A New Year’s resolution is, in the words of Mary Poppins, like a pie crust promise–easily made, easily broken.

But that doesn’t stop us from making promises of positive change every year. Whether it’s a big change or just a few tweaks, New Year’s resolutions are a dime a dozen. In fact, almost 50% of us make promises to do better in the New Year, but only about 10% of us actually follow through.

In a world of social networking, it’s no surprise that we can now use technology to help us stay on track. There are numerous sites that help folks live up to their resolutions by tracking their progress and holding them accountable.

So if you are looking for help, here are 5 tools to help you keep your New Year’s resolution.

Mint

If your resolution involves anything about money, then Mint.com should be your number one tool. Mint.com is a free online money management tool that brings together all your financial accounts in one place. With Mint, you can monitor multiple accounts like checking, savings, investments, retirement, and credit cards. You can also set and track goals (perfect for a New Year’s resolution) about everything from paying off that balance transfer credit card to buying a home.

With Mint you can easily view your entire financial portfolio with just a few clicks. You can see all your balances and transactions from your computer or from your smart phone. All your accounts will be pulled into Mint and updated automatically. You can set up a budget, elect to receive bill reminders, make goals, and receive free savings advice.

And while we’re on the subject of money, you can also automate your investing with a tool like Betterment. Ideal for those wanting to invest money each month, Betterment gives you access to an array of ETFs that instantly diversifies your portfolio. Betterment is extremely easy to use (I have an account), and you can track your Betterment investments from Mint.

Fit Day

If you have ever been to the gym in January, then you know just how packed it is. That’s because one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight and get into shape. It’s not an easy resolution to stick with, but programs like Fit Day can help you stick to your goal. Fit Day is a free online weight loss journal that allows you to track your every move. Fit Day is a food diary, calorie counter, activity log, weight loss tracker, body measurement tracker, health tracker, mood tracker and recipe book all packaged together.

With Fit Day you have access to charts and graphs that give you a visual of what your diet and exercise look like. You can see exactly where your calories are coming from and determine whether you are meeting your daily nutrient requirements. Being fit is not always easy, but with a free program like Fit Day, it’s much more manageable.

43 Things

Accountability can go a long way to helping you achieve your resolutions. 43 Things is a free online tool that can help hold you accountable. With 43 Things you can create a list of goals that can then be shared with the world (or just your friends if you prefer). It’s a way to keep tabs of our goals and it provides a visual to help stay on track.

You can connect with other users who have similar interests and cheer each other on. To help you stay on track with your goals, you can receive reminders, share you list with friends and family, and share your goals with others who have similar goals via Facebook.

Joe’s Goals

Joe’s Goals is another online goal tracker that helps users develop good habits. This is a simple tool to use and is designed like a calendar. You just set up your goals and then track them on a daily basis. A daily score is automatically calculated for you so you know how you are doing.

With this tool you don’t just track the positive, you also track the negatives that are keeping you from accomplishing your goals. The negative goals are things you want to get rid of or habits you want to break. For example, if you have a goal of eating out less, but you give in and you eat out, you track this with a negative mark. Your negative marks are visible along with your positive marks and are calculated into your daily score giving you an overall picture of how you did on any given day.

Habit Forge

Habit Forge is a simple online tool that helps you start healthy new habits and break the bad ones. After you sign up for a free account you’ll start receiving daily emails that serve as habit reminders. All you do is tell Habit Forge what you want to accomplish and every day you will be emailed a basic question like: “Did you work out this morning?” You will have the option to answer the question by selecting Yes or No. From there Habit Forge will track your progress for 21 days. You can either go at it alone or join a group of people who are working on a similar goal as you for more accountability.

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better person.” ~Benjamin Franklin

So where do you stand financially? Are you on track to meet your goals? Given your age and income, have you saved and invested as much as you should have? How much house can you afford?

These were some of the questions I began asking myself several years ago. The problem is, it was difficult to find easy answers to these questions. So what that I have X dollars saved for retirement or for an emergency fund. Is it enough given my specific financial circumstances?

As a simple example, assume two families have $10,000 saved in an emergency fund. Is it enough? Of course this depends on the specific circumstances of each family, including what their monthly expenses are, how much debt they have, and how much they have saved in other investments. So to answer some of these questions, I devised a 3-step financial checkup. My goal was to keep it simple while also providing some meaningful information to help me assess my financial health. This post describes this 3-step checkup.

Here are the 3 steps:

1. Prepare a Balance Sheet
2. Prepare a Income Statement
3. Analyze the financial data using several simple ratios and rules of thumb

Step 1: Prepare a Balance Sheet

A balance sheet is nothing more than a list of what you own (assets) and what you owe (liabilities). If the value of all assets is greater than all liabilities, the different is your net worth. If not, the difference is a net loss or deficit. I prepare a modified balance sheet, meaning that I exclude all assets that typically depreciate in value over the long run. This would include cars, boats, furniture, clothing, jewelry and so on. A typical modified balance sheet would have the following accounts:

• Assets
• Cash
• Retirement Accounts
• Non-Retirement Accounts
• Primary Residence
• Real Estate Investments
• 529 Plans

• Liabilities
• School Loans
• Mortgage debt (primary residence)
• Mortgage debt (real estate investments)
• Credit card debt
• Car loan

One note on the liabilities. If a home equity line of credit is used in part to purchase a home, I include that in the mortgage debt. If some or all of the home equity line is used for other purposes, include it in other non-mortgage debt. In my case, I split the outstanding balance between these two accounts.

Step 2: Prepare a Income Statement

An income statement shows your income and expenses for a given period of time. In a typical income statement, expenses are allocated to a number of different accounts to give some idea of where the money was spent. If income exceeds expenses, the difference is your net income; if not, your net loss. In my modified income statement, however, I use only four expense categories. Here’s what it looks like:

• Income
• Salary
• Other sources of income
• Expenses
• Taxes
• Mortgage (primary residence)
• Debt repayment (credit cards, school loans, car loans, etc.)
• Other Expenses

Note that I don’t use a category for savings. The reason is simple. If income is greater than expenses, the resulting net income is the amount saved, whether the money is placed in a 401(k), IRA, savings account or even left in the checking account.

Step 3: Using Ratios and Rules of Thumb

With the balance sheet and income statement complete, we can now run the numbers through several ratios and formulas to see where we stand. There are many ways to analyze the numbers, but here are the ones I use the most:

• Emergency Fund Ratio (Liquid Assets/Monthly Expenses):

This ratio determines how many months worth of expenses can be funded through liquid assets. Liquid assets are all assets that can be converted to cash in a matter of days without significant penalty. Liquid assets include primarily cash, although you can include taxable investment accounts if you factor in the taxes you would owe when you sold the investments. The generally accepted rule of thumb is that you need 3 to 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund. To put this in perspective, if you save 10% of your gross income, it will take about 7 months to save one month worth of non-tax expenses.

Example: $10,000 (cash) / $4,500 (monthly non-tax expenses) = 2.2 months

• Doomsday Fund Ratio (Financial Assets/Monthly Expenses):

The Doomsday Fund is what I call the situation where the financial wheels of your life have come off in a big way. Everyone in the family has lost their jobs and you can’t find work–how long could you last without moving? Unlike liquid assets, financial assets include retirement accounts and other accounts that would levy a penalty for liquidating the account (ex, a 529 Account, certificates of deposit). Of course, you have to deduct the penalties and taxes from your account balances before including the numbers in the formula. The Doomsday Fund Ratio is actually helpful in retirement planning, but more on that at another time.

Example: $150,000 (financial assets) / $4,500 (monthly non-tax expenses) = 33.3 months.

• Mortgage Payment Ratio (Monthly mortgage payment/monthly income):

The mortgage payment ratio shows how much of your gross monthly income goes to your mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance. As a rule of thumb, anything more than 28% can get uncomfortably high. My preference is for this number not to exceed 20%. Of course, the interest rate you are paying on the loan makes a big difference with this formula, so be sure to check out the best mortgage rates if you think you may be able to refinance.

Example: $2,000 (mortgage payment) / $8,800 (monthly gross income) = 22.7%.

• Mortgage Debt Ratio (Mortgage balance/Yearly Income):

This ratio compares your mortgage debt to your annual income. A good rule of thumb is that mortgage debt should not exceed 2.5 to 3 times your annual income. In some areas of the country, however, this is a very difficult limit to meet. And some mortgage companies today approve loans that significantly exceed this amount. Also, as you near retirement, this number should go down as your mortgage balance decreases (hopefully).

Example: $300,000 (mortgage debt) / $95,000 (yearly income) = 3.1

• Total Debt Ratio (Total Debt / Net Worth):

This ratio compares total debt (including mortgage) to net worth. As a rule of thumb, this ratio should be below 1. Of course, if you’re just out of college and have school loans, the number can significantly exceed one.

Example: $300,000 (total debt) / $400,000 (Net Worth) = .75

• Total Debt Payment Ratio (Monthly Debt Payments / Monthly Gross Income):

This ratio compares your monthly debt payments (including mortgage) to your monthly income. As a rule of thumb, anything greater than 38% can get uncomfortable. My goal is to keep this ratio below 25%.

Example: $3,000 (monthly debt payments) / $10,000 (monthly gross income) = .30 or 30%

• Liquidity Ratio (Liquid Assets / Non-Mortgage Debt):

This ratio helps determine your ability to cover your non-mortgage debts. My goal is to have liquid assets equal to or greater than my non-mortgage debt. In other words, this ratio should be at least 1.

Example: $50,000 (liquid assets) / $40,000 (non-mortgage debt) = 1.25

• Net Worth Ratio (Net Worth / (yearly income * age / 10)):

This ratio looks more complicated than it really is. The idea is to evaluate your net worth in light of your age and income. Two individuals may both have a net worth of $500,000, but that number alone doesn’t tell you where they stand. If one is a 35 year old school teacher making $45,000 a year, and the other is a 62 year old engineer making $125,000 a year, their respective net worth will look very different. As a rule of thumb, you want this ratio to be 1 or higher, which is achievable if you regularly save at least 10% of your gross income.

Example: $300,000 (net worth) / ($100,000 (yearly income) * 35 (age) / 10) = $300,000 / $350,000 = .86

• Retirement Fund Ratio (Retirement Savings / Yearly Income):


This compares your retirement savings to your yearly income. Like the Net Worth Ratio, it gives some meaning to how much you’ve saved for retirement, rather than just looking at an account balance. According to an article written by Charles Farrell and published in the Journal of Financial Planning, the goal is to retire with at least 12 times your annual income. I think this number will vary significantly based on individual circumstances. My personal goal is 15 times annual income. As for where you should be at a given age according to Mr. Farrell, see the savings to income column in the chart to the right.

Example: $350,000 (retirement savings) / $95,000 (yearly income) = 3.7

There are other ratios and formulas you can apply to personal finance. But the ones above should give you a clear picture of your financial health and help to identify those areas of your finances that are on track and those areas that need improvement.

‘Tis the season to tip! It’s a wonderful time of the year and it’s also pretty darn confusing. Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out when a tip is even appropriate, let alone how much you should give. That times are tough and you might not be able to be as generous as you would like to be doesn’t help, either.

The good thing about tipping is it’s a personal decision. You get to decide what’s appropriate for you and your budget. To help you navigate through this unfamiliar tipping territory we have collected a variety of best practices and have wrapped them nicely in our 2011 Holiday Tipping Guide.

At Home

Your Babysitter
$$ Amount: One nights pay
You don’t have to tip your babysitter, but if she goes above and beyond for you then a tip would be appropriate. You should tip one nights pay and adding a little note from your child would be a really nice touch.

House Keepers/Maids
$$ Amount: One weeks pay
The average consensus on a house keeper is to give them a nice holiday card with one weeks pay included.

Dog Walker
$$ Amount: One weeks pay
If you have a dog walker be sure not to forget them. After all, they are good to our fury friends and they clean up after them, too. One weeks pay would be the perfect way to say thank you for all their hard work.

Your Doorman
$$ Amount: $50 – $100
Doormen make out during the holidays! The appropriate tip for a doorman is $50 to $100 depending on their level of service.

In The Neighborhood

Postal Carriers
$$ Amount: $20
There are regulations that prevent our USPS mail carriers from accepting cash gifts. They are allowed to accept gift cards – like a $20 gift card to a coffee shop along their route. Don’t forget you can buy gift cards online at a discount!

Newspaper Delivery Person:
$$ Amount: $10 – $30
If you don’t normally tip your newspaper delivery person then you should give a holiday tip. If you are a regular tipper than you could go with a smaller amount.

Garbage Collector
$$ Amount: $10 – $15
I never would think to tip my garbage man, partly because I never see him. But, proper tipping etiquette says we should put these guys on our list. First, be sure to check to see if their are regulations for this in your local area. If your garbage collector goes above and beyond while being friendly then $10.00 to $15.00 per person would be a nice gesture.

At Work

Secretary/ Office Assistant
$$ Amount: $50 or more
Secretaries make the world go around – at least while you’re at work. Be sure to add them to your shopping list and take into account how long they have been with you. A holiday tip in the form of a bonus is one way to show your thanks. Gift cards or an actual gift would also be appropriate in this case as well.

Outside The Home

Hair Stylist
$$ Amount: $20 – $100
If you have a long standing relationship with your hair stylist, then tipping them the amount of one visit would be appropriate.

Personal Trainer or Massage Therapist
$$ Amount: $60 – $100
Generally, the cost of one session is the ideal tipping amount.

Nursing Home Staff
$$ Amount: $50 – $100
Those that take card of our beloved family members certainly should not be forgotten during the holidays. Since this is for a team of people, a generous gift basket full of holiday goodies would be a wonderful idea.

Private Health Care Nurse
$$ Amount: One weeks pay
A gift card to a favorite store or restaurant, or a gift equivalent to one week’s pay.

Your Child’s School

Calling it a tip might not be accurate, but the idea is still the same. Any parent knows just how important teachers and school officials are in the lives of our children so thinking of them during the holidays is a must. The holidays are a perfect time to let them know just how much you value them.

Children’s Teacher and Teacher’s Aid
$$ Amount: $25
A gift card to a local store of coffee shop, along with a note of appreciation is a great idea. Check with the school beforehand because some schools have their own policies on things like this. Also, in the event you need to have it delivered to the school, make sure they accept deliveries.

School Secretary and/or School Nurse:
$$ Amount: $25
If you have some sort of close relationship with these individuals, a gift card and note would be appropriate.

Additional Tipping Resources

Holiday Tipping Guide by Diane
Who Should You Tip for the Holidays?
Holiday Tipping Advice
Holiday Tipping Is Really Holiday Thanking

• Featured in the Festival of Frugality

We recently bought a car for our kids to drive. It’s a beauty, too. We’re talking a 2004 Mercury Sable with 170,000 miles. And after just a few short weeks of ownership, the dreaded “check engine light” came on.

Now we did what most probably do–we took it to a repair shop. I learned a few things from the experience. One was never to go back to AAA Service Station (see below). Based on my costly experience, here’s what to do when your check engine light illuminates.

The Dreaded Light

First, lets talk about what the light actually means. The computer in your car that triggers the check engine light is monitoring the efficiency of your car and the emissions. When the light comes on, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stop the car immediately. But you do need to determine what the problem is as soon as possible. If the check engine light is on in conjunction with the low oil or high temperature light, however, there may be more serious problems with your car that should be addressed immediately.

In my experience, the check engine light usually indicates a small problem that needs to be addressed before it becomes a larger (and more expensive) problem. Continuous driving with the check engine light usually means you are experiencing reduced fuel mileage and reduced performance. The check engine light can indicate something as simple as a loose gas cap or something more sever such as a bad sensor or excessive exhaust. We see the light a lot on our Honda Odyssey, and every time it’s because we haven’t screwed the gas cap on tight enough.

So now that you know something is wrong, what do you do? You have a few options.

Go To A Mechanic

One option is to take it to a mechanic for a diagnostic test. A mechanic will plug your car to a meter that will give him a list of trouble codes that were logged when the check engine light came on. These codes will tell the mechanic what the problem is. Before you head out to a mechanic, however, there are a few things to consider.

First, before you even go to a mechanic, make sure you ask what the charge is for the diagnostic test. Second, if there is a charge, then ask if the fee is credited towards the repair bill. I assumed my diagnostic test fee would be credited towards the bill as long as I had them do the repairs. It turns out that AAA service shops don’t work that way. As a result, I paid $150 for diagnostic tests that took them about 10 minutes to complete.

Of course, I won’t be going back to an AAA shop. There are plenty of mechanics in my area that don’t charge anything for a simple diagnostic test. If mechanics near you do charge, make sure the fee is credited to the future cost of repairs. If not, go to a different mechanic.

Purchase A Diagnostic Tool

If you are more of a do-it-yourselfer, you can purchase a code reader online or in most auto parts stores. The reader works just like the diagnostic tool used by mechanics. You plug it into your car (usually located under the dash on the driver’s side) and it will retrieve the error codes. Some of the tools show you the error codes on their display and provide a book to translate the codes. Others require you to plug the tool into your PC and software will interpret the codes for you.

The code readers can range anywhere from $25 – $300 and can easily be found on Amazon. There is even an iPhone app called the goPoint Technology GL1 OBD-II Accessory for iPhone (also works with iPod and iPad) that can tell you why your check engine light is on. If you are able to do the repair work, a code reader can pay for itself quickly.

Visit An Auto Parts Store

Another option would be to take your vehicle to an auto parts store and have them plug in a code reader. Many stores provide this service for free in hopes that you will purchase the parts you need to make the repair. If the repair requires special tools, they will often rent those to you for a very small fee (and some will return the rental fee when you return the tool). Some stores are even able to give you directions or diagrams to help you complete the repair.

Cell phone bills can easily get out of hand. With two teenagers in the house, we have four lines. Add in texting and data packages, and the cost easily exceeds $150 a month. One option we’ve covered in the past is prepaid cell phone plans. And one pay-as-you-go option worth considering comes from STRAIGHT TALK™.

How It Works

Because there are no long-term contracts required, getting started with Straight Talk is very easy. You simply pick your phone, transfer your existing cell phone number over or get a new one, and pick your plan.

The two key decisions are picking the cell phone and the best plan. Let’s start with the plans.

Straight Talk Plans

The first contract plan is called the “All You Need” Plan and costs $30 per month. This plan includes 1,000 nationwide minutes, 1,000 texte messages, 30MB of data transfer for data phones and 411 at no additional charge for 30 days.

After 30 days, the $30 dollar plan expires. If you go with this plan, one nice feature is called Auto-Refill. You can register a credit or debit card with Walmart, and they will automatically renew your plan every month for as long as you want. If you use up all your minutes or texts before the 30 days are up, you can pay $30 dollars to refill on the Internet or by phoning Straight Talk directly.

If you’d prefer unlimited calls and texting, then the “Unlimited Plan” is the best option. It costs $45/month and includes unlimited nationwide calling, unlimited text and picture messages and unlimited data access as well as 411 service.

There is one important caveat. The terms and conditions prohibit “uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games.” In other words, no Internet radio. Further, data access is limited to use of the Internet to programs loaded by Straight Talk and Walmart on the handset.

Regardless of which plan you choose, there is no fee to activate the Straight Talk service and no roaming charges.

Straight Talk Phones

Now on to the phones. Straight Talk offers handsets from the leading manufacturers such as Motorola, Nokia, LG and Samsung. The cost ranges from a low of about $10 for a phone like a reconditioned LG 620G to $180 for an LG Optimus Q. Here are some more cool phones to Straight Talk offer:

• MOTO RAZR 3ACP
• Samsung R451C
• Samsung Finesse R810C

Straight Talk phones and service plans are available at over 3,000 participating WalMart retailers nationwide. The Straight Talk products can be purchased at WalMart or on the Straight Talk website.

Rumor has it that Apple will announce the release of the iPhone 5 today. And like many (41% of existing cell phone users, according to one dubious study), I plan to purchase the new gizmo as soon as the crazy lines at the Apple store die down. But this raises one big question–what do I do with my existing cell phone (a Droid X)?

One option is to sell the cell on eBay or Craigslist. A quick search of either site shows a glut of phones on the market. But if you are looking for an approach that’s not so labor intensive, there are several sites that will buy your old mobile.

Using my Droid X, I compared these sites to see which one offered the best deal. I also checked out the price on an iPhone 4 (Verizon) with 32 GB of memory and in excellent condition. Here are the results–

Gazelle

The first site in our roundup is one I saw in Macworld magazine. Gazelle buys back just about any gadget. The site is very easy to use, extremely professional, and it made me an offer on my Droid X in about 60 seconds. I had to rate the condition of my phone and indicate whether I had the AC adaptor, a rechargeable battery, and original cables (I do).

Gazelle’s Offers

• Droid X: $66
• iPhone 4: $160

iBuyPhones

I found this site to be a lot less professional and harder to use than Gazelle. The problem is how you go about searching for your specific phone. It wasn’t easy, and in the end, it doesn’t appear that iBuyPhones purchases a Droid X, which is a bit hard to believe. The site does buy back the “A855-Droid,” whatever that is.

iBuyPhones’ Offers

• A855-Droid: $22
• iPhone 4: $110

BuyMyTronics

As with Gazelle, BuyMyTronics was extremely easy to use. Searching for the Droid X took just seconds. The site did ask me a few questions Gazelle did not, like whether I have the original box and manuals (I do). It also offered me a price that beat Gazelle on the Droid X, but not the iPhone 4.

BuyMyTronics’ offers

• Droid X: $73
• iPhone 4: $141

YouRenew

The focus at YouRenew is the environment. Rather than filling up landfills with discarded cell phones, you can sell your phone, pocket some cash, and rest assured that the phone will end up in the hands of a consumer. In this way YouRenew is no different than the other sites listed here, but its focus on the environment is refreshing.

Searching for my Droid X at YouRenew was a snap. I answered four question, and my offer was instantaneous.

YouRenew’s offers

• Droid X: $90
• iPhone 4: $200

SellYourCell.com

The last site in our review is SellYourCell.com. This site took an interesting approach to the offer. It didn’t ask me a single question about the condition of my phone or whether I have the cables, charger, original box or manuals. Instead, it just presented me with an offer. SellYourCell no doubt checks out the phone after you ship it to them, which could result in a lower price.

SellYourCell’s offers

• Droid X: $75
• iPhone 4: $275

So in this battle of the cell phone buyers, YouRenew.com was the clear winner at $90 for a Droid X in excellent condition. And Sell Your Cell came out on top for the iPhone 4 32GB (Verizon phone). Keep in mind that the condition of your phone is critical to the price you can achieve.

If you’ve ever used any of these sites, please share your experience in the comments below.

Photo Credit: mbecher

Many have said that Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ book is a piece of fiction. Apparently, he never had a rich dad and a poor dad as described in his book, or at least that’s what many believe. But I did.

My parents divorced before I was two, and both remarried. My father, who lived across town, was my ‘Rich Dad.’ My step-father was my ‘Poor Dad.’ Let me tell you about them and how they each affected my views toward money, business, and life.

My Rich Dad

My father started his business in college. He sold stolen records, and when that didn’t pay the bills, he hustled others for money at the local pool hall. He was apparently a real shark at billiards and pocket billiards. Mom tells the story of the time he played Willie Mosconi (prettiest blue eyes she’d ever seen) and lost. But apparently he held his own.

When he graduated, he moved away from the hot vinyl market and into a wholesale business selling posters and incense (they were big in the ’70s). After cornering the Farrah Fawcett poster market, he upgraded to selling jewelry from Mexico. From Mexican jewelry he moved on to gold jewelry and eventually diamonds.

Interestingly, he never left the posters and incense business. The building that housed his business was a non-descript affair along I-70 just east of Columbus, Ohio. The front end contained four offices where he ran the jewelry business, and the back was a warehouse full of posters. I spent my summers rolling posters and putting them in the clear plastic sleeves you’re probably familiar with. We’d add a label identifying the poster, and they were ready for delivery to K-Mart and his other retail customers.

I can also remember going on a sales call with my Rich Dad. It was a jewelry store in The Continent, a then fashionable outdoor mall north of Columbus that has since declined precipitously. I can still remember the jewelry store owner looking me in the eye and saying that my father was the best salesmen he’d ever met. If only I had inherited that skill!

My Rich Dad made a lot of money. He spent a lot, too. He and my step-mother lived in a very nice home east of Columbus. They had an in ground pool put in. They owned a condo in Florida. My father drove a Mercedes 450 SL when he wasn’t driving his 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. My step mother drove a Mercedes 450 SLC.

Rich Dad was the first to own a VCR, at least that I had ever seen. It was a massive box by today’s standards. He also had the first car phone I’d ever seen. In the 1970s, a car phone involved installing significant equipment in the trunk of the car. He belonged to a very nice country club, had expensive jewelry, and wore custom suits.

He was also extremely unhappy and died in a car accident at the age of 39.

My Poor Dad

My Poor Dad worked at the gas company. He never went to college, but was a natural-born artist. He could paint or draw anything, and was an excellent photographer and videographer. And he was a fisherman. A bass fisherman. A tournament attending, power boat buying, depth finder using, plastic worm jigging, fisherman.

He had multiple, massive tackle boxes that when expanded, must have had a wing-span of 10 feet. At $2 to $3 a pop, his collection of lures was easily worth thousands of dollars. And his graphite rods and smooth spinning reels numbered in the dozens.

A day on the lake with my Poor Dad went something like this:

4:00 am: Wake up, stumble out of bed, eat eggs and bacon that my mom fixed, and be on the road by 4:45 (which was always late by his standards).

5:30 am: Boat in the water, helmets on (not kidding), and full throttle with a Johnson 150 hp outboard beast. If you’ve never experienced this, I can sum it all up in two words—freakin’ cold!

5:33 am: Arrive at THE fishing hole. We know it’s THE fishing hole because the previous winter, my Poor Dad and I spent countless hours photographing the bottom of the lake. Again, not kidding.

5:38 am: We spent 12 minutes trying to get my lure out of a tree. At $3 a pop, we would have spent 12 hours if need be.

6:25 am: Having seen absolutely no sign of any fish at THE fishing hole, we power up and zoom off to another fishing hole.

3:32 pm: I haven’t made a cast in two hours. I sit wondering what my Rich Dad is doing at the country club.

7:00 pm: We’ve caught nothing all day. With live bait, we would have had a boat full of fish. But we never used live bait. Somehow live bait gave us an unfair advantage over the fish. We pack up and head home.

The reason I’ve regaled you with this story is so you’ll understand the next step in my Poor Dad’s journey. In the late ’70s, he opened a fishing and archery store in north Columbus called The Big Fisherman. He didn’t quit his job at the gas company, but he did borrow against our home to fund the business. He also bought the store the business was in.

During the summers, I often ran the store. We would go entire days without a single customer. I vividly recall watching the Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe epic battle at Wimbledon on a small black and white TV while potential customers zoomed by without giving us so much as a glance.

In large part because of the poor economic times of the late 70′s and early 80′s, the business failed. And because my Poor Dad borrowed against our home, bankruptcy and foreclosure hung over our heads. And you’re not going to believe what kept us from bankruptcy and foreclosure–my Rich Dad’s death.

When my dad died, social security sent me a monthly check until I graduated from high school. That check each month went to pay for my Poor Dad’s business loan that was secured by our home. Ironic, I know.

Lessons Learned

In the book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Kiyosaki describes what he learned from his Rich Dad. But he seemed not to learn anything from his Poor Dad. I learned a lot from both of them:

1. Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness: We’ve all heard this before, but you can’t buy contentment. My Rich Dad taught me this, as did my Poor Dad. In many respects, my Poor Dad was more content than my Rich Dad.
2. Poverty Can Rob You of Happiness: While money can’t buy happiness, poverty can rob you of contentment. While we never slept on the street, there were plenty of times where we had no money, no food in the house, and no gas in the car. We had our electricity and gas turned off, and lived paycheck-to-paycheck. I vowed never to live that way if I could help it.
3. Take ‘Smart’ Risks: In many ways I respect my Poor Dad for taking the risks he did when he opened his tackle store. The problem is he put his ambitions above his family. Taking risks is part of life, but don’t bet the farm. Yes, we’ve all heard of people who risked everything and it paid off. What we don’t hear about are the thousands who did the same thing and lost everything. If you have a family, they come before your ambition.
4. Save Money: Perhaps above all else, both my Rich Dad and my Poor Dad taught me the importance of saving. They taught me this lesson by showing me the consequences of living without an emergency fund or meaningful retirement account.

In the end, my Rich Dad and Poor Dad both gave me a healthy dose of perspective. The difficult times made me stronger in many ways. My childhood prepared me to be a better father and husband. And it prepared me to handle money more responsibly. Do I wish I had an easier childhood? Perhaps. But it wasn’t all bad, and it prepared me to handle the difficult things that life throws at us from time to time.

How has your childhood affected the way you handle money?

It’s no secret that I don’t like Comcast.  Just over a year ago, I wrote a post on just how frustrating it was to get anyone from Comcast to stick to an appointment and vowed never to pay them another dime for service.  The problem, however, was that no other cable or internet company offers service where I live (downtown Miami – go figure) and I’m stuck.  Today, I was reminded why monopolies are a terrible, terrible thing.

Roughly three weeks ago, I decided to add a television in the bedroom.  This room also happens to contain my office so I thought it would be a good idea to stay plugged into financial news while spending most of my time writing.  In order to do this, however, I need a Comcast technician to come to my apartment, install a new cable box and split the line that is currently in the living room.  Had I not needed someone to “flip the switch”, I could have done this on my own, but alas, I was forced to schedule an appointment (gulp).

Calling on a Wednesday, I was told no appointments were available until the following Tuesday.  I was a little disappointed in that time frame, especially considering the job would only take five minutes and I live in an area where I see Comcast representative trucks daily, but so be it.   I booked the 8 am to 10 am time-frame and purchased a Vizio TV that was on sale from Costco. Very solid deal that Costco provided and so far, the plan is unfolding to perfection.

Then Tuesday arrived and for some strange reason, I assumed Comcast would be here on time.  Of course, this was not the case and at 10:01 am, I called in to see what was going on.  As usual I was given the run-around and no information was available.  I asked for:

• The phone number of the representative who was supposed to show up and it could not be provided
• The phone number of dispatch; so the driver could be located and it could not be provided
• A time-frame of when I should expect the representative to show up and it could not be provided

One of the many beautiful things about Comcast is that its customer service team only has the power to create tickets, which are then responded to by dispatch and other departments.  They have no phone numbers (that they can provide anyway) and no way to contact others within Comcast.  Everything they can do resides within a ticket system so the right hand never knows what the left is doing.

I waited, and waited, and waited. At 2 pm I received a call that the technician would arrive in two hours.  Then at 3pm, a very kind and apologetic gentleman showed up, set everything up in five minutes and I had cable television.  To be honest, everyone that has shown up from Comcast has been excellent.  The problem though is that they are always late or never show up at all.  No worries; I did receive a $20 credit for the missed appointment and this case was closed.

Until today, when I received my bill for the upcoming month.  I was double charged for HD service, double charged for a new cable box, triple charged for service taxes and also had a nice $45 installation fee that was added for the five minute job performed two weeks ago.  My cable and internet bill was more than $170 when I expected it to be just over $100, and I’m fighting the good fight yet again.

I have no doubt that tomorrow I will be able to have most of these charges removed from my account, but it irks me to unimaginable levels that I must waste more time dealing with Comcast.  I know and they know there is absolutely nothing I can do to rid myself of Comcast (other than cancel cable and internet, which is not an option for someone who works from home).   Be that as it may, my only option is to forgive and forget and hope that I never have to deal with them again.  I brought this on myself by wanting an additional television so I know I’m partly to blame.

Life is too short to let Comcast get the better of me, so I’ll simply use a few money saving tips to make up for the money lost on this venture.

More and more people are becoming victims of identity theft and there appears to be no limit to the efforts a person will take to steal someone’s personal information. Sure there are plenty of ID theft prevention companies out there and your bank and credit card company have all approached you with their own program but what if you cannot afford it or simply don’t want to pay for this protection?

If you’re like me and are convinced the only way to do something is to do it yourself, here are eight great ways to help reduce the possibility of becoming a victim of identity theft:

1. Shred documents – Simply tearing up your bills, solicitations and other items is not enough. Thieves will dig in your trash, in the dump, anywhere they believe they might find some nugget of information to use for their own ill-gotten gains. You have to invest in a shredder, preferably one that does a cross-cut shred (makes confetti) rather than small segmented strips.

2. Never ever leave a receipt in your vehicle, at a restaurant, a store, anywhere. Always keep your receipt and shred it.

3. If someone is requesting your social security number, bank account, or drivers license, ask them why before handing it over. If you do not like the answer, don’t do it. Ask for a manager or supervisor. According to the government, your social security card is not an authorized form of identity!

4. Be very wary of the Internet – Online thieves are everywhere.  Just because you received an email from your bank doesn’t mean it is your bank. Never use a link in an email to go to a website and then enter in personal information. Either call the company or go directly to the website by inputting their URL in your text/search box.

5. Do not give your personal financial information to friends or family members – Sometimes the most trusted person in your life might be the one who uses your identity to get a loan, a credit card or buy something on credit. Unless you are willing to prosecute them, do not give them access to your personal information.

6. Do not use a cell phone or portable phone when calling a business to give them your personal information. I know this may be very difficult but cell phones and even portable phones can be easily monitored by anyone.

7. Do not leave any personal information inside your vehicle.

8. The moment you realize your ID has been stolen, contact the local authorities, your bank, credit cards, insurance, social security, and any other entities that you had information or cards with.

Being a diligent and persistent compulsive person about your identity will go a long way in preventing anyone from being able to steal it from you. You do not have to sign up with an ID theft prevention service, you just have to be very cautious and careful with your personal information and how you dispose of it when you have to.

One of the most important things my parents taught me when I was young, was self reliance.  At the time, I hated them for it because I thought having a job before I was in college was stupid.  Anything I wanted should be provided for by them and rather than earn money on my own, I was content with watching TV and playing baseball in the street. You know … normal kids stuff.

Having a job when I was young provided me with knowledge and information I could only learn on my own.  If you’re considering getting your son or daughter a job while they’re in elementary or high school, here are a few pros:

1. You’ll teach your children about the value of money at a young age.  Yes, this can be done with an allowance and a variety of other methods but when a kid makes money on their own, I guarantee you they’ll appreciate it more.  Kids can start to save money in a bank account, earn interest and better prepare themselves for life outside of home.
2. Jobs keep kids active, so you won’t have to worry about getting them to leave the TV set.  Most jobs that can be obtained by kids are highly active so not only will they earn money, but they’ll also receive a good dose of exercise.
3. The last pro I have for kids obtaining jobs is that they’ll learn a skill set that could help them later in life.  Now perhaps my knowledge of a Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese isn’t extremely useful but knowing how to diffuse an angry customer is.

While I can’t confirm or deny that the jobs I’ve had while growing up better prepared me for the job I have now, I can tell you that the hard work certainly made it easier for me to obtain work.  After college, I had no idea how I was going to obtain a job in Mathematics, considering I had no experience in a hostile job market but thankfully, my restaurant experience allowed me to land a job that was fantastic in paying my bills and keeping me occupied.  While times were tough, I was able to stay on my feet, eventually landing a job that has worked out even better than expected.

Early employment has offered a variety of opportunities, and the money and knowledge earned has certainly made my life more enjoyable.  Allowing (not forcing) your child to have a job should make your life easier too, as every parent wants their kids out of the house.  If you get the sense that a job would do your child good, warm them up to the idea and hope they find something they love.  To give you a better idea of what jobs are available, I’ve listed my elaborate work history below.

• 1989: Fruit Stand Cashier -  When I was five years old, the customers were amazed that I could multiply the weight of the item by it’s price per pound.  With my rosy cheeks and curly blond hair, I was a big-tip machine!
• 1991: Golf Ball Re-Seller – My father worked as superintendent of a golf course for 20 or so years and one of my favorite jobs growing up was gathering stray golf balls on the course, throwing them in a big garbage bag, lugging them home, cleaning them and getting the ready for sale.  Then my dad and  I would leave Saturday mornings around 4:30, go to the local convenient store to grab a hot chocolate and he would sit me at the tee box of hole #3.  (A notorious water hole).  I would sell the good balls 2 for $1 and the bad balls 5 for $1.  Best job I ever had.
• 1993: Mowing Lawns and Landscaping – My family also had a nice side venture named “Ground Control” were we would landscape.  This was my most hated job because I would waste a weekend raking up grass clippings at the local Mazda dealership.
• 1997: Did Somebody Say McDonald’s? -  Worked my way from the lobby, to cashier, to drive-thru to shift manager.  Started when I was 13 and finished up when I was 18 with the only gap in work history coming when I started college.  Made a few dollars over minimum wage throughout but enjoyed that job too.  Nothing better than being responsible for a restaurant when you’re 17 years old.  Hardest job I’ve ever had.
• 1999: Marshalls Stock Room – The only job I’ve had on this list less than a year, one summer I signed up to clean Marshalls before opening and to unload the truck in the early afternoon.  Again making just over minimum wage, this job stunk too.
• 2002 – 2005: Intramural and Athletics Supervisor – Last but not least, I attained two jobs while in college, both in the athletics department.  Sports have always been a passion of mine and these jobs were fun because I was able to spend time outside doing something I love.  Good times.

If you need more help in finding jobs that teenagers can accomplish, check out our list of 10 high paying jobs for high school students.