It really has been a blessing in disguise, to lose weight and save money. You’re right it is costly but when compared to normally eating out it can save you money. I’m gonna try what you suggested though in cooking for a month.

There’s a website called SparkPeople — http://www.sparkpeople.com. It’s absolutely free, you get to set goals for yourself, track the food you eat, your weight and the exercise you do, and they have groups you can join if you like the community aspect of some weight-loss programs. For the price, it’s a really great resource.

Of course, you have to be self-motivated and diligent at recording what you eat since you’re not paying for it– so there’s no “I pay for this, I better use it” to motivate you. But you’d better be that way anyhow if you want a healthier lifestyle! :)

Regarding the wind fall amount of money you will receive. Call a Financial Planner, one that won’t try to sell you things.
Or
Pay off your debt, put the rest in savings/investments until you can agree on how the rest is spent.
What would the person who was able to make such a large sum of money think.
Congrat’s on your money, sorry for your loss.

But… we are about to inherit >(lets just call it a low 8 figures?) $25 million dollars. It starts in about 12 months to 3 years with, 50% up front, and the balance of 50% about 5 years after that).

How do we prepare for this? What would you do? I know we need to keep plugging away at the debt – since we don’t know when we’ll get this money. We haven’t told anyone the amount, and I only told my mentor (Bible study teacher) that we would inherit enough that I can cut back or quit work and we can buy a house. I know we pay taxes first, then tithe, then finish paying off our debts.

I actually have an advanced finance & marketing degree (shhhh), but I’ve not really used the finance skills in my career.

Do I build an analysis spreadsheet and try to invest wisely to cover the (for my life span 50-70 ) years of cash flow / return we need?

DO I give up and buy an annuity and just lock the first traunch away so that DH can’t spend it when the urge hits him? (He would do something like invest in a NASCAR team sponsorship or something).

I’ve started a”list” of goals we have, charities we’ve agreed upon for our planned giving, and possibly non-profits to focus on donating our time to….

I’ve seen a site about folks that have sudden wealth, and watched the lottery winners fall…(there’s documentaries on that). I think I’d be okay, but I believe DH is going to have all of his problems exasperated by this.

Your thoughts? What would you do? What am I failing to think about?

In Australia right now, eBay is asking to circumvent the monopoly law, and wants the sellers to ONLY offer PayPal (which eBay owns), no direct bank deposit, no checks, no Money Orders. The United States is next. EBay says all these changes are to help prevent fraud and abuse, when they do NOTHING to stop the counterfeiting, the deception, the ‘signed’ original Picasso’s (yea right!), the 5 dollar Chinese copy/knockoff/copyright infringing item, that comes with 35.00 in shipping.

They are trying to squash the ‘flea’ market seller and turn themselves into another Amazon and it ain’t working. Their stock is dropping, sell through is off 25% and sellers like me are too scared to sell there now, as are a lot of buyers. Please help support the eBay boycott.
No Buying, No Selling…May 1st and Onward. For more info go to eBay Discussions, to Sellers Central and choose any thread that has Boycott in the title. The main one is SIGN THE PLEDGE FEB BOYCOTT…has over 42,000 comments since January and is one of the longest running ever, lots of good info and some humor too.

Trent, I love your blog, it has helped me so much, I was also relying on eBay to help sell my vintage stuff, since I am disabled, what a disillusionment THAT was!

I am a teenager and hope to learn about personal finance as much as possible. There are a lot of good blogs out there such as The Simple Dollar, but I’d like to get my hands on a book about personal finance just for teens. Any recommendations?

Please please please do not feel personal responsibility to “fix” the economy by spending your stimulus package on stuff. Do what is best for you – stick that money in your IRA. The bank will do a fine job of investing that money with companies who will stimulate the economy in their own way. It is not irresponsible to invest your money responsibly.

Good Luck and Future Successes!

My sister is planning on replacing one that’s seriously old (my mom estimates ’71) for a more efficient one. I would like to get a chest freezer, but don’t quite have it in the budget (at least a year out).

Would the higher electricity cost of an inefficient freezer negate any bulk food savings?

If your job or hobbies involve writing, studying a foreign language is a great way to improve. It makes you really think about how sentences are structured, how syllables come together into words, and the different ways you can express the same idea.

Plus, foreign languages help you order better at ethnic restaurants. :)

Sickness is a human condition. We all get sick sooner or later regardless of political party affiliation. It only makes sense to put a system in place that covers all of us, no opt-outs. Scream “socialism” if it makes you feel better; Bear Stearns had no qualms accepting public money when the going got rough and no one at Bear screamed “socialism” then. The USA is the *ONLY* western industrialized nation without a universal health care system. Frontline/T.R. Reid’s “Sick Around the World” documentary http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/ on how several industrialized countries pay for their health care should be required viewing. BTW, socialized medicine in some countries does not exclude insurance companies — see the movie.

Nutrisystem: Done it. Weight Watchers: Done it. Jenny Craig: Done it. Health Club: Done it. Lost weight, but never kept it off. Would I do any of them again. No. Expensive. Healthy(?) Sustainable(?) The reason a person is overweight, they eat more calories than they burn. So either eat less (healthier) or exercise more. Save your money and do something fun. If you need the camaraderie, checkout TOPS.

Burritos: Yum! Do tell us your recipe. I suspect you start with dry pinto beans. What seasonings do you use? How do you mash them up? I can never get the same texture as canned refried beans. I have a taco seasoning recipe with onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, Better Than Bouillon Beef and water. Never buy those little taco seasoning packets again :-)

Saran Wrap! I wouldn’t microwave anything in plastic wrap. How about just putting them in a reusable container. If the fit is tight, they ought to stay together. Microwaving, I just use 2 plates (one turned upside down), or a microwave safe glass container with glass top. Checkout Alton Brown’s book, “I’m just here for the food”, for the science of cooking food.