’ around those minds of yours ;) Perhaps you’ll be in a money-free zone too?”

1. When was the last time you *REALLY* thought about money?
2. When was the last time you STOPPED thinking about money?
3. What’s your biggest financial concern right now?
4. How old were you when you started paying attention to this stuff?
5. What prompted you to start?
6. *BONUS* What do you think about more: Money or Sex? ;)

Here are my answers:

1. Last time thinking about money: The last time I REALLY thought hard about money, outside of the usual day-to-day unavoidable stuff, was alllll last month (July), alllll the month before (June), and most definitely the entire month of May too. It’s kinda hard not to when you’re planning such huge life events all around you, haha… So this was a week I needed drastically :)
2. Last time STOPPED thinking about money: Well that’s an easy one now – this entire week! But it most certainly wasn’t the case a few weeks back when I first drafted up those q’s.
3. Biggest financial concern: Probably my businesses imploding and losing all our income. A very unlikely thing to happen, but regardless it’s taking up the #1 spot in my “worries” list right now when it comes to finances. I think last month’s perfect storm really took a toll on me, and I’m looking forward to starting again here fresh when we’re back from the beach over the weekend. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeves that I think really has some good potential.
4. How old: Oh man, this is gonna sound bad, but I really didn’t pay much attention to money at all until about 6 months before starting this blog, haha… I wasn’t ever really *bad* with it and never got in trouble or anything, but on the flip side I wasn’t really saving or building much up either. I liken myself to being a log on a lazy river just going wherever the currents took me. And just so happened to be lucky enough not to cross any waterfalls! :) The thing that finally snapped me into reality? Oh, buying a house. It’s funny how that happens…
5. What prompted me to start: Oh, buying a house ;) (I’m one step ahead of myself here!)
6. *BONUS*: I don’t want to answer this one! Haha… but if I have to (and of course I do), then I guess I’m gonna put it out there and say money. Wha wha wha… But in all honesty that’s mainly due to my j-o-b over here. You take that out of the picture and I’d reckon they’d be neck and neck crossing that finish line! At least when it comes to the weekends, haha… (Bow chicka wha wha!)

Whew, tough Q’s today… Making me think on my day off like that, what a lame boss I have! Your turn though… Be as open and honest with yourselves as you can! It’ll make it that much more entertaining for the rest of us to read today, haha…

And all kidding aside, give your brain a money break every now and then :)

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[Photo by Dan4th. Smooch by TaniaSaiz]

[This post, 5 For Friday: Stop Thinking About Money?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Harry: “I’m trying to see how little I can work today and still get paid for a full day haha”
Me: “I’ve tested that once before too :) Didn’t send 1 email, answer 1 call, or do 1 task whatsoever relating to work. No one noticed!”

That’s a recent twitter chat I had with fellow blogger, Harry (YourPFPro.com). Back when I “worked” at a 9-5 before turning into a super hustler ;) Man was I an idiot! Haha… And do you want to know the REALLY funny part to that story?? Two days after I get called into the office – thinking I’m about to get a talking to – and instead I get a RAISE!! A $15,000 one ! Haha… those were wild times back then… And I wouldn’t recommend trying to pull that off if I were you ;)

Anywho, all that randomly reminded me that we haven’t done a 5 For Friday them in a while… The last one being about the last 5 things you’ve bought which is always fascinating to see. This time around though, I thought we’d stick with the work-topic we’ve got going on and see how you guys are performing there lately… So I’ll answer them first, and then it’s your turn!

Here we go…

1. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done at work before?
2. What’s the smartest?
3. What’s the biggest bonus you’ve ever received?
4. Are you reading this from work right now? :)
5. What’s your favorite thing about your company? (You know, in case your boss is watching over your shoulders)

Here are my answers:

1. CRAZIEST THING: Probably what I just mentioned: going an entire day (in the middle of the week, mind you, not even a Friday) without doing a single ounce of work. Just to see if I could pull it off.
2. SMARTEST: Hmm… hard one… Probably deciding to work in the startup scene in the first place after trying out the corporate world for a while. They def. have their set of problems like any other company (especially the stability), but I found I really thrived in them and felt like I was making a much bigger difference there. It really opened up my eyes on other types of employment as well, and I’m sure it played a big role in me eventually going out on my own. So I pretty much owe my career to you, Craigslist!
3. BONUS: I think around $4,000. Back at my last startup we’d get quarterly bonuses just for working there (wasn’t based on performance or anything, if you can believe that), and one time we had a killer month and our $2,000 normal bonuses were doubled. Those were just one of the millions of perks at that job, including trips to Vegas and 100% matching of 401(k) contributions (as in, we put in $15,000 and THEY put in $15,000/year). It was insane. And then we crashed and burned and the whole place ended up shutting down, haha… (Have I mentioned yet how unstable they are? ;))
4. AT WORK RIGHT NOW? Well indeed I am! And I don’t have to worry about getting in trouble anymore either (not that it stopped me in the first place, haha…)
5. FAVORITE THING ABOUT COMPANY: That I get paid to essentially write a diary and interact with fine upstanding citizens like yourselves ;) Wouldn’t you like to spew your thoughts while drinking beer coffee every morning?

Okay, your turn! Copy/paste the 5 questions above and then answer them below as openly and honestly as you can (with the lowest likelihood of getting in trouble). If you’re scared of getting caught, go anonymously. It worked for me :)

[This post, 5 For Friday: “Being Crazy at Work” Edition, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

And how do you feel about them? Could you have gotten them cheaper? Are they all mandatory expenses for being real-life human beings?

These are all things that randomly popped in my brain this morning which you’re now having the pleasure of seeing ;) But there’s also some points to it all too – like checking up on yourself to make sure you’re paying attention to everything (pop quiz!), and also to give us voyeurs something to gawk at learn from so we can potentially better ourselves too ;)

So let’s see how naughty or not y’all have been! I’ll go first… Here are the last 5 things on my USAA credit card (which I use to budget everything with), and how I feel we’re doing. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be perfect here, haha…

1. Dental insurance @ $16.00 — I probably should just cancel it since I have yet to use it once in the past 2 years since signing up, but I’m trying to be a responsible adult here and keep it just in case :) Plus, I really need to get back to doing those 6 month checkups you’re supposed to be doing anyways – I’ve been slacking like crazy in that department…
2. University parking ticket @ $15.00 — This time my WIFE’s fault and not mine! Haha… though she claims it was a 100% valid parking job she did, so she’s currently in the process of fighting it. Apparently you have to pay it first and *then* file a dispute if you feel you’ve been wronged… funny how that works.
3. Safeway @ $109.85 — This is for our weekly groceries which admittedly is way too high for a couple and baby – especially seeing the comments here on this old post we did! Man some of y’all are killing it, I’m impressed! What we really need to do is win our own $100 Safeway gift card we’re giving away on TakeOurGiftCards.com ;) (Shameless plug, sorry!) To think this doesn’t even include any beer either!
4. Beer store @ $10.89 — Ahh, there we go… looks like the wife picked up a 6-pack the other day – she’s so good to me :) Unfortunately we haven’t found a smart way to save more in this department other than drinking less (Hah!), but it’s not like we blow through much here anyways so we’re fine with the prices we shell out for.
5. ‘Quarterly’ subscription @ $50.00 — Now THIS one was an impulse buy, which I’m starting to already regret, haha… BUT that’s only because a) I signed up to this a month ago before I wanted to try (yet again) to be more minimalistic, and b) I haven’t even SEEN the thing yet! For those who aren’t familiar with them, Quarterly is basically a quarterly subscription service to a package from one of your favorite online or celebrity personalities. You pick the one that resonates the most with you (say, Chris Guillebeau or Tim Ferris, or that you think will source some cool stuff, and then they put together these packages of things that inspire them and mail ’em to you. It’s all rather interesting, really, and the subscriptions range anywhere from $20 every 3 months to $100+, all depending on who’s package you sign up for (ow ow!). I subscribed to Pharrell Williams’ because I think he’s a freaking genius and rapper all mixed into one. Have you seen his latest song/video up there with Robin Thicke? That $hit’s hot,yo! So I dropped $50 to see what his brain comes up with next, and I’m secretly hoping it changes my life in some incredible way ;) I’ll probably hit unsubscribe shortly after anyways…

So that’s where my money’s been going in the past 48 hours… $201.74 in total! All stuff I can DEFINITELY work on without a doubt, the question now just becomes – “do I *want* to?” and “will I stick to it the future?” Haha…

The big one for us is really the weekly grocery costs – we have tons of room to improve there. The other stuff is kinda random and I do like an adventure here and there, but I do have to watch myself more and make sure I don’t let things slip just ‘cuz I’m not paying attention to it, ya know? Overall I’m pretty happy with stuff though.

Your turn! What were the last 5 things YOU spent money on, and how does it make you feel? Anything you could have done better to save money on? Or are you pleasantly content with how your money’s flowing here lately?

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PS: Here are some of our past 5 For Fridays if you’re jonesin’ to answer some more questions :)

[This post, Pop Quiz: What Were Your Last 5 Purchases?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Happppppppppy Friday y’all! Before you go out and spend a lot of money this weekend stocking up, I thought we’d talk a little about bulk purchases today and see if any of you have some sexy pointers you want to share. Along w/ other random info about your bulky life ;)

Here is this month’s 5 For Friday. If they bore you, skip to #5:

1. What do you buy in bulk?
2. What’s your *favorite* thing you get in bulk?
3. What was the most you ever spent on it?
4. Tell us one secret or tip you use to get awesome deals (or maybe it’s a favorite store?)
5. On a scale from 1-10, how sexy is Ryan Seacrest?

Haha… couldn’t think of any other questions there ;) I’ll answer these first, and then it’s your turn.

1. Stuff I buy in bulk: Clothes, diapers, fish tank filters, and stocks? Does that count? :) We really don’t buy much of anything in bulk now that I think about it…
2. Favorite bulk purchases: Clothes! When I see something I like that’s also on sale, I’ll snatch them all up in one sitting knowing it’ll be a good 6 months+ ’till I go clothes shopping again – if that. So when I find something awesome I try and get as much as I can while the fire’s hot!
3. Most I ever spent: Probably around the $500 mark when I was getting my first “real” job and found out I couldn’t wear baggy jeans and sneakers anymore ;) I believe I picked up a cheap suit in there too, along with a handful of collared shirts and polo-like short sleeves. Thankfully that was the most I ever had to dress up at one of my jobs – I’m not so good at stuff like that.
4. Bulk buying tip: Hmmm… Kinda hard for me to answer since we really don’t buy that much in bulk right now, but I will say that there are certain days of the week where stores will add up new sales. Particularly with thrift stores :) So if you’re ever in the market to buy a ton of bulks or cds or even clothes for that matter, make sure to call your favorite shop and ask what the current deals are for the week. If you hit it right you can walk away with 50% off or even $5.00 a bag full! Pretty huge savings for just a tiny bit of planning.
5. Seacrest Hot Meter: 11 on the scale! D’uh.

Alright, your turn :) Tell us all your bulking secrets and how awesome you are at it! It won’t take a lot to beat me at the moment, but as soon as we pop out more kids I’m sure we’ll be bulking it up with the best of them. So share and be sexy!

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PS: Want to learn more about your fellow readers? Check out the past few 5 For Fridays we’ve done:

– How Much Do You Spend on Your Hobbies?
– Tattoo For You?
– The High/Low Game!

[Photo by Caro Wallis]

[This post, 5 For Friday: What Do You Buy in Bulk?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

What up what up! As our awesome and rare comic giveaway is halfway over at Take Our Stuff.com (it’s a valuable one so make sure to enter!), I’ve started to think about the other hobbies and collections we may have too. Specifically how much we SPEND on them all. Not that it’s bad to throw money against the things we enjoy in life, of course – that’s the point of money! – but that we at least *know* how much of it we’re using as the budgets go by ;)

So this month’s 5 For Friday is all about those favorite hobbies of yours. Here are your 5 questions below, and I’ll kick ’em off as we always do by answering them first. Time to learn more about y’all!

1. What’s your current favorite hobby?
2. How much would you guess you spend on it in a given month?
3. How does that compare to other bills you have?
4. If you were rich, would you get into a new hobby?
5. What if you were poor? What would you change it to? (Or would you?)

RE: Favorite hobby — Coin collecting! D’uh. Though I haven’t been participating much this year out of lack of time and the fact I got most of the coins I wanted from my friend’s collection already, haha… He is holding a $1,000-worth and a $500-worth gold coin from the early 1900’s that I still gotta get though, it’s just gonna take quite the finagling to pull off as you can imagine ;)

RE: Monthly costs — Hmmm…. I’d say I was probably spending about $100 a month for the first few months as I was getting started and picking up all the stuff you need to learn and what not (coin books, value guides, wasting money on coins I thought were really awesome/valuable but were not, haha…) and then it turned into about $200/mo once I got going. All money that comes from my gifts/extra money account which I allow for splurging. I haven’t spent any money on coins though in the past 3-4 weeks and it makes me sad :(

RE: Comparison — I’d say my monthly coin budget (at $200/mo) compares to our cable/phone/internet bill as well as a little more than our cell phone bills – if you can believe that. Now if I were really smart I’d cut out both of those by a half and then increase my coin budget! Haha… but you can only cut out oh so much until it starts affecting your lifestyle ;)

RE: If I were rich — Hmm… great question, self! I honestly think I’d stick with the same thing? You can REALLY go broke in the coin world once you start collecting the super rare ones out there, so the beauty of collecting coins is that it spans all types of financial levels. You can spend as little or as much as you want.

RE: If I were poor — In this case I’d still continue collecting coins, however they’d be all modern ones so I can pay the bills again! Haha… I’d trade out all my 19th century discontinued ones in an attempt to no longer be poor anymore ;) That’s the beauty of collecting stuff like this – it’s actual MONEY! Though I’d definitely have to find a newer hobby if I could barely pay my bills and/or have no income/etc… Maybe I’d pick up fishing again or camping? it’s been a while since I’ve done a lot of that, and I remember loving it back when I was a kid with a $1.00/week allowance ;)

Another thing I used to love to collect back in the day? Basketball cards! You only needed a couple of bucks to pick up a new pack of them, and the suspense of finding out what was in them was always worth it each and every time. Even though 99.9% of the time you never got anything super expensive, haha… But one time I did! I was that 0.01% and got a Karl Malone *autographed* card in a pack back in the day when they rarely did stuff like that! (We’re talking mid-90’s here, not to date myself) It was worth an Earth shattering $150 and I never found anything nearly as exciting again after that, haha… even though of course it got me to spend even MORE from that day forward ;)

Anywho, that’s the synopsis of my lifetime hobbies – how about you? How much do you spend on your favorite hobbies? Would you change them if your financial situations were turned? Or do you already spend loads already and you *ARE* poor? Haha…. Tell us the truth in the comments below – we won’t judge, promise ;)

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PS: I ended 6 of the 9 paragraphs up there with a winky face, haha… Now 7 ;)

[This post, How Much Do You Spend on Your Hobbies?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Haaaaaaappy Friday mother budgeters! (You see what I did there? ;)) I hope you’re ready to start this weekend off right! Perhaps with a little tattoo’ing action maybe? All of us getting one at the same time to promote fiscal communityness?? Haha… or would that actually go against that?

Anywho, I thought we’d do a 5 for Friday today all about the sexy art of tattooing. Specifically YOUR tattoos, or maybe lack there of. So as always, I’ll list out the 5 questions for you to answer today, and then I’ll do the honors of going first. Here we go…

1. How many tattoos do you have?
2. If more than 0, what are they and where? (If none – why?)
3. How much did they cost in total?
4. Were you financially stable when getting them? ;)
5. Do you plan on getting any more? If so, what’s next?
6. *BONUS* Send us a picture!!

Haha… Some of this will be fun for us to see and answer, and others probably super boring ;) But luckily this is my blog so I get to talk about anything I want! And now here are my answers:

1. How Many: ONE! But I’m reallllllly getting antsy for another…
2. What are they and where: I have a star on my upper chest – the only symbol I have pretty much loved ever since I was a kid (and the first thing I always doodle for some reason?). They say to make sure to get something you’ll hopefully never regret, and 10  years into it so far so good :)
3. Total cost: Only $90 but that was ‘cuz I didn’t realize you’re supposed to tip :( Which I hear is one of the main ways the tattoo artists get paid? (I guess the majority of the tattoo cost itself goes straight to the shop?) Needless to say I still feel pretty terrible about it… I’d totally go back and pay the guy if I wasn’t living 300 miles away AND could remember his name, haha, but it looks like I’ll have to just settle with tipping the next guy/girl even more to make up for it. Lucky them!
4. Financially stable? HAH! Not really, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me ;) And something tells me it didn’t stop you all either! I think if you’re getting a tattoo it’s pretty much telling the world you don’t care about the other stuff, haha… Not that my $90 was going to set me back all TOO much anyways, or that tattoos are that “rebelish” as they used to be…
5. Any more? Yup! I REALLLLLY want those old time sailor sparrows you’ve probably seen around before. I find them incredibly intriguing, and I love the meanings behind them too (mainly “safe travels” and  “freedom” and/or “true love” ;)) . I know they’re commonplace, but you like what you like, and I’ve been thinking about them for over 9 years now… So I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t regret those later either. I just  need someone to hit up a parlor with me as they kinda freak me out a little! I guess I’m not as hard as I used to be back in the day, haha…
6. *BONUS* A pic of my star? Sure, here you go. Can you tell a 21 y/o male took it? ;)

I want my boy’s name on me somewhere actually too, but thinking about too many tats at the same time just stresses me out… You have to space them out or you use up all the fun at once! Just hopefully not in 10 year spaces like I seem to be doing, haha… Man I’m lazy.

Oh, that reminds me of a trick I do too to make sure I really REALLY want a new tattoo: I draw it out on my skin w/ permanent marker in the exact spot I want it (or maybe a few different ones if I can’t decide). This allows me to sorta “live” with it in the real world to see if I catch myself feeling more of one way or the other, and after a while I can pretty much tell if it’s a keeper or not. Especially when they’re visible to the public and I get comments about them ;) Like, right now I’m testing out a blackened-in heart on my hand which I’m digging a lot so far – even though, yes, I’m a guy and it’s pretty girly marking (no judging!!). It reminds me to keep being good and forget the hate.

Anyways, your turn. How many tattoos do you currently have? And how much have they cost you? If you don’t have any, is there a reason behind it or do you just never really think about it much? Let’s see how many of us are tatted here! :)

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Photo by JD | Photography. That’s not me, I’m not that strong.

[This post, Tattoo For You?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

I caught a most excellent post over at TeacHerFinance called “Thursday: Most and Least,” and I’m totally ripping it off today to play it with you guys ;) We’re calling it the “High/Low” game now and we’re doing it on a Friday, *Gasp*!

You pretty much just post up the most expensive thing you bought from the week, as well as the least expensive one , and then you mix in some fun ones too. Like the Most Exciting Purchase, or the Most Annoying One, and so on. I don’t know which we’ll do here exactly yet, but as soon as I check out my credit card statement I’ll make them up and we’ll get started :)

[Off to peruse my charges so far this week… hold, please….]

Okay, back. Here’s what we’ve got!

1. The most expensive thing we paid for this week: $643.00 – My dang health insurance premium every month, ugh… The worst part about being self-employed :(
2. The least expensive thing: $5.00 – A Hot n’ Ready pizza from Little Caesars! (There’s no rules!
3. The most *exciting* thing: $9.99 – The new Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album, “The Heist”! The ones that did that hilarious thrift store video (nsfw) I linked to the other day, they’re freakin’ awesome… and since it’s music it’ll be the gift that keeps on giving :)
4. The dumbest thing: $28.10 – I tried my first hand at bidding on my first online coin auction, and got too caught up in the excitement of the whole thing that I didn’t pay attention to all the fees and shipping costs associated with it :( Had I won more than one lot it would have been okay ‘cuz the shipping and handling/etc would have been spread across multiple items, but because I ended up LOSING all of them except for one, it more than doubled all my costs when everything was said and done. $12.50 for the actual items (a few old $2 bills with graffiti all over them – not even coins!), and then $15.60 just to get them to my door. Talk about lesson learned!!
5. The purchase you’re most proud of: $50.00 – A donation to NAMI Walks (National Alliance on Mental Illness) on behalf of a friend who’s raising awareness for them. Since I don’t believe greatly in any one charity organization myself, I like to donate to my friends’ favorite places since they’re near and dear to their hearts. And it helps me to learn about other causes as well :) (The only downside? You then get signed up to a billion and one email subscriptions!)

Okay, your turn :) Take a quick coffee break and peruse YOUR online banking to see what you’ve been spending your money on this week. Just copy and paste the 5 categories there, and then tell us about ’em in the comments! Let’s see how well y’all have been behaving lately ;)

[This post, The High/Low Game!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

I was debating on whether to do a Five For Friday post today, or a Would You Rather, and then I stumbled across an awesome game by Savvy Sugar who pretty much mashed up both of them into one tight package! Woo!

They take it farther and compare like 50 other “would you rather spend your moneys here or there” type things, but I searched through them for a good 20 mins and picked out my favorites.  After your done reading today’s post (and you want to waste even *more* time ;)), play their game and see how high you can go.  I was sucking ‘cuz you have to guess what the majority of people would prefer, not you specifically :(  And Lord knows there’s some crazy people out there!

Anyways, here are our 5 would you rathers to ponder today :)

Would you rather spend money on…

1. Magazines or Cabs?
2. iTunes or Eating Dinner Out?
3. Road Trips or Recreational Sports?
4. Netflix or Good Wine?
5. Concert Tickets or Retirement Fund Contributions?

And here are MY answers:

1. I’d rather spend my money on Magazines.  D’uh. Though those cabs sure have been getting in my way lately! Haha… Now even better would be reading magazines IN the cabs :)
2. I’d rather spend my money on Eating Dinner Out! I love poking through iTunes every now and then, especially in the middle working, but nowadays there are a ton of other FREE places to go like Pandora or Spotify, so I’d much rather enjoy my dinners out instead :) It’s nice to treat yourself, and the resident cook, from time to time.
3. I’d rather spend my money on Recreational Sports. Which kills me cuz I absolutely LOVE road trips!!  But how often do you truly take them, ya know? I’d much rather have my football and soccer on the weekends than a kick ass road trip once every few months (years?).
4. I’d rather spend my money on Good Wine. But I’d much rather spend it on good BEER as I couldn’t taste the difference of great wine if my baby depended on it… Every taste test I go to I always chose the cheaper one as being the best. I think it’s in my blood.
5. I’d rather spend my money on Retirement Fund Contributions!!  Though to be fair I also hate concerts cuz you have to sit or stand there for a billion hours at a time… I’m too A.D.D. to take that :)  I’d also probably put retirement contributions in front of ANY categories you sent me anyways – it’s all about the priorities!

Your turn! Which 5 would you pick over the others?? It’s too bad we don’t win any prizes for playing these kinds of games as I could do them all day and night ;)  Maybe someone can sponsor our next one? And we’ll give out prizes to the best answers? Hmm… I’ma look into that. In the meantime, have yourself a splendid weekend and stay away from crazy mohawk-guys! I heard they’re pretty sneaky.

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PS: For a list of all previous 5 For Fridays, click here.
PPS: For a list of all previous Would You Rathers, click here.
PPPS: For a punch in the nose, go run yourself into a wall :)

// Photo by Tobyotter

[This post, 5 Awesome “Would You Rathers!”, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]