Thank you Uncle Sam

I guess... This week, because my SSN ends between 00-20, I get my check from the government to "boost" the economy, which is basically a mandatory loan for all citizens. I think it's silly, but since the IRS has our direct deposit information, and I wouldn't want to be the only one to give the money from their loan back, we have to plan for it.

(Yes - I am way socially liberal, and way fiscally conservative, which makes me the opposite of our current administration, and unfortunately only half in agreement with much of our congress.)

So many people will say they are going to save the money they get. I originally said that, but I basically have it worked out now in our budget, and thought it would be interesting to share. I can pretty much say what we'll spend it on with relative certainty.

10% will be spent at garage sales.
10% will be spent in stores, almost certainly Target or Amazon.com.
20% will be spent on airline tickets and associated travel costs.
10% will be spent on gas.
10% will be spent on hotel rooms and food, likely all in Canada. (Doh!)
40% will go into a mutual fund for at least a few years, probably eventually will go towards a car.

All in all, not too bad a distribution. We're spending more of it for unplanned leisure (40%) because our usual pattern is pretty spendthrift and controlled. (We actually spend about the same amount on groceries and travel that we did when we were in college, adjusted for the CPI, particularly the increase in cost of gas.) It's not like we have to pay down a ton of debt that we ludicrously collected buying latte's, DVD's, purses and a Chevy Tahoe.

So I wonder where the rest of the country is with their planning? (Not that I get a lot of comments here, but feel free to comment!)

Away....

I've been away, exploring the wonderful world of Facebook. Six Apart built a new module called BlogIt, which allows me to update my blog via Facebook, so I'm attempting that quickly this morning.

We will be away this weekend, going to our friend's cabin in the Allegheny National Forest. Tiff's back is finally feeling good enough to attempt travelling, after a few weeks of pain, physical therapy, and general crankiness. Plus, it'll get Zoe and the little guy out of the house for a bit too!

Looking out for the kids

A couple of former, current, and former co-workers of mine have been recently featured in local newspapers regarding charities that help babies. I think that's awesome that they've each decided to devote their energy this way.

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to have had a relatively problem free nine month pregnancy, and then the past six months of parenthood... These two stories put that into perspective for us:

John and Jen - Spring for SIDS

Mike and Jen - March for Babies

On another note, I'm going to try to post more again. Sorry for the long gap!